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  • SEO Factor » Blog Archive » » 5 Tips to Prepare For the Common Questions

    5 December 2008 No Comment

    If I ever meet Daryl Mather of ConsultingPulse.com, I’m going to buy him a beer. We just had a nice debate about the legitimacy of SEO, and I was reminded of a lot of concerns people have that I haven’t heard in a long time.

    You see, for the last few years I’ve been involved in larger, corporate sites. These are directed by people that have a much greater understanding of marketing overall than your average small business, and they know fully the power of a proper online marketing campaign. They have likely gone through the “pfft..SEO” phase, and understand and agree with the need for optimization and promotion of their site. But that isn’t the norm.

    It seems as though I’ve forgotten what it was like to speak with people that weren’t convinced that an optmization strategy was needed. As I’m jumping back into the small business game, it was really nice to be reminded that there is a whole group of business owners out there that aren’t as likely to have heard of SEO before, much less pick it up just from my explanation. So, it makes good sense to have answers to some common questions.

    You’ve probably already heard the common questions before, so we won’t go over them here. I’ll post on them as time goes on. Instead, here are some tips on answering the concerns of a small business owner without losing your mind.

    1. Be Confident
    When you offer your services to a small business owner, they will have a lot of questions. As unwitting as they may sound when talking Internet stuff, don’t be fooled. Small or big, these are still business owners. They want the best for their business and the last thing they want to hear when discussing a topic that is already so mysterious to a person that doesn’t speak with confidence.

    This would be bad:

    BizGuy: So what is the first thing you will be doing for us?
    SEOGuy: Well, umm…we will have to resaerch your keywords.

    BizGuy: My keywords?
    SEOGuy: Yeah, uhh….these are ummm…the words that people will use in Google to find you. Umm…in the search engines I mean. All of them. Not just Google. Umm…Yahoo! too.

    BizGuy: Ummm?
    SEOGuy: I uhhhh…

    BizGuy: You uhhh what?
    SEOGuy: I mean ummm.

    BizGuy: I ummm think I should just get a Yellow page listing.
    SEOGuy: Ummm…hello?

    2. Know Your Answers May Be Different
    SEO is like a fine wine. No, wait. SEO is like a box of chocolates. Hmmm. SEO is…well…different. It’s different for everybody actually. Sure, there are some basic rules most of us follow, but after that we all have our own little processes and techniques. Be ready to explain that fact. If you are the third or fourth SEO a company has contacted, they will see the trend of slightly varying answers.

    BizGuy: So you think we should add some pages? The last guy said my site was fine.
    SEOGuy: Well, he was right. However, I prefer to categorize the content on a site to focus on a wide range of keyword types; both competitive and long-tail.

    BizGuy: Wait, I was told we should only go for the long-tail because anything else would be too competitive.
    SEOGuy: This isn’t incorrect, but wouldn’t you rather be afforded the luxury of both?

    BizGuy: Sure, but the other guy seemed like a single focus is best.
    SEOGuy: I would agree that a singe focus can be a great strategy, I just prefer to run a campaign this way for a wider range of visibility.

    BizGuy: What’s the right way?
    SEOGuy: There isn’t really a “right” way as long as you have a good SEO on your side. We all work differently towards the same goals.

    BizGuy: I see. You mean like fine wine or a box of chocolates?
    SEOGuy: Exactly.

    3. Don’t Get Angry
     Explaining the same thing over and over can be frustrating. It gets exhausting answering the exact same question every time you pick up the phone or have to write an email. But you have to remember, the person you are talking to is probably hearing this stuff for the very first time. This can all be very confusing, especially if you’ve heard a lot of horror stories. Add to that the fact that any good business owner knows to ask a lot of questions and fully understand what you are getting into before you make a commitment for your business. The last thing they want to hear is you getting angry or frustrated.

    Take a deep breathe

    This would be bad:

    BizGuy: So wait, can you explain this whole link building thing again?
    SEOGuy: Sigh, look you need links to your site.

    BizGuy: But why?
    SEOGuy: Because it will help you rank.

    BizGuy: I don’t understand why that would be the thing to make my site rank.
    SEOGuy: Dude, cus’ I say so.

