As an SEO addict, I dream about the perfect link.

This link is on an authority, trusted domain. The domain ranks for a highly searched two word search term. The page the link is on is linked to from the home page. The link is content-based in the body of a high quality article. The link is the first link on the article. Also, the link is above the fold. The article has been dugg, stumbled, and bookmarked. The article is highly relevant to my website’s niche. The link has my desired anchor text. The link points to one of my high-profit pages. The link is the only outbound link on the page.

Examples

If you’re a basketball blogger, you write a great post about basketball shoes (with affiliate links) and True Hoop picks it up.

If you have a tech site, you review an new tech product and Slashdot links to you.

If you’re a left-wing political blogger, you get your commentary piece talked about on Huffington Post.

If you have a social media site, you get reviewed by Tech Crunch.

If you have a productivity blog, you write a tutorial and get mentioned on Lifehacker.

What’s the point?

Why dream about the perfect link? So you can have something to aim for. So you can have a big goal to achieve. And even if you never get the perfect link, as you’re striving for it, I’m sure you’ll get links that aren’t as perfect but are still high quality links.

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Yes, I am aware that the image on the left is not exactly deadly. However, I wanted to balance the photo included in yesterday’s post, Part One of “Have You Committed the 7 Deadly SEO Sins?”. And now, for part two:

4. Using image files as text. Some people have a huge block of text not in the format of text which you can copy and paste (or which the search engines can read), rather, typed in an image editing software and placed on the website as a jpeg file or something. Here’s an example:

You may feel the need to use image files that are really just blocks of text if you need to display them in a stylized font that not everyone has. This has its merits, but you shouldn’t do it too often. And this is why:

First of all, search engines can’t read the text in your image file. They don’t have eyes. You’ll be losing a lot of keyword potential. Secondly, if you display too many blocks of text in stylized fonts, it usually won’t look good on your site design. You’re probably getting a bit too “font happy”. Third, it takes a bit longer to load images than just actual text.

5. Not taking site stats seriously. If you think you should just look at the number of pageviews you’re getting, that’s oversimplifying the purpose of reading site statistics. You need to know where your visitors are coming from, how long they stay, what search engines they use, and the color of their underwear. Well, maybe not the latter.

Looking through your site stats (via something like Google Analytics) gives you an idea of which SEO tactics are effective. Is it detailed blog post titles with keywords that bring in your search engine traffic? Which links bring you the most visitors? And so on. There’s a lot you can learn about your current SEO tactics from just looking at site stats. And if you aren’t even measuring site stats, shame on you.

6. Depending on SEO alone to increase sales. Proper SEO may bring in some traffic, but it won’t guarantee sales. First of all, your site has to look credible, your web copy needs to be persuasive, and there’s also the aspect of pricing – plus the dozens of other factors that contribute to sales.

One of my web design clients keeps emphasizing his need for better SEO, because, as he said, the SEO services we weren’t providing weren’t bringing him sales. I pointed out to him in the very beginning that his site was gonna need more work than just SEO. His major problem is his bad business sense altogether – I’ve clocked in hundreds of hours of consulting with him but he won’t listen to any of my advice. SEO isn’t the be-all and end-all of online business. You have to remember that when you’re thinking about your expectations from your campaign.

7. Not keeping yourself updated with SEO news. SEO is a field that’s constantly changing, especially since search engines keep changing their algorithms, new web trends emerge, etc. Five years ago, social media wasn’t carrying the weight it does now. For an online marketing campaign nowadays, social media is indispensable. You need to factor in all these trends when planning your SEO campaign. Reading SEO related blogs and websites regularly can help you stay updated, so you can adjust your campaign accordingly.

Do you commit any of these SEO sins? Think of other SEO sins you’ve committed? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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If you’re not getting any heavenly blessings via rankings, then you’re probably upsetting the big G (Google, but I also mean other major search engines like Yahoo! and MSN). You’re committing some sins that are harmful to your website’s soul. How do you know if your committing these cardinal SEO sins? Then check the following list to find out:

1. Unoptimized Page Titles. This is a simple one. Just because they’re not on the page per se, it doesn’t mean they’re not important. I’m talking about the title tags on your webpage.

