Chris Brown, author of the Branding & Marketing blog and President of Marketing Resources & Results, recently published a post entitled "What is your Search Engine Marketing and Linking Strategy?" She expertly summed up her approach with the words "Learn what to do. Do it." Right to the point, I like that.
Additionally Chris asked that others, including myself (thanks for the link!), respond with the approach we take to Search Engine Marketing and Linking for our blogs and websites.
Before I get into the simple process I am taking for my blog, I would like to take a moment to address a few erroneous ideas that I often come across.
Unfortunately I find many of my clients' initial introduction to the idea of Search Engine Marketing is provided through SPAM. Perhaps this SPAM will even be what motivates their call:
"Hey Justin, I just got an email saying for $800/month I can get guaranteed top ten placement in all the search engines, what do you think?"
Thus the first step I normally take for clients interested in Search Engine Marketing for their business is to provide a little education on the topic.
Guaranteed results
You can only "guarantee" that over which you have complete control.In the world of Search Engine Marketing that means I can guarantee clients that I will do my best. I can guarantee that I will work hard. I could even guarantee that if I can't accomplish a specific goal I will refund their money.
However, it is impossible for me to guarantee that Google will do XYZ because I have no direct control over Google or any other search engines. Furthermore, exact search algorithms are not disclosed, and search engines are at liberty to change them whenever they so please.
Gaming the system
Search engines are powered by computers. Computers aren't too bright. Because of this some clever person always finds a way to trick the search engines into thinking a site is more relevant than it really is.While this may provide quick and impressive results, it is not a good long term strategy. Taking this road means you make the search engines your enemies, who according to their terms of use are free to remove your site completely from their records if they so choose. If that wasn't enough, the search engines are constantly discovering these tricks and adjusting their algorithms so that they no longer work. Do you really want to start a never ending tug of war with the search engines? I don't.
Don't fight the search engine
Make the search engine your friend instead of making it an enemy which you must outsmart and outmaneuver.So what do the search engines want? What makes search engines happy? The companies behind the search engines want to provide the most relevant results possible for any given user's search term, and are spending millions of dollars to do so. The search engines have brilliant men and women working hard to hone their software to provide the best results. Search engines want quality, relevant content.
So in the end, what is the first step to successful Search Engine Marketing? Give the search engines what they want! Develop quality content that is relevant to your desired search phrases.
My Approach
So what is the process I will be taking with this blog?- Publish content that will be of interest to my audience
- Be helpful: Include links to suggested sites & software
- Be a good neighbor: Inspired by another? Credit & link them
- Be confident: If a "competitor" has a good post, go ahead and link them
No secret tricks. Just give the search engines what they want.
Of course, actually doing that means work. It requires an investment of time and energy. Decide to take ownership of the web branch of your business. This doesn't mean that you cannot partner with an expert company, but take an active part in the development of the web branch of your business.
Technorati Tags: blogging, branding & marketing, chris brown, search engine marketing
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