Many of you saw a post I wrote that talks about how bloggers don’t really need SEO, called Ever Consider Blogging Without SEO. That post came from the heart, and it was meant to encourage people not to give up if they’re having difficulty getting over the “SEO hump”. You see, when I first started blogging back in 2009, I had very little understanding of search engine optimization – but my blog managed to reach a page rank of 4 on Google’s scale. And I did it without using one bit of SEO – I didn’t even have my own domain or any keywords in my title. I submitted the post over on SERPd, and as you can guess, the post wasn’t actually “embraced” by the community. No hard feelings though. 
I got plenty of fantastic feedback in the comment section on my blog from people who knew exactly where I was coming from.
Who doesn’t need SEO
Ok, now hold on, I’m not trying to suggest that SEO is a bad thing or that it doesn’t work or anything like that. Quite frankly, I realize that it can be worth it’s weight in gold – if it’s done properly. I’m also not suggesting to anyone that they should abandon SEO methods that are already getting them good search engine placement.
My post was meant to speak to people that are blogging simply because they love it. It was not meant to be advice for people who want to make money online or create niche sites. I just wanted to clear the air and perhaps ease the frazzled mind of someone who was about to throw in the towel and call it quits with the blogosphere. After all, everyone knows that many bloggers get burned out and quit blogging after only a few months (or days even) and I don’t like to see people giving up just because they can’t afford the cost of hiring an “SEO guy”.
Even Matt Cutts says YOU don’t need SEO
Ok, so now what if I tell you that even Matt Cutts, head of the Google’s Web Spam team, says you don’t need SEO, now will you believe me? Here’s what I want you see (or hear actually, doesn’t really matter) in this video from the GoogleWebmasterHelp YouTube channel.
Matt says “we try not to put so much emphasis that you have to do SEO, because we want sites to be able to rank well on the basis of merit. If they’re good, they should show up in search results, that’s our basic philosophy.”
Matt makes a few more eye-opening statements in this video that might make some “SEO guys” cringe. For example he talks about how you can’t see all of your competitors backlinks.
Not seeing my competitors backlinks!! Don’t I need SEO for that?
Yes, yes, yes – if your online to make money, you need to see your competitors’s backlinks in order to do an effective job with your SEO! But I didn’t say you can’t see all of your competitor’s backlinks, Matt Cutts said it. More specifically, he mentions that it’s a “tradition” that you can’t see ALL of them. Even if you use Market Samurai like I do, or some other powerful keyword research tool, you can’t see all of someone else’s inbound links. AND he seems to imply (now maybe this is just me who feels this way) that the links we don’t see are the ones coming from high page rank sites. Did you catch that?? Well I hope you did (so much for the idea of spying on your competitors and “stealing” all of their backlinks, I guess).
Most of the time I hate to say I told you so, but not this time (hence the title of this post). And for all of you naysayers and those of you who might be thinking that Matt’s not telling the whole story, or that he’s hiding something – consider this: the question at the start of the video came from an SEO guy (in this case “gal”) who is being outranked by other websites that don’t need SEO in order to do so.
Conclusion
Have you reached your own conclusions about the need for SEO on your blog? One thing that’s been made clear in this video is that if you develop enough good content – it’s possible that you’ll never need SEO
Twitter: DennisEdell
says:
I’ve never personally done it because I don’t understand it. I do outsource it now though…anything it gives me is gravy in my mind and i needn’t worry none.
Dennis Edell recently posted..Link Building and List Building – A Blog or Newsletter
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey Dennis, how is the outsourcing working out for you? Is it expensive?
Ileane Smith recently posted..April Announcements on Basic Blog Tips
Twitter: DennisEdell
says:
Nope.
I picked someone I knew and trusted and we brainstormed together to make it work for both of us.
Workin’ great so far.
Dennis Edell recently posted..Link Building and List Building – A Blog or Newsletter
Twitter: jmpruitt75
says:
Great Post there Ilean. I agree. I ran my blog for over a year without doing any SEO. I got what I wanted out of it, and a biit more. Now that I am doing more SEO, I find that even those old posts that didnt use it are getting better results.
James Pruitt recently posted..5 Worst Link Building Tactics
Twitter: Ileane
says:
James, I’m glad you have your own examples so you can see both sides of the coin. The beauty of it is – if you like doing SEO, keep at it, but if you don’t feel like doing it just write what’s in your heart. Thanks for the support my friend.
