Learn SEO | Search Engine Optimization Tips and Techniques

Shoemoney.com had an excellent posting today titled “The Screw Google Mentality“. At first glance as the title I thought it was another “I don’t need Google and they can kiss my butt” posting, but I was wrong. Jeremy says he used that term while speaking at IzeaFest and it appeared to create some reaction from people.  I read his story and what he was saying in short was that if we design and develop our sites as if Google doesn’t exist then we might actually be doing ourselves a favor because we will be concentrating on the user experience more, which in the end will drive traffic to the site.

I responded in the comments that maybe we should take that thought process a little further and actually see what happens when we develop a website as if there were no search engines at all. If we then had to rely soley on word of mouth references to get visitors, how much more effort would we put into creating a truely top notch website?

I have made reference in the past to my not using link exchanges, paid advertising or social networking to promote my top ranked sites. This is because I build my sites to provide an answer to what someone is looking for. If a visitor finds what he needs at one of my sites then he or she is likely to remember that site for future reference and keep coming back. That visitor will also refer other to the site.

By spending more time developing top quality content and real answers to visitors needs I will see the natural outcome is a successful SEO (or as I said in my comments a successful Non-SEO campaign). Google and the other search engines will see the naturally occuring one way links into my site that start to appear after visitors start referring the site as well as a continued effort by me to produce orginal top quality content for my visitors. This of course will never settle well with the “get rich quick” set.

So, maybe the key to successful search engine optimization is really working as if search engines don’t exist. Maybe we should call it Human Engine Optimization or HEO.

You read the title right. In a time when everyone says you have play the social media game and engage in link exchanges to have a successful website or blog, I say “No You Don’t” and I can prove it.

I have two large websites that rank on the front page of Google for their primary search terms and I have not actively sought links nor have I engaged in the social media game at stumbleon, digg, technorati etc…

What have I done to succeed? Each of these websites provide quality content that people are seeking. And because the sites are designed to be resource centers for their respective subjects, they have been linked to by other sites without me making a single request. Quality content is in my opinion key to success on the web. Pick your subject and focus on that subject and provide an answer to the questions being asked.  If a visitor deems your site important enough or of high quality, they will do the off site SEO work for you with social media and inbound linking.

If you spend the same amount of time writing and creating good quality content as you do emailing for link exchanges and playing the social network game you can turn your site into an authority site with great content that will become a natural magnet for visitors.

SItes where that I have developed that have become desitination sites with “answers” to visitors questions include: www.bbq-festivals.com and www.truckerhub.com

What is your opinion?

Over the past 18 months or so I have become very comfortable with WP Blogs and all the different things you can do with plug-ins and the various themes that are available. Before I was introduced to WP I used programs such as Dreamweaver and Cold Fusion to develop websites. I have come to realize there are advantages to setting up your website as a blog from the get go or using a blog as a subsection of your HTML based website.  I have used the WP blog format for complete websites and find the program to be great for a fast growing site that is continually updated. I think one has more control over the SEO of the index page when it is doen in a non blog format.

I have said in the past that each time I build a website I build a blog to accompany it. Whether it is using the Blogger.com or WP format I have found it to be extremely beneficial to start the blog at the same time the website is built. Rather than make the blog a subsection of the site I like to keep them seperate and on different servers if possible. I use the blog as the news reporting side of my web presence and keep the main site in an HTML format. This allows for two seperate sites on my subject of interest to be set up with different subject related keywords and thus have a greater chance of my service or product being found.

Here are some examples where I have used a Blog and a traditional HTML site in conjunction:

www.bbq-festivals.com (site)
www.bbqhub.com (blog)

www.truckerhub.com (site)
www.truckingjobs-usa.com (blog)

www.dsn3g.com (site)
www.todaysdigitalsignage.blogspot.com (blog)

In the end I think for larger sites, especially directory style sites like www.truckerhub.com, I prefer to build a standard website with an accompanying blog and for smaller sites using the full blog format. I like the HTML based index page.

What is your experience and thoughts on this subject.

I spent some time this evening looking through several job boards for SEO jobs just to see what was out there and if there might be something that I could do. Wow! Was I suprised at the many different names SEO professionals go by.  I clicked on a few of them and I think I would qualify for more than one. Some of the more established “old school” companies still want that piece of paper that says you graduated college, but the younger businesses seemed to care more about what you could do.

So now I need to figure out just exactly what I am in the world of SEO.  Am I an:

• SEO Analyst
• SEO Strategist
• SEO Specialist
• SEO Manager
• Director of SEO
• SEO Technician
• Plain old SEO

I suppose I could word my resume to fit any one of these categories but in the end it would be my history of SEO work that would speak for me.  I suppose if I had to pick one and zero in on it, it would be SEO Specialist. That term seems to be the one that covers it all.

So, what kind of SEO person are you???

I have three websites that are trucking industry oriented that I am placing for sale. The total unique visitor count year to date is 41820 with a total year to date hit count of 404813

www.TruckerHub.com has been active since July 2005 and ranks on the front page of Google for it’s primary search term “trucker jobs”  This website also has a truck driver application system in operation that generates approximatly 30 driver applications per month.

Trucker Jobs – 9
Trucking Companies – 19
Trucking Information – 3
Trucker Information – 6
Trucking Jobs – 26

www.TexasTruckingInfo.com has been active since August 2006 and ranks on the front page of Google for 3 primary search terms

Texas Trucking Jobs – 3
Trucking in Texas – 5
Texas Trucking Companies – 8

www.TruckingJobs-USA.com (blog) has been active since May 2006 and is currently used as a news reporting site in support of www.TruckerHub.com  – Does not rank on Google top 50 at this time.

Other domain names included in this offering include:

TruckerJobsWorld.com
TruckingJobsWorld.com
TruckersHub.com

Site are monitized with Adsense and Linkshare – Total monthly income approximate 500 month.

Sites are in great position to be further monitized. The SEO work has been done on www.TruckerHub.com and is already an established name in the trucking industry, especially in the Truck Driver Recruiting community.

Serious inquires only please…………thanks………eric