How do we do our own SEO ?

[por911t]

We are a family business who rely heavily on the internet for trade. We outsource all out all our SEO work however on quieter afternoons we have time when we could endeavour to do this ourselves ....... exactly how would we go about learning the skills required to do this ?

Many thanks for any feedback or advice given.

Kind regards
Barry(Glasgow)

 

[AllUpHere]

Www.freshbananas.co.uk.

The guy who owns it is a moderator on this forum (Tin) and is very well respected. I'd say the course he does would be perfect for you.

 

[fisicx]

Get your money back from the SEO company - the on-site SEO is appalling which means any link building they are doing is pointless. You might as well burn the money you are paying them for all the good it is doing you.

I second freshbananas.

PS: get rid of that annoying woman - if I landed on your site looking for a van I'd be off like a shot the second after she starts talking.

 

[Videoguy]

Udemy have a number of courses on this subject. https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?ref=home&q=SEO (no affiliation)

 

[FutureM]

I also must put forward the Freshbananas course. I am currently working my way through it, I actually considered myself not all that bad at seo but there's quite a lot I overlooked.

 

[webgeek]

Enrol in the freshbananas course, read sections 4 and 5, then read them again.

Next find yourself an SEO mentor who knows how this stuff works and who can help you take what you learn from the course and apply it to the real world of SEO'ing your site.

Taking all that knowledge and turning it into a step by step action plan that will help you achieve sustainable results, is worth a few hours of consulting time. Some things should be done before others (like buyer personas and keyword research, getting a business Name, Address, Phone placed on the map so it becomes bricks and mortar and not vaporware).

Some things in principle sound great, but must be tempered with the experience of what works vs what should work (citation sites for example - not all are created equal, not all are beneficial, and some are just crap directories trying to slip past the waves of people disavowing directory links).

You could possibly benefit from someone helping you to audit your current site, identifying on-page and backlink issues that could be holding you down. The percentage of sites with dupe content issues is outrageous, because people grab an open source software package, throw a free template/theme on it and pop in a free SEO plugin, without knowing that they're creating problems by listing products in multiple categories, or using manufacturer provided descriptions that are already in use by every Tom, Dick and Harry online.

A great foundation of knowledge, like you'll get from Tin's course, will give you the tools to fill the toolbelt. Combine that with a wee bit of guidance from a decent consultant, and you'll be driving nails like a champ rather than getting your thumb hammered like a chump.

 

[greyheart]

As always if you're doing DIY SEO I wouldn't advise diving straight in, Fisicx where did you spot the site? Am I going blind?

I'm assuming Fisicx is probably right mind and that would probably mean you want to get the site sorted out professionally. And after that look at doing your own SEO going forward.

DIY on site doesn't always go too well from what I've seen.....

 

[fisicx]

It's in their profile

 

[greyheart]

It's in their profile

Haha yer going blind.... you know I actually looked there too...... *sigh* it's been a long week

Completely agree about the woman btw.... although to be honest I'd actually just say they need a new website in general.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Enrol in the freshbananas course, read sections 4 and 5, then read them again.

I'd second that.

Some people will tell you to learn from blogs etc, but that's just a nonsense. Firstly, so much of the advice is either bad, or out of date (= "was ok, now bad").

Secondly, the time it would take to assemble all the necessary techniques - and to identify and discard everything that doesn't work - means learning on your own makes no sense.

Not only that, but there's an opportunity cost from learning slowly. Every day you don't have rankings is money taken from your pocket.

The best way to learn most things is to stand on the shoulders of someone who knows how to do it and is willing to teach it. It's the fastest way. It's the most reliable way. And, when you think about the time saved, it's so much cheaper than trying to save money by trying to figure it out for yourself.

Steve

 

[por911t]

Oh guys I'm so surprised by the level of feedback here - thanks so much ! I'll take sometime out tomorrow and digest the comments. Keep you posted on my thought and comments once I've worked through the feedback -

Many thanks once again - very kind .

Barry

 

[StevePoster]

Get your money back from the SEO company - the on-site SEO is appalling which means any link building they are doing is pointless. You might as well burn the money you are paying them for all the good it is doing you.