Ileane Smith recently posted..10 Most Popular Online Office Tools
Twitter: bizchickblogs
says:
Hi Ileane!
I love this. Most of the heavy lifting for SEO is already done for WordPress blogs. So, this post should come as a relief for many new bloggers. So long as the basics are in there, they should be fine.
I wrote once on a blogger who broke all the “rules.” I love it! I feel that it’s better for people to not rely on following golden standards, and just write well. Let the rest work itself out.
If there are glaring SEO mishaps, sure. But mostly, if people follow the basic SEO tips (titles, URLs, etc) they will be good to go.
Cheers,
Tia
Tia Peterson recently posted..Pet Blogging is Officially Here to Stay – Interview with Caren Gittleman
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Tia, I remember that post you mentioned. What I’d like to see is more people focusing on developing good content and spend less time “spying” on their competitors. Google has control over what see in the search results and as long as you stay on the “right side of the law”, you should be fine.
Thanks for your comment Tia.
Ileane Smith recently posted..April Announcements on Basic Blog Tips
Twitter: amideadyet
says:
Whew! A load off my mind! It is tough trying to keep up with all that goes on in the SEO world. I always thought SEO was some sort of niche-type blogging. It is good to know now, that I may not have missed out on much by not fully understanding SEO. Now, to keep doing what I been doing…blogging and loving it!
Thanks again Ilene for the awesomeness
AIDY recently posted..bigger
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey AIDY! That’s right just keep doing your thing
You’re a great social networker too, so that should take care of any SEO steps you’ve missed. Thanks for stopping by.
Ileane Smith recently posted..10 Most Popular Online Office Tools
Twitter: bivori
says:
The more mysterious I feel as more I digg and discover. I never believe people drive traffic so easily targeting a few keyword optimizing posts and hit it hard. You certainly need year long effort to achieve same number of traffic through social network or any other method.
Recently watched a video from (I forgot the name) showing how people use the numbers in EzineArticles and do the keyword research. It hardly takes a couple of week to get considerable traffic if it hits where it matters.
Mat Cut and Google certainly wish that the bloggers and webmasters could be free of this SEO sort of headache. If their algorithm is smart enough to analyze and rank independent of any of the factors, it would be great. But it is due to all those smart bloggers and webmasters, you must start learning SEO – though you’ll never master it. My friends are leaping and I can’t crawl for ever!
Suresh Khanal recently posted..Enough is Enough Please No More Guest Post
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Suresh, I would stay away from Ezine Articles right now if I were you. Google’s Panda update proved that
Ileane Smith recently posted..5 Deadliest Blogging Mistakes You Should Avoid at All Costs!
Twitter: bivori
says:
That’s very true about EZA and Panda. I just pointed out how people use the stats on EZA to search for and target particular keywords.
Suresh Khanal recently posted..Enough is Enough Please No More Guest Post
Twitter: ninjasagaalpha
says:
I’ve been blogging for 2 years now and I can’t imagine my blog without SEO. Makes me wonder what does my blogs look like without SEO?
Allen | Ninja Saga Cheats recently posted..Easter Pet- Itikura and Rakura
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Allen, if you’re already doing SEO and it’s working for you keep at it. Do you like doing it? Personally I find the process quite boring. Keep watching those videos from Matt Cutts to find out what really works.
Ileane Smith recently posted..How to update WordPress manually via FTP
Hi Ileane, I agree with you on this point, SEO can be boring at times. Moreover while writing a blog with SEO in mind snatches away the essence of the blog. You cannot write with all your heart when your mind is in SEO.
shree recently posted..User Interface- The Role it Plays in Designing a Blog
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Shree – thanks for your vote on this one!
Ileane recently posted..April Announcements on Basic Blog Tips
Twitter: mainstreethost
says:
A way around feeling like you aren’t writing a blog post the way you want because you’re focusing on SEO is to not focus on it. Definitely write it the way you want. You can always go in and optimize it later.
Twitter: basscashteam
says:
I have been searching all night for the best ways to get backlinks to my blog. The main things I have found to be true is that you have to find dofollow blogs (such as these CommentLuv ones) and just spend some time reading other bloggers articles and commenting on them. As far as your article about not needing SEO goes, it was kind of inspiration. I am loving writing articles and publishing them on a normal basis. It is great to know that people can build their blogs by simply creating good content and then going out and building relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Who woulda thought people would get ranked higher to actually communicate
. Anyways, thanks for the great post!
