With
respect to SEO, the
biggest challenge that many Webmasters have to making high
performance improvements to their Web site is really just in
getting started. For some folks, they wait forever and never
seem to be able to get started. They might buy tools or
software thinking that there is something out there that will
do all the work for them.
Then some people are still looking for tricks or short cuts to
try and "fool the search engines" into ranking their
pages much higher than they merit, (although many others are
learning the hard way that Spam is just a totally wasted effort.)
Truly,
the key to success is not in learning little
"tricks" but rather, you want to learn how to build
high quality, useful content that is of value to Web visitors
and learn how to make it rank based on genuine relevance for your
researched keyword phrases. You want to be easily found for
important search terms that your ideal buying audience is
searching for.
Relevancy
: "the relation of something to the matter at
hand."
Source: Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
What is it
that you and the rest of the public want when you search on
Google or any major search engine?
Relevant results? True.
Useful information? True.
High quality content that satisfies your search? True.
What is it that the search engines themselves want in their
indexes? If they are going to remain useful to the searching
public, they all want exactly the same thing that the public
wants.
The search engines want truly relevant results, useful
information and high quality content that
satisfies the search.
So
then what should Webmasters and SEOs all want to be able to
create? If you are practicing search engine marketing, your
goal should be to create genuine relevancy with useful
information that will not only satisfy the searchers
needs, but it continues to remain relevant and stands the test
of time in the top rankings.
Defining
"high quality" content:
How do I define
"high quality?" Let's just say content that delivers
some genuine value to your visitors so that when they find it,
it will satisfy their search. They will be pleased with what
they find and what they absorb will be directly related to
what they were searching for.
Okay,
so then the remainder of this article is directed at those of
you who agree that you are interested in learning how to build
true relevancy for high quality content. If you are looking
for cheap short cuts or search engine trickery then you can
stop reading here, because our focus is only on teaching our
students long term strategies for building solidly ranking
pages. Do the job right and you don't need to lose sleep at
night wondering if your pages will be dropped by the search
engines in the morning. If the job is worth doing at all (as
they say), then it's worth doing well.
I will give you 5 simple rules that will help you stay on the
straight and narrow and should help you improve your results.
The first 2 rules have to do with how you choose to build your
skills (regardless of your level of experience or
practice.)
Rule
1: Choose carefully which voices that you choose to listen to
and learn from with respect to SEO principles.
The
term "SEO" short for "search engine
optimization" is a buzz word today. What I mean is that
if you ask the average Web design or Web development company
if they can perform SEO, they'll usually tell you
"sure...we can get ranked at the top of all the major
search engines." Many people know how to talk the talk,
but fewer actually know how to get the results for
"highly competitive" phrases. Fewer still have
ever had any professional training. Since this article is
about how you can learn the genuine skills, the most logical
question to ask is "May I see some examples of how you
are doing on the search engines?" Ultimately, you want to
learn from trainers who can demonstrate that they themselves
know how to compete in the most competitive marketplaces. How
can you learn the skills properly from a source that does not
rank top spot in the search results for their own company.
Are you listening to voices that are advising you of how
difficult SEO skills are to master? You may find that some of
these services want to keep SEO difficult to learn, so that
ultimately you will hire them.
Note: At our own Search Engine Workshops, our training
is wholly focused on imparting the full range of skills to the
individual attendees in a stress free manner that allows time
for you to actually learn "by doing." Our stance is
not one of hidden agendas or selling you SEO services, but we
have chosen to keep our focus education and training. We have
chosen not to offer SEO services to the public so that our
students never feel that we are competing with them. Please do
not misunderstand this as a proclamation of being the best.
This is just one of the ways we do things differently.
Rule
2: Choose to build your SEO skills based upon accurate
information.
This
may sound very easy, but just where do you get accurate SEO
information these days.
Think
about it for a minute. If you understand that major search
engines guard their algorithms closely then how do you know
that what someone teaches you is really the truth based on
fact? Can you really trust the advice that someone gives you
for free in a forum? Do you really know for sure who that
person is when they are using anonymous names. What about
online newsletters that may conflict in their theories of what
is working and what is not.
