To say "SEO has changed a lot” would be the understatement of the decade. Just take a look at how Google’s Panda and Penguin algorithm updates shook the world of SEO professionals. Marketers and SEO agencies worldwide halted their link-building and keyword-obsessed ways, and swapped it for a long overdue focus on quality content.
But does that mean an SEO’s job is just to pump out high-quality, keyword-optimized content? Far from it. In fact, SEO has changed so much in the past several years that many marketers aren’t sure what’s outdated, what’s important, what will actually move the needle, and what’s simply a wasted effort. This blog post, an excerpt from our new ebook, 17 SEO Myths You Should Leave Behind in 2013, will point out seven of the most common myths and assumptions about how SEO works, and debunk them for you so you’re not wasting a single moment on things that simply don’t matter for SEO moving forward. Ready to throw some of your false SEO beliefs out the window? Let’s get started.

Myth #1: We Must Rank Number One

Studies of clickthrough rates and user behavior have shown that searchers favor the top search results -- particularly the top three listings. However, it’s also been shown that on subsequent pages, being listed toward the top of the page shows similar click behavior.
Now with search results also being appended with author profiles and rich snippets, clickthrough rates are proving to be higher on those listings even if they don't appear among the top results. The takeaway here is that relevant information and user-friendly listings are more valuable than just rank alone. So, no, you don't need to rank in first place anymore to see success.

Myth #2: Keywords Need to Be an Exact Match

Keywords do not need to be repeated verbatim throughout a piece of content. In titles in particular, it's far more important to use keywords in the way it makes most sense. Write a stellar headline (somewhere around 4-9 words) that focuses on clearly explaining what that particular piece of content is about. Nothing is more of a buzz kill than reading a headline
that’s awkwardly framed around one keyword phrase or, worse, one that forcibly repeats a keyword phrase. Keep in mind that this rule applies to both headlines and content on the page, too.
And in terms of the "ideal keyword density" for a given page, there is also no magic number. This myth is like a pesky little fly that keeps coming back no matter how many times you swat it. So for everyone who still clings to this one, there is no ideal number of times you should repeat a keyword on a given page. You should, however, make sure your keyword(s) are included in your page title. After all, how else will people know what your page is about? The keyword (or a variation of it) should also be included in a headline on the page, ideally also within the URL, and at least once within the content. Again, the goal is to make your content clear and to meet the expectations of the searcher; that’s why they clicked through to your page, so don’t assault them with over-optimized content.

Myth #3: Social Media & SEO Aren't Related at All

The intersection of SEO and social media is referred to as “social search.” And yes, social search is very much a real thing. An increasingly formal relationship between search and social has been evolving for years, and Google has been working hard to prove this with Google+ and Google Authorship. It’s a natural extension of what has always been true: Content that’s relevant and can be trusted as authoritative will continue to drive both your search and social media marketing.
In social search, content that has a social connection to you in some way is prioritized, which could mean someone you are linked to via Facebook, Twitter, or any other major social network. Alternately, some forms of social search prioritize content that has been shared by social media influencers, even if those experts aren’t directly tied to you. The lesson, folks, is to make sure you have a social media strategy and think of it as part of your search engine optimization efforts -- the two should not be working as silos. If you're looking to learn more about social search, this blog post has a crystal clear explanation of how social media influences SEO.

Myth #4: The H1 Is the Most Important On-Page Element

Think of the content structure on your web page as an outline. It’s a tiered approach to presenting information to a user -- and to search engines. What title tag that headline/thesis is wrapped in has little to no influence on your overall SEO. In fact, that title tag (whether H1, H2, H3 …) is only used for styling purposes. The H1 (heading 1) tag is simply part of your CSS (cascading style sheet), which a designer puts together to reference what font styling and size will be applied to a particular piece of content.
This used to be something that was more important. Now, however, search engines are much smarter than that, and unfortunately, people spammed this to death. So it really doesn't matter what header tag you use as long as you present your most important concepts up front, or closer to the top of the page. Remember, you are optimizing your page for users first and foremost, which means you should want to tell them ASAP what your page is about through a clear headline.

Myth #5: Microsites and Other Domains I Own That Link or Redirect Back to My Site Will Help My SEO

The chances of this doing much for you are slim to none. It’s like voting for yourself a thousand times in an election: It will still only count as one vote. Search engines are smart enough to know who a particular domain's registrant is, and they'll see that it’s the same person as your primary domain. And if you're reading this and thinking, "But what If i just change my registration information?" then you are clearly thinking like a spammer. Don’t be that person.
Furthermore, there isn't much value in spreading your SEO thin, which is what you'll end up doing by setting up domain after domain ... after domain ... and optimizing each separately rather than putting all that love into your primary domain. Why not just add that content to your primary domain, or build a tool as an add-on to your website?

Myth #6: More Links Is Better Than More Content

This myth is one that often comes along with the question, “Which should I invest in -- link building or content creation?” Yes, inbound links are an important part of your website’s authority (even with the changing link landscape); however, if you have budget to invest in your website, I would say, “Hire someone to write for you” in a heartbeat. All too often, when businesses hire someone to do link building, they focus on the quantity rather than the quality of those links. But linking is not a numbers game anymore. Instead, it's more important to focus on attracting relevant and diverse sources that link to relevant pages on your website. And when you invest in content, which can take the form of web pages, blog articles, lead generation offers, and guest articles on other sites -- these are all content assets that will enable you to generate more inbound links over time.
That being said, if you're among the group of people who think that as long as you have a good blog or some good content, then your SEO is secure -- I wouldn’t go that far. Don’t get me wrong, good content will take you a long way, but it can’t be the only tool in your SEO tool kit. Years ago, when HubSpot first started teaching people about search engine optimization, one rule was essential: Above all else, create high-quality, useful content. But now you need to ask yourself more of the following: Are you writing with a purpose? Who is your target audience? Have you analyzed your traffic sources and top performing posts? What keywords are you targeting? If all of these sound foreign to you, then you’re missing the mark,
and content alone will only get you so far.

