Ask the SEO Guru

Question for the Week of May 12th, 2008

Yesterday I had a question from a client asking how many keywords we will target for each project. It reminded me that out of all the questions I get that illustrate a need for better understanding of how an SEO process works, this is one of the top 5.

I think of all the things I could discuss to the benefit of my readers, answering this question will do the most good for the most people with the least words spent. So, here is the question and my response in italics.

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We would like to target at least 25 keywords for each client.  When I first spoke with you Guru, this is how I understood it and that is how we were doing it with our previous SEO company.

How many keywords can you target for each client?

It looks like I didn't do a very good job of explaining the whole, "target keywords" thing. I'll take another stab at it today to help you understand the process.

#1. We can target 25 keywords, 250 or 25,000. BUT you can't target them all at once. For best results, we should stay on theme with a small number of specific long tail terms. In other words, we can target keywords under the umbrella of say jewelry, AND necklaces AND rings, but  it is best to stay focused on one of them and expand them over time. By targeting necklaces and rings, in a way you are reducing the relevancy for one by trying to promote the other.  It is better to have solid content for the target and then try to get anchor text at about a 60/40 split to the specific content url and to the index page. This shows the engines that we are relevant to necklaces OR rings. Then we just repeat the process as we add relevant content for target terms or THEMES.

#2. We can’t choose the keywords or the time to promote them. You are in much more control over the content than we are and you just need to let us know which keywords you want when and we'll do it. To us it doesn't matter if you give us 2 targets or 200, you just need to let us know where the content is and what keywords you want to target. We can do the research for you but it is your decision. We can’t decide for you and then tell you what we want to target, we need to target what you tell us you want and when.

#3. Search engine placement is about 4 primary things. Of course there are a lot of small things you can do involving Htags, meta tags , etc, but these 4 things,(listed in order of importance), are what moves placements upwards.
Technical issues. making sure you are getting crawled and indexed properly
Relevant content. Content that is focused and provides value associated with a target term of phrase.
Relevant links. Links that show the engines that other people feel your content is relevant to a specific theme.
Trust. Doing things with the promotion of your site that makes the engines trust your content and links and NOT doing things to make them not trust you.

Any one of those things will not move a page to the top 10 for a search query without the other 3 in place, (content is kind of an exception. You actually can move a site with content alone IF the technical issues are in place, you have at least one spiderable link and there is a lack of solid relevant content  competeing for the exact term) By the same token, three of the four things in place and it will not work. The optimum solution is the right combination of all 4.

#4. Targeting keywords should not be the primary objective. Top 10 placements mean beating out at least 1 of the 10 links that are already in the top 10. It takes a lot of work, resources and focus. That stuff is not cheap so there is a definite expense associated with gaining top 10 positions. What we want is conversions. Sales! Sales is revenue and targeting keywords is an expense.

So targeting keywords should be more of a surgical maneuver than a shotgun approach. We should set an objective for what we want to SELL, then develop the appropriate content and then promote that content while maintaining the integrity of the site. That is what works, and that is what keeps your clients paying for your services.

Build the converting content based on your clients stated objective, (we can build the content for you if you need us to), tell us about the content and where to find it, we'll perform the research to provide a solid list of target terms and we'll take it from there once you approve.

It's not about how many keywords to target. We'll target UNLIMTED keywords for you. It is about setting a sales, (or desired action), objective and then using us to help you hit it.

Remember, that was in response to a question from an existing client. There is nothing that we do that you can’t do for yourself and the concepts are the same. This was an illustration to make the concept more obvious.

The point is to keep in mind the next time an SEO company is pitching you their service and they tell you they will target x number of keywords, remember targeting keywords doesn’t make you money. SALES makes you money and the only keywords you need to target are the ones that make sales, (or achieve a desired action).

If 1 keyword makes you money, then 2 is better BUT, as soon as you start devoting assets to keywords that DON’T make you money, and you just want the placement for the sake of the placement, you’re wasting your time, your money and the time of everyone that sees your placement where they searched.

Peace Y’all

G

 

 

 

What the hell is takin you so long in that bathroom? Other people need in there too ya know!

 

I’m back in the land of the free and the home of the brave. And I’m already missing Samosas and Chana Puri.

It is a very strange thing living on two continents. After spending 7 months of the last 10 in India, and the fact that is where my business is now, my head seems a bit confused as to where home is and where I’m visiting.  Oddly enough, I feel as out-of-place in Oklahoma City now as I felt my first month in Ahmedabad.

It doesn’t help that our business there is growing very fast and the excitement is taking hold and I want to be there to enjoy it. It also doesn’t help that I have now become addicted to chana puri and finding Punjabi food in Oklahoma is about as easy as finding a street address in India. 

I’ll be in the states for two months until about July 1^st, then I’ll make that grueling 30+hour  trip back to Ahemdabad and stay until the 1^st of November.