    BizGuy: Wow, I’m gonna go with the SEO that isn’t wearing cranky pants.
    SEOGuy: Pfft, whatever.

    4. Don’t Get Personal
     It’s going to happen. You’re going to be approached buy a guy with a website built by his third cousin who is going to school for “computers.” It’s going to be bad. Really bad. You’re going to have to tell your potential client this. But beware, the last thing you want to advise is that his third cousin should consider chaning majors.

    This would be good:

    BizGuy: Yeah, I like my site. My third cousing built it. He’s going to school for computers.
    SEOGuy: I see. Well, I really like th eheader image at the top. He’s on the path to becoming a good designer.

    BizGuy: Really? Thanks!
    SEOGuy: Keep in mind that design is a little different. The stuff we look at deals with the search engines in more detail.

    BizGuy: I see. So he wouldn’t have done any of that stuff?
    SEOGuy: Not so much as a designer, but if he would like to continue his education, he may want to hear about what you are going to learn.

    BizGuy: So he won’t be the “smart computer guy” at this Christmas’ dinner?
    SEOGuy: Not the only one at least.

    BizGuy: Cool.
    SEOGuy: Cool indeed.

    5. Be Honest
     Someting else about business owners. They are getting smarter and better by the minute. Communication is so open and information is so easy to get that lying to gain a client is becoming more difficult. Why not just tell the truth? If you don’t know something, it may be better to just come out and say it. This will help you set the right expectations in the beginning instead of taking on a designer’s site that claims to have a very old domain, making a statment over the phone, then finding later that “old” apparently means a few weeks.

    This would be good:

    BizGuy: So, when can I expect to be on page 1? How much traffic will I get?
    SEOGuy: Well, these are very broad questions and have no definite answers.

    BizGuy: So you don’t know?
    SEOGuy: Nope. Actually, nobody knows. But that’s what we do. We will research your site and industry as best we can, and implement the best strategy.

    BizGuy: I like your honesty. This other guy made a few promises I wasn’t too sure of.
    SEOGuy: Yeah, I think it would be better to build a long relationship on trust than just take your money and run.

    Seriously Though
     These example conversations are meant in fun, but I hope you see the points. A small business owner will have a ton of questions, and it’s best to learn to handle them before they are sprung on you. This will help to prove that you are the guy or gal for the job, and that you will handle the job professionally.

    It’s Friday. Have a good day and safe weekend everyone.

  • SEO Factor » Blog Archive » » Todd Mintz Talks on Resumes and Job Searching

    19 November 2008 2 Comments

    Every once in a while, I get really lucky and connect with someone in the biz that I feel could help me grow. If you know me, you know I’m not one to idolize anyone, but I do believe that if you surround yourself with smart, successful people that you will start to gain some of their habits and positive traits. Unfortunately, I could only get a hold of Todd Mintz this time (totally kidding) to get his thoughts on SEO job hunting.

    Because I recently found myself going through the resume-building/job searching process myself, I thought it would be great to interview a guy that deals with this stuff all the time. If you don’t know Todd…

    Todd Mintz is the Director of Internet Marketing / Search Engine Optimization for S.R. Clarke and is on the Board of Directors at SEMpdx. He will admit that:

    I’ve been doing SEO since 2000 and I will gladly admit that my earliest SEO education consisted of primitive spam techniques. As those techniques ceased to work and as I matured as an individual and a marketer, I now play it straight

    Can you tell us a bit more about S.R. Clarke, Inc. and your role there?

    With S.R. Clarke, I do all facets of Internet Marketing with end game of bringing job candidates and prospective employers to our company via the web. I also do Database Marketing, Webmastering, Email Marketing, and act as the first point of contact for all the web leads that my online efforts have brought to our company.

    And a bit about SEMPDX and its blog?

    SEMpdx is a non-profit organization that was developed to increase the visibility of Search Marketing in the Portland Metropolitan area. I was one of the 9 original board members and I still am on the board.

    The blog is a platform for our members and others in our community to get informed about what our organization is doing. Also, board members have the opportunity to post their SEM articles there and hopefully get a large amount of visibility for doing so. I tend to post more articles than others…at the time SEMpdx was born, I didn’t have a personal blog (and still don’t…just a website where I’ve posted a few non-SEO stories).