I second freshbananas.

PS: get rid of that annoying woman - if I landed on your site looking for a van I'd be off like a shot the second after she starts talking.

Hard to said by fisicx but it is the reality. We are thankful because there are some people like him that are willing to guide us in the right path in optimization industry.

Oh guys I'm so surprised by the level of feedback here - thanks so much ! I'll take sometime out tomorrow and digest the comments. Keep you posted on my thought and comments once I've worked through the feedback -
Many thanks once again - very kind .
Barry

Well recognized persons in this field recommend well trusted services within the industry.
You are in the right track.

 

[tylnewcastle]

Try updating content on your website. Write about your service and your offerings on various places like, blogs, directory this will help you build links to your website.

 

[fisicx]

Try updating content on your website. Write about your service and your offerings on various places like, blogs, directory this will help you build links to your website.

That just daft advice. It's not going to work, Google has told people this.

 

[neils3]

Hi Barry,

I'm actually starting up a four part blog series on SEO for beginners which will give you a good overview and include loads of actionable tips. The site is still in progress but you can search for "Only Way Online".

We were also running an online business and doing our own SEO, and it's crucial you spend your time wisely and do the things that will add the most value. For example, for people new to SEO I would recommend they start with their website and optimise it for Google (also called On-Page SEO). However, since you already outsource your SEO I'm guessing this is taken care of?

If yes, then a good way for a business owner to do SEO is not to do SEO, instead work on sharing your story and promoting your business. SEO has become less about the technical tricks and more about doing PR, just online. For example, your could create content for other websites (aka guest posting), do interviews and even engage in relevant forums by providing advice. These are things business owners will do better than a SEO agency. The SEO benefits will come.

I also agree with previous comments here, looking for an expert who can speed up your learning curve is important and a mentor who can ensure you're going down the right path.

Good luck
Neil

 

[fisicx]

However, since you already outsource your SEO I'm guessing this is taken care of?

Nope, it's an appaling mess - the SEO company has done nothing useful onsite. Take a look at their page titles.

Did a seach for 'Only Way Online' and just got some drivel about a TV reality show.

And I thought the whole guest blog posting had been mashed by Google in their recent updates (because it was just article submission by another name)

 

[neils3]

What's his site? I must have missed this somewhere.

Yes the site isn't yet optimised, <URL removed by Mod>. Good to know a TV reality show is coming up though

Guest blogging is still a great way to get your online brand out there. Some sites don't necessarily give you a link back to your site, some do, but nonetheless, if done right it can help you generate direct traffic from that website.

 

[PoppyJones]

Yup, doing effective SEO on your own could be mission impossible...You can try learning some techniques from specialised blogs and forums, but as it was mentioned above, the best way is having someone that can show you what to do based on his/her professional experience. Of course, the other option is simply hire SEO specialist to do the job, but do a fine research 'cause not all of these specialist is really one.

 

[Tin]

Firstly, thanks for all the recommendations, cheques in the post

Barry, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with others on this thread, your On-Page SEO is atrocious to the point of being non-existent. On that basis you should part ways with your current SEO company immediately for two reasons:

a) If you are paying them for On-Page Optimisation - they are failing miserably and even a complete novice (you) could do better.
b) If you are paying them purely for Off-Page Optimisation - they should not be embarking on any of this activity until the On-Page Optimisation is handled in a more sensible manner (see (a) above).

A couple of questions for you to think about:

1) What did the SEO company tell you they were going to do for you?
2) What keywords are they supposed to be targeting?
3) Did they carry out any keyword research at all?

As always if you're doing DIY SEO I wouldn't advise diving straight in

Why not? The very best person to do SEO on a site is the site owner themselves and the earlier the better. With the right tools and information to hand there'd be a lot less situations like this happening, forewarned is forearmed is something that springs to my mind and would prevent a lot of the snake oil companies from getting such a foothold in the market.

DIY on site doesn't always go too well from what I've seen.....

That depends entirely on the source of the information that's followed.

 

[GraemeL]

exactly how would we go about learning the skills required to do this ?