My focus this last trip was to build a stronger marketing team and solidify our seo procedures. I’m very pleased with the results of my endeavors!

My primary marketing target was to secure wholesale SEO companies that we can provide link building and original content for. We’ve done well.

We are now working with some of the best known SEO firms in the world and are providing links and content for some 200 domains a month. With a staff of 18, we are generating over 4,000 researched, manually secured and ON THEME links each week. We are growing fast because we treat our clients business like it was ours, because in a way, it is. We need you more than you need us and we understand that because I’m an SEO too. I’ve been there and I KNOW  the challenges you face and that  is why our commitment to excellence is second to none.

I’ve put together a team in India that specializes in doing the tasks that are so important to any SEO campaign yet are the most labor intensive parts. We specialize in ultra white hat, strictly manual link building  and high quality, original content creation for wholesale  SEO clients. The two parts of SEO that everyone needs and very few enjoy doing. We do the hard work you don't like doing and that frees up your time to do the things you are best at and do enjoy doing!

My goal is nothing short of changing the world’s perception that Indian outsourcing is only about cheap labor and poor quality.  I’ve put a LOT of work and money into this but I could not be more proud of the results we’re getting!

It’s all good and it is without a doubt the adventure of a lifetime.

 

Peace Y’all

G

I’m gonna take a switch to your butt if you don’t quit chasin your sister with that bug damnit!

Question for the Week of April 25th, 2008

The question came up over at Web Pro World about what to do when you run out of link building ideas. Among the usual comments about writing articles and news release was this from Peter (IMC):

"Link building is just a technical term that shouldn't be a real objective."

The Guru sees more than 1 question in this “Question of the Week”. He sees 4 that he feels deserve a good answer. This is one of those questions that gives the Guru the opportunity to  offer something that may turn on those little light bulbs over heads. Let’s roll.

what to do when you run out of link building ideas.

I can not imagine how one could run out of link building ideas in one’s own lifetime. There are a lot of people putting up a lot of content all over the globe every second of every day and, there is one thing as much as any other they ALL want. Do you know what that thing is? LINKS!

 If you EVER feel you have run out of link building ideas, you need to step into the restroom, grab hold of yourself and jerk yourself back to reality. You’re problem lies in one of two areas and neither of them is the lack of available links. Either your purpose or your execution is the problem.

You may run out of ideas to get links to spam google or to increase your page rank but that is a problem with objectives and not with whether there are links available.

In the Guru’s experience, often when people say they don’t know how to get more links, they actually know a lot of ways to get them but they lack the resources or motivation to actually develop a plan and execute it.

The reality is, the link ideas are there, but is it worth the effort and the resources to get them to meet your objective at the time.  

 

100% Absolute Guru Guarantee!

At the end of this post, I will give you a simple, so-easy-ANYONE-can-do-it-and-it’s-free idea that you can use over and over, day after day and it will work! You’ll never again have to worry that you will run out of ideas of where to get links. If it doesn’t work, the Guru will refund every cent you have paid for this free tip!

from Peter (IMC):

"Link building is just a technical term that shouldn't be a real objective."

people should concentrate on marketing and forget link building

 

I’ve been reading Peter’s posts in a lot of industry communities for many years. He’s one of those people who have been in the industry almost as long as the Guru and staying in business  for 10 years + means making choices and being right a lot more often than you’re wrong .  Longevity aside, Peter is one smart cookie http://www.seo-works.com/blog/, and I appreciate that he actually “thinks” about what he says and is usually well equipped to defend whatever position he takes.

Keeping in mind that the quote above was taken out of context, I would say he’s right. Peter went on to say:

“By calling it "link building" you´re limiting yourself because you´re actually doing that,... building links.”

And

“If you think about all the possibilities when you call it marketing it becomes a whole different world, doesn't it?”

So it’s clear that Peter does understand the value of links but I believe his point is close to the Guru’s above. That is, if you can start seeing it as a marketing objective as opposed to a ‘get a link so I can be in the serps” objective, you’ll get farther faster and with less expense.

We have Guru concurrence with that point. I believe placement without conversions is the epitome of futility, and it looks like Peter feels pretty much the same way.

Is link building still a viable way of moving a site quickly

If we are speaking organically, then --  It is the ONLY way.

You can generate content until the letters rub off the keyboard and without a link, no one knows about it but you. Unless of course you market it some other way than with organic search engine placements. BUT, it is virtually impossible to do that without getting links. You market – you get links.

What are your suggestions?

Honestly answer this question for me first.

What do you REALLY want? A higher page rank, a top 5 position for your keyword on Google, more traffic from links or to make more sales at a higher profit?

If you said any of the first three, your problem is over. Just go buy it. Set a budget and go spend it all on links that will do any of those three things.

Buying, (or renting), high PR links, the green on the toolbar will scroll to the right. Could take a while but it will.