    As a college student, I was taught that a resume should be thought of as your foot-in-the-door. The idea is to get an interview, so make the resume shine. As an SEO, I found myself creating a resume that focused more specifically on my past experiences, accomplishments, etc. I ended up with 2 resumes. Can you tell us your opinion on a resume overall? Should it shine with pretty “I’m the best” speak, or should it be short and to the point. What do you like to see?

    I definitely think that many resumes are far too long and wordy. You don’t need to list 30 tasks and accomplishments for a job you were only at for a year. Just go with the strongest ones. Use action words and keep each point as succinct as possible. White space is your friend.

    Quantify (to the best of your ability) the results of your actions (e.g. Organic Traffic increased 400% in the past year since I commenced the SEO effort). Pull charts from places like Compete (overall traffic) or SEODigger (keyword rankings) that supports your efforts and include those in your materials.

    Your resume should exude confidence without being arrogant. If you put enough supporting material in it that shows you got SEO game, any boasting is redundant.

    For SEO’s, I would like to see examples of your online footprint (which I talked about in this article). Also, you should remember that care should be taken with Your Google Resume because you must assume that anybody seriously considering hiring you will Google your name.

    In said article, you mention that “If you aren’t on LinkedIn, I’d probably disqualify your immediately for you clearly have no interest in networking.” This was, of course, in reference to finding more information about a potential SEO/SEM candidate that didn’t have a resume; but would you say that we are moving to this form of consideration? More specifically, do you feel it important to work on your own online presence, even if you have a resume? Do you think this will hold more importance as time goes on?

    It is extremely important to work on your online presence not only if you are looking for a job but for when you are employed as well. A powerful online presence will serve your career well in so many different ways. In all likelihood, somebody interested in talking to you has already Googled your name and done some level of “investigating” of your background prior to making contact.

    Sigh. I don’t think I will ever get used to “Google” being a verb.

    In the end, what would you prefer: I email you my resume in reference to a job, or that I email you my name and some pertinent information, and direct you to find my Google footprint? Do you think there is a future for resumes at all? I mean for Internet related jobs.

    Unless you have a prior personal / professional relationship with your prospective employer, a resume is an absolutely necessary tool for your job search even for Internet Jobs. However, your Google footprint is very important and will grow even more important over time.

    Following you on Twitter, it is quite apparent that you see a lot of resumes. More obvious is the large amount of resume no-no’s you share. What would you say should be the top three ‘DO NOT’s’ of resume creation?

    Clearly, the biggest mistakes are in proofreading. If you aren’t a good writer, find somebody who is and have them do your resume. And, frequently, the resume might be professional (and likely done professionally) but the body of the email is illiterate (which ruins the professional effect).

    I definitely recommend getting a separate email address just for your job search. I receive many professional resumes from people using unprofessional sounding email addresses.

    Also, due to a setting in Outlook that adds all email recipients to the applicant’s address book, I end up getting spammed with a wide range of unprofessional chain emails that the applicant is blindly sending to everyone in their address book (which have included inappropriate humor, political messages, Indian Tribal Meetings, and even invitations to poker night).

    Finally, I think that people frequently FUBAR their job search technique. I told a friend of mine who recently lost his job that his goal should be to send out 50 resumes a day. Job search is a numbers game and the more resumes you send out, the better you chances of landing an interview. Realize that only 10-15% of jobs are advertised, but when you send your resume to a company, you are applying not only for that posted job but all their hidden job opportunities that they aren’t advertising. That’s why I stress the value of sending out as many resumes as you can, even if the job that is advertised isn’t quite what you’re looking for. As long as you believe the company could potentially use your services, go ahead and send in your resume.

    “Spam your resume.” Got it.

    But the company just doesn’t know that they need your services until they let you know that you exist :.)

    You’ve also shared some pretty funny resume failures. Can you think of the worst of the worst?

    I received a resume that I guarantee would get 5,000 Diggs. However, because of confidentiality, I have to keep it to myself.

    One guy did email me his resume and cc’ed a few of his co-workers on the email. Oops…

    Quick! Last Words!

