5 SEO Basics Everyone Should Know
Every veteran SEOer already knows the information in this article, but for those of us just starting up, I felt the first post would be a good time to do a review of the basics.
Fact #1: Google is God
Fact #2: Links, Links, Links!
Fact #3: There’s No Substitute for Good Content
Fact #4: Build for the User, not the Search Engine
Fact #5: Making Money Online is HARD
Fact #1: Google is God
Not in the infallible, all-knowing Christian sense, but more in the Roman god Zeus. Any good Roman knew that Zeus was the most powerful of the gods, and you would have done well not to piss off Zeus. You also might have wanted to spend some time pleasing some of the more powerful gods like Mars (Yahoo!) and Venus (MSN), and you’d probably not spend any time praying to, say, Hermes (all the other search engines).
Google, according to some studies, has about 50% of search engine traffic, with Yahoo! following behind at 20% and 10% - there is no fully conclusive data on how much market share Google has, but everyone knows that it dominates the other engines by a huge margin. Some studies say Google has almost 75%. (Here’s one article and another).
So, when you’re optimizing, optimize for the behemoth first. Then, if time permits, optimize for MSN and Yahoo! and forget the rest. Use the extra time to make yourself a pina colada and relax in the sun - you deserve it.
Fact #2: Links, Links, Links!
Google thrives on these for rank - the more the better. Relevant links are better than non-relevant links, but any link is better than no link. The only exception to this is if you’re in one of the internets ‘bad neighborhoods,’ places that only exist to link spam - these places will promise you instant rankings for any keyword; use your common sense and you won’t end up in any of these areas. However, directories like DMOZ.org or Yahoo! Directory are fair game and a great idea to submit to (don’t bother with the costly “premium” submission).
The text of these incoming links is also very important to Google, so try to make sure any incoming links have the appropriate keywords. If you’ve got a site about eBay widgets, you want your incoming links to have the word “eBay” and “widgets” in them.
The number (and quality) of links determines your site’s PageRank, which is a generic measure of how “valuable” the site is. It’s one of the main factors going into any keyword search - if two similar pages have different PageRank, then the page with the higher rank will show higher in the results.
So - get links, get lots of them, and make them quality. They’re good for search engines and who knows, you may even get a few visitors from the links!
Fact #3: There’s No Substitute for Good Content
A site with no content will make anyone leave faster than a black man walking into a KKK convention. Whatever your site is, good content will help - it will provide great search engine fodder, it’ll give a reason for visitors to stay, and it’ll give other sites a reason to link to your site with NO request for reciprocals and NO extra time spent contacting webmasters to give you links.
The nice thing is, you don’t even need the content to be unique (although it definitely helps). There are many content directories out there that offer free articles (like iSnare or any press release site). Does that last statement give you an idea? If you have original content, turn it into an article and submit it to these directories (with a link to your site attached) - you’ll get a link from each of these sites to you at the least, plus any sites that also use that article (the better it is, the more people will use it).
Fact #4: Build for the User, not the Search Engine
While search engine traffic is important, if not crucial, for most sites, you can’t forget the user. Having a quality site (clean, well structured, easy to use) will draw repeat visitors more surely than any advertising, and word of mouth (which naturally converts into links) will bring in new visitors. Don’t forget about the people, and the search engine rankings will follow.
It will also help you build long-term branding - if you’re interested in truly dominating the market, you must consider the user first. Are any of the major sites that you visit hacks for search engines? Or do they provide real content and services for you? CNN, eBay, SEOChat, whatever it is, these sites are at the top because they give people a reason to come, to come back, and to talk about them.
Put the user first, give them something they want, and they’ll go out and sell the site for you.
Fact #5: Making Money Online is HARD
If you think you can throw up some junk website and have it ranked in Google at the top for a competitive keyword and start making big $$$ off of it, you’re going to be hugeley disappointed. To make money off of advertising, you need patience, dedication, and time. At the very least - intelligence and creativity will definitely help.
If you’re looking to make a quick buck, start selling drugs, prostituting yourself, or start a porn site. If you want to (legally) start a business, or a side income, and have a service, some knowledge, or a skill that you can offer and the time to build a site around it, then go ahead and give it a shot. Go nuts. You really can’t hurt anyone!
Jatin Dhillon
wrote @ 9:47 am on February 24, 2007:Hi Mike ,
I have been loitering around your blog for some time. Good content , keep the show going !
In regards to your seo article, i Completely agree with fact #5.
“If you’re looking to make a quick buck, start selling drugs, prostituting yourself, or start a porn site. ”
LOL . Well in my initial days i too fell for the trap that internet is a get rick quick Sweet money pot & then the truth dawned …It’s work , killing work.
Cheers to the online lifestyle…
Mike Bogo
wrote @ 8:09 pm on February 25, 2007:Heh, yep.
Still, feels good getting a check at the end of the month for having done theoretically nothing.
And then, there are also good days where you pull in $1400 in one day
- if only that had lasted!
Good luck Jatin, we’ll both be pulling in some decent money soon enough!
amici
wrote @ 7:35 am on June 28, 2007:Very nice article
I have try to add my site to dmoz but without success
Mike Bogo
wrote @ 7:42 am on June 28, 2007:Unfortunately, DMOZ has been extremely backed up and even stopped taking submissions for a period. I wouldn’t bother checking it anymore - submit and forget it, and if you get in, fantastic!
amici
wrote @ 4:28 pm on June 28, 2007:Thanks Mike for your reply, sorry for my bad english but i’m italian :p
Dmoz is the best directory, hight pagerank and trust rank, but some moderators didn’t accept good web site and became a modarator actualy are impossible.
What is the secret to have hight position on the serp on google? :p
In your opinion are most important, content or html optimization?
If you need a web designer i’m here :p
paranoiaparadise
wrote @ 5:30 am on July 7, 2007:Your blog is great. I checked several articles and learned so much about seo - thanks.
TheOctagon
wrote @ 8:16 pm on September 22, 2007:Written by a man that hasn’t delved into the porn biz.
Quick money? Perhaps in 1993.