The first step to the answer as others have said, is the Fresh Bananas Course. Then you are in a much better position to make a reasoned decision on either doing it yourself or buying expertise. Tin is an expert.

G

 

[iiisark]

I read reputable SEO sources like: Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Watch,SEO book...

 

[Deepanshu Gahlaut]

We are a family business who rely heavily on the internet for trade. We outsource all out all our SEO work however on quieter afternoons we have time when we could endeavour to do this ourselves ....... exactly how would we go about learning the skills required to do this ?

Many thanks for any feedback or advice given.

Kind regards
Barry(Glasgow)

I'm also doing SEO myself for my personal blog deepanshugahlaut.com. Here I would like to share the basics of SEO you can do yourself -
1. Make your site user friendly (Look and Feel)
2. View source of each page and ensure to include 1 h1, 1 h2, 1 h3 tag.
3. Optimize your images in each and every page, Image should contain alt tag.
4. Each page should have meta title (<70 char) and meta description (>100 and <154 char) - Both are displayed in google when some one search on internet.
5. Create links to your site from other sites using blog commenting, forum posting, guest posting, advetise and partnership etc.
6. Do social for your site as well.

 

[RedEvo]

Thismight help - http://moz.com/learn/seo

d

 

[JonnyMP]

I read reputable SEO sources like: Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Watch,SEO book...

All these sites quote and analyze the content first published on Google's own Webmaster Central blog. You should read the official source first, before checking out the sites which offer commentary on Google's policies and algorithms.

 

[webgeek]

...
5. Create links to your site from other sites using blog commenting, forum posting, guest posting, advetise and partnership etc.

You were doing great up until #5, which should say:

5. Do NOT create links to your site from other sites using blog commenting, forum spam, or paid advertisements.

Paid ad links, like affiliate/partner links, should be nofollowed...

 

[mediaguy35]

Paid ad links, like affiliate/partner links, should be nofollowed...

Never happen, simply as paid link spots are desired by advertisers for the boost in SERPS, as this is the want and need - the advert/link must be displayed for it to work. If you no-follow ad space, the advert gets no boost in traffic and client pulls their ads eg: reduced benefit.

SEO is an extra benefit besides the original advert placement. I do think a link on its own, isn't what Google likes to see, but that's about a content weblink, where as a plain advert with link is a different beast, which Google happily sells to you, and then auto-SEO's it via adsense on other websites.

 

[fisicx]

That post makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[OakMarkLondon]

Google actually published a pdf document "SEO starter guide" it is a very handy literature and will surely give you some guidance what to do.

Hope it helps...

<<< Links removed by Mod >>>

 

[JonnyMP]

You were doing great up until #5, which should say:

5. Do NOT create links to your site from other sites using blog commenting, forum spam, or paid advertisements.

Paid ad links, like affiliate/partner links, should be nofollowed...

Google despises paid links that pass page rank. And, it could be big trouble for both the webmaster who sells the link and the site owner that buys the link.

Please be wary if someone approaches you and wants to pay you for links or "advertorial" pages on your site that pass PageRank. Selling links (or entire advertorial pages with embedded links) that pass PageRank violates our quality guidelines, and Google does take action on such violations. The consequences for a linkselling site start with losing trust in Google's search results, as well as reduction of the site's visible PageRank in the Google Toolbar. The consequences can also include lower rankings for that site in Google's search results.

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-reminder-about-selling-links.html

 

[mediaguy35]

Google despises paid links that pass page rank. And, it could be big trouble for both the webmaster who sells the link and the site owner that buys the link.

True, but also self-insane reality as Google assigns pagerank to everyone, and sites will sell links on their own properties, so its impossible to get around the 'might be' or 'are they' taking advantage of PR mantra. You cannot stop people selling their own adspace, its a human and legal right, and it won't be going away anytime soon, as billions are spent on advertising every year, so its obvious any control method hasn't worked, despite erasing SERP results. Might kill off the silly blogs, but the video sites are still going strong, as evident by the pop-ups/malware that's about.

