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Secret Search Strategies
The Sprocket Report
The SES Conference series is held annually all over the world. We’ve been attending the Chicago conference for years and always bring back some tidbits to share. The cutting-edge search news this year? Well, we wouldn’t call it “news” exactly.
The first few conferences we attended were during the wild west days of search engine marketing. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and many other big companies sponsored elaborate booths with teams of logo-wearing reps giving away piles of clever tchotchkes.
Back then, search companies promised to work strategies that would make you number one in Google for a fee. A whopping huge fee. As we wrote in 2007:
“As an example, John Grudnowski, Director of Modern Media says it’s ‘difficult to handle small ($50K and under) client requests at profitable rates.’ Their average agency fee runs $10K to $100K+, billed monthly. Epiar Inc. charges $25K per month for search engine optimization, which Managing Director Damian Finlay admits ‘caused some sticker shock to occur.’”
This year the SES show boasted eight modest booths and we never actually saw the words “Search Engine Strategies” for which SES is named. That doesn’t mean search engine marketing isn’t important. It’s the belief that you can buy your way to the top with expensive strategies that is not longer valid.
Instead of black hat schemes, SEO tricks and attempts to manipulate the algorithms, content is more than ever king. The whole point of search engines is to serve up the results folks want to see. By continually refining the algorithms, search engines distill the results to provide content most relevant to the search query.
The “secret” then is for your website to state what you offer.
This is hardly a novel concept, but it’s a bit more difficult than it seems. People tend to sabotage themselves by not writing descriptive text or not using the same terms their visitors use when searching. They also fail to support their websites with digital media to gain backlinks. Social media links alone won’t boost your search engine rank, but by interacting with real people about your service or product, your real reputation grows both off- and online.
Here’s an example: Sam owns an accounting business. His Facebook page links to his website. That’s no big deal, backlink-wise. Everybody has a Facebook page. However, because Sam is active on his Facebook page, he now knows Barb who is a business coach and writes a column for Start-Up Weekly. In her blog, she quotes one of his tips and links to his website. That recommendation is a much bigger deal, backlink-wise, because Start-Up Weekly has a known reputation for business systems.
SEO tricks have never been our forte. What we do is help you tell the world about your business by making the best use of the tools and techniques available. Contact us today and we’ll work together to build your online reputation. We’re always happy to help.
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Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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