Steve Goodwin recently posted..Leverage Other Marketer’s Lists To Promote Yourself
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Steve, I get a great deal of backlinks from DoFollow blogs, but don’t ignore commenting on NoFollow blogs. They’ll send backlinks your way too.
I can tell you’re passionate about writing so keep up the good work!
Ileane Smith recently posted..April Announcements on Basic Blog Tips
Twitter: buyrightstocks
says:
If look into the latest Google Panda change, the SEO even become more not relevant. It is the interaction and the contents which can bring us to first page of Google Search.
Dana recently posted..Apple iPad 2 is in Japan and Also Popular
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Dana, great point. The Panda update made a significant reduction in the relevance of many SEO tactics. Social engagement and interaction are becoming increasingly important and article spinning has been devalued. Good news for us Twitter addicts right? Thanks for the comment Dana.
Twitter: techwork_dk
says:
Hi Ileane
I do my SEO work myself, but of cause WordPress with a couple of plugins are doing most of the hard work for me I guess. Sometimes all that SEO talk is just getting too much I think. SEO is important, but there are a lot of other things that are important as well as a blogger. Sometimes I think SEO get to much attention. Without good content SEO is useless. Without SEO good content might not get the attention it deserves.
Thomas recently posted..Twitter Guide For Dummies part1
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Thomas, I’m glad you agree, thanks for the feedback.
Ileane Smith recently posted..April Announcements on Basic Blog Tips
Twitter: selfishyayun
says:
This is now a lot of which use the AGC that can automatically make posts, I think that’s a bitch, from blogs that they can earn more than they actually make good content. so what is wrong with good content?
selfishyayun recently posted..I Kiss You- Please Kiss Me Back
Twitter: BlazingMinds
says:
I have to admit that I don’t really rely that much on SEO, come to think of it, I usually just blog and if there are phrases or comments in there that would be considered as SEO, then, to be honest, they are purely coincidental.
Karen recently posted..Mooma Herd Forming an Album To Chill Out To
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Karen, you’re always finding interesting topics and providing valuable information. Throw in a nice eye-catching title and you’re all set!
Ileane Smith recently posted..10 Most Popular Online Office Tools
Twitter: ditesco
says:
I agree with you Ileane and that is also how I started, blogging without any idea of what SEO was. Despite that, I was able to manage to “attract” some readers and had accomplish that by being active at the “once” popular blogcatalog. Built a good community over there and things started to flow
Down the line though and specially if you are in it for business, SEO will ultimately help even more, when applied properly. I tend to think that if “everybody” is providing good and quality content, something different has to be done to break the balance, lol. Good one… Speedlink bound 
DiTesco recently posted..Making Money Online With Your RSS Feeds and Twitter via BuySellAds
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey DiTesco, thanks for picking this one up in your next SpeedLink. Give me a shout on Twitter when it’s published. Chat soon!
Ileane Smith recently posted..How to update WordPress manually via FTP
Twitter: sfihomebizz
says:
Internet is full of seo services sites offering on page and off page optimization tips with different packages but I have always felt whether they are necessary to opt for. I have always felt that just writing quality and real content and sticking to basic seo is good enough to get ranked to search engines. Just use a good seo plugin and do blogging. Great Post, Ileane
Kavita recently posted..Why every blogger should opt for Blogengage RSS Subscription Service
You’re right! The passion for shaing information and a CONSTANT communication of ideas, thoughts, and stories on your blog can do also do wonders. The secret is constant contribution to your blog and this can only happen if one steps out of the “rat race” mode to be on top and focuses on the purpose and content of the blog.
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Zarina. I always try to publish at least one blog post per month, but it helps to have some awesome guest bloggers to back me up. In fact my blog wouldn’t do so well without their help in getting out fresh content. Thanks for the comment.
