Shortest Advice on SEO. Ever.

The shortest advice on SEO: If you want to be found, you have to be findable.

– The end. –

someecards.com - You are not an easy person to Google

Tricky to fill this space with nothing..
some link friendly Atlanta public relations social media marketing keywords

Okay not really but you get the gist.

You want to blow up Google. You want searches for your name or your business to jump off the first page like a cliff diver doing aerials. Your ego wants that Google automated suggestion thingy (minus the autocomplete fails) mojo the minute someone starts typing your name.

Not talking some bullshit black hat scam or rigging the game, but genuine organic search results.

What’s The Rhetorical of DUH?

  • How can someone locate your store if it’s not on the map?
  • How can someone call you if your phone number is unlisted?
  • How can someone find you online if you don’t have an online presence?

Online presence does not mean you have to be all over everything, just a strong showing in the right places.

  • Website. The tech team needs to hit all the important SEO factors: keywords, browser titles, tags, etc. If it’s a blog, use plugins to help optimize.
  • Dig into those Google analytics. Understand page rank and referrals – the sites pointing to your URL matter so consider business page for your company on LinkedIn along with your professional profile. Then go after those key referrers for your industry, i.e. if you’re a child psychologist, then the link love from Psychology Today may be worth its weight in page rank.
  • If you aren’t truly social don’t front, don’t set up a bunch of automated crap. Consider other options, like a Google profile. If you are social, get out there and mix it up on the Twitter, Facebook.
  • Blogging. Something else you shouldn’t fake, but there are plenty of benefits to blogging for small businesses, SEO being one of them. I’m a great believer in the social side of blogging, reading and commenting on other blogs – learning, networking, building community. The SEO upside is link love but do NOT abuse it. Comments should be about the blog post, relevant and helpful. Refrain from selling, dropping affiliate links; being authentic, reading and respecting other commenters should be part of your comment strategy.

Now if I can only solve the problem of how to get someone to look for you in the first place, I’d be well on my way to a tropical island of my very own.

Photo credit: Another post, another Someecard.

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14 thoughts on “Shortest Advice on SEO. Ever.

  1. “If you aren’t truly social don’t front, don’t set up a bunch of automated crap. Consider other options, like a Google profile. If you are social, get out there and mix it up on the Twitter, Facebook.”

    Uhmmmm. You’re dead wrong here. Several *very* popular blogs and brands do this. They can automate into Facebook and use it as a channel of distribution. And there is nothing wrong with that. They’re social elsewhere.

    1. Which popular blogs and brands? How successful are they? I ask Adam because I wonder what their goals and objectives really are. Are they just broadcasting to anyone who will listen, do they want or expect or care about targeted engagement, look at conversions to sales, etc.? I know that it happens, the there are some forms of success with this, always the exceptions – but just because it’s being done doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being done “right, well” or with “success.”

      If a brand turned me off by egregiously automating their Twitter or FB to the point it was no longer relevant to me, I’d unfollow or block their stream, doubtful I’d bother looking for their social efforts elsewhere. And what of the new follower, someone checking out an SMB for the first time, when they look at a FB or Twitter profile that’s nothing but automated, self-promoting crap? Is that going to encourage a follow or like, much less start something that could lead to a relationship or sale? Maybe, maybe not.

      This advice was written mostly to SMBs and individuals promoting their small business, which in my opinion can’t get away with some of the practices that big companies do; they don’t have the built-in brand recognition or loyalty. What may or may work for one business could be wrong for another.

      Thanks for the smart challenge, nice to see you here.

  2. Damn, I was hoping you were going to stop after the first sentence, but then I guess that wouldn’t have been good for SEO. 😉

    I’m always amazed at how little time a lot of people spend on SEO, especially with the amount of free resources that are around to help (seoMOZ.org for example). Even just knowing the smallest basics can help you.

    Cheers, Davina, looking forward to spending more time here. 🙂
    Danny Brown recently posted..Why We Don’t Charge for Blog Topics

    1. I was SOOOO tempted to stop there. 😉

      I get that it’s tricky, that it makes or breaks some business especially online retail, but SEO is part of the cost of doing business. Can’t remember the last time I pulled out a phone book, I get downright whiney when I can’t just search for something and solve my problems in just a few clicks. For an SMB that can’t afford to outsource SEO, you are so right that the free resources are out there along w/ tools like WP plugins that help make your content so search friendly. Even just the few hints I offered can make a difference; like anything just a little time and work.

