An increasing number of people are questioning the validity of search engine optimization.
Mel asked, “I just came from a site where both speakers put down the value of SEO. Is it slipping?”
And the answer is… it depends
Not very satisfying, is it?
Let me try to explain.
Some websites are very dependent on SEO (search engine optimization) for their traffic. Other sites could not care less about their search engine ranking.
The trick is to determine which kind of website you have. This may seem difficult but it’s not. Websites that depend on SEO almost always have one thing in common…
Websites that depend on SEO lack a community
In a nutshell, websites that are wholly dependent on SEO for their traffic have no community to support them.
These websites give no incentive for visitors to come back. They do little to answer visitors’ questions and they seldom post new content. These websites are usually static and change very little.
They usually don’t have a way for people to subscribe to RSS. And if they did it wouldn’t matter because they are seldom updated.
Example
My 60,000 Famous Quotes website has not been updated in over 6 years. The content has remained static and nothing has changed. It doesn’t get a lot of return visitors. Almost all of its traffic comes from Yahoo.
No one wants to link to it anymore; there are 100 sites just like it.
It’s just a website that sits out there on the web, like a single buoy in a vast ocean. Occasionally people will notice it and check it out. But after a minute they lose interest and find something else to look at.
Does this sound like your website?
The back link game is getting harder
A major component of search engine optimization is the acquiring of back links to your website. Each back link is like a vote. And the more votes you have, the higher you rank.
Building back links has become a big business. Many companies have invested a large amount of money in creative and sometimes deceptive ways of getting back links. Nearly all of the comment spam I receive is from people trying to get back links.
Because they have automated nearly every aspect of building back links they can get hundreds or thousands of back links within a few hours. This has created an unfair advantage over people who build them legitimately and one at a time.
So if you want to participate in this game and try to get links to your website then it will be an uphill battle.
An alternative is to find some very narrow and specific niche where no one is competing with you. The trouble with these niches is that there is often only a trickle of traffic available.
Websites with a community don’t care about SEO (well mostly)
Websites like ProBlogger and Copy Blogger have built a community of engaged readers. These readers, like me, keep coming back because the websites keep creating content that is valuable, interesting, and timely.
They have a section where people can leave comments and ask questions. But more importantly they engage with their readers and actually respond to comments and questions.
Websites like these don’t have to depend on search engine optimization. They don’t need to worry about the number of back links they have this week or where they rank in Google.
Because they keep putting out good stuff they know they will get traffic. With all of the great content they generate it’s easy for them to build an e-mail list which has the potential of generating massive traffic.
There are a few pieces of SEO that still matter for sites with a community
Search engine optimization can be divided into two parts.
Part 1 is on-site optimization. This involves optimizing the pages of your website like coming up with good titles that include your keyword, making proper use of H1 and H2 tags, your homepage including a menu with links to important pages on your website, etc.
Part 2 is off-site optimization. This includes getting your site indexed, building back links, submitting your RSS feed to different aggregators, getting links from .edu sites, etc.
Most of the stuff in part 1 still matters. We are not doing it for Google’s benefit; you do it because it makes it easier for users to find and navigate your website.
It’s important to have good titles as most people are using RSS readers and quickly skim 10 or 100 posts titles from an assortment of blogs each day, only clicking and visiting ones with titles that are most interesting.
You’ll notice on my blog that I have links to important and popular posts on my homepage. And they’re usually above the fold.
In case you haven’t guessed, part 2 doesn’t matter.
You have a decision to make
Do you want to rely on the search engines for your traffic and always be competing for back links?
Or are you willing to build a community where you help people, invite them to comment, answer their questions, and give them a reason to come back?
The funny thing about all of this is that sites with communities receive more traffic than sites without communities. Not 2 or 10 times as much traffic but more like 100 or 1000 times as much traffic.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
It's great to see you posting a text content rich post Nick full of solid advice.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Andy. I am gonna try to write more in-depth blog posts.
Hey… I am not a spammer
but I know what you are saying though Nick, so no offense taken lol. Really great coverage though on all sides Nick, I for one believe that the most important aspect of SEO, is the off site SEO. For some its easy… they don't have to do anything for their off site optimization to work, but for others we gotta put alot of effort to get those links!
Till then,
Jean
This all makes sense, but doesn't assume that either you have a community or somehow you get discovered. All communities will have have some degree of natural wastage and you need new members. How do they find you? Google has to be one of the top routes in, though I admit there will be an element of word of mouth…
That's a really good question. How do you get the initial people to your community?
