Thread: 5 Secrets Of SEO

this is a long post but read it will help

Let me guess your story.

You've paid a company a lot of money to have your site submitted to thousands of directories. You may have taken the time to list yourself in hundreds of search engines. You've tried increasing your PageRank, decreasing your outbound links, and buying incoming links from important sites.

You have (multiple) accounts with many of the social bookmarking sites and you've tried MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and a myriad of other social networking sites. You've tried to build up a network of blogs, Squidoo pages, and other websites in an effort to drive traffic to your site and to get your site higher in the search engine results page for that one vital keyword.

You've done all this to promote your site...and it's not working.

No one's clicking on your ads. You aren't selling as much of your affiliate products as the internet marketers told you that you would. Your sales conversions are abysmal. You just don't get enough traffic and the traffic that you do get doesn't stay on the site and doesn't do what you want it to do. You've poured so much time and energy into your site, but it seems like it's been an absolute waste.

Why?

• The First Secret of SEO
• The Second Secret of SEO
• The Third Secret of SEO
• The Fourth Secret of SEO
• The Fifth Secret of SEO

Taken From virtuosimedia.com

The First Secret of SEO

I'm going to share a secret with you that almost no SEO company will tell you. Are you ready for it? Here it is:

There are no shortcuts.

What? That's a secret to guaranteed SEO? What on earth does 'there are no shortcuts' mean? Well, if you'll be patient a moment, I'll tell you.

The more you look around in the SEO world, the more you'll see that a lot of people are looking for a quick fix for their website. They want to drive a lot of traffic to their site because they believe that's what is important. Because they want a ton of traffic and quick, they submit their site to every social bookmarking site out there and write a couple posts in every forum they can imagine so they can leave a signature link. They use every SEO tactic they can think of, just to get people on their site.

There's a word for all of this. Several of them, in fact. I'll give you a hint. They start with an 'S'. Shortcut...Short-sighted...Scam...SPAM...

Most people are fairly good at spotting this type of "marketing"...and ignoring it. Even for those who aren't, they usually learn pretty quick. Traffic that doesn't convert is perhaps the best way to describe Digg, Facebook, MySpace, and a host of other sites that are purported to be the SEO magic bullet.

The traffic itself isn't usually fooled; however, it never ceases to amaze me how many people believe that these are the best ways to promote your site. For every internet marketer claiming to have made millions using these and similar tactics, I'll bet there are thousands of people for whom they haven't worked. And yet, you're willing to spend your time and money trying to gain the quick traffic, make the quick sale, and earn the quick buck.

It's not going to work.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but the honest truth of it is that building a business is hard work and it takes time. There aren't any shortcuts.

"But isn't all of this link building hard work?" you ask.

It may be, but you're missing the point. It's not the right type of work. You're trying to take a shortcut rather focusing on what you should really be focused on, which brings us to our second secret.

The Second Secret of SEO

Traffic generation means nothing if you can't get your traffic to do what you want it to do. All people want to talk about is traffic, links, and SEO. I've read about PageRank, backlinks, on-page optimization, etc., but very rarely do I ever hear about the most important part of the entire equation: the user.

Do you want to know the second secret?

Optimize for your users, not for the search engines.

Forget about counting how many times your keyword appears in the first paragraph or how many sites are linking to you with your desired phrase in the anchor tags. Are these factors in the search engine algorithms? Perhaps, but let me ask you what may be a relevant question: Do they really matter?

In my opinion, it's a backwards mentality to optimize your website for search engines before optimizing it for your visitors. You can't teach a search engine or establish a relationship of trust with it. Neither can a search engine buy your goods and services or participate in your website.

"If you own an online business, your ultimate metric should be successful conversions, not PageRank..."

If you're trying to elicit an action by your visitor, it's also more likely that you'll succeed if you focus your attention on your visitor rather than the search engine. If you own an online business, your ultimate metric should be successful conversions, not PageRank, SERP position, page views, social bookmarkings, etc. It's better to make more money from a few visitors than to have a lot of visitors and make less money.