Rent links but don’t make Google look stupid, (article), by putting up content hosted pages (define content hosted pages),on places where your page makes sense and your site will move up.

PPC and a little intestinal fortitude and you could be right on the top of all those organic results by tomorrow.

But if what you REALLY want is to make more money, then realize that links are merely a means to an end and that end is sales. And always remember

                                                           You market – you get links   

Now, for that simple, so-easy-ANYONE-can-do-it-and-it’s-free idea that you can use over and over, day after day and it will work, free tip.

Some of you will roll your eyes. Some may ridicule and some may even laugh. Even more of those reading this will never take the first step to even attempt it because it takes a little bit of effort and can not be short-cutted or programmed. But for the very few that do invest the effort, within a matter of days to weeks, you will secure very good links, feel good about yourself and see your own site’s placements and, (more importantly), traffic stats start to climb.

There is no procedure to learn, no policies to implement, no schedule to follow. Just do it whenever you feel like it but the more often you do it, the better it gets faster.

Link to someone else without being asked or expecting anything in return.  

When you see someone saying or doing something you think is pretty cool, tell people about it and give them the link to follow.

Do it on your blog, build special pages for it or put it in a footer. It doesn’t matter. What matters is you are connecting with real people. Do it honestly and sincerely and do it because it takes so little to do so much for someone else and I promise you:

                                                                                  The Internet Golden Rule

                                                                                                  The more you give, the more you get.

 And that comes with the 100% Absolute Guru Guarantee!

 

Peace Y’all

G

 

 

Is that smoke I smell? You better not be playin with them matches again or I’ll get a switch and tear you up boy!

 

 

Question for the Week of April 20th, 2008

There is a discussion over at WebProWorld about setting standards for SEO.

http://www.webproworld.com/search-engine-optimization-forum/68100-do-we-need-search-engine-optimization-standards.html

What are you views on this, O, Mighty Guru? (I think I know, but could you tell us anyway?)

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There can be no standards set for SEO anymore than there could be standards set for lawyers calling themselves, JO's, (judge optimizers), or mechanics calling themselves RO's (road optimizers), chefs calling themselves TO's (tableware optimizers), or carpenters calling themselves HO's, (hammer optimizers) or ------I could go on for a long time but I think you get the point.   

While lawyers may have all kinds of relationships with judges and know what motivates them, they still would never call themselves judge optimizers because

#1. that is NOT what they do

#2. It is misleading and gives the wrong impression

#3. It has negative connotations.

Mechanics and chefs don't call themselves road and tableware optimizers because

#1.While they could not perform their skills were it not for those things being understood and used well, they still have no direct control over them. They do not optimize roads or plates, they optimize cars that use roads and improve the presentation of gourmet food that gets eaten with tableware.

#2. It is mislading and gives the wrong impression

#3. it seems a little silly to call something you do by the name of something you do NOT do.

Carpenters do not call themselves hammer optimizers because

#1. The hammer is just a tool they use to get their job done. They need to possess the skills necassary to effectively make that tool do what they do better, but it still just a tool.

#2. To call themselves a hammer optimizer glorifies the tool and belittles the carpenters skill and dedication to a craft. It makes the hammer the most important aspect of building a house when the fact is, his skill and ability enables him to use a lot of other tools to accomplish the same objective.

#3. Carpenters do not optimze hammers, they build houses.

SEO does not need standards because it does not exist. No one calling themselves an SEO optimizes a search engine.

You can not get a group of people to ever agree on ethical standards by getting everyone to agree to behave a certain way when they do the thing they really don't do. That is why the term ethical SEO is a classic oxymoron. NOT because there are a lot of ways to accomplish online commerce, but because we are all arguing over something that does not exist.

you -- I'm proud to be an ethical SEO

them -- what does SEO stand for???

you -- search engine optimization!

them -- good for you. which search engines do you optimize?

you -- well I don't actually optimize search engines. I just call it that because everyone else does.

them -- doesn't that make you kind of an  honest liar????

There are a lot of ways to practice law.

There are a lot of ways to approach auto repair.

Every chef has their own personality injected into the preparation of food

And there must be as many ways to get a house built as there are carpenters

Yet each of these professions have organizations that establish and encourage their membership to follow a set of ethcial standards. 

In the Guru's mind, the online marketing industry desparately needs a professional organization but it needs to be open to

website optimizers

PPC experts

usability consultants

copywriters

people who can effectively decipher analytics

mobile phone and wireless marketing specialists

ad jockeys

public relations consultants

split testing experts

php, joomla, drupal, java developers that can enhance navigation and tracking

affiliate marketers

anyone that sells online promotional services

link builders

advertising agencies

and search engine companies.