Which
one is accurate and which one is in error. It's important for
you to know that you are getting good accurate information
before you employ specific strategies and techniques.
Note:
At Search Engine Workshops, we do not present students with
theories or guesswork about algorithms. We actually conduct
research based on what the search engines are doing. When we
teach you a technique or methodology it is based on actual
testing and we stand before our students with our real names
and identities. We even share with our students the details
and the results of specific tests conducted.
We not only teach you the full scope of relevancy influences
but we teach also on topics like how to improve on click
through ratios, how to compel visitors to respond, how to make
minor adjustments that can make a big difference in your
results. The reason our students are successful is because we
research something before we teach it.
Rule
3: Gain a "comfort level" in knowing you can compete
BEFORE you take on clients.
With
so many Webmasters all "talking the SEO talk" and
taking the client's money first without knowing that they can
get the results, it typically can end up with a short term,
unhappy client. Rather than making a one time sale, why not
build clients for life. The secret is gaining your "SEO
comfort level" and possessing that" sense of
performance" before you throw yourself under the
pressures of a demanding client.
The consumer is surrounded on all sides today with a
variety of scams like "search engine submissions" to
you name it. There is an excellent opportunity for those who
develop their own "Unique Selling Proposition" but
with a focus on delivering genuine results. The smartest way
to add value and separate yourself from the rest of the mess
out there, is to develop your SEO skills first and give
yourself a "window of practice time" where you can
manifest and experience that genuine SEO "comfort
level." It changes the way you feel about your skills and
nurtures your inner authority so that you don't just
"think" you can compete but you know for a fact
that you can compete.
Rule
4: Choose an SEO career that's right for you.
Once
you have built your SEO skills and have your comfort level in
performance, don't forget to consider the full career
potential that SEO skills can render to you.
Some
people are just seeking employment working for a firm. There
is certainly a demand for professionally trained SEOs
who know their stuff. But there are plenty of other choices
too.
-
Many
think of starting up their own little business building a
client base and the demand is greater than ever if this is
your dream. Building clients for life, you'll find that
this approach is very satisfying especially if you are the
type of person who enjoys making a difference in other
peoples lives.
-
SEO
Consulting is a wonderful niche.
-
Many SEO
professionals are working on an independent career as an
affiliate marketer building their own high quality,
informational sites and earning a commission without the
need of building a client base.
-
Some
people like building additional revenue streams through Ad sense
revenues. There is nothing wrong with creating multiple
income streams once you are efficient in your SEO skills.
-
Still
others will focus on building a niche within a
niche.
These might include services performing:
-SEO on Press Releases
-Media Releases
-Content optimization
for industry specific articles
-Writing high
performance sales letters
-Developing your own
products for resale
-Plus literally dozens of other possibilities.
Best of
all, because you can perform SEO on the Internet,
you could potentially work from nearly anyplace
in the world.
Rule 5: Keep
your SEO skills current and up to date (it is essential.)
I
mentioned at the start of this article that for some
Webmasters, the difficulty seems to be just getting started.
For others, it seems that they just let themselves fall a
little behind. One of the most essential aspects in this
industry after you get your skills up to speed, is to keep up
to date with all the latest changes and newest technologies as
they happen.
Highest Regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
PS: Many of our SEO Workshop students come back to a
refresher class about once a year just to keep up to date and
also learn about the latest high performance techniques which
are continually being researched and updated.
How are your
SEO skills?
Would you like some help to get caught up very quickly?
Details:
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com
Here are a few recent
student's comments.
It would be a privilege to see you at one of our upcoming SEO
Mastery Workshops and assist you in taking your SEO skill set
to a whole new level of competence. There is no faster way to
refresh your skills than attending a personalized, hands-on
SEO Workshop. Check out our
agenda. Check out our future
upcoming dates.
About John Alexander
John Alexander is Co-director of Training at Search
Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with partner
Robin Nobles as well as online search engine marketing courses
through Online Web
Training. John is author of an
e-book called Wordtracker
Magic and co-author of
the Totally Non-Technical
Guide for A Successful Web Site.
