I am confused about current day SEO

[amilylorry]

Hi everyone, I am new here, I have worked for building links for 3 years. But now, I am confused, I don't want to post spam post to forum, article, press release, comment, blog, etc. Because all of these things are danger, meaningless, finally the site will get penalty. But I don't know what should I do except for these. I am so painful about my work, could anyone give me some advises?

[Saffron]

I don't claim to be a SEO expert but I've always concentrated on just adding content. I don't think I've ever tried to link build at all. I just let them happen "naturally". People will link if they want to.

I've never really done guest posts (too lazy, I'd rather just add content to MY site), or on forums, because most site owners take a dim view of you posting links to your own site. I don't even do it when it's relevant.

I am not google's greatest fan at the moment, I've been hit quite hard (for the second time), but my view has always been to just spend your time adding great new articles that people will like so much they'll link to.

I noticed yesterday that a "specialist" in the topic of my site has linked to me on their website. That's the kind of stuff you want. IMO.

[amilylorry]

Thank you for your reply, Saffron.
You did not build link but got hit? Why?
But our manager said: If you want to rank better, you must to build links.
I am bad writing, I really confused what should I do. ~_~

[Saffron]

I think I was hit because I'm neither a "brand" site such as discovery.com or a "boutique" site. I sit somewhere in the middle, so get hit whenever Google turns the dial. Or, there's something about the hardware of my site (Joomla) that they don't like.

I see webmasters turning themselves inside out with SEO and I've always believed that for a content based site (such as mine), to just keep adding new articles. I would rather spend my time adding really great content, that brings in users than on SEO.

I kind of look at SEO as a "bookkeeping thing". So say you're a plumber, your day job is plumbing, and you do a bit of bookwork on a night. But you don't spend 80% of your time doing the books & 20% of your time doing plumbing jobs.

My site ranks well, it's just that every tweak Google makes I slide down a place or two. I still make it to the first page within a month of adding a new article. So I guess I have authority, but they reserve the top spots for their "favourites".

[amilylorry]

Wow, you are very cool. Actually, I really hate building links, I want to create great content, but I am not a writer, I can't create great content, does it means I have to give up SEO? So sad.

[Saffron]

I think writing is something you learn on the job. I have no formal qualifications, but I love writing about my chosen topic and my spelling and grammar are okay (certainly not perfect).

A website has a product, be it something you are selling or content. You devote the bulk of your time on that product. In my case it is writing. I do absolutely zero link building or SEO. I just work on my product.

I am sure people disagree with me, and will say that's why I've been hammered by Google. But my job is to grow my site and to grow it I need to add content. Plus I'm not somebody who's particularly interested in SEO or link building. I get so much satisfaction from writing a really great article. There's pride in that.

But back to you. So you have a site, is it selling a product or content? Do you own it? How do you plan to grow it? What are you offering? I don't mean that in a mean way. for me, I think I'm offering information. That's what the purpose of the site is.

[amilylorry]

Yes, I have a site, and selling product, I offer computer software. I don't know how to grow it, this is what I am confused. I think maybe I should create more contents that useful to reader just like you.

[Saffron]

See selling an actual product is a bit out of my league. My "product" is content, so I work on that.

What are your competitors doing? Adding new products, information on the product? Check them out, see what they're up to.

I also like to go to Alexa and search for my competitors, see what their top articles are and then write on that topic if I haven't already done it :) 14 years of doing this, I sometimes struggle with ideas.

[amilylorry]

I found that my competitors who own small site they are mainly building links, but others who get great ranking are updating their websites, adding contents, so their sites have large amount of articles, but they also get many backlinks.

[netmeg]

Nowadays it's all about being *useful*. Useful in and of yourself, but also more useful than the other guys in your niche. I could publish tons of content that is unique, but if it's not particularly useful to anyone (or only to a small number) or if other people have also published similar content, even if it's not the same, then I probably won't get very far.

[EditorialGuy]

I kind of look at SEO as a "bookkeeping thing". So say you're a plumber, your day job is plumbing, and you do a bit of bookwork on a night. But you don't spend 80% of your time doing the books & 20% of your time doing plumbing jobs.

That's a great analogy. And I'm with you: Focus on the content and let the search engines do their thing. Everybody wins: you, the search engines, and users.

[n0tSEO]

More than on SEO (on-page), I would focus on marketing anything I produce, from content to services to offers. :)

[Saffron]

For a product site, I would expect it to be so easy a 4 year old could use it. I also like to have several payment options, including Paypal (because sometimes I have "play" money in there that I'm looking to spend). Making it as simple as possible for the user is so important. I have the attention span of a gnat, if I can't click & buy within 10 seconds then I'm out.

Maybe you could add user guides for the products too? Again, look at sites you think are good and try to do what they do.

As for content, I try to make all of my content useful, but you never know what's going to be a hit and what's not. I've written articles that I've thought would do great, and they're lucky to get 100 hits a month, I've written others that have done great. The user is always at the front of my mind, and my view is that if the content is good, other sites within my field will link to them. Along with the media. More content/more exposure/more natural links.

Just somebody tell Google that for me :)

[davidjhonson]

i think fresh or user attractive content and smo both are good techniques in SEO to increase traffic of a website.

[Sammy_Lee]

When you are going to post a content it should fresh and written in a good manner.Do not copy & paste anything in your content.Just simply write what is your site.Blog posting is a good way for increasing the traffic of your site.

[tangor]

Commerce sites need to have something more than "product" to offer users. There's a zillion other sites selling the same product(s) and unless you offer something MORE to the user there's little chance you can stand out from the crowd. OR your product has to be so unique that no one else has it... and everyone wants it... to get that recognition and ranking.