Then you could set a code of ethics that included things like

Honesty with clients, employees, vendors and shareholders is our foremost responsibility

Always strive to do the most good for the most stakeholders. You, the client, the industry and the web at large

Do what we say we will do

Pay our dues on time

I think that would pretty much cover the basics. From there you could make it as detailed, complex, convuluted, confusing and contradictory as you like, keeping in mind that with each detail comes increased difficulty in majority agreement but as long as 51 out of 100 voted yes, it flies and of course all that really matters is that the code enhances the image of the industry and secures that part about paying the dues on time.

Call it something that welcomes all those different skill sets, stop calling it SEO and call it something that all of those skill sets actually do, like Online Marketing Professionals, and there could be a professional organization for the betterment of the online marketing industry within a matter of a few months.

From there, sub groups could easily be formed,(and separate dues charged), like the PPC Specialists of America, Greater Northern European Lesbian Link Builders Association, the STDW, (split testing dudes of the World) or the Iluminaughty. It would work as long as the PSA really did PPC in America and the GNELLBA really were lesbians and the Iluminaughty really were naughty.

My biggest pet peeve about calling the online marketing industry search engine optimization is that if gives this mystical power to search engines limiting the scope of the services and the marketing results we could all be producing. It somehow makes us all feel that search engines have too much control over us and often abuse that power when it is we ourselves that hand that power to them on a silver platter. We do NOT optimze search engines. Do you think the search engines don't understand that? The only people that seem to not understand that is our potential prospects which I personally believe would be many, MANY times larger if we just called what we do by something that actually reflected the value propositon we offer.

As the SEO community, we can do a LOT of things for a LOT people. All of them highly value driven with very good profits margins. But instead we limit our market, we confuse our prospects and we hand the power of our skills, intelligence, education and research right into the hands of the search engines invalidating ourselves and our industry.

Search enignes are important BUT they don't control design, navigation, effective copy and contrary to popular misconception, they don't control what or how we perform professional online marketing of which search engines are a part, but ONLY a part.

Stop calling it what it isn't and call what it is, (trying to be as inclusive as possible), and a professional industry organization, complete with ethical standards, will soon be upon us and you could at least count on the Guru talking it up big time.


 Peace Y'all

G

You're gonna to have quit playin superman. You're ruinin all my good towels!

 

 

I know there are those who have had bad experiences with outsourcing. I’ve read horror stories in blogs and forums and I completely empathize with the narrators. Few people understand better than I do what a let down it is to go into a relationship with such high hopes only to be left feeling disappointed.

There are two things I feel it is important to remember when considering negative experience posts about outsourcing.

#1. Experience is what you get when you are expecting something else.

#2. It takes at least two people to make a deal go bad.

For the purposes of this blog, when it comes to discussion of the economy, I don’t see the issue of a recession as being the challenge for the seo community. I see the biggest issue the industry faces, (and the best argument for outsourcing), is the fact that the industry is an increasingly more difficult and more competitive environment of which to attempt to maintain profit margins in.

It is taking more and more time, effort and resources almost daily to satisfy marketing objectives in this every expanding tech world. Each aspect of electronic  marketing takes a pretty hefty investment of educational capital. So when you consider having to be proficient in on site optimization, then off site, then analytics, then writing good copy, social media marketing, branding, conversions, PPC, pod casts, videos, mobile apps, etc. etc. etc. AND, online marketing is just now starting to come of age. It ain’t gonna get any easier kids.

There is real money online and that brings real companies with real assets who don’t give a damn that you are just a 5 man company. They see your market share as theirs and they kind of have a point.

So, you are left facing an ever dwindling list of choices.

Specialize on just one or two aspects and become an expert at those.

 I believe this is the best option for most small SME's. Especially those not comfortable with the concept of outsourcing or expanding their labor force in-house.

Allocate more of your time to read, study and learn to become good enough at more areas of online marketing to expand your offerings.

The problem here is you have to keep spending the time you are spending now to maintain the level of profits you have PLUS spend more time on education. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for enjoying the fruits of your labors.  Puts a new spin on the old adage, "you can't take it with you".  Spending all your time working AND going to cyber school begs the question to be re-phrased to "why have it in the first place if you don't have time to spend it ?"

Recruit, hire, train, supply and manage new employees.  

The problem here is not in the hourly wage or salary with benefits. The problem here is the expense in time and capital. You have a sizeable investment for each aspect of this process and you have to cover the risk for quite some time before you can expect a reasonable return. Then if they have to be let go, they quit or they get stolen by a competitor with deeper pockets, you lose!

There is no question that outsourcing can be a good solution to two of those problems that could limit growth. So, if you are considering outsourcing as an option, let me offer the benefit of my experience in the form of a couple of tips.

 

It’s not about the cost, it is about the quality.

There is nothing in this world that another can not produce cheaper with less quality. Those who consider price alone are this man’s legal prey.

There are a lot of smart people in India working at running outsourcing and BPO companies. Smart you want. You want someone who has the resources to recruit, hire, train and most importantly, MONITOR FOR QUALITY CONTROL.