For one of my websites, the only change I implemented in my SEO tactics was to re-optimize the page title, and my site jumped from nowhere to the second search engine results page. The point is that you could be spending time obsessing about META keywords and the keyword density of your articles, while the simple, easy-to-implement stuff is overlooked.

You may think it’s a good idea to put your firm’s very vague name as the sole page title. “McFlurry, Geronimo, DeGraw and Associates” doesn’t mean anything to the Average Googler. Instead, be more specific by writing “Certified Public Accountants – McFlurry, Geronimo, DeGraw and Associates”.

Since the page title is just one line of text, you need to put your most important keyword there. Don’t make the title too long either, most search engines only read about 10 words or so of it.

2. Ignoring landing page logic. You do your keyword research and place the same set of keywords for each page on your site. You sign up for a PPC campaign and automatically assume that your homepage should be the landing page. You market every page of your site in exactly the same way. Then, you’re surprised that you’re not having any success.

You know, not all pages are created alike – even if they do wear the same design template. You should have different techniques, keywords, and strategies EACH for your homepage, sales page, product page, etc. This is because each page has a different purpose. Different people with different mindsets need to get to your site in a different way.

For example, Todd is urgently in need of a silver chain and pendant for his girlfriend. He needs it within the week, but he still needs to choose the design. Todd shouldn’t land on your very generic jewelry business homepage. There’s a 10% chance of losing him as a customer every time he needs to take an extra step before the checkout process. Where should Todd land?

On your silver chain and pendant catalogue page. He doesn’t need to go through the homepage to look at the hundreds of jewelry types you offer – he has a rough idea of what he wants. This page should be optimized for “silver chains and pendants”.

On the other hand, Steve knows exactly what he wants, a silver claddagh ring. Where should he land? On the silver claddagh ring product page of course! The one with the “Buy Now” button. The page should be optimized for “silver claddagh ring”.

Find out who will need each page on your site and optimize it for their searching habits. Don’t make your SEO efforts generic. It’s sinful.

3. The absence of backlinks. You believe in “If you build it, they will come.” That’s only true if you’re building a tower of dung and want to attract flies. The same isn’t true for websites.

A site without backlinks is like a nice restaurant in a remote place without any signs pointing to it. Backlinks help bring in visitors to your site from other sites, plus, they “tell” search engines what the most relevant keywords are for your web pages. To use backlinks effectively in your SEO campaign, they need to have the following characteristics:

• They are text links, not image links.
• The anchor text for the links contain an important keyword for you.
• As more sites link to you in a consistent manner, your site will be easier to appear in SERPs for the keyword used in the anchor text.
• Some backlinks have more weight than others, depending on the site they’re on.
• Linkfarms are bad. From a white hat perspective.

This concludes the first part of Smart SEO Blog’s 7 Deadly SEO Sins. Tune in tomorrow for the continuaton of this truly sinful article.

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Ah, the Black Hat SEO world… something that invokes either a disappointing look or an evil grin.  Still, SEO practitioners – whatever their hat color – must look at black hat techniques from time to time.  Here’s why:

Your competition could be using black hat tips.  If they are, you need to understand their SEO gameplan well if you’re to outwit them.  You can only do that if you’re familiar with black hat seo techniques yourself.  Find out what their strategy is and try to beat them with your own tricks.  Or, you know, you could just report them when you find out (sneaky!).

Black hat tricks give you a better idea of how search engine algorithms work.  This is because black hat SEO practitioners exploit weaknesses in the algorithms, and use it at their own advantage.  This kind of knowledge will prove to be useful when you’re planning your SEO campaign.  Almost everyday, black hats figure out new ways to take shortcuts to the top of SERPs.  If you find out about these shortcuts, you can find a legit way to use them for your own site.

It’s much easier to explain to others what they can/can’t do during their SEO campaigns.  If you’re a web designer or SEO practitioner and your client is saying “I’ve heard something about raising your PR through a 301 redirect…” you need to know what your client is talking about.  A lot of people, especially those new to the SEO world, get a series of bad advice, often black hat in nature.  Knowing these techniques like the back of your hand can help you explain to people the downsides of applying them to their SEO campaign.

Because they make you look marginally cooler.  In other words, if you’re an SEO practitioner, you’d have more credibility if you know all the possible tricks – whether you actually apply them or not.  Although wearing an actual black hat on your head might make it seem like you’re trying too hard.

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