Just about everyone knows something about Search Engine Optimization. Whether you’re a self-proclaimed “SEO expert” (side note: I truly believe anyone that’s really worth their weight in SEO will argue that there are no true experts in this ever evolving field – but it takes true experience to admit that), or the owner of an ecommerce site who is struggling to make the most of their marketing dollars in a plummeting economy, you’ve probably been sold on the value of top search engine rankings and have an idea or two about how to achieve them. You’ve read the SEO blogs, the newsletters…each one with a new buzz word, a new point, a new must-do. “It’s all in the title tag!” “You need more links!” “Blog, blog, blog!” With so many pieces to the SEO puzzle, it’s hard for clients and marketers alike not to fixate on one or two of those pieces. The problem is, if you spend too much time trying to place one or two pieces of a 40,000 piece puzzle, without paying attention to where, why and how they fit with the other 38,000 pieces, you’re not building the big picture.
Here are just a few examples of SEO tactics I’ve seen overused, misused…or both! We’ll call them the “shiny objects” of SEO, distracting marketers from the end goal and ultimately hindering their strategy:
Shiny Object #1: The Meta Keyword Tag
So many arguments out there…does the Meta Keyword tag help? Does it hurt? Should it be eliminated altogether? How many keywords should you have, if you have one at all? Can you have the same Meta Keywords tag on more than one page or does this mean instant SEO death in a fiery meta tag inferno???? AHHHHH!!!
Listen, I’ve struggled with these questions just like any other SEO professional. But the thing is, you have to start out by asking yourself “What is the purpose of the Meta Tag in today’s SEO world?” Answer: it should act as a summary of your page’s content. It is the first thing the search engines see and every element – from the super important Title and Description tags, to yes, even the keywords tag – need to align with the content.
Does using the keywords tag hurt? Not necessarily…as long as you don’t misuse it with the expectation that cramming it with as many keywords as possible will automatically get your site on the road to #1 rankings for all of them. It won’t. And if you bloat the tag, it’s just one more extraneous piece of back end crud for the search engine spiders to wade through on the way to your content. They don’t put value on it, so don’t let it eat up your valuable back end real estate.
So why use it at all? I use it as a guideline for myself in structuring a keyword focus for the page. In it I include the main keyword which is relevant to the page, and it’s very close variations (like 3-6 maybe). If a page doesn’t lend itself to a keyword focus, I don’t use it. Plain and simple. Now for goodness sake…move on!
Shiny Object #2: Font Manipulation to Emphasize Keywords
Many marketers use bolds and italics or ALL CAPS or bold and italics or BOLD AND ALL CAPS or ITALICS AND ALL CAPS or BOLD AND ITALICS AND ALL CAPS to emphasize their KEYWORDS.
Looks a little ridiculous doesn’t it? Guess what? Your user thinks so too. Guess what else? So does Google.
I can’t tell you how many clients’ sites I’ve “inherited” from other SEO companies where one keyword is bolded, one italicized, and back and forth without any rhyme, reason, or respect for the content. Can it help to use strong font or italicizing to emphasize key phrases? Yes. When you use either bold or italic. From time to time. Where it makes sense. Like there, how I used italics to emphasize parts of speech to make a point.
Rule of thumb: if you think you’re overusing it, you are. Stop it.
Shiny Object #3: Blogs
Yes, blogs are great. Yes, they are search engine friendly. Yes, they can be a great way to interact with your target audience.
Does every site need a blog? No.
This one is a big, huge, immensely distracting shiny object for many marketers. Because you know blogs are content rich, you know they get picked up quickly by the search engines. So what could be better for SEO right?? Wrong. Blogs are only as good as their content. And not every business has the means to develop the kind of content that others will feel is worth reading, commenting on, blasting out to their friends, and linking to on their own sites and blogs.
Before you insist that your client needs a blog – or start one on your own site, for that matter – ask yourself these questions:
1. Why am I writing this blog? A blog should be a means by which you interact with your online market. It should enlighten and inform. It should be a resource for your consumer that builds their confidence in your service or product. So, if you answered simply “to get search engine rankings,” put your money in a press release.
2. Do I have the time and resources to keep the blog fresh with content? This should be a pretty simple “yes” or “no.” If every minute of your day is already dedicated to maintaining a crucial aspect of your business to the point that you can’t even organize your inbox, you don’t have time to maintain a blog by yourself.
3. Would I find this blog interesting and informative even if I have no intention of buying this product or subscribing to this service? And, more importantly, am I ok with people visiting my blog that have no intention of buying from me? If the answer is no…you guessed it. Move on.
Remember, effective Search Engine Optimization is ultimately about relevancy. It’s that 40,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that works best when you lay out the edges first, and build on them, bit by bit, paying attention to how each one fits together to make that satisfying, successful, top ranking, consumer attracting picture.