I actually plan to answer this in more detail in future blog post. But here are a few tips: start with several really good blog posts. Then visit related blogs and leave really good comments. Doing so results in a few people coming and checking out your blog and that's why it is important to start with some really good blog posts. You then make it easy for them to subscribe to your RSS and follow you on twitter. You also have your e-mail list invitation with a free incentive. Other things you can do are run a contest or giveaway something for free.
Howdy Nick, I am your fan! The info you provide is not only very clear and without the frequently occurring unnecessary nonsense, it's also very useful! The notion that competing with those automated link builders is an uphill battle is kind of disencouraging but it's good to know there are other ways to get your traffic. Thanks for this post, it's subject is not completely new to me but it does remind me of what's important.
When I realized that I was up against the automated link builders and was quite discouraged and began looking for alternative methods of getting traffic. Looking back it's the best thing that ever happened.
SEO is and always will be a factor. I doubt if it will ever become obsolete.
@selling textbooks, it might not become "obsolete" per say, but I would say that it will definitely evolve in the future as search engines change, and the internet users change as well.
Till then,
Jean
You are right. SEO is forever evolving. what worked 3 years ago will do nothing today. Plus Google tends to catch up with us sometimes, and makes us tweak our methods. Its kinda of an on going cat and mouse game.
This is very true. The one thing that has changed a lot in the last three or five years is social media. Today we have 10 times as many different ways to get information and stay up to date on the Internet compared with five years ago. Five years ago we went to Google any time we wanted to know something. Today Google is still an option but so is twitter, Facebook, stumble upon, etc.
It's losing importance in my opinion. There are so many other ways to get traffic.
I do agree withyou. I have both a blog site and a static site that offers a service. My question is how do I incorporate a community feel on a static site.
> How do I incorporate a community feel on a static site?
The short answer is: You don't. A community feel comes from a website that actually has and supports a real community. A community feel comes from a site that encourages people to post comments and ask questions and get responses to their questions. I don't think you can do this with a static site.
This is great info. I agree websites with communities do not need SEO but it still helps and brings traffic that tends to stay. People who find you on search engines are looking for topics like your blog post and if they like it, they will continue reading.
1. Of course you don't want a community for everything you do online. I prefer static sites for most niches. As a consumer I am definitely not always interested to wade thru comments. For the same reason I am no fan of Twitter or Facebook. I prefer the searchengines. All this "social noise" of blogging and networks can get too much, and cause "blindness", just like there is banner blindness, meaning people skipping the message.
I know this happens to me on most blogs that I visit.
2. The amount of visitors is not always of any significance. Most micro niches don't get many visitors for a start. So what?
As long as those that do visit, find what they look or.
3. Therefore I always start with a static site. Then if the feedback suggests to turn it into a community, I'll add a blog.
Good points JP.
You can incorporate a community feel to a static website. Just look at 2createawebsite. It's a static website but she has youtube videos, rss feeds and a blog attached to it. Not to mention a twitter account and a forum all devoted to the same topic and all linking back to her main site.
If you pack your site with unique, helpful content and have it as a hub to all your social media activities you will soon have your own little community buzzing with activity reagardless of whether it's a blog or a static website.
I think everything counts but depending on what you're doing not everything counts the same. If you're selling physical objects then backlinking and SEO are king to get unique visitors. If you're an affiliate IM'er flogging info products then the list is king but you still need Google to build your list although it gradually decreases in importance over time. Other material might require a more word of mouth type campaign.
As a side note and from personal experience I believe that the single most powerful thing for on page SEO is an exact domain match. Strength of Competition is considerably weakened when you have this factor in your favor.
Good thoughts. Having the exact domain is great but not possible for many people. For every niche there is 1 exact domain and hundreds or thousands of people competing.
“Websites with a community don’t care about SEO…”
I totally agree with the statement. This fact only proves that content is a king! Every reader wants to get something that can help them with what they’re doing. Posts that will guide them or teach them.
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Surely websites with active communities still have many incoming links and depend on the search engines for new traffic. You can have the best content in the world and unless you have some kind of visibility the world will not find you. You are certainly right that getting back-links is more difficult, but at the end of the day Google can, at least to some degree, distinguish between spam, automated links and real links that are part of a conversation. Google also gives weight to new and unique content the creation of which is in itself a kind of optimization. I kind of agree with you but think it is more subtle then you describe – at least you have made me think… !
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Good points.