Submission + - The New Game of Search Engine Optimization
Brandon Hall writes: "Search engine optimization strategies are constantly changing. What worked today, will not work tomorrow and what worked last year stopped working 6 months ago. Sadly enough, some companies are still teaching people to stuff keywords in their meta tags and to do link exchanges with other webmasters. Excuse me, while I throw up.
Aside: These are same companies referred to in a previous post.
Here's an example:
I read a forum post from a guy the other day who was bragging that he had been out charging people $5000 a pop to help their search engine rankings. Yet, he was asking how to get a script working. Wouldn't you think he would know how to install a script properly if he was really that familiar with search engines, linking, article syndication and the several other things he boasted about? What a loser! Come to think of it, he was probably full of crap anyway.
SEO is changing. Make your sites for your visitors and not for the search engines. Period. It's amazing what happens to your organic traffic when you stop focusing on keywords and worry about visitor value. I've outlined some best practices for the New Game of SEO below. Basics For The New Game Of SEO
I read a forum post from a guy the other day who was bragging that he had been out charging people $5000 a pop to help their search engine rankings. Yet, he was asking how to get a script working. Wouldn't you think he would know how to install a script properly if he was really that familiar with search engines, linking, article syndication and the several other things he boasted about? What a loser! Come to think of it, he was probably full of crap anyway.
SEO is changing. Make your sites for your visitors and not for the search engines. Period. It's amazing what happens to your organic traffic when you stop focusing on keywords and worry about visitor value. I've outlined some best practices for the New Game of SEO below. Basics For The New Game Of SEO
- A static HTML site is a complete waste of time. The only reason I can even see having a static site anymore is if you have a web store. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. You must be publishing on a dynamic platform such as a blog. If you must have a static site, then use a dynamic site to drive traffic to your static site.
- Interactivity is the name of the game. Your visitors are bored surfing normal sites and reading text. Don't get me wrong, the more text; the better, but you have to weave interactivity throughout your content using audio and video. You need to give your visitors a chance to rate your content and provide feedback about your content as well. Bottom line: the more interested your visitor is, the longer they will stay on our site and the more money you will make.
- Web 2.0 story syndication. Remember, back in the old days when syndicating your articles was the "key to success." Using an article distribution service, you could get backlinks that would help your site in PageRank and the SERP's (search engine ranking pages). Those days are long gone. The New Game of SEO requires you to distribute your articles through new venues. Sites like Digg, Netscape, and Reddit.
- Driving traffic with video syndication. Pop Quiz: Did you know you can use tags (keywords) in the videos you upload to YouTube and Google? Opportunities abound in this arena. Most people are not doing this. Unless you're in a competitive market, I promise you that people are not using these sites to syndicate video content. Go where the traffic is and right now the traffic is at the video sites.