    Within reason, if anyone wishes to use me as a job search resource, feel free to email me.

    You can also connect at: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

    I would like to thank Todd. This is a topic that I don’t get to deal with all the time, but always seemed to be asked about. Listen to the man with experience.

    As much as we would like to rid ourselves of the resume hassle, we just aren’t to that point yet. And if you are in the search industry, or any industry that could even be remotely related, you really should be showing your knowledge by examples. If an employer Googles your name, shouldn’t they find you?

    If you’re looking for a job, these surely are words by which to live.

    Thanks again, Todd. You rock!

  • SEO Factor » Blog Archive » » SEO is Not A Fool’s Errand

    3 December 2008 5 Comments

    Well, this happens about once a year. Someone in the blogosphere decides to attack SEO as an industry. After a while, everyone just becomes a bit bored with it and ignores them. However, I’m bored today and have nothing to post. So, let’s go over a post by Daryl Mather on Consulting Pulse, and take a stab at the claims made there.

    First, just to preface this whole thing, let it be known that there are no hard feelings here. Believe me, we hear this stuff all the time. A few years ago we would get testy about it, but now we know it’s on of those easy traffic ploys some bloggers jump on. That, and SEO is self evident now. We don’t really have to defend it. Besides, it’s hard to hate a guy that has such a strong respect for Seth Godin and Alan Weiss (2 authors that have had the biggest impact on my well-being).

    Let’s start with the opening statement of the post:

    “I have never been a big fan of search engine optimization. In fact, I have gone out of my way to ignore it in all my Internet marketing work.”

    It should probably go without saying that your opinion is a bit less substantiated if you go out of your way not to implement it.

    “The World Wide Web has become so large, so crowded and so busy that searching it is like dragging a net across the surface of a vast ocean.”

    I think what Daryl was trying to say was that there are so many competitors that it would be unwise to try and compete. This is faulty logic for any business. No matter what you decide to do with your life, there are going to be a ton of competitors, most of which are stronger than you are, and have been around longer. Does that mean you shouldn’t go for it? Hell no. It means you are going to have to strategize and find ways to outsmart them. You will just have to become better.

    “Add to this the fact that few of us actually use all of the very powerful query language tools that Google has to offer, and you get the double whammy;”

    I don’t really know many SEOs that create a strategy based around engine specific queries. We usually save that for research and finding specific information. I’m a bit confused on that one too.

    “If you read all the blogs, papers, articles and tip sheets floating around you would think that this was pretty easy right? So isn’t everybody doing it?

    And everybody is…”

    Actually, everybody isn’t. I think you would be very surprised to find that the grand majority of the sites that come across my screen for review (20 – 30 a week) have never even given a thought to SEO. I mean not in the least. Those that have were usually done by some design firm that claimed they were experts in SEO.

    “…the chance of you finding your way to the top of Google, for the searches that are relevant to your companies business, are small and getting smaller.”

    Again, I don’t know where this information is coming from. Because of your thought process and articles just like yours, there are actually still people that don’t see a need for SEO. These are my favorite people because their competitors call me, and it makes my job a lot easier. A well planned campaign can usually return results within a few months, and really blossom within 9 months or so. Not too long if you’re a serious business owner looking for long lasting results and a return on your investment.

    “It is, I would suggest, a fool’s errand. Don’t take my word for it. See what happens when you Google the word search. (Expected Google didn’t you!)”

    I could write a post on that statement alone. First, why would Google come up for the word “search” in Google? Why would they want to? Who would go to Google and search for the word “search.” You are now touching on the beginnings of an SEO campaign; keyword research.

    One of the most important parts of optimizing a site is finding the search terms that are relevant, and are actually being used. If I had a hotel in savannah, I sure as hell wouldn’t optimize for the word “hotel.” I would look for terms people will actually search for, like “savannah ga hotel” or just “savannah hotel.”

    “You don’t want to pin your hopes on being where people are looking. You want to to be what they are looking for!”

    Almost a statement I can agree with. You do want to be what people are looking for. But, what if they are looking for a plumber in Jacksonville? They are going to go to Google and type “plumber in jacksonville.”

