SEO - time I started - but where?

[MDUK]

Long post - edited version i want a website that tells someone with a little knowledge what they need to do to acheive meaningful search engine placement.


I have 3 websites that I wan't to promote, historically I have been quite content with them as brochure ware. I didn't expect to be found in t'internet as they are all fairly competitive areas (therefore it was never likely to be the primary source of leads unless I threw tons of time and or money at it)

As I have now got to design (I direct, my designer designs) the third site I thought I really should be trying to optimise it. Consequently I have registered a relevent domain name-that contains 2 key words. I have considered the keywords before writing the home page text, meta tags and title tags. i have made sure they all contain the same (targetted) keywords in the same order.

The objective for this website is top 5 listing on Google for my chosen keywords IN ONE SPECIFIC POSTAL CODE AREA. I am not trying to take on the world. As there is little competition in my area i believe that will be feasible. I expect to get 80% of my business from here. The rest could be anywhere in the country.

If I succeed here then I need to go back and re-look at my other 2 sites (different services - although all of them complement each other) One is in a competitve marketplace and the target customer is national. The other is potentially national but reallistically the North West of England or one specific sector where we have experience, knowledge and credibility is where we should focus. None of the sites have links to each other so that will be my first job. i will then start on site 3 as i feel targetting the North West of England and one vertical sector is again more likely to be successful

The second site is likely to be customers anywhere in the country but a relevant domain name gets me good results in google (unfortuantely only a minority of people refer to this service by that name)

I have looked at adwords but it seems to be more and more expensive to compete. I would gladly put £100 a month in to prove it and if it works will increase it proportionatly but it seems more complicated than i expected.

So there you have it - i hope thats made sense. i have a basic understanding of SEO techniques but have never tried to implement them. What i want is website or source of reference which will help me to think about all those elements and advise on how to address them to achieve what i need.

Thank you for reading this far

M

[sandpetra]

MDUK - I can give you some tips I've put together here (http://www.internetmarketing101.org.uk) (a bit outdated) and here (http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/seo-blog/?cat=2). Also check out Jim Boykin (http://www.jimboykin.com). A good forum for discussing seo is Digital Point Forums and Webmasterworld.

Unfortunately this forum seems to me to be a bit of a pig-farm when discussing marketing online because business is involved and a few people seem to want to make money first and help out second.

This forum lacks a bit of "community" between certain disciplines and a bit too much "my way is better than yours" or "I am making so much money, come with me".

[Tin]

Unfortunately this forum seems to me to be a bit of a pig-farm when discussing marketing online because business is involved and a few people seem to want to make money first and help out second.

Sorry but my opinion is completely different. Accepting that UKBF is primarily a business forum and accepting that members here do have at least that one 'communal interest in common' I've yet to see another forum where so many members take the time to help others out in such a wide range of business related subjects.

'MDUK' if you'd like to PM me I'd be happy to offer advice you'd find very useful and also free.

Many thanks

Ray

[sandpetra]

Quick PM me too! First bit of advice is free too!

Sorry tin but your a mod while I hear a very nice person so I wont hold that against you :) Your bound to say it's a good forum.

It's a forum. Why are you asking a poster to pm you when the discussion should be had here on these pages to help everyone out - not just those who contact you privately? :)

PS - Note I am not saying this isnt a valuable forum, certainly not. But it would be a bit more of a community if you just put your thoughts on the page and then let others decide wether or not to PM you.

I think I am going to change my sig to "PM Me Now! Free advice on everything above" :)

[Tin]

It's a forum. Why are you asking a poster to pm you when the discussion should be had here on these pages to help everyone out - not just those who contact you privately?

Like I said it is a business forum when all is said and done and as my main business is SEO (for my sins) I don't feel it is appropriate to broadcast to all and sundry certain aspects of the business. If you had taken the time to read the original post you will notice that he was protective of the information he was supplying, I was simply respecting that, whilst also protecting myself.

You have said yourself that the SEO community itself is a bit of a minefield. Whether I choose to help someone out privately or publicly through the forum is surely irrelevant. I feel I have more than contributed to open discussions on these forums whenever the need arises but being a mod now restricts my time seriously. I just don't feel the need to self promote to the extent that others seem to have the urge to do.

The way I choose to offer help to others is my choice, it probably depends greatly on the kind of person that you are which style of approach you use - my suggesting a private PM or yourself simply pointing the OP to your own site not once but with 5 links. I suppose it depends which side of the fence you sit as to which approach you prefer.

Lastly, allow me the integrity of being able to decide for myself as a member of this forum (as I can take my mods hat off when required) my opinions on the value of this forum.

