So You Think You’re Good At SEO, Huh?

If you really are an SEO expert, then chances are, you’re aware of *some* points discussed in this post. However, if you don’t consider yourself an expert when it comes to SEO, go on and read this post. You’ll find almost all of it interesting and worth the time spent reading.

That said, this post is not going to be on something specific. Instead, it’ll discuss on SEO as general. It won’t be the boring principles and concepts, either. So don’t shy away from it just yet.

What does SEO involve, anyway? Some say it involves building backlinks, others say it involves optimizing the internal functions of the website (linking structure, keywords density etc), while a few say it’s all about getting the word out and about.

Put simply, SEO involves everything. From optimizing your website, to getting the word out and about. If you’re trying to build backlinks as part of your SEO strategy, then try the following tips next time.


Create content that’s not only engaging but induces a feeling of ‘want to share’ in your readers

Your readers will always want to share interesting stuff. Everyone does. Take advantage of this human trait. Create content that is not only engaging, but also compels your readers to share it with others. This way you’re not just making sure that readers keep coming back for more; instead they’ll get new readers with them. Extra traffic and backlinks… without the extra work.

Write about it first

You don’t have to be BBC news. But you can still blog about the ‘new hype’ as soon as possible. It’s not the news that will set you apart. It’s the review on the news that will get you visitors. And when you get visitors, you get attention. And attention, obviously, leads to more quality backlinks!

Disagree!

Vague… yes. But also effective. Sometimes following the trend is not enough. Sometimes you have to break off and travel in the opposite direction. If everyone says “Yes” to a particular issue, you say “Yes, but No”. Doing so sets you apart from all the rest. And when that happens, you become the center of attention. You get blogged about (or linked to) and that results in backlinks. Found Tricky? 😉

Remember though, when planning an SEO strategy there’s a couple issues that you should take care of. Stuff that you need to stay away from. It’s the blackhat techniques. They sure seem inviting and interesting. Given the fact they tend to produce results almost immediately. However, in the long run, there’s nothing worse than blackhat SEO techniques.

Here are some known and popular Blackhat Techniques[I don’t recommend trying it if you are not a daring person 😉]:

Hiding Text

Popular blackhat SEO method often used by spammers to stuff their pages with all sorts of keywords. Their intentions vary. Some do it to boost their search engine rankings (artificially), others do it to trigger high paying advertisements (contextual ad serving technology) while others do it to aid them in their overall SEO strategy. The mere idea of hiding text to boost rankings definitely sounds inviting, but the search engines will catch up on to it very soon. So unless you’re looking to get banned, refrain from it.

Cloaking Pages

The most common (and dangerous) method that falls under Blackhat SEO. The basic concept of cloaking involves serving two different pages. One to the search engines, the other to the real visitors. Spammers create a page full of keywords and phrases (and content that makes no sense) in order to boost their search engine rankings. This page is returned whenever a search engine bot visits their website. However, when a real user visits their website, a completely different page is returned.

Buying/Selling Links

Up until recently, this was the hype. People buying links all over to boost their search engine rankings. However, while it’s not blackhat, it most certainly affects the search engines in a negative way. Anyone can buy a few high quality links to get a boost in their search engine rankings. There’s no guarantees that the site itself is going to be of any value. However, the search engines would obviously rank it higher, given the fact it has high quality links pointing back to it.

The problem arises when a common man searches for something, and ends up visiting the site; of course, disappointed because there’s nothing worth looking on the site. This, in turn, creates a negative impression of the search engine. One visitor makes no difference, but for something like Google, MSN, Yahoo, we’re talking about millions of visitors.

That said, recently, all the major search engines have started cracking down on paid links. Paid links manipulate the way in which site reporting and sorting occurs, and is thus considered unethical.

Conclusion

It’s very easy to get carried away when making up an SEO strategy for your brand new website. Thing is, you need to make sure you don’t get carried away. Make logical decisions and judgments. Decide what’s best for your website/blog before you blindly implement every other SEO tip you come across.

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122 thoughts on “So You Think You’re Good At SEO, Huh?”

  1. I’m not SEO expert or the one who take it on my concentration, since i think if we’re giving our best, the SEO will be done automatically. Yeah, you know what i mean…Good content+Interact with reader = word of mouth = link for you –> automatic SEO, right? For all blackhat listed above, please avoid it for sure, i’m not add additional reason since it’s totally clear that the method is unallowed.
    .-= akira07´s last blog ..Quick report – My Smartbloggerz Commenting Idol 2 Participation =-.