    This is tricky to answer because in essence you are right, and as such SEO is becoming harder to define. Over the last few years it has changed from making changes to your site into marketing your site online; on-page factors included. But you still have to promote yourself to the people that need you, but don’t know who you are.

    “(And when you put my name in Consultingpulse.com shows up first!)”

    Yeah, but what if I’ve never heard of consultingpulse.com or you? I’m not sure if all of these are relevant or not, but I was just kinda going on what your LinkedIn profile and site seems to elude to. As an SEO, we would go over the importance of keyword research and find the right terms. Anywho:

    Column 1 is the search term, column 2 is your rank (it doesn’t go past page 10) and the last column is the number of results in Google (these look a little off to me, but hey, it’s a quick run, what do you want?):

    This was with piss poor research, but I tried to find some terms I know I could dominate in tandom with your marketing efforts (a real SEO works with you, not for you).

    The rest of what you have to say is pretty uselful, but I think it should have been in a different post as none of those points were in regard to SEO. As a matter of fact, most of what you said could be enhanced by use of a proper site. For example, you advise to blog. Wanna see something cool? Blog for a few years, then take care of the duplicate content and take advantage of some of the pages you’ll have that aren’t working for you (not before). Very few things are more rewarding that increasing a blogs traffic and conversions by 255ish% and 72ish% consistently within a few months. You get really cool Christmas bonuses for stuff like that.

    Overall the post really didn’t make a good case against SEO. This isn’t to say that what you are doing isn’t the right or better way, but realize that everything that you do now can be enhanced by a good, solid optimization strategy.

    As such, to prevent sounding like a jerk, it should be noted that SEO itself is by no way an ends. It is only a means. Optimize your site all you want, you still have to promote it.

  • SEO Factor » Blog Archive » » The Company

    3 November 2008 8 Comments

    Wanna get in on a little secret? Yeah, I bet you do. Well I have a little secret. Actually, its not really as much a secret as it is a self-perceived blemish on my record. There is something that I was a part of that I’m not particularly proud of. Something that, when there’s too much quiet time, weighs on my mind quite a bit. Something that, when I hear about from another person, makes my blood boil with anger. Something that, when I’m working, is an extremely powerful driving force behind what I do, second only to my family. So what is it? It is The Company.

    I’ve discussed my workings with The Company before in passing, but never by name. I’ve never written their company name in a blog post or article. I’ve actually only spoken about them either in person, or written about them in very vague terms. Why do I not mention their name? Because soon, they will be in direct competition, and the last thing I need is their better lawyers coming at me (we can play like that later).

    Also, this is the only warning I’m giving that this post may rant off or become incoherent. I don’t get to vent about The Company, and when I do speak of them, I have to do so in a positive manner (I am a professional, you know).

    My First Days as an SEO
    Take a step back in time with me, will you? My younger career was that of a call center jockey. Outbound sales, customer care, tech support; I’ve done it all. That was my job, wherever I went, and in the days of little to no responsibility, it paid enough and kept up with my laziness.

    One day, I start a customer service job for a “website design” company. Being a computer guy, I had played with HTML before, so nothing was out of sorts with this job. This company (from no on known as “The Company”) also offered Internet marketing. That’s interesting, how do market on the Internet? With SEO, that’s how. What a really neat concept. Gaining rankings in Google, and on purpose!

    Because this concept of gaining rankings on purpose was so intriguing to me, it was merely months before I was THE SEO for the company. But let’s take just one more step back before I get into the mushroom cloud rant I’m about to get into.

    My job was simple. Customer calls in, we talk about their website, I tell them what to do to gain rankings. Neat. After about a month of talking a bunch of lines that had been given to me by The Company, I started to wonder if it was really that easy to rank in Google. Surely its a bit more difficult than adding a few keywords, but that’s what I was telling my customers.

    I started learning. I started to read forums (that was the thing back then) and a few blogs (that was new back then). I started to take part in discussions about rankings. I even started a site of my own. Oh how reality bit me in the ass (first time I’ve ever cussed on this site, mark it down).

    I realized that you can’t just change a few keywords and call it a day. There’s more to it. And where the hell (that’s 2, I think) were these keywords coming from? We never did any research.