No matter what you pay, if the quality is not there your profits will suffer. Value is the only commodity that will maintain profits. Quality is value whereas cheap is not. This is why I have never had any sympathy for those who buy 1000 links for $39 and then complain they got screwed.

 

Know What You Want.

If you could not hire a new person and provide a detailed job description, then you are likely going to be disappointed in your outsourcing company. They can not read your mind and can only provide what they understand you want.

In spite of popular misconception, India is not a country full of people who set up companies just to rip you off. The vast majority of outsourcing, BPO and KPO, (knowledge process outsourcing), are hard-working, honest businessmen who want nothing more than to provide you with the kind of service that keeps your business coming to them. They WANT to do a good job and will as long as you define what that job is.

 

Communication and Patience is the Key

If you can write a job description that a new hire could effectively execute, then you can find an outsourcing company that will do the same. The trick is in being able to communicate exactly what it is you want and if you are not getting what you want then accept that not only have THEY failed to provide what you were looking for, but also YOU failed to effectively communicate what you were wanting.

There are a lot of very well educated people in India and educated people speak and write English. However it is still a second language to them and there is also the issue of accents and culture. BUT in my experience it is not that different than hiring people in America.

I have had a lot of difficulties over the years with getting poor performance out of employees and blaming myself for not being clear as to what I had expected of them. That is certainly a problem because I always seem to have 15 things on my mind at any given time.

But I don’t have nearly as much of a problem with performance from employees here yet I explain myself in pretty much the same way as I always have. What is the difference?

Then difference is that even though English is a second language, they listen because they WANT to understand and perform above my expectations. That is a part of the culture here. Doing a good job is an honor and to do poorly reflects badly not only on you but on your family as well.

In India, the majority of people who have a college degree got that degree through the sacrifices made by their parents and family. Often those sacrifices can be extreme. To earn a degree and then perform poorly is a kind of slap in the face to all the people who worked very hard to give you the opportunity in the first place.

Of course there are exception and people are people all over the world. But the point is simply that if you know what you want and can communicate that honestly and clearly you can expect to get quality results.

There are a LOT of good reasons that most of the largest corporations on the planet use outsourcing to grow their business, and so can you by using outsourcing as a way to keep up with the ever changing face of online marketing.

SME's are now in a position to capitalize on the same things the big boys have been getting for a long time now. And that thing is not just cost savings. It is quality that can only be gained by recruiting, training and managing smart people who can produce superior results.

 

 

Peace Y’all

G

 

It seems we’re all so busy trying to give our kids all the things we DIDN’T have that we forget to give them the things we did.

A few months back I had a lapse of almost a month between posts. I was chastised severely by thousands of avid Guru readers, (ok, ok 4 avid guru readers), and knew that I was not accepting that launching a blog and expecting to build a following comes with a responsibility beyond just posting whenever you feel like it.

Ok I accept. I've taken up valuable time from busy people by insinuating there would be fresh content to learn from or at least engage with, on some kind of regular basis and now I have a responsibility to deliver.

When I had that month long lapse and finally returned, I made some lame excuse about being busy and not having time and the blog not being a source of income and my dog ate my homework and my grandmother got sick and I had a flat and -----------

Nothing more than excuses. Later after some reflection and with the taste of foot still lingering in my mouth, I realized that we're all busy. It's a busy world and if I expect people to give me some of their time I better be willing to give them some of mine as well.

So I started thinking about how to arrange my schedule so I could devote more time to blogging while still providing some unique, informational, educational and entertaining,(or at least a way to kill time while looking busy), value to the reader.

Of course desire holds no sway over time and time is the enemy in this instance because while I accept my responsibility to my readers there is no denying that still my first duty lies with paying clients. I have taken their time AND money so what’s s stressed SEO to do?

I have resources. 11 years of promoting websites for profit has afforded me some value assets that I can bring to bear when the need arises. In fact I have one of those assets that most SEO’s would cut off another’s’ right arm for. A very smart, well educated, holding a degree in journalism content developer. A good friend, a long term employee and a man who can put out 1000 words of optimized, well researched, quality content in an hour. His name is Jake Lowery.

Meet Jake Lowery

Jake is a news hound. He has more rss feeds than Google has zeros. He is a man of wide and varied interests and knowledgeable in a LOT of areas including online marketing and SEO. So it dawned on me he would be very useful to me if I asked him to browse through the plethora of SEO/Marketing articles produced every day and send me the ones that he felt would be of the most interest to the seo community at large in the form of a question. He’ll feed me the meat of an  article and formulate it into a question asking my opinion.

I will still write my weekly articles as I always have but now I will have an additional offering to my blog with a more direct editorial flair as well. If you have a question you are still free to send them to me massa@techndu.com and if I choose yours I will post it, (complete with links to you), along with my "editorial" answer.

