Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
Our SEO expert has put together a spreadsheet with various elements of the page (about 10), and various options we should test on the page (a number per option). Total variations (roughly elements times options/element) is 80.
Among the options, he has identified 25 options we should test for the meta-keywords tag.
From what I've read, this doesn't seem like an area we should be prioritizing or focusing on for testing.
If you SEO expert recommended this, what would you do?
Thanks,
Pete
Among the options, he has identified 25 options we should test for the meta-keywords tag
If you SEO expert recommended this, what would you do?
<be polite>Ask why he believes the meta keywords is important. Ask why he can't give you ONE recommendation? Ask if he's ever done on page optimisation before... and if so - which combination of the 80 options 'worked'....
[edited by: Chris_D at 7:49 am (utc) on Nov. 10, 2006]
Maybe next time, a cab drivers comes with 80 different proposals how to drive from the air port to the city center.
If you hired him for the right reasons...
Could it be he has the answer you need or close to it, but by 'testing' more things will keep some of the 'critical' changes 'in house' for job security?
For instance, maybe he has found something that is easily noticable if you know what to look for, but may not be readily apparent to most... if he says, 'change this here to blah...' and poof, your site is better he might fear being out of work tomorrow.
(I know I've seen a few sites that would be indexed better if they didn't have that 120char 2px H2 white/white link in the footer.)
Maybe ask him a 'test' question about his 'test' like, "Do we need to test them?"
If he insists they are important to ranking right now I would wonder.
If he understands they might not be a priority, then I would be a little more comfortable.
How long is the 'test'?
Is it actually a 'test' or is it a 'plan' to implement or attain a certain result within N number of days?
EG
Part 1 Cycle through 'test descriptions' and 'test H1s'
Part 2 Cycle through 'test titles' and 'test H2s'
...
Part 26 Cycle through 'test keywords' --- I have read there are some SE which still count keywords in some way.
I think most SEO is a real life, working test isn't it?
(Pretty sure that's why 'top results' aren't guaranteed by most.)
Personally, I would answer the first three questions and let my gut tell me what to do... If he recommends frames... uh ;)
Justin
If you SEO expert recommended this, what would you do?
I would fire him on the spot.
someone you hire shouldn't be running seo tests on your site they should already have well informed opinions if they are being hired by you.
(this would apply to all kinds of things not just hiring an seo)
running useability tests or sales a/b testing or whatever, absolutely yes, but seo tests, no.
>>First, anyone who calls himself an SEO Expert is a sham
i disagree, someone does have the right to call themselves an seo expert and it may not be a sham, it is unquestionable that there are very successfull people in the seo business, that makes them experts.
First, anyone who calls himself an SEO Expert is a sham..
That should be engraved in a HUGE stone right in front of the Google complex. And MS and Yahoo also.
There are some basics about SEO that anyone with 20 minutes to spare can pick up on. And I think that is where about half of the "experts" come from.
I have had "experts" tell me that Google did not read image map links, so I *had* to hire them to convert our site to text links. (of course the funny thing was, they were not images, they were CSS links with an image background).
You can get 90% of the info you need for basic SEO from the Google and Yahoo help pages (maybe MS also, have not looked). If that so-called expert does not know those basics, then I would reconsider.
are very successfull people in the seo business, that makes them experts...
mmm no it does not. They might be perceived as experts. But so was the president of Enron....
[edited by: Wlauzon at 11:10 am (utc) on Nov. 10, 2006]
I made 2002 estimations what effort it would be to conquer certain search terms.
My first SEO disaster was March 2004. I just had some pilot clients for real estate web sites. I had added some extensions for real esstate sites to my self writte CMS. Worked great until middle March 2004. But an algo change of Google destroied all this efforts.
I was remaining only with my few pilot clients. One had March 2004 PR4. Now only PR2, because it seems that Google reduces the value of artificial links, like my great system of customer reference sites, to pass PR to my clients.
All the foundations of my internet promotion business are now destroied by algo changes.
The great idea from 2001, all clients link to my internet promotion site, my internetpromotion site links back to all clients, vanished by algo changes.
Just removed most of this links, because they maybe caused my main domain to be filtered beacaus of PR selling to my internet promotion site. So I wrote yesterday in my last reinclusion request.
Why this "expert" would want to test something that no SE looks at has me a bit mystified.
Yes to confirm, I did mean meta keywords, not meta description.
I know since 2000 by experience from my web sites, that Google ignores meta keywords.
I developt 2 strategies to overcome the problem
A small scrollable DIV with all the keywords under the fold.
When this scrollable DIV is only 35 pixel height, You will receive some day an email from deathcorp@google.com, with the message that You will be removed. Happened to me middle December 2005.
Several hundred pages on my internet promotion site linking to each keyword on the ohter pages with the keyword in the anchor text. Since my main language is German, some of my sites had over 12000 different keywords. After my sites had big trouble after the June 27th, I wrote in my reinclusion request middle August, that I have just removed all this pages.
I assume Your SEO is self educated with a 7 years old book about search engine optimization. One of the books, I wrote 1999 on my internet promotion site, that they are unuseable.
I propose, fire this "SEO", read here a while and You will do Yourself a far better SEO job, than this "SEO" would ever do.
Yes to confirm, I did mean meta keywords, not meta description.
