SEO training

Katy43

Hi Everybody,


I've been reading the threads re SEO and website promotion with interest and I would like to know how and where I could learn to promote my site more effectively.


Any ideas?

paddyrg

Just bear in mind at least 80% of what you're taught/read will be inaccurate. 'SEO' is really a bunch of websites trying to climb over one another for prime position to get noticed on the first page of search engine rankings (specifically Google). This led to such massive abuse and attempted gaming of the system that the search engines now keep absolutely silent about how they rank sites, so anything you're told may well be inaccurate and will certainly be inferred as opposed to set in stone. Google even, for instance, take your entire browsing history into context when returning results you might like - meaning if you and I do the same search, we'll get very different results.

The surest way of getting right up there is paid advertising, FWIW

Aquamania

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1118336852

Chickabiddybex

I wish people asking these questions would link to their sites in their profiles... Hint hint!

SEO strategy varies wildly depending on the type of business it is, what kind of site, how big you are, what you sell, etc etc.

I can give you advice but I need to know more about the site first!

InsideInsurance

Google do not publish how their search engine works. The only way people can work out is by trial and error/ reverse engineering. The problem with that is that Google's methods dont stay stationary and so you are trying to reverse engineer a changing process.

Even once you've done "your training" the algorithm will change again and more time/ effort is required to work out how its changed and then re adapt your sites to it (and most who are good at SEO it will be sites rather than site).

A former friend used to be very good at SEO and made good money from very little effort for many years. Google changed its system again and all bar one of his sites just disappeared from the results and the one that stayed dropped from being number 1-3 for most the key terms to being at the bottom of 1st page/ top of 2nd page which quartered his income from it over night.

GolfBravo

I agree with with InsideInsurance 100%.

Google indeed keep moving the goalposts, so a lot of "black hat" SEO (keyword stuffing, link spam, mirrored websites, etc) tricks can become useless overnight, and your website can disappear from Google search results. Usually trying to outsmart Google doesn't pay off long-term.

However, there are 3 things that can keep your search engine ranking high with low/no budget:
1. Relevant and helpful content - instead of having a website about me! me! me!, make the website all about solving customer/viewer problems. Make them want to go to your website and read/watch. People will slowly start linking to your website, your average "time spent on website" will improve. Make sure that you use relevant keywords (use Google Webmaster Tools).
2. Make sure your website is search engine friendly and that Google can index your website correctly and can "see" the relevant content and links: no duplicate title tags, no dead end pages, no redirects, no missing title tags, no 404 pages, include a sitemap and image descriptions, no broken links, etc. About 7/10 websites that I look at have their structure and links completely wrong. Sometimes even brand new websites are not even setup for Google indexing.
3. Keep track of Google algorithm changes. They keep tweaking it almost daily, but every few months they introduce major changes that can affect a lot of websites overnight. You don't have to know about every single change, just make sure you know all the major updates and check if they affect your website, and then act.

shmeeko69

The dynamics of what's going to work changes all the time with regards to SEO and algorithm changes with Big G. The recent Hummingbird update is more focused on topic blogs and sites as opposed to keywords/phrases, so if you have a 10 page site with unique and relevant content about a specific topic then, you should rank well in your niche.

I've noticed changes in my rankings with my own sites within the past 18 months, but I still have two which occupy the first two places on Google for their relevant keyword phrases. Why, they are specific to one area and there is lots of content especially on the homepage of each site (1200+ words).

I don't have a clue what the future holds with Google and their programming changes, but one thing will probably remain the same - specific and original content.

Katy43

Thank you for all your replies and messages; they are appreciated.


I make wedding jewellery, so what I do is niche.


So if I keep updating my site with articles, content, posting on facebook etc is that the best way of getting more visitors?


How do I get an accurate check on where my business is in the page rankings? When I type in my keywords / phrases, I'm on page 1 but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

BJV

Think of Google as a book shop.


Every time you enter Google's book shop they want to make sure that you find exactly what you are looking for as quickly as possible. If you don't find the book that you want quick enough you simply walk out and go somewhere else.


This means that Google wants to show web users exactly what they want in a few clicks as otherwise they will click off and go somewhere else.


You can pay to advertise but pay per click is expensive. But please remember than this is now Google makes there money through PPC.


Search engine optimisation or SEO is not a quick fix and no matter what some people say you can not cheat or buck the system. Google is multi billion pound company and sorry they have more money and more resources than we or anyone you speak to will have.


Also please remember that Google will never buy any of your jewellery. So it is important that you keep Google happy with lots of fresh, new and related information but at the same time make sure that you systems are interactive and easy for us mere mortals to use. After all it is us mortals who do want to buy and not a search bot!


SEO takes time so do not expect things to happen over night.


Stick with it and good luck.