SEO

[Gangster]

Hi all,

Anyone here got any expertise in this area?

I know, technically, there shouldn't be any SEO and it should all be organic but surely there is a way to get a website kicked off from the ground?

I have done a few in the past, which have never been able to get anywhere in terms of Google ranking (perhaps page 15, or worse only show up when you type the exact website name) and wondering what it is that can be done to get traffic to the site.

In terms of traffic, almost all was direct from a link given to people, or perhaps one or two external from Twitter but nothing worth it.

Any people here with advice? I've used WP and the tools to make sure its 'SEO optimised' often get the green light etc - but how on earth do you get the site to rank up at all? Same applies with YouTube but I guess thats another kettle of fish.

Any advice? Thanks guys I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Ewaf]

I'll try keep this short and sweet, as I could waffle on for hours about the ins and outs of SEO.

This is dependent on the competitiveness of the niche, but realistically it takes years to build up an authoritative site that ranks well and attracts a healthy amount of organic traffic. Now, there are ways to rank a site much quicker through blackhat means, but this isn't a sustainable way of building a website as it will ultimate be penalised by Google and die a horrible death. Anyone offering services that rank a website quickly should be avoided at all costs. Establishing a site and remaining within Google's guidelines is a very lengthy process.

There is a killing to be made online but it's not easy, otherwise everyone would do it. It sounds like you're off to a good start by installing SEO plugins (Yoast SEO is the best for wordpress) and following their guidance. However, onsite is just one part of it. If all websites within a niche were well optimised, how would Google know who to rank where? The answer is offsite SEO, mostly links to your site.

Google uses around 200 separate 'ranking factors/signals' in their algorithm, but one of the main ones is links to a domain. Links from other sites are essentially seen as votes of confidence, if a site is linking to another page on a separate site, it must be a good resource.

Not any old links will do though, they must be editorial (natural) links on good sites. The more authoritative a site is, the more value it will pass to your site (and ultimately help you rank higher). For example, a link from BBC.co.uk is infinitely better than a link from a dodgy p*rn site, and low quality links can even damage your website's organic visibility (again, referring back to the blackhat methods here).

I wont go into anymore depth than that, but I can point you in the right direction:

https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-link-building (Moz guides are kept updated whenever there are shifts in the industry, you can trust them)
https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
https://yoast.com/ebooks/optimize-wordpress-site/ (not free, but a cracking ebook)
http://www.quicksprout.com/the-advanced-guide-to-seo/ (some good points in here, but take it all with a pinch of salt)

Happy to answer any questions but hopefully that gives you a decent starting point.

 

[UberTiger]

One of my competitors online uses keyword stuffing on his website, has done for years. Literally listing keyword after keyword at the bottom of the page.

He ranks 2 and 3 for two sites on one key search term, for sites that are essentially the same company and content with different domains and names.

I reported the links to Google a few weeks back for both keyword stuffing and doorway pages, yet his sites are still ranking high. I wish he'd go and get penalised already...

 

[AHarvey]

I've been handed the Wordpress website for where I've been working for a month now, SEO is a rather large thing and although its a very niche industry, lots of key words are frequently used throughout websites such as "accessibility".

I've been studying on the subject but it's so complicated! Managed to get several hits on the first page of google with more in the top 1 or 2 hits. Although I had the top 3 for one search and now it's dropped to 2 without changing anything. Good job I like a challenge

 

[Pestilence]

One of my competitors online uses keyword stuffing on his website, has done for years. Literally listing keyword after keyword at the bottom of the page.

He ranks 2 and 3 for two sites on one key search term, for sites that are essentially the same company and content with different domains and names.

I reported the links to Google a few weeks back for both keyword stuffing and doorway pages, yet his sites are still ranking high. I wish he'd go and get penalised already...

That would do my head in, these days. Sites that did that are supposed to be the first ones that took a sledgehammer to the head with the previous update.

Even those that used different pages, all with the same copy, utilising an algorithm to replace the location name searched for got a hefty slap.

I guess those ones may have gotten it harder because of the duplicate content that approach naturally generated.

 

[Pestilence]

I've been handed the Wordpress website for where I've been working for a month now, SEO is a rather large thing and although its a very niche industry, lots of key words are frequently used throughout websites such as "accessibility".

I've been studying on the subject but it's so complicated! Managed to get several hits on the first page of google with more in the top 1 or 2 hits. Although I had the top 3 for one search and now it's dropped to 2 without changing anything. Good job I like a challenge

Get dem long tails, bro!