    I diplomatically voiced my “hey, I think there’s more to it” concerns, and I became the SEO for The Company. Soon, it was my job to return the calls of the customers that either weren’t happy with the answers they received from customer care, or of the websites that just didn’t rank. Wanna take a quick stab at guessing how quickly and to what degree my work piled up? Alas, I was the guy saving the day. I would call these people, and advise on things they should be doing to rank better. And it was working. I had done enough research to get some decent results (decent at best. Not as good now as they seemed then). But there was a piece to this puzzle that bugged me. The service The Company was selling didn’t make any sense.

    400
    That’s how many search engines The Company submitted your site to. Yup, it was one of those companies. In reality, that was the best part of their service. Sure, they had a ton of marketing speak, but there was nothing to it. If you were a customer, you paid your monthly bill and had no idea that you were being ripped off. You could call customer support, and they would answer your question (with extremely low integrity), and you would think all was well.

    The Fights
    I think I still hold the record for “most time spent in the VPs office” at The Company. I would collect a bunch of cases, fight with management on the crap we were telling people, spend a few hours making reports, then repeat. It never ended. I was almost fired for sending an email to the entire customer care team stating that “if any customer calls for SEO advice, tell them I will call them back. Do not under any circumstance discuss SEO with our clients.” Well, it was their job to discuss SEO with our clients, and management was upset, to say the least (the email came from me, so everyone listened, and it was funny to see the calls pile up). These fights were useless.

    My Part
    “Single handedly I would make this company a better place. I swear it.” That’s what I thought. I honestly thought I could take all comers, educate them and get them something that would resemble SEO success. This actually had a chance at working. Customer care even took to my rule as best as they could. However, this just wasn’t logistically sound. The calls piled up and the appointments were missed. It didn’t work.

    You Get The Idea
    I think you understand enough about The Company. Plainly put, they were the crap company that sold a nice, big helping of snake oil.

    SEO Factor
    While working for The Company, I decided to start my own service. I would offer an affordable solution with a real return. This turned out very well for me (you’re reading my blog, aren’t you?). I pulled in a few clients, and was on my way to becoming a real company. Unfortunately, The Company was not happy about this. The things I preached on my blog were not something they could risk their clients seeing (it didn’t help that I directed customers to specific posts to answer questions). I was asked several times to close this site (that didn’t site well with me).

    The Guilt
    I would like to say that as soon as I realized what type of company I worked for, I got up from my desk, flicked the owner off, and walked away. The truth is, it was a long time before I left. I knew fully to what extent we were lying to people, and I had seen too many extreme cases in which our actions certainly ruined businesses. I had even lied to some small business owner myself; “sure you can cancel, but your rankings are going to drop.”

    I know this sounds cheesy, but I feel incredibly guilty when I think about my work at The Company. I know I’m supposed to be more business-minded, but at the end of the day, I’m still young and idealistic. I remember all the good people I had spoken to and convinced to keep the service because it was good for the online visibility. Eventually, this did indeed lead to my leaving. And I’m happy I did.

    Why Am I Writing This Post
    Well, I got tired of specifically writing myself in circles when I spoke about The Company. This post will serve as a reference when I speak about them. Also, I would like to let people know where I’m coming from when I speak with such passion about these crap services. And finally, I am in the middle of starting a company that will be in direct competition with The Company. It’s been a couple of years since I left The Company, and they have had plenty of time to change things (at least that can be their rebuttal if it ever comes up). I think its fair game now.

    Also, believe it or not, people from the company still call me. They still want to offer me a job. I really don’t know why, but they do. So, when I get emails from them, I think it would be a simpler to just link to this post.

    I’m going to release more information on the new company soon, but for now, just know that we plan to offer affordable services to small business owners, that coincidently isn’t a complete ripoff. This is going to be difficult. The Company has access to a lot of money, and every time I turn around they buy another company. Difficult to compete with that. However, I have something they don’t. As destructive as passion and ideals can be if you let them, I use my ideals and passion to push me. I guess that’s one good thing that came from The Company. A desire to go at them.