I doubt there's a way to make one weblink no-follow, when and if other links must be ranked/followed? I don't mean no-follow a specific page, I mean by each link.

 

[webgeek]

Yes, site owners can sell links. They can choose whether to sell nofollow or dofollow links, label them sponsored, embed them in content or off in the sidebar.

Google can reduce the page rank of a site, erase the PR completely or erase the site from the organic index. Suddenly selling dofollow links can lead to the site owner trying to sell links from a formerly PR7 site. You probably have a good idea about this, but link buyers won't pay much for a link from a PR0 site that's been hammered by the Googlecops.

 

[amac]

Google actually published a pdf document "SEO starter guide" it is a very handy literature and will surely give you some guidance what to do.

Hope it helps...

<<< Links removed by Mod >>>

This is a good pdf, recommend it to most folks I talk to about SEO. I would add that you just need to keep on top of developments with the key search engines, particularly Google. The ranking signals change over-time so pay attention to this.

 

[fisicx]

The ranking signals change over-time so pay attention to this.

No they don't. The ranking signals are the same as they have always been. What Google does is shift the algo to combat the tricks SEO companies do to game the system. All those who got hammered in the recent updates were those who used SEO tricks to artificially boost their ranking; something Google warns you not to do.

 

[amac]

No they don't. The ranking signals are the same as they have always been. What Google does is shift the algo to combat the tricks SEO companies do to game the system. All those who got hammered in the recent updates were those who used SEO tricks to artificially boost their ranking; something Google warns you not to do.

Maybe I phrased my answer wrongly, Google adds ranking signals i.e social and increasingly they'll add mobile related signals.

 

[fisicx]

...increasingly they'll add mobile related signals.

Why do people talk about 'mobile'. Mobile is a myth.

What matters is speed of delivery. It doesn't matter what device is being used. so for example you could have a high resolution screen on a 3G dongle and a phone on Wifi. Both are mobile and both have different needs. Google doesn't even case if your site is responsive, it just measures how quickly you can get the content in front of the user. And the trick to fast loading? Send less data. The more code caggage and scripting and un-optimised imagery you send the slower the page load speed.

 

[Getextra]

Very quick one, is the Fresh Bananas Course kept up to date with Google changes. Or is it more about what you should have been doing 5 years ago, now and into the future anyway?

 

[Tin]

It's up to date because it contains techniques that are explained in considerable detail that I am still doing today, in order to get rankings for my clients. It's an on-page seo course not an off-site course so by default, doesn't come with the baggage of other courses.

Feel free to ring me with any questions you have and I'll happily and honestly answer them. 01297 552067.

Ray

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Mobile optimisation isn't a myth any longer, Google is actually posting a warning if a search is done on a mobile device and the user experience isn't good for mobile.

Also @mediaguy35 you are spot on when you say 'selling adverts is a right of the site owner. But the reality is, Google has and is punishing sites that sell page rank. So as long as the site owners and their clients are aware that they can both receive a penalty for buying links that pass page rank, everything is hunky dory.

Google really is clamping down on sites selling pagerank, and the definition of 'selling pagerank' is a link that exists due to a payment, plain and simple.

If someone reports a site for selling PR Google is on it like a rash and if the instances are high enough will go for it like a dog with a bone. Plenty of reports of this online. Both big and small e.g a large daily newspaper was nailed for selling PR and some huge puyblishers were also hit.

The BBC was hit, the Washington post was hit, Rapgenius was hit hell google even punished itself when it was pushing out Chrome. ALL for paid link selling/buying in one form or another.

 

[Getextra]

Cheers Ray,

Looks like a good place for me to start!

As the business has grown I've concentrated on AdWords and done very little with SEO and Web Development so want to get back up to speed.

 

[fisicx]

Mobile optimisation isn't a myth any longer, Google is actually posting a warning if a search is done on a mobile device and the user experience isn't good for mobile.

But OWG, it's the use of the word mobile that is wrong. My laptop is mobile but I wouldn't expect to see a site optimized for a phone displayed if I happened to be using a dongle.

Being responsive is important - not the fact that I'm connected to a 3G network.