What SEO is really.
I see so many people asking what SEO stands for, and even more people asking how to master it, what it involves, what you need to do to get rankings.
How many times have you seen a success post here, and somebody has asked "Wow, excellent stuff, how did you do it?" Usually they are referring to a page 1 ranking or similar.
I know the feeling, that was one of my biggest questions when I first joined too. "How do you get the rankings?"
In truth, the answer is to forget about the rankings. "There is no spoon."
SEO = Search Engine Optimization Simple. Easy. Obsolete?
I added the question mark there because SEO is not entirely obsolete, but it is getting there. It might soon go the way of the Dodo, and the "hit counter". Remember those things?
"This site has been visited 1,005,000 times. The webmaster has broken his refresh button."
People might still argue about the finer points of SEO, but for the most part I've never needed them. Many others haven't either.
I've had sites rank quickly, I've had sites rank slowly. I've had sites pulling in 15,000 visitors a month on a siterubix domain. I've had sites slowly build up over time. The point is not to brag though (I am quite proud of the 15k a month one however), but to show what I've learned.
For all of these situations, here is what SEO was for me.
1.) Research keywords.
2.) Put those keywords into the titles and first paragraph of the post. ONE PER POST
3.) Put the keyword as the 'description' on the main image on the site.
4.) Possibly put the keyword into an H2 heading if appropriate.
5.) There is no five, that's it.
Seriously.
That is such a minimal thing. I know some people might say "Well hold on, there are meta tags and meta descriptions to be filled in."
My reply to that is "I don't know about them sorry, never used them. Can't be bothered to spend the time filling them in either, never needed them."
If Google hasn't figured out what my site is about, and how to rank it by the time it reaches the meta tags, then I need to go back and start that post again. Is it really going to give me a better ranking because of some random tag? Come on! It wants good content.
"So why is that box still there?" Well, it's only there on certain SEO plugins. Just because it was used before, doesn't mean it should be used now. I've seen at least 100 Aeroplanes with ashtrays still, but I've never seen anyone smoking on a plane.
Other people might say "But what about keyword density?" (OK..not many people ask that).
"What about backlinks?"
One of the biggest loopholes that Google used to have, and they closed it firmly. Backlinks are a waste of time. Get them naturally by producing and sharing good content.
"What about such and such?"
No idea, never needed it.
EDIT: The All In One SEO Plugin
This is pretty much outdated and I don't even use it on several of my sites. If you are going to fill it in. ONLY fill in the title to match your title. The other boxes are just ashtrays that are no longer needed.
Also, one post per keyword.
Keywords.
Keywords are not a section or list used by Google to rank your site. They do not look for a list of keywords somewhere and say "ah so this is what we should rank for". No. They read your content and determine its quality based on a whole number of factors. Then when someone searches for something that Google knows your page is about, it will put your page somewhere on the list, based on the quality they have determined.
Thinking in terms of Keyword lists is the wrong angle completely.
So What Is All The Fuss About?
The Internet moves quickly and doesn't have a curator. Information lingers on and people cling to old ideas hoping or believing that they work.
Have you noticed how there is no thorough SEO guide on WA? Wonder why?
You DON'T NEED to know SEO to succeed with your website, so why waste your time learning the finer points?
Every time you create a post or page on your site, you are telling Google "This is who I am, this is what my site is, this is what I talk about and what I know about".
The more you write, the more you EARN your rankings. The more people comment and engage on your site, the more your EARN your rankings. The same for sharing.
Tweaking descriptions, tags, meta, and all this other stuff is old and useless. If you followed these methods in the past and got good rankings, you got them IN SPITE OF not BECAUSE OF tweaking them.
You can do it if you want, but I'd rather not. Instead, focus on content and engagement.
Recent Comments
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Nice read, Thanks Dom
One question though, When you say "put it in the main image" is it the main image of the site itself? like logo or main image of each post?
Also what is the H2 Heading?
No i mean..sometimes I have a big image at the top of the post and a smaller one further down, so the "main" one is the bigger one. Not really a rule, it's just what I do.
H2 heading is like a bold title on a post. Kinda like "So what is the fuss all about?" in this post. You can use Heading tags to break up your text and tell Google some of the topics of your page/post.
Love it, love it, LOVE IT!!! I hated SEO but thought I needed to know it, Its all ashtrays on airplanes and chocolate teapots....Thank you so much, you have no idea...I am going to bed with a big smile on my face......
Hi DomW
Thank you very much for this post. There is so much to learn from this post that it will take a long time to get it properly done.
Probably you know I am a starter and I don’t learn fast.
If you could help me to answer my main questions would make a big difference to get the right view to this SEO matter .
I learned here at WA that Quality content is the main issue for Google ranking, but I believe you; the right keywords at the right places and in the right amount will push you up much faster.
May I start my first question with #1 research keyword
My domain name is www.codependencyvoices.com hosted at WA.
1a. How many keywords ref. “Codependency” do I need out of the, using WA term, “Google soup” for my home page and for the other pages in general?
1b. Do all other pages/post need the same keywords with I used in my homepage together with the addition other ones referring to the subject of the page/post.
2. If I understand what you are saying here; I don’t need to place any keyword in “All in one SEO Packplugin? Is that right?
If so what is the meaning of the download as advised in the training lesson of Getting Started lesson 6?
3. I know images are important but how do you illustrate 10 page/post without copying them from Google images or pay for it?
Why h2 heading and not H1. Is a mix like H1 for title and H2 for subs ok?
I am hoping not to bother you too much!
Thanks for willingness to help in advance.
Greetings Peetjg
Hey those are some good questions there and I should edit my post accordingly. Thanks.
1.) One keyword per post, there's no rule about using codependcy X number of times. Just write posts and articles that are relevant, related, and on topics that you visitors would want to see.
2.) Yeah, use the SEO pack, but just fill in the title section, leave the rest blank (this is the controversial part, but it's all I do.)
3.) I sometimes create my own using Photoshop, but mostly I like to pay for them from Fotolia. Bought in bulk they are quite cheap. Up to you.
4.) I chose H2 because I prefer the size. It is different for different themes, but H2 is the one I like the most often. You can use H1 or H3 or H4 or whatever you prefer.
Hope that helps :)
phew..was worried it was one of those "have a rant before you go to bed, wake up and regret it" type posts...thanks!
Number 3 of what you do is a new thing for me. Something that I will add. Love what you have S.E.O. stand for!
I'm not sure exactly how important it is but it's something I do. Probably only useful for getting rankings in google image searches.
Brian, when you upload an image, one of the options is to put in "alt text"..like where you put in the title, the description, the URL etc
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This cleared up a lot for me. Thanks, Dom!
Great, that was my point. A lot of confusion and misinformation out there, glad to add some clarity