“Top 5 SEO Techniques That Will Hurt Your Business” plus 1 more |  |
| Top 5 SEO Techniques That Will Hurt Your Business Posted: 27 Aug 2014 09:35 AM PDT This is a guest contribution by Greg Whelan of RankExperts. 5. Relying on Backlinks AloneThe use of SEO has been on the rise for a long time, especially for people who venture in online business. However, while SEO is considered a core tool in enhancing online businesses, the same trend can trigger adverse effects if not implemented in the right way. There are certain limits that you must observe when employing SEO for your business – in other words, SEO for business should never be used blindly. A great number of online businesses are established each day with most of them turning futile while others respond slowly. Note that some of these businesses make use of SEO strategies and still end up disappointing the founders. This implies that SEO should be used in a strategic and wise manner. It is the only way you will be in a position to make your business yield high returns. To ensure that SEO works ideally for your business, certain techniques must be avoided. There are strategies which have been confirmed to be really alarming for online businesses hence the need to understand and avoid them now and in the long run. Below is a crackdown on five key SEO strategies which must be avoided for best gains in your business: 1. Purchase of LinksThis happens to be one of the most profound habits among people who venture in online business. The good thing is that the trend has worked perfectly for most people in the past. However, the benefits attached to purchasing of links may be cut short in the long run. It has been revealed that search engines are in the move to eradicate the trend of using purchased links in websites. Google for instance is working tooth and nail to ensure that the trend is stopped completely. It will surprise you to know that Google and other search engine companies have a great team of workers whose sole obligation is to trace purchased links and flag them. This implies that people who are used to buying links for their websites may get hurt in the near future after the fight against the link purchase is fully implemented. At times, even the untrained eye can detect purchased links in any content. Some patterns formed by a set of links may not make sense at all hence they create suspicion. In addition, you might come across a set of unrelated links which do not even tally with the content in question. This is a pretty clear indication that the links are purchased. The bottom line is that search engine teams will easily know if you have used purchased links or not. 2. Focus on Quantity of Links Rather Than QualityWhile use of a huge number of backlinks is considered a perfect SEO strategy, the same can go a long way in ruining your online business. One of the worst mistakes that people make is placing their focus on incorporating a bunch of links in their websites not knowing that quality overrules quantity. Link building is pretty simple since most people consider it so. Actually, it might not take you long to have a lot of links built for your site. However, most people fail to consider the quality of links they get. Instead, they get excited with the number and forget the quality. Any link created should be authoritative and attractive to ensure that surfers follow it without a second thought. It is always advised that you refrain from links which are characterized by low DA. This is one of the core recipes behind failure in online business.
3. Keyword StuffingFor a long time, the threat behind keyword stuffing has been emphasized. It has been confirmed that use of many keywords in website content may trigger adverse effects to your business in terms of ranking. The sad part of it is that most people tend not to drop the practice of stuffing keywords in their content. Keyword stuffing might have been working perfectly in the past couple of years but it no longer does these days. If you must elevate your business with the help of keywords, then optimization is paramount. You must focus on reaching the recommended density of keywords in your content and avoid stretching further. In most cases, keywords are expected to hit 2% density and nothing more. Instead of using a lot of keywords in your website, it will work best if you focused on creating quality content. If keywords must be used, the appropriate application and fitting is necessary. The keywords must also be in context to ensure natural flow. 4. Use of Duplicate ContentThis is one of the most dangerous SEO strategies that any online businessperson can implement. In most cases, businesses with more than one site tend to recycle their content. You might come across similar articles in different sites. It is also possible to follow a certain link and find similar content from that of the mother website. If you have the tendency of implementing duplicate content, then your online business is possibly not doing so well. It is important to note that search engines are always on the lookout for unoriginal content, regardless of whether or not the site is owned by one person. Normally, search engines do not rank two copies of similar content. In fact, a penalty may result from using duplicate content. This means that the mission of elevating your online business won’t work. 5. Relying on Backlinks AloneIf you have the