Your users are the most important part of your business. Why are they an afterthought?

Remember that part where I said that building a business is hard work? This is one area you can put that in practice. Put yourself in the mind of the people who are going to be using your site. Who are they and what do they want? How will that affect how they view your website? How will they use your site?

"But how on earth can I get all of that information?" you ask.

If you don't know who your target market is, you're going to have a very difficult time marketing successfully and an even harder time making any money with your website. You should have already defined your target market in your business plan before you constructed your site. Just building a site and expecting to make a profit doesn't usually work.

Did you just read that last paragraph and think, Business plan? Why do I need a business plan? If you're really serious about making money online, you need to put in the necessary time and effort to do it right. It's not any different than having any other type of business. Does that mean you need to spend time writing out a 100-page business plan with color charts and financial research? No, not necessarily, although that probably won't hurt. You do need to have a plan, though, and part of that plan is to know the market that your site is going to be serving.
Pie chart Are you paying attention to your company's market demographics?

If you haven't looked at or thought about market demographics yet, it not too late for your site, but you may have to make some changes to it. It's also important to remember to test everything you implement or change to see how your users respond. Optimizing for your users is an ongoing process that should constantly push evolution of your site.

How can you perform testing? You can look at log stats and analytics to see what pages are doing better than others. You can also set up split and multivariate testing to see which changes to important pages are favorable and which are not (Google offers this for free for AdWords customers). You can also have people try to perform certain tasks on your website and see if they are able to perform the task the way you meant for it to be performed.

What does optimizing for your users mean? It means making it as easy as possible for them to do the things they want to do (which should also be the things you want them to do). Your site should be designed around your users to accommodate their habits, preferences, and mindset. If you take care of your users, the SEO will follow.

And that brings us to our third secret.

The Third Secret of SEO

Having read up to this point, you may be thinking that I'm recommending abandoning all of the things you've ever learned about SEO and Search Engine Marketing. In a way, I am.

I realize that there are many factors that go into the algorithms that search engines use to rank sites on their pages. It would be foolish not to try to optimize your site for some of these factors as best as you can, but I don't believe it is wise to rely solely on them. At best, they are a useful tool to promote your site and encourage good site design; at worst, they are cheap gimmicks and tricks. Regardless, their importance or function may change the next time the search engines change their algorithms. If your entire business is based on "being properly SEO'd", it is a house of cards, just waiting to topple at the next update.

This is the third secret:

Create value and have values.

Sounds obvious, doesn't it? Create value. You'd be surprised how many people miss this point.

Value is viral. But viral may not mean what you think it does. If you truly have something that is worth having or experiencing, people will find out about it. This isn't to say that you won't need to work marketing your website, service, or software and it also doesn't mean that your products will be instantly famous. What it does mean, however, is that your value will speak for itself and its spread will be far-reaching and long-lasting.

What is value, though? Isn't that a rather subjective term? It can be, depending on what your target market is. After all, it's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure. There are many kinds of value that can be created on the web, ranging from business to productivity to information to entertainment.

For the purposes of this article, however, I'm going to define value as meeting or fulfilling an actual or perceived need or desire in a quality way. In the context of a website, it means, what are you offering your users that they can actually use?

"...what are you offering your users that they can actually use?"

Does creating value for your website simply mean creating content and lots of it? If it did, then scraper sites and article directories would be among the most popular places on the internet.

Your content must have value for your visitors. If your writing is clunky, redundant, poorly edited, or optimized only for search engines; you diminish your value and you'll notice that your bounce rate will go up and your conversion rate will go down. At that point, you may have a high SERP position, but it won't benefit you in the slightest.

Let's look at the SEO benefits of having well-written, human-centered copy as well. People like to share content that they find useful and if your content fits that bill, it's more likely that it will get linked to and blogged about. Search engines may also factor in the bounce rate in determining SERP position, so if yours is lower, it will benefit you more in the long run.