For software sales you need to sell the product a dozen different ways with "how-to", "applied use", "results", "testimonials", "reviews", etc. These should be unique, fresh (not canned from the maker) articles to get the best results.

In the end you want your site compelling enough that others want to link to it, want to share that url with others, want to tell others about their experiences. And that is "current day" SEO, which just happens to be the same as "old school" SEO. All that other stuff (link building, guest blogs) is smoke and mirrors that worked at one time but will not work as well, or at all, in the future. No short cuts. Nothing replaces hard work and dedication.

[nomis5]

Actually, I really hate building links, I want to create great content, but I am not a writer, I can't create great content, does it means I have to give up SEO? So sad.

So, you don't want to build links, that's a good start because link-building is dead in the ground.

You can't create great content - to be truthful, go find something else to do with your time. People read the web to see great content, they don't read poor content. If you can't create great content then this is not the business for you. That's the truth, give up SEO and give up creating websites.

[Saffron]

I also don't look at link building as...

www.domain.com

Rather linking to individual articles. So the more articles on the site, the more links I assume I will earn.

Thankfully, my "competitors" (I don't like that term really) and myself have no issue with cross linking. While most of us don't directly link to one another, links to articles are shared on each others forums. One of my best links is from my direct competition this way, somebody posted a link to my article on their forums (not me, I never use forums to promote my site), and it brings in a lot of traffic. I also get links on sites such as ehow and the occasional boost when a news site such as the BBC links to one of my articles, although that's usually only a temporary boost.

Again, not a fan of Google right now, but I do actually go by what Matt Cutts has said about building great content to get links (to paraphrase). I guess it could be called "organic link building". It just happens when you add the content.

[amilylorry]

Thank you for all of you, maybe I have made my direction clearer. Could I ask you that what is great content, how can I know which kind of content user like most?
Thank you.

[Saffron]

Content that is useful for the users. I get my ideas from books (I look at what topics they cover), I check out my competitors, heck, I even ask my kids for ideas. As I'm writing, more and more ideas come to me during the course of writing an article. I actually find people who have absolutely no interest in my topic will ask me questions. I got one great idea from my next door neighbour who said "how come X's do this"...so I wrote an article about it because I know it's something a lot of people don't understand.

I can write 60 articles in a month, some never get more than a couple of hundred hits a month, some can get thousands. Sometimes I just don't know which ones will take off and which ones won't. But I just add and add what I think will be useful. The other day I wrote an article that I know won't get many hits, but I added it because a) it was beneficial for me to understand the topic as it's relevant to my site & b) some people will find it useful.

Only you know your subject, what people need to know, want to know. I actually often find the more I write, the more ideas I get. Right now I have about 30 tabs open with file names of articles I need to write.

[tangor]

Hate to be hackneyed on this but, "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" seems to apply. I get it that you're the tech wanting the site to do better, and that managers above you are in the mix... but it does sound like this is an operation without a clue.

"Great content" is not necessarily great. Content must be useful and compelling for that one shot you get when someone views your landing page (whatever page that might be) and is the ONLY shot you have to capture their attention. That means the content on that page must be valid, interesting to a degree, and not boilerplate text that a thousand other websites have.

SEO these days really means "do no wrong", and the way to do that is have a valid and useful website, valid and useful product (eCommerce), AND NO SPAM, NO SEO TRICKS OR CUT N PASTE LIKE ALL THE REST.

Aside: Site is 3 years old. Does it show steady growth year on year? Is the product of sufficient interest/use that it can continue forward? Software, sad to say, has a shelf life of a gnat's whisker most days, so it might be that you've already hit the peak.

Observations, harsh, but merely observations gained since 1996 on the web.

[amilylorry]

Hi, tangor
My site did not show steady growth year on year, it got hit every algo update, it went to the growth's opposite side.
You said "Software, sad to say, has a shelf life of a gnat's whisker most days"
I am agree with you.

[tangor]

Done... as in the "share the truth" kind of thing. What I mean by that is you apparently know there are limitations of offer to the users regarding the product so what is left is selling tho best benefits of that product as best you can. THAT will be your "great content". It is sometimes called flogging a dead horse, but there have been times that exercise has produced returns.

In reality if your website is a one horse pony, ie, a single product, it might be time to find another product to offer, perhaps in addition to the one you've done for 3 years. That's another part of great content: the ability to find something new, something different to put on the webpage... to always have new content.

It is the new, the different, that will get your site known, gather natural links, to bring in the biz... It worked in the 1400's, 1800's, the 2000's... Nothing new here, just a different presentation of the same old sales pitch... only this time G (as the largest) is playing gatekeeper of the audience who might hear that sales pitch.

I wish you all the best for whatever direction you go in the future!

[amilylorry]

Thank you tangor.

[EditorialGuy]

In reality if your website is a one horse pony, ie, a single product, it might be time to find another product to offer, perhaps in addition to the one you've done for 3 years.

Or don't rely so heavily on organic search. Some businesses attract customers with CPC ads, Amazon, eBay, etc. (I know a good-size small business that sells profitably through Amazon and another that gets nearly all of its customers through word of mouth on TripAdvisor.)

[Planet13]

@ amilylorry

Just my opinion:

amazon has great SEO NOT because they have great content (they don't have particularly great content - it is often the same descriptions that appear on many other websites).

They have great SEO because they have A GREAT BUSINESS MODEL.

Is the software you have better than your competitor's software?

Is it cheaper?

Do you have the authority at your job to make the software better or cheaper?

If not, and your manager / boss still expects you to improve your site's SEO, then you are basically hosed (which, if you are not familiar with the term, means you are in trouble).

[amilylorry]

@Planet13 Yes, you are right, I am in trouble.