Demandez le gourou seo

Question for the Week of April 25th, 2008

The question came up over at Web Pro World about what to do when you run out of link building ideas. Among the usual comments about writing articles and news release was this from Peter (IMC):

"Link building is just a technical term that shouldn't be a real objective."

The Guru sees more than 1 question in this “Question of the Week”. He sees 4 that he feels deserve a good answer. This is one of those questions that gives the Guru the opportunity to  offer something that may turn on those little light bulbs over heads. Let’s roll.

what to do when you run out of link building ideas.

I can not imagine how one could run out of link building ideas in one’s own lifetime. There are a lot of people putting up a lot of content all over the globe every second of every day and, there is one thing as much as any other they ALL want. Do you know what that thing is? LINKS!

 If you EVER feel you have run out of link building ideas, you need to step into the restroom, grab hold of yourself and jerk yourself back to reality. You’re problem lies in one of two areas and neither of them is the lack of available links. Either your purpose or your execution is the problem.

You may run out of ideas to get links to spam google or to increase your page rank but that is a problem with objectives and not with whether there are links available.

In the Guru’s experience, often when people say they don’t know how to get more links, they actually know a lot of ways to get them but they lack the resources or motivation to actually develop a plan and execute it.

The reality is, the link ideas are there, but is it worth the effort and the resources to get them to meet your objective at the time.  

 

100% Absolute Guru Guarantee!

At the end of this post, I will give you a simple, so-easy-ANYONE-can-do-it-and-it’s-free idea that you can use over and over, day after day and it will work! You’ll never again have to worry that you will run out of ideas of where to get links. If it doesn’t work, the Guru will refund every cent you have paid for this free tip!

from Peter (IMC):

"Link building is just a technical term that shouldn't be a real objective."

people should concentrate on marketing and forget link building

 

I’ve been reading Peter’s posts in a lot of industry communities for many years. He’s one of those people who have been in the industry almost as long as the Guru and staying in business  for 10 years + means making choices and being right a lot more often than you’re wrong .  Longevity aside, Peter is one smart cookie http://www.seo-works.com/blog/, and I appreciate that he actually “thinks” about what he says and is usually well equipped to defend whatever position he takes.

Keeping in mind that the quote above was taken out of context, I would say he’s right. Peter went on to say:

“By calling it "link building" you´re limiting yourself because you´re actually doing that,... building links.”

And

“If you think about all the possibilities when you call it marketing it becomes a whole different world, doesn't it?”

So it’s clear that Peter does understand the value of links but I believe his point is close to the Guru’s above. That is, if you can start seeing it as a marketing objective as opposed to a ‘get a link so I can be in the serps” objective, you’ll get farther faster and with less expense.

We have Guru concurrence with that point. I believe placement without conversions is the epitome of futility, and it looks like Peter feels pretty much the same way.

Is link building still a viable way of moving a site quickly

If we are speaking organically, then --  It is the ONLY way.

You can generate content until the letters rub off the keyboard and without a link, no one knows about it but you. Unless of course you market it some other way than with organic search engine placements. BUT, it is virtually impossible to do that without getting links. You market – you get links.

What are your suggestions?

Honestly answer this question for me first.

What do you REALLY want? A higher page rank, a top 5 position for your keyword on Google, more traffic from links or to make more sales at a higher profit?

If you said any of the first three, your problem is over. Just go buy it. Set a budget and go spend it all on links that will do any of those three things.

Buying, (or renting), high PR links, the green on the toolbar will scroll to the right. Could take a while but it will.

Rent links but don’t make Google look stupid, (article), by putting up content hosted pages (define content hosted pages),on places where your page makes sense and your site will move up.

PPC and a little intestinal fortitude and you could be right on the top of all those organic results by tomorrow.

But if what you REALLY want is to make more money, then realize that links are merely a means to an end and that end is sales. And always remember

                                                           You market – you get links   

Now, for that simple, so-easy-ANYONE-can-do-it-and-it’s-free idea that you can use over and over, day after day and it will work, free tip.

Some of you will roll your eyes. Some may ridicule and some may even laugh. Even more of those reading this will never take the first step to even attempt it because it takes a little bit of effort and can not be short-cutted or programmed. But for the very few that do invest the effort, within a matter of days to weeks, you will secure very good links, feel good about yourself and see your own site’s placements and, (more importantly), traffic stats start to climb.

There is no procedure to learn, no policies to implement, no schedule to follow. Just do it whenever you feel like it but the more often you do it, the better it gets faster.

Link to someone else without being asked or expecting anything in return.  

When you see someone saying or doing something you think is pretty cool, tell people about it and give them the link to follow.

Do it on your blog, build special pages for it or put it in a footer. It doesn’t matter. What matters is you are connecting with real people. Do it honestly and sincerely and do it because it takes so little to do so much for someone else and I promise you:

                                                                                  The Internet Golden Rule

                                                                                                  The more you give, the more you get.

 And that comes with the 100% Absolute Guru Guarantee!

 

Peace Y’all

G

 

 

Is that smoke I smell? You better not be playin with them matches again or I’ll get a switch and tear you up boy!