Myth #7: SEO Is Not a Usability Issue

This one truly grinds my gears. SEO has evolved from simply getting found, to improving how users engage with your content. In fact, SEO, which technically stands for search engine optimization, is so much more than just optimizing for search engines. First and foremost, you need to optimize for users so they actually click through your search listings to your website. And once they click through, they should stay there.
To keep visitors on your site, ensure that you’re publishing content that’s both personalized and relevant to your target audience. You should also make an effort to create a website that's intuitive and easy to browse through (accessible by search crawlers and users). Don’t make visitors look for what they need. Display clear calls-to-action, and you’ll be much more capable of converting those users. That’s what SEO is really all about -- search experience optimization.
Curious to know what other common myths might be negatively influencing your SEO strategy? Download our ebook for the full list of commonly believed SEO myths so you can base your SEO strategy on fact -- not fiction.

Source : http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33926/7-Common-SEO-Myths-to-Throw-Out-the-Window-Immediately.aspx

One of the main marketing strategies that can help online retailers build a successful Internet business is search engine optimization (SEO), the process of tailoring your website to the algorithms that search engines use to rank websites based on “signals” that the site emits.

However, search engine algorithms continue to change with time as the Web evolves (Panda Updates, anyone?), so online retailers need to evolve with the engines. We must make sure we keep up to date with best practices to claim the best possible rankings for relevant keywords.
If you want your website to rank well in 2012, here are 6 components of SEO that online retailers should know about when optimizing their e-commerce website to rank well in top search engines:

1. Keywords. Keyword research is the first step to a successful SEO strategy. Those successful with SEO understand what people are searching for in a search engine. These are the keywords they use to drive targeted traffic to their products. Start brainstorming potential keywords, and see how the competition looks by using Google AdWords Keyword Tool. If you notice that some keywords are too competitive in your niche, go with long-tail keywords (between two and five words) which will be easier for you to rank. The longer the keyword, the less competition you will have for that phrase in the engines.

2. Meta tags. Meta tags still play a vital role in SEO. If you type any keyword into a search engine, you’ll see how that keyword is reflected in the title for that page. Google looks at your page title as a signal of relevance for that keyword. The same holds true for the description of that page. (Don’t worry about the keyword title tag—Google has publicly said that it doesn’t pay attention to that tag, since it has been abused by webmasters and all those trying to rank for certain keywords.)

3. Content. It’s true, content is king. Search engines have stated that creating quality content is the best way to not only rank for keywords, but also create positive user experiences. It will also go a long way with making sure you’re educating your consumer, and being an authority in your niche will leads to boosts in sales.

4. Backlinks. If content is king, then backlinks are queen. Remember, it’s not about which site has the most links, but who has the most quality links pointing back to their website. Build backlinks by submitting monthly or bi-monthly press releases on any exciting company, and contacting popular blogs in your niche to see how you can work together to get a backlink from their website. Create the best possible product site you can, so people talking about the products you sell will link back. Try creating graphics or newsworthy content that will influence bloggers and news websites to link that content.

5. Social media. The algorithms have truly changed since social media first emerged. Many content websites are community-oriented—Digg began allowing users to vote which stories make the front page, and YouTube factors views and user ratings into their front page rankings. Therefore, e-commerce stores must establish a strong social media presence on sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. These social media sites send search engines signals of influence and authority.

6. Product images. If you think images don’t play a role, think again. When many consumers search for products in the search engines, not only are they looking at the “Web” results, but they’re also looking at the “images” results. If you have quality images of that product on your site—and the files’ names contain relevant keywords—these images will rank well in search engines. This avenue will drive a lot of traffic to your site, as potential customers will click on that image to find your store.

In addition to optimizing these six areas of your site, analyze your competitors and see what they are doing in terms of on-page optimization, off-page optimization (competitive link analysis) and social media. While you may be doing a lot of the same things they are, it’s incredibly important to think outside the box to get a leg up over the competition.

Source : 6 ways to increase your Google search ranking
Social Media

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Imagine this: In a blink of an eye your website vanishes from Google. Trying every variation of your domain name in the search box — but nothing. You, my friend, have been de-indexed from Google.

That’s a tragic place to be in. All your hard work gone up in smoke, you are effectively invisible to everyone in the world now. This is exactly the spot that iAcquire found themselves in May 2012 when they were caught up in the Dun and Bradstreet link buying scandal. JC Penny, Forbes, and Overstock also found themselves in a similar position (being penalized for link buying, but not necessarily flushed from Google’s index).
Never mind whether or not you agree with Google’s rules, and the punishment meted out, Google’s rules are the ones everyone has to play by. These rules, and the penalties, should not really surprise anyone. And no one should need to have described how crucial search is to a business’ success online either. Although social recommendations are catching up, search remains the number one way to drive traffic a website. All this is common knowledge, I only reiterate to hammer home how crucial it is to have a healthy relationship with search engines.
Now that we’re focused on the horror of “de-indexing”, unnatural link acquisition isn’t the only way to get banned by Google. There are actually quite a few more. If you are new to SEO, let this be a warning. If you are a seasoned SEO, let this be a reminder—or a crib sheet you can forward to anyone who is suggesting you do WHATEVER it takes to rank them. Here’s a list of absolute “don’ts” where ranking is concerned.