The same principles can also be applied to other types of content as well, beyond just written content. Your pictures, videos, audio, services, and products should also benefit and create value for your users in some way, or else they are just a waste of time.

Creating value is more than just having useful resources; it also needs to be accessible. This can be done by optimizing your website for your users in layout and design, but it also means carefully considering what you want in exchange for the value you are giving.

"That's easy," you say. "I want money and as much of it as I can get."

Not so fast, Scrooge.

Money is good, but it isn't the end-all-meet-all. First of all, your products and services need to be priced at a price point that your target market can reasonably spend. Just because you can charge more for something doesn't mean you should. If you consistently overcharge and overvalue yourself, you run the risk alienating your customer base.

Again, watch out for trying to make the quick buck. It's been said that a good name is better than great riches. The reputation you create will follow you. If you take the time to connect with your customers and create accessible value, you will create lasting goodwill for your business. If you're willing to be patient, a good reputation will make you more money in the long run than a lot of hype and little value. Respect your users and they will respect you.

"If you're willing to be patient, a good reputation will make you more money in the long run than a lot of hype and little value."

And that brings us to the second part of our third secret, having values.

You won't have to read very many business books before you run across the concepts of vision, purpose, and identity. I'd highly recommend adding them to that business plan you're going to write after reading this article.

It's not just enough create value; you must also have it, in the ethical sense.

You should be able to answer questions about why your company exists and what its purpose is. It needs to be about more than just making money. Money should only be a means to an end, not the end itself. What is the ultimate goal of your business, your website? What are your core values?

When you are able to define who you are, it will make other decisions easier to make. Offering value to your users and customers not only means creating value, but also choosing which values not to offer or create. You'll only be able to consistently make those decisions when you know what your corporate values are.

If you're able to consistently communicate who you are and what your company is about, you'll find that your target market also will begin to crystallize. What's more, people will begin to realize that your company actually stands for something and it will draw like-minded people to you in an organic way that search engine optimization never could. It's at this point that your company will transform from just creating value to being valuable in and of itself.

And that brings us to the fourth secret.

The Fourth Secret of SEO

The process of transforming from creating value to being valuable has no shortcuts and there's no magic formula. It's actually a lot of hard work. The fourth secret is:

Build brand recognition through customer experiences and relationships.

Have you ever been put on hold with your telecommunications company or tried to call about a support or billing issue? How was your experience? If you're like most people I know, it probably wasn't very pleasant. Without naming names and to slightly understate my feelings, my own experiences have left me wondering how such companies stay in business.

What are your customers' experiences of your website? Optimizing for your users goes far beyond just your design, layout, and content. It also means optimizing your business to meet the needs of your customers. What are your response times on correspondence? If you're running an online store or membership site, what are your refund policies?

Establishing and building your brand is much more than your marketing in banner ads, through link exchanges, or on social bookmarking sites. It's more than just your logo or site design. It's even more than what your vision, purpose, and identity are. It's about creating a positive customer experience and using that experience to begin a relationship between your customers and your corporation.

"It's about creating a positive customer experience and using that experience to begin a relationship between your customers and your corporation."

If you are really honest with yourself, how much does your content/product/service really differ from those of your competitors? And how many competitors do you have? Still think SEO is the only thing that matters?

You may have heard of targeted or pre-qualified traffic methods, but have you ever considered how you should pre-qualify your site for your traffic?

How well you are able to build your brand through customer experiences and relationships will determine your ability to differentiate yourself from your competition.