    In Closing
    I highly doubt I will ever speak directly about The Company. Like I said, they have a lot of money, and it wouldn’t take much of it for them and their lawyers to shut me down; regardless of what is right or wrong. And in the end, any negative comments from me would be viewed as those of a disgruntled employee. So, instead, I’ll be a bit more constructive.

    I’m coming for you, The Company. And I’ve got fire in my eyes.

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    When it comes to promoting your business, one rule stands above the rest; be where you customers are. If they don’t know about you, they can’t buy from you. And today, your customers are online. If you don’t have a presence on the world’s largest medium, how can you expect to beat your competition? When you get down to it, you need 2 basic things.

    SEO Factor gives both of them to you, and they are catered to fit your needs. Furthermore, we provide a wide variety of other services to not only help you get online and gain traffic, but to help your business beat the competition who is already doing the same thing.

  • SEO Factor » Blog Archive » » SEO Ignorance at PC Mag

    10 February 2009 6 Comments

    Looks like it’s that time of year again. Someone is attacking SEO, and as always, this someone has no idea what they are talking about. They are, again, basing their opinion on faulty logic and a poor experience.

    But today, we get to see something even more interesting. Not only did our subject have a bad experience, he had such without even getting scammed. Nope, this isn’t a case of someone getting ripped off, instead it’s a case of someone who has no business eating at the big boy’s SEO table, playing with URL structures on his site.

    So let’s talk about the ignorance of John Dvorak from PC Mag, and see where he went wrong.

    Let’s start with my biggest beef. This is one I implemented on my own blog and now regret: the long URL. One of my friends (an SEO maven) had suggested during an IM chat that I was losing a lot of page views on the blog because I wasn’t using long URLs. “What’s that?” I asked.

    I’m not sure who the hell suggested “long URLs,” but either Mr. Dvorak completely misunderstood what was being told to him, or he was talking to someone who didn’t know themselves (with reading some of his other stuff, my vote is on the prior, but I could be wrong).

    My blog had typical, efficient WordPress default URLs, such as http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=3100 or some such thing. Now on my current blog, that particular URL—which used the simple story ID number to access the post—has been supposedly SEO-optimized behind this URL: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2005/10/20/hollywood-unions-want-cut-of-itunes-pie/.

    I ask you, what is more efficient and reader-friendly: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=3100 or

    http://www.dvorak.org/hollywood-unions-want-cut-of-itunes-pie/

    Just because you don’t know what you’re doing, you kept dates in there.

    With the new long URL you get the date and the headline of the post. In some instances with a long headline it’s ridiculous. Besides, the second URL is cumbersome, long-winded, and impossible to type by hand. It is supposed to be search-engine friendly and more likely to get the attention of Google. Check out the fact that 90 percent of the blogs and major Web sites all use this supposed trick to get attention.

    It does nothing.

    Supposed trick? You just stated that “90% of the blogs and major websites” do this. So, what does that tell you? It’s not a trick, you just need to learn a thing or 2 about usability.

    Sigh. It seems like you were given a nugget of knowledge that you should probably take note of, but IM chat is not conducive to explaining the caveats and proper implementation of changing URL structure. It sounds like your friend was trying to get you to get more definition with your URLs (which would help) and you jumped at adding the dates (I have no idea why).

    This is apparent when you compare the numbers on my blog. In fact, my total page views actually declined when I implemented this stupid practice. At first I thought it was a seasonal anomaly until I had a chat with a developer who was pitching me some new product she was doing. The developer mentioned that she was just recently at Google and involved in the search-engine strategy team in some way. She said she knew about SEO. I mentioned this trick, the long URL, and I swear she almost laughed in my face. She told me the idea was bogus, period.

    So why is everyone doing it, and why does everyone think it works? I have stat packages on the blog and a million page views per month. I have enough traffic to see a difference when there is one. I had a run rate closing in on 1.2 million page views per month when I turned on this supposed SEO trick. Boom! I dropped to 900,000 instantly. It’s taken my site months to recover.

    Oh, I see now. Looks like our new dunce changed URLs without telling Google. When you make such a change, you need to properly plan and implement as according to what Google needs you to do. (perfect plug for Google Advises on Moving Your Domain).