1. Cloaking

The cloaking process works like this: You show search engines one thing and your visitors something else. The most obvious example would be a site promoting kayaking in the search results, but sending the searcher to a pornographic page. Or one selling Viagra. Or some shady off-shore tax scheme.
Cloaking is accomplished by delivering content based upon the IP address or the User-Agent HTTP. If a search spider is detected, then a server-side script delivers the kayak version of the page. If a user is detected, then the pornographic content is served.
This practice is deceptive—and flat-out forbidden by Google.

2. Duplicate Content

Black hat SEOs will try to boost page views by creating multiple pages of the same content. This is a pretty straightforward tactic, but is equally condemned by Google. Spammy sites and repeat offenders will more than likely get canned from Google—or at least dropped to the bottom of the barrel in search rankings.
Here’s the thing: You can inadvertently create duplicate content on your website through category, tag, and archive pages. This won’t get you banned from Google, but it could get you penalized.
And what about people stealing your content? Notify Google.

3. Writing Content with a Machine

As you can probably guess, black hat SEOs are lazy, and this vice is seen most clearly in the tactic of getting machines to create content.
Sometimes this is generated from scratch, but more often than not, this content is created by scraping already existing content, modifying the document, and then re-publishing.
The motto in this example is “I’m not going to waste my time creating content when I can borrow someone else’s and make it mine.” Google will punish this.

4. Add Unrelated Keywords to Your Content

Keywords aren’t what they used to be in the search marketing game, so you don’t see a lot of keyword stuffing anymore. But that doesn’t mean Google won’t punish this practice. You see, some SEOs still recommend this.
Never list keywords that don’t relate to your site, repeat a keyword that does relate to your site dozens of time, and embed brand name (trademarked no less) and competitor name keywords. This may not only get you banned, but it could get you a lawsuit.

5. Joining Link Exchanges and Bad Neighborhoods

Online etiquette says that if someone links to you that you should link back to them. Well, that’s debatable.
Google will judge your external links just as closely as they will evaluate the incoming links to your site — and they will evaluate the quality of those sites sending and getting links from you. Linking out to low-quality sites can damage your reputation and lower your Page Rank. Trade in paid links and you will get banned. Just ask iAcquire.

6. Font Matching

Another old-school black hat tactic is to plaster keywords on a site in the same color as the background, inevitably hiding those keywords.
It’s laughable how easy this is for Google or anyone to spot (the keywords show up in the code as text—as does every other element of a webpage—no matter what color the font). What’s not so funny is the penalty; you could get dumped from Google.

7. Microscopic Font

Another variation of keyword stuffing is to place keywords at the bottom of a webpage in font so small that it’s incomprehensible to the naked eye.
Again, Google can de-index a site for this (no matter the size of the font search spiders still read the same code) for trying to game the system.

8. Stacking Titles

You have to give it to the old school black hat SEOs. They are a creative bunch. Title <title> stacking means nothing more than writing more than one headline for a page—stuffing keywords into those titles. You’ll get no love from Google on this.
If you want to optimize your headlines with keywords, then front-load the headline with those critical words … and take full advantage of all 70 characters.

9. Doorway Pages

This is a tricky one because doorway pages are in the end landing pages optimized for one keyword. The difference between a legitimate keyword optimized landing page and one that Google will pooh-pooh is that the legitimate page provides original content.
For example, bloggers will often create a hub page for a series of articles they did on a particular topic, like “content marketing” or “social media metrics.” They’ll provide an introduction (unique and useful) and then links to those pages in the series.
A spammy doorway page optimized for “content marketing” will not provide original content (and probably employ one of the black hat tactics above) and will not send you to useful content—more likely an ad to buy Viagra from some offshore pornographic studio.
Spammy doorway pages can get you banned. And this is why you need to be careful if you are using landing pages for affiliate links.

10. Point 100 URLs to One URL

Because keyword-rich, exact match domains are still a strong indicator of a site’s content, people want to abuse this by buying every single domain available—plurals, misspellings, adjectives, location, and loaded with keywords. Just think used-clean-cars-sale-city.com.
Next, they point all of these URLs to one domain because, they figure, 100 hits a day to 500 different websites is 50,000 hits a day. Makes sense, right?
That would be super cool if it worked out that way, but it doesn’t What happens is, these sites aren’t indexed except the one—and it may not be your main domain. Busted.

11. Abusing Rich Snippets Markup

Google automatically generates the rich snippets you see on search results these days, but that doesn’t mean they won’t intervene by disabling rich snippets for a certain site if they detect abuse or deception—like marking up invisible content or deceptive content.
Rich snippets can be gamed by creating fake reviews or, like the cloaking tactic, show Google one thing and deliver something completely different to the user (like cheap Viagra through an offshore pornographic site). This destroys user experience and will bring Google’s wrath down on you.

12. Sending Automated Queries to Google

Remember WebPosition Gold—the software tool that automatically tested a keyword’s organic popularity using Google’s SOAP API?
If you’re new to SEO, then probably not, because back in late 2006 Google changed its webmaster guidelines and killed WPG:

“As of December 5, 2006, we are no longer issuing new API keys for the SOAP Search API. Developers with existing SOAP Search API keys will not be affected.”

Here’s the deal: Google hates automated queries. Why? In their own words:

Sending automated queries consumes resources and includes using any software (such as WebPosition Gold) to send automated queries to Google to determine how a website or webpage ranks in Google search results for various queries. In addition to rank checking, other types of automated access to Google without permission are also a violation of our Webmaster Guidelines and Terms of Service.