[sandpetra]

I was allowing you your "integrity" while noting that i think as a mod you're always going to have a biased opinion on the forum.

Look at all the words you have written on this page but the only one from you relevant to the question is:

'MDUK' if you'd like to PM me I'd be happy to offer advice you'd find very useful and also free.

Not a lot.

The poster asked for websites with some info on what their looking for. I supplied that and stated some were mine. I would have added more (searchengeland, seomoz, etc) but I am sure my links would have been deleted.

What was wrong with dropping a link to a few sites you yourself think may be useful? Surely responding in detail to a private email takes longer than this?

I agree, the very reason a lot of us are on here is to network and lead generate. If everybody on this forum thought like that we'll have threads with "help me with this" and 20 posts saying "pm me now for cheaper help than the pm above me".

[sandpetra]

"Lastly, allow me the integrity of being able to decide for myself as a member of this forum (as I can take my mods hat off when required) my opinions on the value of this forum."

That's like asking someone in Labour "hows the party managing the country" :)

[sandpetra]

"....being a mod now restricts my time seriously. I just don't feel the need to self promote to the extent that others seem to have the urge to do."

That'll be because you are a mod :) - a message from a mod saying PM me? That's good - i would, especially if I didnt have a clue about something.

PS - I'm not in any way trying to say you are not a valuable contributor to this site.

I am saying I don't think it makes for much discussion and as a mod I would think your responsibility would be to help create and nurture discussion first and foremost not kill a thread with "PM me".

Perhaps I've just seen a few too many posts with desperado's clamouring for money of hapless c***s (I love this automatic editing on here but I had to do that one myself :)) - with nothing to add to the discussion except "that's ****" or "he doesnt know what he's talking about - PM me".

I am not throwing you in with that lot - it's about the forum.

Different strokes for different folks.

[An Oasis]

...This forum lacks a bit of "community" between certain disciplines and a bit too much "my way is better than yours" or "I am making so much money, come with me".

I would beg to differ on that aspect Shaun. As a forum I don't think there is a better forum. Most of the regular members here are considerate and go the extra mile to help or offer advice to other forum members, whether the member chooses to take the advice or not is their choice.

I am sure that you are a member of many forums (as are most of us) the twaddle that come out in places like DP, WMW makes those forums nearly worthless, despite the talents and contributions of many of the longstanding members.

Whilst there is the occasional spat on UKBF I feel that these spats are handled very well.

[Tin]

I don't know what your issue is?

That'll be because you are a mod :) - a message from a mod saying PM me? That's good - i would, especially if I didnt have a clue about something.

I was simply offering FREE advice.....I am not pitching for a job. The OP clearly wants to DIY and I'm happy to help. Look at the facts, I've made 847 posts on this forum, the majority were created before I became a Mod, and I know you will find that although a lot of these were SEO related not one of them contains a link to my SEO website.

Different strokes for different folks.

You said it. If we were all the same it would be a very dull place. ;)

[sandpetra]

Richard i love this forum. I think it is a useful place for everybody who takes part in it on the hole.

There is a great deal of knowledge sharing too.

At the same time I think it is very cliquey and there always seems to be a spat when 2 disciplines begin to argue a case over a particular method - which way is right etc.

Perhaps i'm just used to participating in forums with a very focused community where effectively everybody is helping each other at no cost, and there is a segregation between disciplines and sub-forums.

It's fair to say this forum is very different from WMW & DP because of the lead generation opportunities.

A forum in WMW seems to reach a consensus because everybody is working together on similar industry - whereas a discussion here about which way is best always ends up heated.

Perhaps I am just participating in the wrong threads :) but I don't think this is the forum if you want to learn about seo - hiring one might be a different matter. Simple as that.

You dont want to go to a forum and learn about seo when the first post is " dont use seo, use ppc" or wahtever - the person is wanting to learn about seo

just my opinion :)

[sandpetra]

Tin I am questioning whether it is proper for a mod to post in a thread PM me when it's a discussion forum. i am not disputing you were offering help (but you do this 100% out of the kindess of your heart with no thought ever about lead generation and networking?) ;)

This route immediately takes the discussion private. Is the aim of this forum to promote discussion on a large scale or between posters and individuals / mods. Or is the aim of this forum to simply generate business leads?

I think saying PM (from a mod specifically)me isnt good for discussion but perhaps it's widespread on here?

[Tin]

I think saying PM (from a mod specifically)me isnt good for discussion but perhaps it's widespread on here?

Well I can safely say it is not WIDESPREAD on here. It just happens to be the way I saw fit to help this individual. I was not stopping the thread or anyone else contributing to it.