Ileane Smith recently posted..The Evergreen SEO- Acquire Offer And Analyze Linking
Twitter: tospider
says:
How can you u r not doing seo? I can see you are building backlinks everywhere
Nipon Bharali recently posted..Jailbreak Verizon iPhone 4 On iOS 427 Untethered Using Sn0wbreeze 261
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey Nipon, I just like to make my way around the internet – and this is my favorite place to guest post these days! Thanks for following me here
Have you signed up for a free account with CommentLuv yet? You’re right it IS a great way to build backlinks 
Ileane Smith recently posted..What the King of Magic Can Teach You About Blogging
Twitter: selfishyayun
says:
Looks like Google sedag make a lot of people get confused. Someone last month wrote that pagerank is not needed because of the emergence of new algorithms issued by Google and today I read here that we do not need SEO. For people just learning and want to increase blog rank on alexa and google I feel very disturbed and confused. I’m sure many think the same with me
selfishyayun recently posted..Sebuah Artikel Mendapat 390 Trackback Dalam 4 Hari
Twitter: Ileane
says:
He selfishyayun, don’t get discouraged. Google makes changes all the time (not as many as Facebook though) and they do try to keep us updated with the best way to handle the changes. It gets confusing if you listen to a bunch of SEO “gurus” that will send you in circles trying to convince you that you need to pay someone to get you on the first page of Google.
Let me clear some things up –
Stick to the basics like writing good content and providing value to your readers
Use social media – the right way (interact and engage – don’t automate everything)
Comment and guest post on authority blogs in your niche
And follow a few golden rules (like Tia mentioned earlier) such as good titles and url structure
If you start with these things the traffic will come – just be patient
Ileane Smith recently posted..Reach a Wider Audience With Podcasting
Twitter: selfishyayun
says:
I am still learning and I’m also not stupid enough to pay teachers SEO. you’re right, I just need to work harder and also be patient. thank
selfishyayun recently posted..I Kiss You- Please Kiss Me Back
Twitter: lookbigcommerce
says:
Oh please stop. No more of this “No SEO stuff” You’ll send me broke, and I’ll have no customers to sell to
lol
Ayden recently posted..BigCommerce Review
Twitter: Ileane
says:
LOL!! It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it!!
Ileane Smith recently posted..How to update WordPress manually via FTP
Twitter: lavenderuses
says:
Hi Ileane
Enjoyed the read. I often wondered why people would spend so much time spying on others rather than just doing their own thing. As I am completely mystified by heaps of what the “experts” share, this post is like a breath of fresh air in a very crowded arena where everyone has their opinion. I’m sure Matt and the Google team either shake their head or just smile by much of what is written about this topic and many other topics too.
I enjoy writing and as my readers keep coming back, figure they must either be learning something from my posts or at least enjoying being amongst the lovely lavenders with the rest of the community who interact on my small niche blog.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia recently posted..There’s No Accounting for Taste!
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey Patricia! I’m glad to see you agree with me
I always thought the whole concept of “spying” on other people was a bad thing. Obviously Google agrees because in the video Matt talks about how they intentionally hide competitors backlinks from us and he even “suggests” that the high page rank backlinks are the links that are hidden. I guess that’s why Matt says they try NOT to put so much emphasis that you have to do SEO.
To me that means – we don’t want you SPYING and “stealing” backlinks and the best way to stop you is by not showing you where those backlinks are coming from.
Spying and Stealing are NOT good things – has anyone ever heard of Karma
Thanks Google
Ileane recently posted..Basic Blog Tips Is Off to a Great Start for 2011
Twitter: tnsblog
says:
Hi Ileane,
Interesting post about SEO. For first 3-4 months i ran my blog without seo! Though, if you’re using WordPress then there is no need to worry about it because wp comes with great seo features and plugins.
Markut Samurai is great tool, i haven’t used it but i keep hearing good things about it.
Thanks for sharing this great post, Ileane. Keep up the good work.
Dev
Devesh recently posted..5 Free Traffic Getting Methods Guaranteed To Rake In Loads Of Traffic- Without SEO
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Devesh, I do love all of the modules in Market Samurai. What I really like is how they give you so many video tutorials to go along with the training on how to use it. On the other hand, there is so much information that I need to watch the video each time I go to use it because they have so many steps I can’t remember them all.
When I look for keywords to use in a post title – most of the time Market Samurai will tell me there is not enough people searching for that term.
Most people will keep looking until they find a term with high search volume (especially if they have a niche website) – but I never do. I just blog about what I want to anyway – LOL! One day I’ll grow up and get a niche blog – maybe…..
Ileane recently posted..Market Samurai – Great for Keyword Research and More!
Twitter: greenforcesolar
says:
Ileane, you sure are keeping on top of these comments! How do you find he time? Do you have comment management software?
