Oh so many people spend a great deal of time fretting over having a keyword density of 4% or 6%. Is it enough? Is it too much and they’ll get penalised? And advice on the internet is pretty hazy because the SEO community seems divided between those who feel it is of no importance at all and those, including me, who can see it still plays a part.
Why don’t people want to use “SEO” any more?
You may have noticed a number of organisations and individuals starting to drop the use of SEO in their titles and marketing. One of the highest profile names to do this was SEOMoz which has now simply become Moz. Even I have started to morph from SEO specialist to SEO and Online Marketing Specialist. What is going on?
Car Mechanics and SEO
In a recent forum discussion someone asked what looked like a valid question. He said, モif I go to a mechanic and ask him to fix my car he will give me a price, but if I go to an SEO specialist and ask him or her to rank me top of Google, he or she can’t give me a concrete cost ヨ what kind of industry is this?ヤ There then followed lots of alternative analogies from said SEO specialists such as モSEO is more like surgery, you are told a price but then asked to sign a disclaimer that …
Making the most of Google Adwords
So often when I mention Google Adwords, or any PPC concept come to that, I hear a sort of distressed gurgle. Luckily I’ve learnt to translate that! It means one of two things: “I’ve tried it and lost a lot of money” or, “What has that got to do with SEO?”
Internet User Optimisation (IUO)
Today I’m going to モcoin a phraseヤ and explain how the future of SEO is going to look because the rapidly changing landscape of this industry is highly misunderstood by many web-masters. Internet User Optimisation is the name I am giving to a new aspect which will play an ever more important role in where a page or site ranks. I’ll be telling you what it is and how it fits into site optimisation.
Using forums for SEO
There is a common misconception that, if you practice SEO, you need to get on forums so that you can create links (usually in the signature line that shows below each post) because SEO is all about link building. The truth is that in terms of link building those shown on forums have a very small significance but they can have a much greater value in another way.
ECommerce and Reviews, Reviews, Reviews
With Google displaying reviews in an ever more prominent way both in Google shopping and in its’ organic search results this is obviously becoming an increasingly important factor in SEO. It’s not so much that good reviews effect your rankings directly (although this can be true in Google Shopping and Google+ Local) but that some nice yellow stars attract internet users to click through to your site.
Can Link Swapping affect your ranking?
Most now accept that the old idea of swapping links with other websites in an attempt to make search engines believe you were popular (because you had lots of lovely links) are over. In the world of SEO such activities are referred to as Reciprocal Links and you won’t find many search engine optimisers promoting the idea for at least the last 18 months.
Do No Follow Links Count?
From my own mailbox, the forums and sites like Yahoo answers there is a constant stream of people looking for websites with ‘Do Follow’ links because they think that getting a backlink which is marked ‘No Follow’ counts for nothing. In this they could not be more wrong.
SEO Myths for 2013
The longer an industry survives and the more rapidly it evolves, the more opportunity there is for myths to breed like rabbits. Many people make their living from those who believe in a myth so it is very much in their interest to keep a particular legend going. I see this a great deal in the link swapping and link building businesses but it is also rife in other areas.