You pointed him to a couple of pages from your sites. I wanted to have a chat to establish which direction to point him in. As I have already pointed out, the original post did not offer a clear indication as to the market sector which would have helped to give constructive advice.

I would also point out that I am intensely aware that I am a Mod on this forum and endeavour to ensure that I maintain impartiality and this in itself prohibits me from replying in a more direct manner to suit the occasion.

This is now seriously off topic, so if you do not have anything constructive to say to the OP I suggest we leave it here.

[An Oasis]

Richard i love this forum. I think it is a useful place for everybody who takes part in it on the hole.

There is a great deal of knowledge sharing too.

At the same time I think it is very cliquey and there always seems to be a spat when 2 disciplines begin to argue a case over a particular method - which way is right etc....


I am glad you like it, you certainly can liven thing ups. ;) And yes there is a great deal of unselfish contributing by members, which is the reason that it 's a great forum to be on - the day that stops will be the death of the forum.

As to cliquey, I have not noticed that but then I tend to be blind to anything that does not matter to me, is the forum cliquey?

With the written word there are no visual preconceptions (which cloud peoples judgment) so whilst the process of getting to know people is much slower, but I believe better as a result, e.g. no visual preconceptions rather that you end up deciding to "trust or otherwise" a person by past posts.

The only thing that I would disagree with you about is "A forum in WMW seems to reach a consensus because everybody is working together on similar industry - whereas a discussion here about which way is best always ends up heated". Occasionally, I pop back to wmw but the signal to noise ratio is ridiculous, HERE I have rarely participated in a heated debate, most people know, when commenting on areas of their own expertise post what they want to say and that is the end of their input.

[sandpetra]

"MDUK - I can give you some tips I've put together here (http://www.internetmarketing101.org.uk/) (a bit outdated) and here (http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/seo-blog/?cat=2). Also check out Jim Boykin (http://www.jimboykin.com/). A good forum for discussing seo is Digital Point Forums and Webmasterworld."

This is just a quote what I said and i am sorry it doesnt matter what industry the OP is in - the principles of seo are exactly the same in any industry so i don't get quite waht youre reffering to here.

I offered my advice quickly by linking to two posts I did on the subject matter and advice to visit 3 well known industry resources on the matter.

You said PM me. That's not discussion. I'ts not helping the forum or other readers of this page tomorrow.

I am happy to leave it there now.

[sandpetra]

Cheers Richard. As I said I might be participating in the wrong threads! :)

[sandpetra]

Thread back on Topic

SEO Advice:

SEOMOZ
Webmasterworld
SEOchat
seobook
searchengineland
webmasterworld
digital point forums
jimboykin
searchenginewatch
google webmaster guidelines

Free advice with a lifetime guarantee

:)

[MDUK]

WOW!

Gentlemen - thank you for your responses - never before have I felt so 'bowled over' on by people rushing to assist me..

I thank you both for your contribution Sandpetra i will read the sites you suggest. Tin I will PM you. I do intend to do this DIY as 1) I belive I have the ability to achieve something worthwhile if i put my mind to it, 2) I think it would be a beneficial skill to learn and 3) I don't have the money to pay anyone else to do it for me.

TBH i have avoided digging too deep as it looked both cost and time intensive. The need for a third website (different part of the business) has meant that i needed to think about it - and have tried for the first time to make a site SEO friendly (I would be interested to hear both opinons - and anyone elses for that matter on my the things that i have tried)

I have registered a relevent domain name-that contains 2 key words. I have considered the keywords before writing the home page text, meta tags and title tags. i have made sure they all contain the same (targetted) keywords in the same order.I also intend to make them link to each other M

Having started I do want to 'dig deeper' and simply want some direction on where to research.

Thanks

MD

[sirearl]

MD I can recommend http://www.highrankings.com/ go to there forums and sign up for there newsletter.

You are on a long road to understand SEO fully,as I am afraid no one is going to divulge all the tricks of there trade.But it is all there to be learnt given time .Earl

[I, Brian]

For a pretty good guide for basic SEO:
http://www.seomoz.org/article/beginners-guide-to-search-engine-optimization

For local search optimisation with little competition, I think this should certainly do you in good stead.

As for the comments re: the community at UKBF - all I'll say is that I'd be happy if Platinax had half the community UKBF has. :)

[MDUK]

thank you - i will add it to the list to read!

[PeteYoung]

As for the comments re: the community at UKBF - all I'll say is that I'd be happy if Platinax had half the community UKBF has. :)

Give it time, Brian - Give it time. :)

[Aspect Investments]

As for the comments re: the community at UKBF - all I'll say is that I'd be happy if Platinax had half the community UKBF has. :)

I know how you feel Brian :( :)