Questions for the week of 4-11-08

1. Jim Boykin says he has been asked to speak at a conference on Buying Websites for SEO. http://www.jimboykin.com/buying-websites-seo/

He says he’s not sure if he wants to talk about the subject in public, although he has posted on it before.http://www.jimboykin.com/screw-the-sandbox-buy-and-old-site/ 

Guru, you have never been shy about sharing your secrets, so I’d like to know if you think it is wiser, and faster, to buy an old site with lots of back links, or to work on a new site and build you own links.

Guru: Jim has been doing this stuff a long time and  knows more about search engines and the tools that help dominate the results of those engines than just about anybody. Jim is also a world class SEO and knows how to take a site with existing links pointing to existing content and still convert the traffic that would generate to a new topic, service or product that may or may not be totally, closely or not at all related to the old content.

In my opinion, if you are not confident of your own skills to do relatively the same thing, then I believe you are wasting your time and a valuable resource to someone who does know. I believe that placement without conversion it the epitome of futility. To get a top placement just for the sake of generating non-converting traffic is a complete waste of time and money. To do it with old domains that you purchase for the placement benefit without knowing how to convert, you just made less than no money. Now you also wasted the money you spent on the domain. If you are one of those people, ---- call me. I’ve got some great old domains I’d let go pretty cheap.

Jim hesitates to discuss it publicly because he knows that when he does, far too many people who don’t know what they are doing and are simply looking for a quick buck, (which this is not by the way), will be competing with him for the domains that he could have monetized. He is not actually referring to those who do know what they are doing because most of them are his friends and peers and he knows that they will feel much like he does and pretty much keep their mouth shut and make their money.

He also knows that when a technique is found that does offer an advantage to the technically capable, it does not pose a great threat to Google as long as it appears relevant and they have little motivation to be overly concerned. Meaning that there is a technique that may be available for a long time. He also knows that as long as the ignoratti doesn’t start posting on every SEO forum and blog, (making it appear that Google is not in control of their results), there would be plenty of resources out there for him and all the SEO’s that understand how to use it to go around. He also knows that when it becomes a public relations thorn in the side of Google, you can bet that technique is not long for this world. 

Next  Question

3. I received an email advertising a service offering a talking avatar as a way to increase sales from your site. Do gimmicks like this really work? http://www.sitepal.com/

Those things seem soo real don’t they? So warm, so caring. NOT!

Would you buy something from a cartoon?

The only benefit they have in my opinion is if they can add some entertainment value to the site. But even then I think a handy widget would still produce more sales. If anything, they distract from your message.

If you do feel they add some intrinsic value to your site and you want to use them, I recommend at least staying focused on a benefit and NOT a feature.

Have the little cartoon say things THEY want to hear.

It’ll make you skinny

It’ll make your hair grow

It’ll make your momma love you

It’ll make your friends jealous

No one will be able to tell how small your --------

Well, you get the idea.

A perfect illustration of my point is a success story I found at the sitepal site itself. It took me to a carpet cleaning site in New York. When you click the scarry little womans head she starts telling you how long they been in business, what tools they use, how cute they are and how they enjoy long walks on the beach, (I don't know what she said actually. It didn't interest me enough to keep listening.)

I think it would be more effective if the little head said things like

We'll make your house quit stinking

Don't get crap on your fingers, let us pick up the poop

I guess they can increase sales as much as any other non-scarry little talking head website whose text said the same type of self important drivel. I think profit is hard to come by when you're a legend in your own mind regardless of what head does the talking.

See for yourself if you think they increase sales http://carpet-cleaning-ny-nj.com/ Then come back and tell me if you stayed awake through the entire cartoon.

If I'm wrong, PLEASE feel free to comment and show us an example.

 

Peace Y’all

G

 

 

How the hell did you get a bean stuck up your nose in the first place dammit!

I've mentioned before how I find it strange that I get more questions by email than by comments on the Ask the SEO Guru blog but at the end of the day, I'm just glad to be getting asked anything by anybody from anywhere.

I recommend that you never be afraid to ask anything from anyone if you're sincere. Most people are flattered that you respect them enough to ask their advice or opinion and if you've read anything from the Guru's blog you already know how I feel about flattery.

When asking for something you want from someone else, always appeal to their own self-interest and never to their mercy or gratitude.

Well, today I got an email from someone who was sincere and the Guru was flattered that he had a question he thought I could help with. After replying and answering his question it occured to me that there are probably a lot of other people who may have the same type of question. And it is the kind of question that you would have a difficult time finding answers for in a search so I think it's important that someone post this kind of info.

It doesn't have to be very good to be the best when  you're the only one. THAT is the secret behind the value proposition of unique content.

So today I'm going to post the email exchange in the hopes that it helps more than just the person asking me specifically. I'll remove names to protect the guilty. The Guru's responses are in bold.