perception that use of backlinks is the only avenue towards achieving best ranking, then that is not so at all. There are other tools that must be employed to ensure best SEO for your business website. A lot of people have the delusion that many links in a website will remarkably boost traffic which in return elevates the ranking in search engines. On the contrary, you must team up a number of SEO strategies and techniques for great results to be achieved. Depending on back-links alone will only boost SEO to some extent but not completely. You must ensure that the use of backlinks is balanced with other suites in the SEO sphere. Content marketing, use of social media, as well as onsite optimization can work as a perfect SEO blend. The five strategies highlighted above are actually things that can be easily snubbed yet with very drastic and adverse effects in the end. They techniques must therefore be avoided at all costs since it is the only way you can move your business to a better level. The RankExpert’s Head of Marketing Greg Whelan holds a degree from the University of Austin's Mccomb School of Business and a MBA in Marketing. With his unique insights into the world of digital marketing, Greg oversees strategic planning for large to enterprise-sized companies. Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger     | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How to Create Massive Value Content & Blow Your Readers’ Minds Posted: 26 Aug 2014 09:57 AM PDT This is a guest contribution from Pooja Lohana. Let's face it. Your readers are selfish. The moment they land on your blog, they look for "what's in it for me?". And that's not such a bad thing after all. Knowledge is power. Once you know what they are looking for, you can serve it to them. At the time of writing this, there are 152,000,000 blogs on the Net. That means every half a second, a new blog is created somewhere in the world. It's getting harder and harder to be found in the blogosphere and this is not changing in the future. If you're passionate about your topic, perhaps you won't mind blogging without traffic. But eventually, you will end it all in frustration. You want people to share your message and to have great conversations with. You want to stand for something. The only way out is to stand out by writing unforgettable content or as I like to call Massive Value Content. What is Massive Value Content?Jon Morrow calls it an "epic" post and prefers writing one epic post week rather than writing one mediocre post every day. It solves you readers' specific, burning problem. You become a mind-reader. They relate with your post, thank you and leave tons of comments. Here are some examples:
Get the gist? Good. When done right, it has good chances of going viral and bring you new eye balls. Your blog gets back-linked, a lot. Influencers in your niche love to talk about you. Other bloggers invite you over for guest posts and webinars. Perfect, isn't it? There is only one question: How. I am not going to leave you high and dry or ask you to "go create epic sh*t". I'm actually going to tell you how to do it and get noticed big time. The Ultimate Cheatsheet to Create Massive Value Content on Your BlogSTEP 1. Keep Calm & Create a PlanEver get a killer idea for a post in the shower? It hits you like a brick, and you cannot wait to run to your desk to complete your post. You sit down, compose a cool post, add a stellar image and boom – you hit Publish. And you wait for the comments to pour in. For a long time. Slowly you realize that your "killer" post is actually a dud. I've had that experience in the past. It still happens when I don't pay attention to what I'm creating. In fact, I've set a timer for 60 minutes in the past to write, format, and publish a post with a featured image. The result? Only a handful of readers. What's missing is a concrete plan to stick to. I love how Jon stresses the importance of having a calendar. That was, all you have to do is "blindly" follow it! Your editorial calendar is one of the simplest and most effective productivity tools out there. It's a roadmap. Here's an example of a calendar for your blog:
Give yourself at least 7-8 hours to churn out each MVC post because you will need time for research and writing. Then there's external linking, sourcing images, social media so that that into account. You can alternate MVCs with "regular posts" that can be shorter, quicker and easier to create. The frequency of both these posts and how you schedule them is totally up to you, but as a thumb rule, for every 3 regular posts, write at least one MVC post. Now I know what you're thinking – that looks like a lot of work in a month. And I'm not going to lie to you. It is a lot of work. If you rush a blog post, you will see mediocre results. The best advice if you're serious about it is to be patient and focused. STEP 2. Pick Your Type1. Long Lists PostPeople are lazy. Top it with the millions of results available at our finger tips from Google and you ought to love a shortcut. A lists post gives your readers just that. It makes a specific promise and delivers. How can you ever get a list post title wrong? Only when your content is not high-value. If you are giving great value upfront, this type of post can never go wrong. Don't believe me? Take a look at the right hand sidebar of BBT. You'll find it is full of list posts. Why? Because list posts build authority. They are easy to relate with and promise juicy benefits to your readers upfront. Here are a few tips to make your list posts even more effective:
