How do we do our own SEO ?

[Getextra]

What do you use to measure the speed of the site?

Google Page Speed doesn't seem as good as Gtmetrix however, with the Google badge is this what I'm being assessed on.

Techie question - I'm being told to: Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content.

When I moved this my page looked a mess for 0.5 - 1 sec before the code kicked in

 

[OldWelshGuy]

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.

When Google say 'mobile' they are talking about mobile as in for tablets, and phones and the experience with those devices.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

some reading here on the issues Google highlight, their main gripe is redirecting all mobile traffic to the home page of the mobile site which gives a poor user experience. there are also a load of other issues.

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/changes-in-rankings-of-smartphone_11.html

 

[Mail Workshop]

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)

Hi Barry, what industry are you in? I would recommend getting your business on all the major directories, making sure your address and contact details match up effectively (for local citations). Additionally, add a blog to your site, not to dump content, but try to target niche long tail keywords around your area of trade. Google also takes into account social signals now, so having active Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus accounts will help, along with building backlinks from websites/forums/directories that rank high in your chosen target keywords.

 

[JonnyMP]

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.

That's true. Every site owner has a right to sell his or her own ad space without interference by Google. And, Google can't stop you from selling links or ad space. And, that's not what I was indicating. However, Google insists that you no follow all sold/paid ad links so they don't pass page rank. If your site isn't really dependent on Google for traffic and you get your traffic from other sources such as Pinterest or Facebook, then you would be welcome to make the links do follow so as to attract higher income from the links you sell.

 

[munaworks]

The first and most important step is to create something people would want to share. If your business website is not something that is conducive to sharing, then create a blog on your site with content that people would like to share and people will share it.

It's best to not try and game the search engines as they will continually look for ways to identify artificial SEO tactics. If your content is valuable you will be found on Google.

 

[Wowfish Design]

Follow the advice (some of it above) and take your time, it doesn't matter if your competition has 10,000 backlinks and you have 30 if your backlinks are credible and from good sources, especially the way Google is changing. Write original articles, don't spin them but write another article on and submit to various places. Try for .gov sites to put articles and links in. Good links will always win.

 

[seomph]

It's worth remembering that SEO evolves at a rapid rate. So what worked last year may not work nearly as well now. So, if you're going down the DIY route, make sure the resources you learn from are reputed and just as critically current. Or, you may well be doing more harm than good. Having said that, nothing like empowering your own business if you have the resources to spare.

If you're selling autos, there are some very interesting niche specific tactics to get local leads looking for specific vehicles. I have a client who is in the same trade so had to create a specific niche marketing plan for his business, if I can help just let me know.