Violate that and you get penalized. The consequences vary.

13. Building Water-thin Affiliate Sites

Making money selling other people’s products is a viable way to make a living. This is why online affiliate programs are pure gold for people who want a passive income.
But if your website is nothing but a warehouse for other people’s products (Read: You are not creating original content, but, worse, simply scraping product descriptions from the producers) and you’ve adopted a paper-thin template, then Google won’t tolerate you.
Mess with the user experience and you make an enemy of Google.
To get around this professional affiliate, marketers need to invest time and energy in providing useful and relevant content, as well as building sites with safe and secure themes and long-term hosting signals.

14. Scraping Content

Black hat SEO is really short-cut SEO. It’s the lazy man’s way to high rankings. These SEO tactics trade in short-term gains at the expense of long-term success. This is equally true for scarping content, scraping content is not something that the average person will do because most of us are programmed to know that taking something that isn’t ours is wrong.
But there are some fine lines on the Web. I’ve run into people who thought it was okay to copy and paste an article to their website—as longs as they left attribution (without the link). Sometimes they did link, but still grabbed the entire article. Still others publish a portion, but even this can spell trouble with Google.
The bottom line is this: “Are you producing original content?” This is where curators can get in trouble, too, if they aren’t adding value above and beyond the original site holder.

15. Sneaky Redirects

The adjective in the title of this section is a dead giveaway: “Sneaky.” That means there are some legal redirects, the 301 being the most common—sending a visitor to a different URL than the one requested. The most common example is when you are moving a site from mydomain.com to myrockstardomain.com.
So, what differentiates an honest redirect from a sneaky one? Well, when you are trying to be deceptive. You’ll break WNT laws if you use some type of technology like meta refresh or JavaScript to shift the direction a searcher is travelling—in other words, when you toy with the user experience. What happens is the googlebots will index the original URL, but not the redirect.
Of course you can use JavaScript legitimately to redirect people, like in the case of moving users to an internal page once they are logged in, or even, as a hack, to redirect your site after moving it if you don’t have access to the server (not your best choice, though).

16. Duplicate Sites

By now you should know that this is dead ringer for a Google Webmaster Guidelines violation. You should be saying to yourself, “Google rewards those who contribute value to the Web and user experience.” Google punishes lazy webmasters.
People who create duplicate sites are usually trying to outrank the original site. This might be an affiliate who wants to rank above the company he or she is promoting. And because it’s not a unique site with unique content, it gets canned.

17. Interlinking

Some SEOs might argue that this is grey hat: You know … it’s a method that exists in the grey area of SEO tactics — not necessarily black, but not necessarily white. Regardless, Google will punish you if you are guilty of interlinking.
What is interlinking? It’s basically a scheme that takes advantage of the importance of inbound links in search engine ranking by building dozens of sites, and then linking to each other.
This is a tough scheme to detect by either Googlebot or users—unless someone delves into some serious sleuthing or notices that a handful of similar sites dominate the search engines in the search listings. If caught all the sites could get de-indexed.

Conclusion

You might consider yourself a true white hat SEO guru, but falling into using one of these schemes (or some slight variation of them) can ruin anyone’s reputation. If you get a message in your WMT inbox indicating that there are serious problems with your site, the wages of SEO sin can come back to haunt.
If you are reading this, let’s say you do wake up one morning and find yours or your client’s site gone from Google. Sure you can appeal and recover — like iAcquire did, but there has to be some serious boot-licking and website code overhauling going on. What risk it? I hope this has helped.

Source : 17 Ways to Get De-indexed by Google

Every year SEO gets more complicated as Google rolls out updates and changes the rules. This is especially frustrating for small business owners who don't have the time or resources to stay current in, what they believe to be, an esoteric and confusing industry.
Here are seven small business SEO tips to help earn more business through traditional organic search rankings.

1. Onsite SEO is Necessary But Not Sufficient

Yes, optimizing title tags, site structure (keep it flat) and load-speed are important. Many experiments have shown these elements are in the Google algorithm.
Don’t obsess. Hire someone to run an assessment and tune up the site; then move-on. Far too many small businesses get stuck at the starting line.

2. Website Content & Experience Are Critical

We have all read that “content is king,” but what does that really mean?
Your website must have engaging content for the end-user. The importance of this can’t be overstated. It will impact time-on-site, conversion and SEO (engaging content is more likely to be shared and linked to).
It is also critical because it orients the small business webmaster towards offering something of value. Thin content leaves a bad footprint, both onsite and offsite.

3. Use Content Marketing to Earn Backlinks

Most small business owners are savvy enough to know that 70 percent of their search engine rankings are the result of backlinks. Being a pragmatic bunch, they then ask “where can I buy some?”
Don’t buy backlinks - it also leaves a bad footprint.
Small business marketers need to earn links, and content marketing is extremely effective for gaining earned links. The trick is in the trade. Something of value must be offered.
Quality content containing humor, information, controversy, politics or training usually brings backlinks - and is definitely considered acceptable SEO.

4. Know Your Backlink Profile

There has been healthy debate recently about the changing role of anchor text in the Google algorithm. Even if the importance is fading, it is clearly still a factor.
Small businesses should know their backlink profiles. A lack of branded anchors and brand mentions is a clear signal of manipulation, and therefore a rank killer.
Healthy businesses market their brands through press releases and are discussed in forums by name. This all leaves a good footprint.
Co-citation is also a sign of a natural backlink profile. Strong companies are mentioned in the same paragraph as other strong brands.
Articles with a single anchored link to a website with low domain authority sticks out like a sore thumb. Google can spot these insubstantial articles and weighs the links accordingly, or worse. Read about the Penguin update for more.