    I think it’s because these long URLs are just crap and stupid. They are impossible to post anywhere or send in an e-mail because they get concatenated. You have to know to snip them with tinyURL or snurl. This stinks. I am going to turn them off and mock anyone using them and anyone who tells me to use them. And if you look around today, that means just about everyone!

    So a guy that writes for PC Mag is having a hard time pasting a URL into an email without it concatenating? What in the hell are you using for a client?

    Yeah they are crap and stupid (very professional, by the way). I would much rather share seo-factor.com/lkajsdnsdnf?=skdjf than seo-factor.com/dvorak-is-ignorant. When I see the first style in an email (assuming the people you email are anything like you) I’m not even going to click on it. I’ll be scared that the Interwebs will steal my credit card information.

    And before you start mocking anyone, please note that you were the guy that decided to make a major change in your site’s structure without any previous knowledge or experience; and you did so at the advice over an instant message.

    Moving on, you really have to read the rest of the post. He continues with a gross mis-use of the word “tags.” Apparently “tags” were used in the 90s to help rankings. That’s kinda true. But then he explains that he tagged categories of his own posts. Now it seems as if he’s talking about tags in the more recent form. It’s a little confusing, but makes for a good laugh.

    While you’re there, go ahead and leave a response. Be sure to tag it with the word “ignorance.”

    Look, let’s just wrap this up. I have a lot to do today.

    John, there’s a reason guys and gals like me charge a lot of money. It’s because some of this stuff is pretty tricky (I hear it’s also tricky to rock a rhyme), and if you haven’t the experience then you’ll end up in the same spot you always do. Sure, there are plenty of firms out there that do this stuff on the cheap, but they don’t actually know any more than you do.

    I admit very openly that SEO seems very mysterious at first. But if you spend some time getting into it, you’ll find the mystery fades and turns into “confusing and tedious.” That’s better than mysterious as you will soon see how real SEO is, and what it takes to be efficient and successful.

    Again, it’s expensive for a reason. If it were really so easy as to make a quick URL change (even a properly planned one) don’t you think everyone would be successful? There’s a playing field out here, John, and it isn’t level. It takes a lot of hard work and experience.

    Oh and hey, do something about those URLs on your blog, will ya? They are horrible.

  • Vizergy Test

    May 14, 2009

    If you came here, sorry.  I’m just testing the Twitter/WP plugin. I know this is on SEO-Factor.com, but it will actually be for Vizergy.com (where I currently provide services).

    Later, guys.

    test post 1

    May 13, 2009

    This is a test post. kasjdg;oiajs ;goikjas ;odgija;so igd;aoisjdgg ;oaijsd g;oiajsd g

    asdg

    asdg

    asd

    ga

    sdg

    a sdgasdg adsg

    Hello world!

    May 13, 2009

    Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

  • SEO Factor

    Looks like it’s that time of year again. Someone is attacking SEO, and as always, this someone has no idea what they are talking about. They are, again, basing their opinion on faulty logic and a poor experience.
    But today, we get to see something even more interesting. Not only did our subject have a bad experience, he had such without even getting scammed. Nope, this isn’t a case of someone getting ripped off, instead it’s a case of someone who has no business eating at the big boy’s SEO table, …

  • SEO Factor » Blog Archive » » Alt Attributes by Matt Cutts | Video Link

    Home » SEO

    7 December 2007 No Comment

    OK children. In today’s SEO 101 lesson, we will be taking a look at the alt attribute for image tags.

    Over at the Official Google Webmaster Blog, there’s a nice video post on Using ALT attributes smartly. It’s hard to see, so I’ll type in the HTML he is using.

    The first one is


    is the name of the file that we are calling. This is what will show up on the website.

    In the second one, he shows the alt attribute (it’s actually an attribute, but he calls it a tag. This is really normal among us, but incorrect just the same). So, it would look like this:

    ”Matt’s

    The addition of alt=”Matt’s cat Emmy Cutts with some yarn” is the part that describes the image to Google, and has an impact on it’s appearance in Google Images. He touched also on naming the file a better one, and that will help as well. So, we would have something like:

    ”

    That’s all for today kiddies. Have a great weekend.