{note: The reference to The Google Story comes from this blog post http://massa.techndu.com/2008/03/17/TheGoogleStory.aspx}

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Hey Guru

I've enjoyed reading The Google Story - it was a real good recommendation. Are there others that you would recommend that might help to understand the industry and help me to get better at this stuff?

The Cluetrain Manifesto --- by 4 guys I don't remember their names right now
Don't Make Me Think -- by Steve Krug
The Purple Cow ---- by Seth godin
The Tipping Point ---- by Malcolm Gladwell
The Long Tail --by Chris Anderson
Marketing Warfare by Jack Trout and Al Ries

Also Guru, I was wondering if you had any recommendations with regard to how to start a SEO business... I've considered starting a big PPC push with little campaign on AdCenter, Yahoo, and AdWords to try to get a few leads and hopefully develop a couple decent sized PPC clients - I figure if I can get a couple good PPC clients then in time I can upsell them to SEO services. Hell, maybe I should be trying to sell them SEO first... I dunno. I sure know that if I can get a couple of decent clients then it could mean some more work for you guys too.

I can tell you how I did it in 5 easy steps! (except for the RSS stuff. they didn't have that stuff when I started out. in fact when I started out we had to walk to the library to use a computer and it was uphill all the way. BOTH WAYS!)

#1. Start a blog, always tell the truth and always talk about things that you know really do help people less experienced than youself

#2. Go to google and do a search for SEO _blogs, set up a rss reader and start commenting on the most popular, well read blogs on the planet. ALWAYS suck up to the owner of the blog and ALWAYS try to offer better, more useful comments , (that doesn't overshadow the blog owner), than  all the other posters.

#3. Do the same search for seo+ forum and start contributing, (not spamming), the biggest forums and social sites. ALWAYS add value to the forum and NEVER put your personal agenda above that.

#4. ALWAYS try your best to be helpful and NEVER bullsh** anyone. It's the internet and whatever you say haunts you forever. become known for honesty and not for trying to steal clients by trying to "look" honest. Be honest

#5. Follow the DO philosophy

do the best job you can do
be proud of what you do
do what you say you will do

and charge accordingly

You do those things and it will build your SEO business quicker and for a LOT less money than  PPC

Well I figure I've probably bent your ear enough tonight.
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Now you may be thinking "but that would take too long Guru". Well, the truth is it doesn't really. The more you contribute the faster it comes. That is the law of the

Internet Golden Rule

THE MORE YOU GIVE THE MORE YOU GET

There is nothing wrong with PPC and as far as how long putting my advice into action would take to actually start getting paying clients, well, there are a LOT of variables but there are variables with PPC as well. One thing with PPC that is NOT a variable is that it WILL be an expense. So I'm not telling you what to do as much as I'm telling you how I did it.

good luck

Peace Y'all

G




now go get your good clothes on and get ready for sunday school. AND YOU BETTER NOT GET 'EM DIRTY EITHER!

What is a Hi Powered Link?

 

One that establishes trust in content related to a contextual theme or topic.

It is not about page rank and it is not about an authority site or a hub. It CAN be, but when it is, it is purely incidental.

It’s not even about Google or any search engine. A hi-powered link doesn’t get it’s power because a search engine trusts it. A link gets it’s power because PEOPLE trust it and that is what makes search engines want to trust it. Not the other way around.

One big misconception within the SEM community, (that I’m actually grateful for because it has given me a huge edge over my competitors;), is that hi-powered links gets their power from being on theme. I hate to invalidate anyone but the sad truth is that most of the people I’ve seen making that comment have not thought the statement through and obviously have no idea of what “on theme” really means.

Conventional wisdom from within the SEO ignoratti, would have us all searching at Google for our keyword  inurl , intitle, etc. to find “good” link request targets. All that does is get us begging our direct competitors to please send your best prospects to me.

A little better advice is to research out competitors backlinks and target those sites for a link. The thinking seeming to be that if they linked to a guy just like me and now that guy is placed better than I am, they’ll probably link to me too. Anyone that has actually tried this knows that it doesn’t work well enough to justify the time spent on the process. Now if Yahoo site explorer showed how much our competitors paid for each link, maybe THAT would make the time invested to results returned ratio much better. Until then, it’s pretty much a pound in an ounce out proposition.      

Rooting For Free Links

When I’m rooting for free links, I pay VERY little attention to theme. At least as it’s commonly known.

When you’re paying for links, you get to negotiate the link AND THE TERMS. What to say how, when and where to put it.  But when you’re digging for link worms, you are at the mercy of the human being whose fingers can click on the upload button of that site’s file transfer protocol.

So you see, we’re not dealing with content, or context, or websites, or THEMES. It just looks that way. We’re actually dealing with people.

So how do you REALLY determine the “theme” of a site?

WHEN IT MAKES SENSE TO ANOTHER HUMAN FOR YOUR LINK TO BE THERE.