5. Create Buzz Through Community Building

While the term link bait is perhaps overused, it is considered an acceptable activity by Google. This is because the activity is aimed toward creating a positive end-user experience.
Without a community element, link baiting is hard to distinguish from content marketing. Developing a community (best if done onsite) is perhaps the best link bait of all because the community starts to develop the content in ways no SEO consultant could ever think of.
This is truly organic, extremely natural, and helps SEO. Read up on Latent Semantic Indexing if this concept is confusing.

6. Quality Over Quantity

It is tempting to fall for the email solicitations for large quantities of inexpensive links. But we all know where that got JCPenney.
The SEO industry isn't like the automobile industry, where automation is praised as a gain in efficiency. Automation in SEO is bad because Google says it is. They believe it results in a poorer end-user experience, an argument that has merit.
Small businesses may not like this rule, but they do need to respect it if they want to see increases in rankings.

7. Review the SEO Reports

Small business owners are busy, but that is no excuse for not knowing what the SEO consultant is doing. It's important to digest the monthly reports for a couple of reasons:

• The results should be moving in the right direction. Don’t expect miracles, just monthly progress.
• The monthly reports should demonstrate that the SEO team is executing with a disciplined process. Small business should not foot the bill for experiments. There is enough risk facing small business owners already.

Conclusions

Google is a computer, largely, and needs to be thought of as such. The major elements in the algorithm are fairly well understood.
While it's true that updates are frequent and the rules of the game do shift, the major elements of onsite SEO and backlinks have been the fuel for better rankings for years. Follow these seven small business SEO tips to earn better rankings and build a community around your brand. And ignore the rest as noise.

Source : Small Business SEO Tips

It’s pretty safe to say that managing the clients’ or boss’ expectations in this turbulent environment are almost more difficult than the moving target of SEO itself.

Over the past three years, the SEO landscape has changed for the better, with Google’s continued and unwavering focus on the concept of relevance. However, three aspects of SEO haven't changed at the same pace. The outcome is often a gap in expectations between the team delivering SEO services and the client literally banking on the results.

The three aspects of SEO that haven't changed at the same pace as the SEO industry include:

1. The way SEO services are marketed and sold.
2. The processes around how SEO is delivered and reported on.
3. The ability for agencies and in-house teams to prove the ROI of SEO efforts.

But the importance of SEO in the digital marketing mix remains unchanged and unchallenged. There are consistently 1 billion Google searches performed every day with 94 percent of those searchers clicking on organic search results over paid search results. Patience will continue to be a virtue to the marketer who invests in SEO over the long run.

Here are 10 SEO truths, based on conversations with agencies, in-house marketing teams and end clients over the past 12 months

SEO Truth #1: Rank Doesn’t Matter, Conversion Does

If I had a dime for every time I heard the statement, “Oh, we don’t need SEO, we already rank number one for [insert keyword here].”

I witness many SEO conversations where improvement in rank or position is the focus without any consideration given to web page visits and conversions. Many prospects, clients, and bosses are lost in the infatuation of ranking first in Google. Unfortunately, because that’s what they want to pay for, that’s what they are sold and/or what we attempt to prove to them.

The more important metric is conversion.
It could be that a client wants to rank first for "HR Software", and they currently rank fifth for that keyword with a conversion rate of 5 percent, while a similar keyword phrase, ‘HR Software for SMBs’, has a conversion rate of 10 percent and is ranked ninth. Clearly the latter should be the focus since it already has a higher conversion rate with a lower rank.

Assigning resources to understanding the opportunities throughout the web presence, and optimizing content for the keyword "HR Software for SMBs" is a better investment of time and money.

SEO Truth #2: Great SEO Results Require Great SEO Data

SEO is the ongoing process of understanding a web presence, how it compares to the competition, which keywords are driving organic search conversion, and optimizing for those keywords by producing fresh, relevant content. This process is impossible without access to accurate, timely data about that web presence including:

• Page-level rank.
• Backlink and social signal data.
• Organic search keyword research.
• Competitive intelligence.
• Analytics conversion data.

Basing SEO decisions on old, inaccurate SEO data will yield corresponding SEO results. SEO data is the starting point to the entire SEO process and outcome.

Great insights will lead to great outcomes. SEO data and SEO software should be considered a cost of doing business or executing a campaign just as email marketing campaigns require an email marketing platform.

SEO Truth #3: Report on Social Signals Just Like Backlinks

Think of social signals as the new backlink. Now don’t get me wrong, backlinks are still important to organic search and should continue to be reported on, but social signals also deserve ongoing focus and integration into an SEO strategy.

It has been two years since Google and Bing announced that social signals now account for 8 percent to 10 percent of their organic search algorithms. Agencies and in-house SEO teams need to demonstrate that they are increasing the number of Likes, shares, +1s, tweets, retweets and YouTube Views at both the web page level and the network level. Social signal metrics should be included in the monthly SEO report as well.

SEO Truth #4: SEO Technology is Telling

Just as a sales consultant hired to improve sales processes and ultimately conversion rates would not attempt to do so without customer relationship management (CRM) software, neither should an SEO agency or in-house team attempt to effectively improve a web presence for SEO without some support and assistance from technology.

There are many SEO software and tool options – from full software systems to standalone tools. The technology and tools you select can make or break you, too.