2. Case StudiesIf you have clients, you can use case studies and use it for dual purposes. One, you're creating MVC because case studies are much in-depth piece of information. Two, you're promoting your clients along the way. KISSmetrics blog does this very well. They are known for rich case studies that solve a problem or deliver value. Here's one that explores industry-wide gender bias by WordStream. A case study focuses on a specific example (WordStream in the above example) or a company as opposed to a white paper, which is more generic. Using a case study boosts your credibility manifold. It shows your readers what's possible and all they have to do is follow the exact steps you've listed. Again, the magic of telling them how to do something, instead of telling them the what, is at work. 3. Tutorials & GuidesEver seen an "Ultimate Guide"? Perhaps the most common ones have to do with social media or marketing. "The Ultimate Guide to Using Pinterest" or "The Ultimate Guide to Successful Email Marketing". A quick search for "ultimate guide" on Google returns 439 Million results on my end. Refine the search for your industry or niche to get more specific. For example, "ultimate guide blogging" returns more than 2 Million results. This type of MVC is a full-blown tutorial on the topic, complete with screenshots, infographics, real life examples, steps, external reference links and calls-to-action. Anything that adds value goes. In short, as a classic MVC, your ultimate guide will detail step-by-step instructions on how to do something. Here's another tip: Since these posts tend to be long, sprinkle visual elements in the form of infographics, video and memes to keep your readers engaged. 83% of learning happens visually. Contrast this with people remembering only 20% of what they read every time so a visual guide along with supporting text works great. You can always create infographics and other visually engaging content to support your articles with online apps such as Visme. No matter what niche you're in, you can still make use of an ultimate guide and do a few things with it.
4. Collaborated PostsWant to tap into other people's audience for free? You can. Except for the "free" part. You see, there is no free lunch, so you have to put in some planning and effort in the mix before you can leverage an influencer's reach.
5. Curated PostsDo you know why authorities like Oprah are famous? Because they know well to curate. Curators are people who bring the best stuff at one place – in your case, that "place" is your blog. Think about it – if your readers can get the best of all worlds, all well-organized, structured and ready to be served, wouldn't the love you for it? Curated posts, such as round-ups from the Net or resource pages listing out the best content others have spent hours creating, scream "authority". Here's one: 63 Blogging Tools that Will Make You Insanely Productive. Do you see how it's got 171 comments? Also, it's one of the most popular blog posts BBT's hosted as you can see in the right-hand sidebar. It's actually a resource post listing everything you need for your blog to be up and running (and making money too). 6. "Start Here" PageAlthough this is technically a page, you can still count it as MVC because of its nature. Think of it as a mini-about me page. Your visitors may be finding you from literally anywhere — Facebook, Twitter or another website. When they land on your page, they need to be held by the hand and shown around. The Start Here page will do just that and your visitors will thank you for it. Most of all, this page gives you a chance to gain familiarity and likeability from visitors. The purpose of a Start Here page is twofold:
So it's a good idea to organize everything into categories and make it easy to check things out. And while they're here, why not ask their email in exchange for a juicy lead magnet (a free report, an audio clip etc)? In a pistachio shell, here are some things to consider putting on your Start Here page:
STEP 3. Do It Already!It's time to start creating Massive Value Content and claim your authority as a blogger. Whatever your goal from blogging, the above steps will get you noticed, talked about and attract tons of eye-balls if you combine it with strategies like guest-posting and social media. Every serious blogger wants to know when they will hit "the jackpot". The first 1,000 subscribers. The first time when they hit 5,000 visitors a day. The first mention by NYT. The first $10,000 month from blogging. What they should be asking instead is how to become a better writer and generate unforgettable content. In the words of Brian Clark, here's how:
What exactly are you waiting for? Go create that piece of awesome content and make someone’s day! Pooja Lohana is a freelance writer, ghost writer and online marketing mentor featured on Problogger, Firepole, JeffBullas, MarketingProfs, Hongkiat and more. If you’re an aspiring writer and want to become self-employed, create wealth and live a better life by launching your online writing biz, steal her free mini-course to make your first $1000 (and more) writing at home. Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger     |
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