Noobie: What REALLY goes into SEO?

[nate_king1]

Okay Okay I'm a noob when it come to organic search, but I wonder what really goes into it. Is it something that I could do in my spare time, or do I have to pay a firm thousands of dollars to do this. Any help would be greatful.

[fourstardragon]

Hello Nate.
"Okay Okay I'm a noob when it come to organic search, but I wonder what really goes into it. Is it something that I could do in my spare time, or do I have to pay a firm thousands of dollars to do this. Any help would be greatful."
It depends on how competitive the targeted keyword phrases are. Which phrases are you targeting?

[deejay]

actually fourstardragon (hope I remembered that right), we don't get into discussions of particular terms.. hence the ever popular 'widget'.

nate_king1 - basically there is nothing that you cannot do yourself, and for the most part when broken down the techniques are quite simple. It is, as fourstar correctly notes, how competitive the terms are that may influence how much ready success you have.

What might influence your decision is how fast you want to see results vs how much you are willing to pay for that speed (which is not to say all SEO firms will be able to deliver quality and/or speed of results - you will have to pick and choose quite astutely).

The best suggestion I can give you, is start doing some serious reading here. Look at the top of each forum of interest for the 'Library' link which includes some quality posts. Even if you still decide to hire someone, you'll be much better equipped to spot a quality service provider, and far less likely to get 'done over'.

[fathom]

Actually it is quite simple...

Continuously add new original text copy to your site... a mix of factual, historical, insightful, jovial, conceptual, forward thinking and match these with complementary links.

Everything else is just window dressing.

<added>Early in the game link development is extremely important, but the higher you climb, the more important fresh new ideas (content) becomes.</added>

[nate_king1]

Does anybody know what goes into SEO, because you guys really haven't told me. Is it something that only a few select people know or what? I say this because my new site is over 4 Months hold and has no pagerank on google.

[Sanenet]

Does anybody know what goes into SEO

Blood sweat and tears mate, blood sweat and tears.

Try reading Bretts Successful sites in 12 months with Google alone [webmasterworld.com...] and carry on from there.

[millionmonkey]

For some reason that link didn't work - I believe this is one does "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone"
[webmasterworld.com...]

Nate,

I highly recommend reading the above article. It makes sense even if one is not all about SEO.

[John_Rey]

For all of you out there that claim to be SEO experts - we are looking for somebody that can rank out site (online pharmacy) on Google and other major sites. I am not looking for a SEO company but rather someone that fancies himself as an expert and can deliver. Waiting to hear from someone.
John