netmeg - 6:09 pm on May 10, 2012 (gmt 0)

Danny is a journalist, not an SEO. He writes about the industry, he does not offer specific, step by step advice to webmasters. He has a broad audience, and so by necessity his writing is general rather than specific.

Other than cleaning up technical problems, there is no specific, step by step, actionable advice that you will find on a reputable blog post or white paper. Not that will guarantee results, certainly.

If you are expecting such from an SEO who has never looked at your site, your niche, or your competitors, then your expectations are at the very least, unrealistic.

SEO has progressed far past the point of "If I do this, this and that for on page, and that, that and this for off page, I will rank" It's not even really SEO anymore, it's just part of the entire marketing effort. There's no laundry list of items you can check off to get clear of a Penguin or Panda or unnatural link notice or whatever.

But regardless of whether or not you believe in SEO, or the people who practice it, the choice of whether or not to hire one is yours. If you think it's all smoke and mirrors, that's fine.