When your link being right there makes sense to someone besides just you, it is on theme! Keep in mind though, you have ulterior motivations beyond the original intent of the target site. You’re opinion of what makes sense doesn’t count in this instance.

So, just because your link would make sense to be right there, doesn’t mean the human running the site NEEDS to put it there. There is a LOT of things he has available to put there that makes as much sense to his visitors as your link does. Unless you built that site too, the original intent of the target site did not have YOUR search engine placements as an objective.

What makes the human running the site decide to use your link to add value to his site?

The same things that make any human want to do anything. 

In the last post I wrote,  What do you REALLY want, a PR 8 link or to be on the first page of search results?   I explained some of the basic human motivations:

Either it makes them money, saves them time, provides added value to their visitors or they believe it makes them look good or smart or benevolent to their visitors, their peers, their friends, their relatives, to the search engines, award sites or just about anyone that can make them a buck or stroke their ego. 

Isn’t it funny how often search engines have little to do with search engine placement? That’s because a search engine can’t do anything until AFTER a human creates something for them to do. Once you accept that concept, all that’s really left is why would they do something for you? Answer that and links of the free persuasion become yours for the asking.

Does it REALLY work GURU?

Can you REALLY get relevant hi-powered links just by saying something people that can provide them want to hear? Well it works for the GURU.

People I Know Of Who Have Worked Hard, Contributed Something of Real Value and Deserve A Hi Powered, Guru Themed Link

 

Debra Mastaler  -- Link  Genius

I love having discussions with smart people. I recently got lucky enough to have one with a very smart young lady who has done a LOT to influence this industry for the better. Her name is Debra Mastaler and she writes a killer blog here --- http://thelinkspiel.blogspot.com/

 She is the Link Genius! Not hard on the eyes either.

How do I know she’s so smart? Because she said this about me.

“But you know Bob, you have a wonderful solid reputation in the seo community, I call it the smith barney syndrome:  you talk and people listen.”

Aaron Wall. I should put a permanent link to him. Oh wait. I did already!

http://www.seobook.com/blog

Seriously, a true internet resource. He gives much more than he has too and while I have no idea of how much he gets, he deserves more.

If you are not paying close attention to what Aaron tells you, YOU LOSE!

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Guy Kawasaki – Here’s a dude who has gotten it from the very beginning.

Have a link on me Guy!

Guy Kawasaki knows how to market online. I’ve read a LOT of his stuff over the years and have never failed to be impressed. Imagine my surprise when I got an email from him. He tells me about a new project he’s just launched that happens to mention my blog and would I be kind enough to blog about his site.

Well, I follow the link he sent me to http://seo.alltop.com/. There I find a really pretty cool concept where under the topic of SEO I find tons of the most hi-end, well read and well respected industry blogs with easy to read headlines including mine!  I was elated and ego inflated.

Bobby Pham -- The Link Building and SEO Blog

http://www.bphamlinkbuilding.com/articles/the-truth-about-pagerank/

I wasn’t familiar with Bobby until I saw him in my referrers. Naturally, I looked and when I did I realized how smart Bobby was and he instantly became a friend. How do I know he’s so smart? Because he said this about me:

“Here’s a great article that talks more about the decreasing value of pagerank.” That links to

http://massa.techndu.com/2008/03/26/FranklyPageRankIDontGiveADamn.aspx

Ken Jones is next up on the smart person list.

http://www.seopscentre.com

How do I know he’s smart? Because he said this about the Guru.

The Chess Club
The smart kids.  You may not understand all of the big words that these guys use, but you can’t shake the feeling that they really know what they’re talking about.

The word club links to me and the word chess links to Bill Slawski,  (another really smart cookie http://www.seobythesea.com/)

Ken really put out a unique post that illustrates creativity and a keen awareness of the industry. Dang it! Another blog to have add to my must read list.

Here’s someone I should have said something nice about long ago.  

Wiep Knol from http://wiep.net/ If you want to  know how to pronounce that, http://wiep.net/talk/branding/7-ways-to-not-pronounce-my-name-correctly/

http://thehouseofoojah.com/news/index.php

A concept similar to Guy Kawasaki’s but I link to it because whoever is running the House of Foojah,(love that name), had the mental wherewithal to list the Guru along with many other SEO loudmouth, errr, experts.

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Oh, believe me, THIS person is getting a Guru link!

http://www.page5network.com/blog/

links to every article I WRITE.

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I predict this site to be the winner of this years best SEO news blog in the history of blogs. It’s quality really does set the standard for the industry and blows me away everday I read it!

http://www.searchengineland.com

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Finally, I want to give links to three men I have had the great fortune to know and learn from for a long time now. But that is not why I’m giving them link smooches. I’m doing it so you will go to their sites and read their stuff.

These men really are three of the smartest men with a very unique insight into the busine