SEO Caution Signs

The following are SEO caution signs to look for when considering an SEO firm. These points should also be noted when strategizing your own search campaign:

• Results can never be guaranteed. In other words, no SEO firm can or should guarantee a top “X” placement on any search engine. This is a marketing ploy. Algorithms and factors affecting your rank change over time. Beware of any guarantees.
• There is no need to submit to thousands of search engines. In fact, there is no need to submit to any engines for that matter. If you are able to acquire a few high quality links, you are ahead of the game. Doing so will get your site crawled by the notable engines (and often). Also, the concept of resubmitting to any engine is useless - it is a waste of time and does nothing for your site.
• There is no need to pay to submit to the big search engines. It doesn’t cost a penny if you do indeed decide to submit to Google, Yahoo, and/or MSN. If anyone tells you otherwise, they’re lying.

This is just a small list of signs to watch out for. There are obviously many others, but these are the most common and notable. We will update this list as times goes on. Please be sure to contact us if you have any in particular you would like to add.

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SEO: Reciprocal Links

For a long time, reciprocal links have remained at the forefront of most inbound linking strategies. This is going to have to change. Google now discounts all reciprocal links. The algorithm has been altered to identify the exchange of links by two parties for the purpose of increasing their number of inbound links.

The concept of reciprocal linking defies Google’s original intention with the algorithm. Quality content should attract links. The exchange of links is nothing more than a mutual agreement to unjustifiably promote others’ content with the end goal of promoting your own. Google doesn’t particularly like this 

Some even claim that Google is now able to identify three-way linking schemes (i.e. website A links to website B, who links to website C, who links back to A). Whether this is true or not is hard to say. One thing is for certain though: inbound linking strategies should NOT be centered around reciprocal linking. This manufactured form of link creation is not well-received and is ultimately a waste of time. Instead, focus on creating unique, high-quality content in a given niche. The links will ensue.

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The Importance of Anchor Text

The importance of anchor text with respect to a linking strategy cannot be overstated. Back-links are a huge part of the search engine algorithm. When initiating a linking campaign, it is vital that external sites link using the appropriate keywords and terms in the anchor text.

Almost always, linking candidates will use the company name as anchor text. This does not provide any type of description of the target company’s products or services. Sure, it may be great for branding purposes, but it isn’t usually needed. In most cases, companies already rank very high (if not first) for searches that incorporate their brand.

Here is an example using fictional company “Acme Plumbing Supplies”:

Most people will link simply using the terms “Acme”. This is alright, but it does not describe the company’s products or services, nor provide any context. By adding the word “plumbing” or term “plumbing supplies” (i.e. “Acme Plumbing” or “Acme Plumbing Supplies”), you may be able to drive additional traffic that may not have otherwise attained the corporate site.

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7 Secrets of Professional SEO Article Writers

SEO blogs and articles are a really, really important part of our online PR services and social media management. At The Content Factory, we write around 40 SEO blogs and articles per week for our clients — not including landing pages — and each one helps drive traffic to their websites. Regularly posting fresh content on your site is one of the easiest ways to introduce potential customers or clients to your brand.

Of course, you can't just throw a bunch of words on a page and expect people to come running. Pro SEO article writing services know that if you build it, they will come…but only if you build it the right way.

Here are the 7 secrets of professional SEO article writers:

1. Get your keyword research on. If you're going to post content on your site anyway, you might as well take the time to make sure Google takes notice of your effort. Find out which keywords and phrases people are searching for (as well as what you can be competitive in), and make yourself a spreadsheet. Keep track of how many times you work the keywords into your web content writing, and use the right tools to track where you rank for the keywords you target. Don't know where to get started? Check out our comprehensive guide to keyword research for SEO.
2. Put the keywords to work. It's not enough to just use the keywords in 2-3% of the copy. You need to put the primary keyword in the title of the blog/article, as well as in the first and last sentence. By doing this, the keywords stand out to the search engine crawlers, as well as the eyes of the readers. Remember, the people using search engines are searching for that particular phrase because they want to know more about it/buy it, so it makes sense to give them what they're looking for. You'll get more clicks if you do — it's one of the tricks of the trade for professional SEO article writers.
3. Write about something people care about. Nobody knows your business like you do — so what kind of expert advice or tips do you have that you can share? If not, you can at least discuss news relating to your business. When in doubt, look at your list of SEO keywords and see what kind of list, link bait or in-depth posts you can work those keywords into. Don't be afraid to interview some experts, either (if you quote them and feature their expertise in your post, they'll be likely to share your content via their social channels — this way, you can leverage larger networks to increase the size of your own). 
4. Make it long enough to count. Sure, 100 words of fresh content is better than no new content at all. Still, search engines tend to give preference to longer blogs and articles. Try to shoot for at least 300 words, but if you can get to 500 or more, go for it. There has been a lot of research that shows that search engines tend to favor "in-depth" content of at least 2,000 words — we've seen this work for ourselves and our clients, and many of TCF's most popular blog posts are at least 1,500 words.
5. Optimize the optimization of your web content writing. If you use WordPress as your blogging platform, there are lots of free online PR tools (in the form of plugins) you can take advantage of. At The Content Factory, we use Yoast and Shareaholic, along with several others. Free and easy web PR is as simple as hitting the "install now" link.
6. Edit your work. The only difference between professional SEO article writers and regular people is an eye for self editing. Programs like OpenOffice, Google Docs and Microsoft Word make it easy — the red and green squiggleys give most of it away. Having an eye for aesthetically pleasing formatting is also important. Stay away from super long paragraphs and sentences that go on for miles.
7. Become your own online PR agency. Once you've written and posted the fresh content, the work is only half complete. The final step of all web content writing is acting as your own online PR agency — link to your content all over the place. Comment on blogs and link back to your site. Submit your content to Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Social media management and web content writing go hand-in-hand, and as soon as you hit the "Publish" button on your fresh article or blog, you should tweet your heart out. Want more tips? Check out our 5 DIY Internet Public Relations Tips.

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Popular SEO Acronyms

The following are popular SEO acronyms commonly used to describe various elements of the optimization process:

• KEI - [Keyword Effectiveness Index] - a measure of keyword effectiveness based on a ratio of number of searches to competition level.
• SEO - [Search Engine Optimization] - the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.
• SERP - [Search Engine Results Page] - the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query.
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Related Acronyms:

These acronyms are not directly related to SEO, but rather Internet marketing in general. Having said that, they are often used in conjunction with or in the same context as SEO.

• SEM - [Search Engine Marketing] - a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs).
• PPC - [Pay-Per-Click] - an Internet advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content websites, such as blogs, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an advertisement to visit the advertisers’ website.
• CPM - [Cost Per Thousand] (where M is the roman numeral 1000) - frequently used in advertising to represent the cost per thousand page impressions.

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