It has been several years since my last post here. Google killed guest blogging and knocked down traffic to some of my favorite pest control blog sites in the process. So I abandoned my writings that were destined to fall to the back pages of the index where no human eyes would find them. Is there value for writing just for the bots? Is there hope for human connection when rankings will not be had? Alas… is SEO dead?
SEO in 2017
Oddly, I found myself explaining SEO to developer yesterday. And it was refreshing to realize how alive and well the need for SEO still is. Sure the tactics and practices have adjusted but the SEO foundation and work remain largely the same. Perhaps this is even more so the reason for me leaving this site destitute for so long. The excitement and newness was gone. It had become very mundane. Plus with the lack of readers, believers, and other practitioners to cheer me on, the blogging ceased. But I will tell you this, there is still much you may learn from this blog and the posts of the SEO past. Knowing where we came from will help you understand where we are today.
The 6 Keys to SEO that will remain
1 – Content – As the saying goes “Content is King”. While this may still be arguable, it is still relevant. The words, the images, the videos, are the content that makes your website worthy of human eyes. Not to say that all content worthy of being seeing will be seen. I do say, that once seen the content will carry it forward to be seen more or fizzle and die out to be rarely seen again. Content is what people come to consume. If not worthy of consumption, if not easily digestible then content should rot.
2 – Mark-up – Most markup is hidden from humans. Markup is the code that speaks to bots so they can process, define, format, and present. I include in this meta tags, headers, titles, and most of all Schema (or the next iteration of structured data). In fact, Schema.org markup may already be on its way out. I’d suggest looking into JSON mark up. The internet of things is only made possible by a structured universal language to identify those things, that language is primarily for computer eyes only and is called markup.
3 – User Experience – Humans still need to connect with humans. When it comes to webpages the experience for users most be pleasant so that users will return and bring more users. This includes users of all device sizes, browser types, and sensory shapes. As human expectations change so will user experience. Search bots now make snap judgements based on site speeds, layout of rendered pages, and placement of useful elements on the page. Does your website protect users with its terms of service? Are users secure and computer connecting safe from viruses? Your site will be judged and ranked accordingly.
4 – Keywords – Keywords are the bases for intent. Connecting complimentary intents means pairing a music buyer with a music seller. If the immediate intent is to hire a pest control service then a user won’t likely order a pizza if sent to Papa John’s instead of Bulwark Exterminating. Therefore, understanding and expressing what your website page intends to do (provide pest control in Austin) will help a search engine provide the right results for its users who live in Austin that want to “get rid of scorpions”. Bridging that gap is understand what searches want when they enter a keyword phrase in relation to the keywords targeted by a web page.
5 – Links – Well you can’t just trust any old website on the internet these days. Links are like votes. And popular votes count on the internet. Hence, links will always be a factor in which site to trust and which to not trust. Links today are more loosely defined as mere mentions will cause connections. A phone number can easily be an identifiable link to a specific company. The content surrounding those links builds relevance. If you search for Thomas Ballantyne you will find Bulwark Exterminating in the results and few hyperlinks to Bulwark actually carry the anchor text of “Thomas Ballantyne”. So links and anchor text still matter and will always matter.
6 – Search Engines – Needless to say, that search engine optimization is wholly reliant on search engines existing and being used. But search engines will never go away. Search Engines have grounded their roots in human psyche as follows; to find and learn, to ask and be entertained, to express needs with desires of being filled, to hunt and gather information, and to conquer life. The search engine provides. The Search Engine engages and drives human activity. Forever more will there be a bot that will search, find, and organize the information world for human consumption. And with that bot, there will be those that seek to provide content for consumption.
3 of My Latest Tips and Secrets of 2017 SEO
1 – History – One of the biggest secrets I have is that history counts. The longer you stay online, the more history you gain. The longer you carry a keyword ranking the better chance you have to keep that ranking going forward. If you have a bad history, it will hurt you. So be consistent with who you say you are and who you really are. Your History makes your Reputation. Reputation is trust. Trust is currency. It is your currency to buy visitors and to gain customers.
2 – Build it right from the start– Let’s say you have a niche that hasn’t broken into the online world yet. (Still happens, as I found out when building a house. Try finding a Phoenix Framer). Being first to break out online gets you results and fast, just for being first. But you are the only runner, so being first in a race of one doesn’t mean you ran a good race. However, if you start racing now and really work at being a top racer, when others join you will have the history and experience to compete. Plus, it can be a distance race. Bulwark in Austin has over 400 online reviews in Google alone, that puts some distance between us and someone starting now. Build your website right from the start and you get distance and not just first place in a one man race.
3 – Visible Reputation Trumps Ranking – 5 little gold stars can take more traffic than the top ranked on the page. A bad reputation on the first page can lose your site traffic when people search for your company by name. And when it comes down to it, people won’t buy if they can’t trust you. Visible reputation can go into how your site simply looks even if you did rank #1 for SEO.
Well it feels good to blog again. SEO is alive and well. Your views, shares, and comments are appreciated and help drive more posts and more conversations.
So every now and again I have to brag a little about the amazing 
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