SEO technology is required more today than ever before in order to assist in the ongoing efforts of keyword research, rank checking, competitive analysis, backlink discovery and tracking, content tracking, analytics, social signal monitoring and monthly reporting capabilities.

Going it alone, without the support of a technological foundation to track a web presence on a daily basis for the purpose of ranking higher organically in the search engines is like trying to do email marketing by BCCing your list from MS Outlook – your deliverability rates, open rates, and conversion rates will be immeasurable and less than expected.

SEO Truth #5: Daily Insights into SEO Metrics is Essential

The SEO reporting cycle is still very much a monthly process (although I’m seeing this standard move to weekly with larger agencies and marketing teams). Having daily and weekly insight into all the SEO metrics included in an SEO campaign is important to understand how your efforts are tracking towards the ultimate goal.
Having the insight and intelligence to adjust the goal if more or less progress is being made than anticipated can only be accomplished with daily insight into accurate SEO data and metrics.

SEO Truth #6: A Backlink Strategy Without a Content Marketing Strategy is Just Plain Scary

Even after all the Panda, Penguin and Freshness updates, it's still amazing to see some agencies providing quotes to clients where the main thrust of the contract is a promise to build x number of backlinks per month. SEOs should continue to deliberately build backlinks in directories that are industry or locally specific to the client, but that’s where deliberate backlink building should end.

To build long-term, non-spammy backlinks, an optimized content marketing strategy is required where fresh relevant optimized content is being produced on a consistent basis.

Content may be in the form of blogs, press releases, case studies, and whitepapers wherein the content contains keywords that are driving organic search conversions as well as naturally occurring backlinks to the main corporate website. Not only will this approach to backlink building withstand the test of time, it will also create social signals which will also positively impact the web presence.

SEO Truth #7: Spend Less Time on Reporting, More Time on SEO

A typical SEO contract consists of analysis, recommendations, implementation, and reporting. The most painful of which is reporting – mashing together end-of-month reports from multiple data sources to demonstrate progress to the end client, never mind trying to make it look pretty. Laborious, repetitive reporting takes away too much time from what will really pay off – the doing of SEO.
This reinforces truth #4: SEO Technology is Telling. Making use of technology for weekly or monthly automated reporting will allow for more time being spent on the task of SEO which will yield better results for the client and will allow you to scale your business.

SEO Truth #8: Think Outside the Google Search Box

Yes, Google continues to be the entity that SEOs attempt to please, and rightfully so. I can’t see this focus changing in the near or distant future either.
With the continual convergence of social media and SEO, we also need to think about the prospect of searchers starting their searches directly on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest. A web presence should be represented for its branded keyword phrases within these sites as well.
Test your branded keywords and test your clients’ branded keywords to see if they return the expected search results on these social networks. If not, optimize!

SEO Truth #9: Communicate the CTR Opportunity Gap by Keyword

Once there is an understanding of the high-converting keywords, it is worth the exercise of applying paid search volume data with organic click-through rates (CTRs) to communicate the opportunity gap between ranking ninth versus third.
Let’s use the keyword “HR Software” as an example. The total Google search volume (U.S., Canada, and Australia) is 2,120 searches per month, combined with the fact that 94 percent of searchers click through on organic search results (GroupM UK and Nielsen, August 2012). Given Optify’s CTR data for positions 1 through 20, the opportunity gap can be communicated to the client.

Position 9 will yield 60 clicks per month (2 clicks per day * 30 days) while increasing to Position 3 will yield 180 clicks per month (6 clicks per day * 30 days) presenting an opportunity gap of 180-60 = 120 clickthroughs per month. What value does this translate into for the client?

SEO Truth #10: It’s About the Hierarchy of Web Presence Optimization

Search engine optimization is now more about web presence optimization. As the ways we sell and deliver SEO services continue to evolve, the hierarchy of web presence optimization is a model that may help structure sales contracts and service delivery tasks while ensuring that keyword metrics are focused on conversion, backlinks are built out effectively, and social signals are integrated into the overall SEO strategy.

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Where is Digital Marketing Heading in 2013? Find Out at SES New York.

Negative SEO is the practice of attacking other websites using techniques that are likely to result in known SEO penalties, rather than taking a proactive approach to investing in one’s own website. As an example, somebody using negative SEO might direct these same low-quality backlinks to point at a competitor’s website, rather than taking the time to build high-value links back to his own site.

For a long time, Google denied that negative SEO could have an impact on the natural search results, though several conclusive case studies demonstrated that this type of attack could be used to dramatically lower a competitor’s rankings.
As a result, the best way to prevent negative SEO is to stay informed about the tactics that these spammers use and to monitor your site for any indications that an attack is underway. Here’s how to do it:

Step #1: Monitor Your Website’s Backlink Profile

Since we’ve established that negative SEO is a viable tool for damaging a competitor’s rankings, it’s imperative that you be proactive about preventing these tactics from influencing your own site’s performance. Really, the time to take action against negative SEO spammers is before you see your site’s listings start to slide down the SERPs!

Currently, the primary tactic being used in negative SEO attacks is the low-quality backlink, pointed at a competitor’s website. It’s cheap, easy to do, and difficult to trace, as Google has no way of knowing whether you or your attacker pointed that “10,000 links for $10” package at your website.

As a result, you best course of action for preventing negative SEO attacks is to monitor your website’s backlink profile for evidence that malicious links are being directed towards your site. There are a number of different tools that will give you this information, although if you’re seriously concerned about the potential damage a negative SEO attack may cause, I’d recommend using a paid program like Raven Tools or SEOMoz PRO.