      I lurk your site all the time, just don’t always have/take the time to comment. Look forward to seeing you around here more often, thanks Danny.

  3. Ooh, I like…

    Let it be noted that I would rather visit a well-written web page or blog than one that is written entirely for the search engines. (Borrowing from @unmarketing, who says, tongue-in-cheek, “let me share this search-friendly content!”)

    Keep at it…
    Dave Van de Walle recently posted..Discount Coaching Safari

    1. True, Dave so true. Think about the waste: SMBs spending hundreds of dollars each month on black hat schemes or SEO registration. Think how far that money could go: improving and updating the website regularly, finding an IT or SEO professional who knows how to get bang for the buck, writing smart blog posts that are fun, information and sure, sometimes use some keywords.

  4. Hi Davina — so happy to join your tribe here. I love smart capable people I can learn from — seems you have a quite the sense of humor as well 🙂

    Hey, I would like to reserve a spot on your island when you pick it up – maybe I can buy in while it’s still expensive :p

    The blogging comment you made sounded very lionesk 🙂 Mr. Sheridan is one cool cat!

    Cheers to you Davina – happy I’ll be seeing more you!
    Mark Harai recently posted..Are You a Blogging Resource or Douchebag

    1. Same to you Mark, nice to add tribe members who get my humor. I’ll gladly make room on that island for you, if for no other reason you also use the word “douchebag” it’s one of my faves right now. Marcus and I connected recently, just would it had been sooner.. very cool cat, learning a lot from him. Thanks for the comment, look forward to connecting with you as well.

  5. Digging into Analytics has become my new game. The amount of data you can create is frightening, what numbers really mean anything?
    Hey easy on the bullshit blackhat scam, I have a friend who works for JC Penney and they are amazed at the results 😉
    Thanks for these concise points regarding SEO, (which I know almost nothing about), you have started to make it sound more like something I can understand.
    Have a great day Davina! 🙂
    John Falchetto recently posted..JohnFalchetto- No wine RT @mroconnell- 2 hour long AOC Cabardes Communication Committee meeting No wine served needy

    1. John, Know anyone at Overstock? Or some content farms? 😉 I cracked up at this one story that slammed HuffPo for the “worst SEO keyword whoring” or whatever it was, as I keep reading about the power of search, Google in particular. I too am just digging into the analytics, when I have the time.

      For any business owner trying to keep their website highly ranked, I think SEO is a little scary and overwhelming so I try to share the basics lest they get suckered into some scam bullshit. Gone – less important – are the days of metatags and registering your site with search engines. Dear SMBs: don’t ever pay to “list” your site on “all” the search engines. Talk to your web gurus about keywords, page and browser titles; think referring links and quality sites that point to yours.

      I’m no SEO expert and I haven’t conquered generic search (Atlanta public relations or social media) but my name and my business name are plenty findable. All it took was my blog and 1,349 comments elsewhere. FWIW.

  6. If you aren’t truly social don’t front, don’t set up a bunch of automated crap.

    Classic Davina wisdom 😉

    Some blogs I skim. That’s never the case with yours Davina. I might miss something that really, really makes me laugh or say ‘Dang Girl!’.

    Great SEO points you’ve made though.

    Thanks for all you do.

    Marcus
    Marcus Sheridan-The Sales Lion recently posted..Google Search Results- the Death of Niche Sites- and Why Inbound Marketing is the Future of SEO

    1. Thanks Marcus. Mixing the “DANG GIRL” wisecracks with helpful info, disguising boring education with the funny is part of the service at this house of PR and marketing. At least that’s my goal. 😉

  7. The short and concise answers are always the most effective. Well done Davina! If you want to be found, be findable in all the right places. I took that advice to heart when I was job searching and beefed up my LinkedIn, started a blog, got on the Twitterz. You name it. The “battle” over social and search has found its way into my conversations and thoughts more times than I can count. Should you sacrifice one for other? Will search be more relevant and important than social down the road? I personally think that an equal balance of the two is the right answer because they have two different end goals. One is relationships, conversations and the other is the driver, the call to action, the last touch point before a sale. Keep up the great writing 🙂

    1. Thanks Genevieve. Search is why I’ve been caught up in many of the Google stories lately. Businesses, people, websites really do live or die via the Google page rank, so the power and configuration of their algorithms has tremendous impact. “Findable in the RIGHT places” is so true. Search for a business, you get the Google map or Yelp listing, not the cross-listing from the phone book. Right now social sites are those right places, driving traffic and organic search.

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