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Search Engine Optimization Is Not Rocket Science

Some treat Search Engine Optimization as a sort of “dark arts” that only a few enlightened individuals or “insiders” understand and are privy to. The truth is quite the opposite of course. Those who promise the moon or claim to have access to secret SEO recipes that will do wonders to a website’s search ranking are more likely than not peddling alchemy.

If a Search Engine Optimization expert, for example, claims to have some special knowledge about the inner workings of Google’s algorithms, they might as well be claiming to be able to foretell the future like assorted astrologers or Nostradamus. The sad reality is that there is no mystery about the Bermuda Triangle. Neither the Loch Ness Monster nor the Abominable Snowman (or the Yeti) exist.

So, let us enumerate the boring facts of Search Engine Optimization for all to see as its no rocket science. Yes, you can hire a company to help you and you should actually if you don’t have the time or are not clear about what SEO is:

1. Google’s algorithms are Google’s. No outsider has access to them. What the very best SEO professionals do is plough through Google’s old patents as they relate to search rankings. Of course, Google’s algorithms may have evolved or changed in the duration since the filing of those patents. Google did not become such a near-monopoly power in search by staying static.

2. Some SEO professionals keep playing with Google search and keep noting the changes — subtle and major — and then try to infer the cause behind them. Often times, Google itself will reveal the reasons — that it was a Panda update or a Penguin update or some such thing. Of course, neither does Google reveal the precise nature of those updates (or changes) nor do the Search Engine Optimization experts pontificate with any confidence about the nature of those Google algorithm changes.

3. There are no quick shortcuts that can be adopted to see a quick jump in search rankings no matter how great an SEO expert claims he or she is. Depending on how heavily searched a keyword is, the more difficult it will be to get a website to rank for those keywords in a short time frame. Which of course indicates the importance of long-tail keywords. If you aim to get higher search rankings for longer keywords, then you are more likely to succeed in your SEO strategy.

A few examples follow to illustrate long tail keywords and take the mystery out of that long tailed beast …
Suppose you spot an untapped opportunity of pent up demand for Harley Davidson bikes in Wichita, Kansas and you decide to start a rental service company that rents out Harleys by the hour, per day and per week. Once you get your physical infrastructure up and running in Wichita, you should book a domain such as wichitaharleyrental.com or harleyrentalwichita.com or some other variation on that theme. The title of the website should be something along the lines of: ‘Harley Davidson bike rental, Wichita, Kansas’ or ‘Wichita, Kansas Harley Davidson bike rental.’ Yes, Search Engine Optimization strategy and long-tail keywords are made of such mundane (if not quite obvious) stuff!

Similarly, if you think the folks in Wichita really want to try out Tesla Model S electric vehicles, you could set up a similar entrepreneurial venture after you get hold of a sufficient number of Model S cars from Tesla. Your domain for this venture should be something along the lines of ‘teslarentalwichita.com’ or ‘wichitateslarental.com.’ The Title of the website will be (and no prizes for guessing this): ‘Tesla Model S rental, Wichita, Kansas’ or ‘Wichita, Kansas Tesla Model S rental.’

Using Social Media for Improving SEO
If you want to rank for those keywords — Harley bike rental, Wichita or Tesla Model S rental, Wichita — you will need to have those words on your website. To spread the word about your business, you need to create a presence on different Social Media platforms — after all everyone in Wichita and elsewhere is spending hours after endless hours on Social Media sharing, commenting, socializing, scheming, dating, reminiscing, celebrating, posting photos of their marriage anniversary celebrations and so on — a Facebook account is a must and you will also need a Twitter account, probably a Pinterest account (those Harleys and Model S cars photograph really well!), and an Instagram account too.

And then you share stuff — or updates about your business — on those Social Media accounts. No point in creating them and then keeping them idle. Be regular and diligent in posting to all the Social Media accounts. Better still, develop a posting calendar or schedule for your Social Media marketing plans.

Post to Facebook in the mornings and tweet a few times every day; the Pinterest updates can happen over the weekend. Oh, and keep tabs on how your Social Media marketing activities are doing by using Google Webmaster Tools. This, when integrated with (or connected to) your website will tell you how many visitors came to your website from different sources such as those Social Media platforms where you posted links to your website. You will get very informative data from Google about the sort of browsers folks use, whether the visitors were from Wichita, Kansas or Okinawa, Japan. Hey, may be a native of Kansas is posted in Japan at the moment, you know, and is searching for a Harley rental company or Model S rental company in his home town and found you as a result of your Social Media marketing activities.

And you will learn also about whether your website visitors were using Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Mozilla Firefox. Armed with so much knowledge — and also whether your visitors used mobile devices such as Apple iPhones or iPads or Samsung’s myriad phones and tablets powered by the Android operating system or some other exotic (or ancient) technology — you will be better placed to tweak your own strategies.

Blogging Helps Your Search Engine Optimization Efforts
While SEO will help your website ranking and improve your position in the organic search results, this is a slow process. You should definitely get your blog up and running. If your website is built using WordPress, getting the blog up is as simple as adding a page to your website. On this blog, you can talk about all sorts of stuff that relate to your business. You can post pictures or write about the features of Harleys and Model S cars and how EVs are environment friendly and how the Model S accelerates like a rocket because it has immense torque and how it delivers all its torque instantaneously as you floor the peddle. Hey, it’s a fact that electric motor-powered cars (like the Tesla Model S is) do have tremendous acceleration and they don’t experience any lag at all that is associated with gasoline or diesel-powered cars; so, you should definitely stress this fact as you try to persuade folks in Wichita to rent your cars.

Google loves content and one of the best ways to increase the results you are getting with your Search Engine Optimization strategy is to blog as this will increase the frequency and amount of content your are sharing. This will in turn also give you the ability to share your blogs through your Social Media activities that you are running as well so it’s a win-win for both your SEO and Social Media marketing making it a no-brainer.

Conclusion
Search Engine Optimization is simple really. It’s intuitive. SEO should be pursued as a natural extension of a website. It’s like humans and walking; websites and Search Engine Optimization are similarly related. SEO does not have to be complicated like neurosurgery; or, let us simplify neurosurgery itself and call it ‘brain surgery.’ On the other hand, Social Media and SEO go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. If you want to be successful in one of these domains, you need the other. If you are looking for a company to help you with your Social Media marketing or your Search Engine Optimization strategy, please feel free to reach out to the team at Mind Digital for any of your digital marketing needs you may have.