While there are free tools out there that will give you some data on your site’s existing backlink profile, using a tool that allows you to sort links according to certain criteria will make the process of monitoring for negative SEO attacks much easier. As an example, if you decide to run a negative SEO check weekly, using a tool that either flags potentially damaging links or allows you to filter out only those links that were created in the last week will make the process of identifying malicious links go much faster.

As you peruse your site’s backlink profile, keep an eye out for any of the following indications of negative SEO:

• Links from “bad neighborhood” sites (including backlinks from gambling, adult, and other illicit types of websites)
• Links from foreign language sites
• Links from pages that appear to have been created for the sole purpose of spamming the search engines
• Links from pages that have more than 50 links in their body texts
• Links from pages that trigger malware warnings within your browser

Now, keep in mind that seeing a few links that meet these criteria doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re the victim of a targeted negative SEO campaign. There are plenty of different black hat SEO techniques out there that could result in low-quality links being pointed at your website, so the presence of a few bad backlinks doesn’t conclusively prove that a competitor is gunning to bring you down.
But no matter what caused the creation of these potentially negative links, your next step is the same…

Step #2: Use Google’s Disavow Tool to Report Suspected Negative SEO Attacks

In the past, the process of repairing negative SEO attacks required that webmasters jump through a series of hoops in order to determine which low-quality backlinks were actually causing damage (based on the absence or presence of no-follow tags) and persuade link hosting webmasters to remove those that were identified as being harmful.
Fortunately, Google has made the process of reporting potentially harmful backlinks much easier with the recent release of its Disavow Links tool. This service, found at https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main within your Google Webmaster Tools account, can be used to create files that let Google know which backlinks you suspect come from spammers.
To get started, navigate to the link above and select your website before clicking “Disavow Links”:

You’ll then be required to confirm a notice from Google on the potential damage caused by inappropriately disavowing links (which we’ll discuss in more detail later on):

In the next step, you’ll be prompted to upload a text file that contains the links you’d like Google to ignore:

Therefore, before carrying out this final step, you’ll need to create a “disavow.txt” file listing the information you plan to submit to Google. This text file should contain three types of information only:

1. Full URLs of specific pages you’d like to have devalued (listed on their own lines)
2. The phrase “domain:” followed by any full domains or subdomains you’d like to block entirely (use extreme caution when doing this)
3. Comments on your link devaluation requests following a “#” character

As an example, the finished “disavow.txt” file you upload might look something like this:

Now, here comes the caveat emptor part of this article…
The first thing you need to know about reporting negative SEO attacks using the Google Disavow Links tool is that you can do some major damage to your site’s natural search performance if you accidentally misinterpret legitimate links as malicious in nature. If a suspicious-looking link is actually passing valuable PageRank to your site, requesting its removal may lower your rankings unnecessarily.
As such, you shouldn’t undertake this process unless you’ve actually experienced a negative impact in your site’s search performance (for example, a “bad links” warning within Google Webmaster Tools or a measurable decrease in SERPs rankings). While you shouldn’t wait until a competitor has tanked your rankings entirely, holding off until you have conclusive evidence of some negative effect occurring will minimize the chances that you overreact and remove otherwise valuable links.
(And even then, you’d be well-advised to consult with an SEO professional who can help you to conclusively determine which links are likely “diseased” and need to be disavowed versus those that simply look suspicious.)
In addition, be aware that Google hasn’t officially stated what effect reporting suspicious links will have on your site’s performance, so there’s no guarantee that using the Disavow Links tool will actually restore your pre-attack rankings. At this point, it’s best to think of it as one single tool that, along with others like the Google reconsideration request process, might help you to regain lost rankings over time.
While most webmasters will never experience negative SEO attacks, it’s important to monitor websites for evidence of this malicious practice, as prompt attention to perceived threats can mean the difference between minimal SERPs disruption and total business failure.
Though it’s unknown whether or not future Google algorithm changes will continue to foster an environment in which this type of attack can thrive, it’s important that all webmasters know the signs of a negative SEO attack, as well as what they can do to prevent harm from coming to their sites.

Source : How to Prevent Negative SEO

If you want to get ahead in internet marketing, or even blogging, a basic knowledge of SEO is very much required. It is however important not to jump into an SEO campaign before you understand a few things.
In particular, you need to be able to differentiate between the SEO techniques that can help your site and those that can actually do it harm. Backlinks are obviously important but only when done correctly.
When done incorrectly, you can easily find your site losing ground rather than gaining it. Google doesn’t like search engine manipulation and the penalties are severe. Here are eight types of backlinks that are more likely to harm your site than help it.

Sites with lots of Spam

High PR blogs with comment sections that aren’t moderated might sound like a great place to build backlinks but unfortunately they are almost always targeted by spammers. And when you build backlinks on such blogs, you end up looking like a spammer too.
Blog commenting is an effective SEO technique but it needs to be done with care. Focus exclusively on high quality blogs whose comment sections are carefully moderated.

“Bad” Sites

Google isn’t a fan of porn, gambling or online pharmacies. Under no circumstances should you build backlinks on sites that cover such topics.

Foreign Language Sites

Regardless of the PR of a particular site, if it’s written in a language other than English, building backlinks on it is an easy way to attract Google’s wrath. Such backlinks are obviously not natural and are always going to attract negative attention.

Blog Networks

In the past, blog networks were an effective tool for building high quality backlinks fast. Nowadays however, Google is very much onto the strategy and has declared war on such networks.
Buildmyrank.com is now long gone and though there are a few blog networks still in operation, it won’t be long before they follow suit. Such networks are therefore no longer worth your time or money.