        1. Luck is a key aspect on the internet Akira, you see many things happen due to just damn luck. Just imagine Darren Rowse just stumbles upon an article and he finds it good and showcases it on his blog, that article was written by a newbie who just started, very soon he touches PR 4 and starts getting tons of traffic, but there is another blogger who works really hard and writes really good content, and he has mailed Darren Rowse his content, but Darren fails to see it, this is where luck plays. Darren Rowse himself has admitted that there are many bloggers working harder than him and much more talented, but they are not succeeding so he says luck is something that was with him all the time.
          .-= Vishal Sanjay´s last blog ..Imperial monetization methods for your blog =-.

        1. Bloggers are the writes while site owner is the one who owns the site. Not all bloggers own a site/the site, sometimes they do guest posting,like that.
          .-= Jenn´s last blog ..MOVED! =-.

  3. I am not a so called “expert” in SEO, but have been researching and reading about it for almost 2 years now. I have built about 10 sites, and have made a few mistakes along the way, but common sense told me what techniques were not worth the effort, or which ones may have been black hat. If you use common sense (meaning if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!) while optimizing your site(s) you probably will catch any bad tactics quickly.
    .-= Keith@Business3.0´s last blog ..Do-Follow Comments and Comment Luv =-.

  4. The more I get into SEO, the more I think, that it takes a lot more, than just following some known rules. The most important tip is that you have to wait.. to wait a lot. And you have to find those aspects, that work best for you.

    Even if some blogger with tons of subbed says, that “YOU HAVE TO DO SMTH LIKE THAT”, don’t think, that it will work for you.

    The only right strategy is to CREATE, DO MISTAKES and LEARN.
    .-= iWoodpecker´s last blog ..Insane List of 140 Do Follow & Nofollow Blogs with CommentLuv 2010 =-.

  6. I used to really do a lot of blackhat automated seo stuffs but as time progresses search engines become smarter so I got to refrain from doing those or else suffer for getting banned soon.

  7. Love the post. The part about link cloaking is important. I am totally an “old school” blogger and stay away from Google slap tactics.

    SEO-SES-SEM- You talk about all three in the post. SEO has two basic aspects- on and off page best practices. Simple correct content outline.

    1- H1 Title Tag Post Title ( Not to be confused with THE title tag in
    the All-In-One SEO plugin) )
    This is the main title that contains the EXACT target keyword phrase.
    Not that it IS the keyword, but that contains it.

    2- Opening sentence
    also has the EXACT target keyword phrase ONE time.

    3- First paragraph
    Contains TWO LSI keywords, or related keyword phrases. NOT the target.
    Do not- “do not stuff.” This makes the cyber critters jittery.

    3- H2 Title Tag
    Should include one of the LSI keyword phrases

    4- Additional post paragraphs
    Each idea transition should have a h2 tag that is descriptive.
    Gently “sprinkle” LSI phrases in the paragraph text.

    One tip is to first write without any SEO in mind so that you have
    writing “flow”, and then go back and modify with SEO in mind.

    A few other notes:

    Long-tail and Shot-tail keyword phrases:

    “Key words” as many people think of them are not just words but
    phrases. WEB HOSTING is a short tail. BEST WEB HOSTING would be
    long-tail up to 5 words. After that…. no point.

    Just a few quick basics. This makes for a SEO basic text compliant
    page or post. Thanks again and have a great week!
    .-= MrCyberSmart´s last blog ..Starting Your Business Website- The Essential Right Choices =-.

  8. I am not a so called “SEO Expert” but I have been researching SEO for a while. I work as SEO consultant for a company and have been on the that has several SEO contracts that have been keeping our clients on the first page and in most cases, top 3 Google search ranks. Of course our clients are local and only concerned with being top ranked in their local operating areas. Depending on what type of services they require, we do everything on your list and I have to agree with you and everyone else that black hat and link selling is a bad idea.

    When researching, I have found that there are not that many so called “experts” or SEO Gurus out there. Just people claiming to be the best and charge a lot of money for theirs services and training. The true experts and gurus out there are the ones that have been doing it the longest and have a large resume and references of successful clients. Also another reminder, most experts will not share 100% of their tactics, tips, strategies with everyone.

    Great post. By following your steps, most everyday people should be able to get there ranks and google search results up.
    .-= element321´s last blog ..Daily Delicious Posts Dec 18th 2009 =-.

  9. I am nowadays so pissed about all the SEO techniques like directory submissions and article submissions. They only provide you with limited exposure and a limited amount of back links.

    The only thing that one should use is Link Baiting. Basically write content so compelling and good that people will willingly link to your site.

    I have written an article about link baiting and it is my best work, hope you permit the link,
    http://blogidy.com/2009/11/link-baiting-tactics-build-links-the-easy-way/

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