 

 

Question for the Week of April 20th, 2008

There is a discussion over at WebProWorld about setting standards for SEO.

http://www.webproworld.com/search-engine-optimization-forum/68100-do-we-need-search-engine-optimization-standards.html

What are you views on this, O, Mighty Guru? (I think I know, but could you tell us anyway?)

********************************************

There can be no standards set for SEO anymore than there could be standards set for lawyers calling themselves, JO's, (judge optimizers), or mechanics calling themselves RO's (road optimizers), chefs calling themselves TO's (tableware optimizers), or carpenters calling themselves HO's, (hammer optimizers) or ------I could go on for a long time but I think you get the point.   

While lawyers may have all kinds of relationships with judges and know what motivates them, they still would never call themselves judge optimizers because

#1. that is NOT what they do

#2. It is misleading and gives the wrong impression

#3. It has negative connotations.

Mechanics and chefs don't call themselves road and tableware optimizers because

#1.While they could not perform their skills were it not for those things being understood and used well, they still have no direct control over them. They do not optimize roads or plates, they optimize cars that use roads and improve the presentation of gourmet food that gets eaten with tableware.

#2. It is mislading and gives the wrong impression

#3. it seems a little silly to call something you do by the name of something you do NOT do.

Carpenters do not call themselves hammer optimizers because

#1. The hammer is just a tool they use to get their job done. They need to possess the skills necassary to effectively make that tool do what they do better, but it still just a tool.

#2. To call themselves a hammer optimizer glorifies the tool and belittles the carpenters skill and dedication to a craft. It makes the hammer the most important aspect of building a house when the fact is, his skill and ability enables him to use a lot of other tools to accomplish the same objective.

#3. Carpenters do not optimze hammers, they build houses.

SEO does not need standards because it does not exist. No one calling themselves an SEO optimizes a search engine.

You can not get a group of people to ever agree on ethical standards by getting everyone to agree to behave a certain way when they do the thing they really don't do. That is why the term ethical SEO is a classic oxymoron. NOT because there are a lot of ways to accomplish online commerce, but because we are all arguing over something that does not exist.

you -- I'm proud to be an ethical SEO

them -- what does SEO stand for???

you -- search engine optimization!

them -- good for you. which search engines do you optimize?

you -- well I don't actually optimize search engines. I just call it that because everyone else does.

them -- doesn't that make you kind of an  honest liar????

There are a lot of ways to practice law.

There are a lot of ways to approach auto repair.

Every chef has their own personality injected into the preparation of food

And there must be as many ways to get a house built as there are carpenters

Yet each of these professions have organizations that establish and encourage their membership to follow a set of ethcial standards. 

In the Guru's mind, the online marketing industry desparately needs a professional organization but it needs to be open to

website optimizers

PPC experts

usability consultants

copywriters

people who can effectively decipher analytics

mobile phone and wireless marketing specialists

ad jockeys

public relations consultants

split testing experts

php, joomla, drupal, java developers that can enhance navigation and tracking

affiliate marketers

anyone that sells online promotional services

link builders

advertising agencies

and search engine companies.

Then you could set a code of ethics that included things like

Honesty with clients, employees, vendors and shareholders is our foremost responsibility

Always strive to do the most good for the most stakeholders. You, the client, the industry and the web at large

Do what we say we will do

Pay our dues on time

I think that would pretty much cover the basics. From there you could make it as detailed, complex, convuluted, confusing and contradictory as you like, keeping in mind that with each detail comes increased difficulty in majority agreement but as long as 51 out of 100 voted yes, it flies and of course all that really matters is that the code enhances the image of the industry and secures that part about paying the dues on time.

Call it something that welcomes all those different skill sets, stop calling it SEO and call it something that all of those skill sets actually do, like Online Marketing Professionals, and there could be a professional organization for the betterment of the online marketing industry within a matter of a few months.

From there, sub groups could easily be formed,(and separate dues charged), like the PPC Specialists of America, Greater Northern European Lesbian Link Builders Association, the STDW, (split testing dudes of the World) or the Iluminaughty. It would work as long as the PSA really did PPC in America and the GNELLBA really were lesbians and the Iluminaughty really were naughty.

My biggest pet peeve about calling the online marketing industry search engine optimization is that if gives this mystical power to search engines limiting the scope of the services and the marketing results we could all be producing. It somehow makes us all feel that search engines have too much control over us and often abuse that power when it is we ourselves that hand that power to them on a silver platter. We do NOT optimze search engines. Do you think the search engines don't understand that? The only people that seem to not understand that is our potential prospects which I personally believe would be many, MANY times larger if we just called what we do by something that actually reflected the value propositon we offer.

As the SEO community, we can do a LOT of things for a LOT people. All of them highly value driven with very good profits margins. But instead we limit our market, we confuse our prospects and we hand the power of our skills, intelligence, education and research right into the hands of the search engines invalidating ourselves and our industry.

Search enignes are important BUT they don't control design, navigation, effective copy and contrary to popular misconception, they don't control what or how we perform professional online marketing of which search engines are a part, but ONLY a part.

Stop calling it what it isn't and call what it is, (trying to be as inclusive as possible), and a professional industry organization, complete with ethical standards, will soon be upon us and you could at least count on the Guru talking it up big time.


 Peace Y'all

G

You're gonna to have quit playin superman. You're ruinin all my good towels!