Automation Tools

The fastest way to build hundreds of backlinks to your site is of course to use automation software. There are many different tools available that can allow you to build a thousand backlinks with the click of a mouse.
Unfortunately however, Google is getting better and better at spotting the use of such tools. And when spotted, the result is almost always a swift penalty. Focus on quality over quantity. Always build your backlinks manually.

Companies That Use Automation Tools

Whenever you come across a company selling backlinks at ridiculously low prices, you can rest assured that automation tools are being used to build them. Avoid such companies like the plague.

Identical Anchor Text

Regardless of where you build backlinks, anchor text variation is very much required. When you build a hundred backlinks with identical anchor text, it becomes pretty obvious that you built them all yourself.
It’s okay to use the same keywords but you need to change how you use them. Otherwise the bots are going to catch onto what you are doing almost immediately.

Too Many, Too Fast

Finally, there is the small matter of the speed at which you build backlinks. Regardless of the type of backlinks in question, if you build too many, too fast, you run the risk of being penalised. Ambition is important when it comes to making a profit online but keep your backlinking goals modest for the first few months.

Source : Build Backlinks

Why should you bother with that when you’ve launched a blog to help people and make the world a better place? Every post you write is packed with valuable information and compelling content. For you, that’s most important, and it should be.

However, it’s hard to change the world if you can’t reach the world, and SEO increases the chances that readers will discover this life changing blog of yours.
You still might think SEO is mostly fake and contrived and not worthy of a serious writer’s attention and time. You might view SEO as a spammer’s bag of tricks, even with Google’s efforts to make it harder to manipulate the system.

I understand that you’re a truly passionate blogger who wants to distance yourself from the kind of malignant marketing that clogs your spam folder. But there’s more to it.
Basic SEO practices are also good blogging and writing practices. More than just helping your site show up in a search engine, SEO can help improve a blog’s focus, readability, and value.
Here’s how it happens naturally.

Focus keywords: passion and niche

Keyword usage is possibly the number one strategy for bloggers, likely because it’s one of the simplest. But keywords have gotten a reputation for destroying perfectly good writing by making it annoyingly repetitive. That’s because spam writers pack keywords into every sentence, thinking it makes a difference.
Instead, the only keywords you need to focus on are passion and niche. Your blogging niche is probably your passion.

Of course those two terms won’t be your actual keywords. Instead, your keywords are the names of the category/sub-category that your niche falls under. For example, your niche and therefore your keywords might be rooftop gardening, comic book collections, or backswing.
This is far from contrived, and you’re probably already using these words because they’re the subject of your blog. It’s actually what your site is about and what your posts are about from any number of angles. The majority of your posts, therefore, and your titles, should naturally include these words on a fairly consistent basis.

If readers can’t tell what your blog is about, they probably won’t come back. If it’s clear that your blog is all about rooftop gardening, then rooftop gardeners will keep returning for more information. Otherwise, they’ll think you’re some sort of generalist blogger who once wrote about rooftop gardening on a whim.
So it’s bigger than keywords. It’s about the focus of your blog.

Still concerned about the quality of the writing? SEO can help improve the reading experience of your posts.

Titles and language: be direct

Honest, soulful, non-spam blogging is all about the readers, isn’t it?
Beginning with the title, SEO reminds you to tell readers exactly what to expect from an article. They shouldn’t have to read hundreds of words only to realize your post won’t give them what they’re looking for. Readers are busier than ever and they literally have a million other things they could be giving attention to. If you don’t respect your readers’ attention, they may never bother to read your work again.
It’s only fair that you don’t waste their time with misleading, ambiguous titles or introductory paragraphs that dance around the subject. More than likely, they won’t even click the link if the title is bad and isn’t somehow informative. You can still keep intrigue and shock, but the topic should always be clear and specific.

Another value of being SEO minded is that it reminds you to write in a clear, conversational tone. As the saying goes, “Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.”
This is more than search engine friendliness. Conversational language helps you connect with your audience and convey those brilliant ideas to the broadest, possible range of people.

Before you could ever think about the “how” of language, I’m sure you determine the “what.” What’s the value in everything you’re doing, and how does SEO help you improve that value?

Length and links: offer valuable content

When I’m grading student papers, I can estimate how well-developed or under developed the papers are by looking at the word count. Word count factors into the quality of writing because many students make strong claims, but they fail to support illustrate, or expound on those ideas.

For instance, students would probably say they can sum up this entire post in one sentence.
I can too: SEO can help improve a blog’s focus, readability, and value.
But if I had just stopped there, would you be convinced? Would you really walk away with a renewed perspective on SEO if I had left it at that?
That’s where elaboration comes in. Make a wonderful claim, and then tell readers how to apply it or how it relates to them.

Readers like posts that are packed with insight and helpful information. Being vague and general won’t give them that. Write it plainly, but also write it completely.
Include links wherever they’re truly relevant. Give readers the opportunity to continue learning beyond the single post they’re reading.
All of this is in line with your noble mission, not contrary to it.

SEO with soul

Unfortunately, a system put in place to measure the value of sites so that Google could deliver the best value to its users has been hacked by people trying to make a quick buck. But like any form of technology, a few people who abuse the system don’t make the system inherently worthless. Like Facebook, Twitter, and television, it’s about how you chose to use the tool, and the kind of value you bring to it.
If you’re a regular at ProBlogger, you’re probably someone who uses technology for legitimate, even charitable purposes. Your good intentions should lead you to an honest use of SEO. I call it SEO with soul.
So I urge you not to let the spammers keep you away from a great thing. Take back SEO, and show the world how to do it right.

Source: SEO for Bloggers