I'm reading a book right now by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre called, Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. A particular quote caught my attention as the authors were talking about Barry Schwartz, a professor at Swarthmore College who wrote The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less:

"One eye-opening exercise for Schwartz, who doesn't seem to get out much (at least not to the mall), was to walk the aisles of a consumer electronics store and record the makes, models, and brands vying for his attention. In just one visit, he found 45 car stereo systems, 42 computers, 27 printers for those computers, 100 televisions, 30 VCRs, and 50 DVD players." (page 135)

With market product saturation like that, it's almost impossible to separate your product from the pack. Any innovation that might give you an edge for a time will be quickly copied. The global nature of the internet magnifies the problem ten-fold.

The authors of Mavericks at Work were quick to point out (oft-cited) Starbucks as a prime example of brand differentiation through customer experience. I'm not a coffee drinker, but it seems to me as if there are just about as many places that serve coffee as there people to drink it. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but Starbucks certainly isn't without competition. How have they then managed to separate themselves from the pack?

Starbucks product is not its coffee, it's the Starbucks culture.

Starbucks has intentionally shaped its customer experience around its target market. The goal wasn't to have the lowest price point or best coffee, because you can certainly find cheaper and probably better coffee elsewhere; rather, Starbucks has concentrated on and succeeded in building an atmosphere and culture that appeals and comforts its customers.

By creating a favorable environment as a customer experience, Starbucks has been able to establish a relationship of trust with its customers, resulting in increased customer loyalty and repeat sales.

Starbucks may not be an online company (I know, they have a website), but the lessons learned from it can easily be applied to your own website. What kind of experience are you providing for your users and customers? Are you trying to establish a long-term relationship with them?

Bringing SEO back into the discussion, what impact will all of this have on your search engine rankings? In some ways, I want to answer, it doesn't matter. Which would you rather have, a loyal customer base that returns and buys repeatedly or massive traffic surges from social bookmarking sites and search engines?

If you think about it, however, do you really think putting your customers first is going to have a negative impact on your SEO? Then why aren't you doing it?

The two options I laid out above aren't mutually exclusive, but too often I see emphasis on the "tricks of the trade" at the expense of the customer. And this brings us to our fifth and final secret.

The Fifth Secret of SEO

Many parts of this article were written tongue-in-cheek, a parody in format and style of some of the SEO advice and internet marketing floating around on our nebulous web. Now, without any marketing angle, newsletter signup, or payment involved, the fifth secret of SEO:

There are no secrets of SEO.

Anyone who claims they know the secrets of SEO or the Google algorithm is pulling your leg and possibly your pocketbook as well.

There are no secrets of SEO. There are only search engine optimization techniques and, dare I say, buzzwords and hype. Some of the SEO techniques work better; some don't have much impact at all. Some are well known; others are known only by a few. Some are ethical; some are not. The techniques work to varying degrees and they change all the time, but, in my opinion, they can't ever replace putting your users first. The so-called secrets I've laid out above aren't really secrets and they're not even specifically related to SEO.

"The simple truth is this: Put your customers first by making sure that their needs are met."

The simple truth is this: Put your customers first by making sure that their needs are met. Establish a long-term relationship with them by giving them value and a unique customer experience that fit within the context of your culture. Build your website and your business the right way, without trying to take shortcuts.

Is it important to make sure that your site is optimized for search engines? Sure it is, that's just common sense. Optimizing your pages and honest link building can do a lot to move your pages higher in the search engine results and that can bring in a lot of quality traffic. As a company, we will definitely do everything we can to optimize our site and we'll also have future articles that talk about those techniques in detail.

To us, though, it's more important optimizing for our users than for the search engines. We're not afraid of doing hard work, being patient, and letting our value and our customer experience speak for itself. Any search engine optimization that we do will be done in the context of our culture and what is best for our community of users. It may take a little while to let people know we're here, especially as we are still starting up, but we want to establish relationships and dialogues with our users for the long haul, not for the quick buck.

By doing so, we believe that our SEO will, in many ways, take care of itself.

Nice post very long and content driven this really should teach people about seo well.

Some secret of SEO.

1. Less code more content.
2. Create original and quality content for your website.
3. Get Participated In Forum