I’m doing SEO for my site http://www.greenforcesolar.com.au and whilst we have a bit of back linking outside and deep linking within the site, we already get hits based on our content. And we get some funny requests too, like helping kids with homework
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Thomas, some days I ask myself the same question – how do I find the time?? LOL!!
I bet there are a lot of school kids searching for “solar” sites for science projects. I hope you have something to help them out.
Ileane Smith recently posted..Verizon FiOS Review for Philadelphia
Twitter: srpatterson
says:
I like LinkDiagnosis to see competitor links that I can copy. Although, the really good sites get links that you cannot duplicate unless you are able to guest post on a site and have the page ranked well quickly.
Steve recently posted..3 Ways in which you can accelerate debt reduction
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Steve is that a free tool? Do you think it’s worth using? I wonder if your competitors are using it to find your links too. That would be a hoot!
Ileane Smith recently posted..10 Most Popular Online Office Tools
Twitter: thelegacyofhome
says:
This is fascinating! I never really could understand SEO. I am really just focusing on content. I appreciate this post so much! I am relieved!
Mrs. White recently posted..Financial Survival in Hard Times
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Mrs. White. I visited your blog and I think you’re doing a great job with it! Keep up the good work
Ileane Smith recently posted..Facebook Fan Page Photos Tutorial
Surely this is relative to the competition I have a blog that ranks 3rd for its chosen keyword that has no seo work done on it. But if the competition was more fierce I think some seo work would be necessary.
jimmycook recently posted..O’Leary Slams New Airport Plans
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Jimmycook, everything in blogging is relative so I’m not surprised. Nice to see you getting high rank without really trying too hard though.
Ileane recently posted..This Blog Runs On Thesis Awesome
Twitter: Sticky_Business
says:
If you have a well set-up WordPress blog with some decent SEO friendly plugins and if your category titles include some good keywords (that you have researched as being moderate to low competition with a decent amount of daily searches), and your article titles also include the odd good keyword (be interesting, not spammy) – half of the on-page SEO battle is done. You will get way more bang for your buck by working on your backlinks. For bloggers that enjoy writing and commenting on other blogs, this should be simple. SEO is mostly just grunt work – there isn’t really anything all that sexy or mysterious about it.
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey labels. Somehow I get the feeling that you didn’t read the post, if I’m wrong, then I guess I’m missing how your comment relates to it
Thanks for sharing anyway.
Ileane Smith recently posted..How To Use Keyword Mashing For Better Search Engine Placement
I like to write without thinking how many keywords I have to repet or put in some sentences for SEO purposes. Link building is important and have to be natural for me. Sorry for my english level.
franquicias rentables recently posted..Pasos previos para elegir franquicias rentables
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Franquicias, your English isn’t so bad overall. Thanks for the comment!
Ileane Smith recently posted..Video Blogging Mistakes
Twitter: Neal_Morga
says:
I take great heed from the list line in the article. Create great content and you won’t need SEO. As i write more i realize that the better written my content is the less messing around i have to do to get it ranking well. I am at last getting somewhere in my over populated niche
Neal Morgan recently posted..Wedding Flowers and how to choose them
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hiya Neal. Your doing a great job with your site. I saw some lovely photos there. Keep up the good work and I’m sure you will be a success!
Ileane Smith recently posted..How to update WordPress manually via FTP
SEO, for blogging-it has indeed become a taboo subject with many articles going in favour of it and many going against it, so what is the whole point, I mean what can be done basically to have your blog give you just the amount of money that you want.
James recently posted..Black & Decker LCS120 20-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Chain Saw
Twitter: Ileane
says:
James, it looks like you have a niche blog and in that case if I were you, I would check out Market Samurai’s keyword research and SEO competition modules. They have a free trial you can get the link from my blog and check out my post on the topic (see the CommentLuv link below)
Ileane recently posted..Market Samurai – Great for Keyword Research and More!
I havent done anything seo tactics for my blog earlier but now has did even builded some backlinks and this didnot helping to gain more visitors.The other blog which is getting good results without seo method.I may think this depends upon competitors who run sites.
endlasuresh recently posted..How to grow toor dal
Twitter: Ileane
says:
endlasuresh, blog or website traffic will always vary from one niche to the next. The competition can be a factor but the other factor is how many people are interested in the topic to begin with. Thanks for your input.
Ileane Smith recently posted..How To Ignore Google And Still Get Higher Search Rankings
Twitter: JaredDetroit
says:
The best way to get good traffic is to have great content or great functionality that people want. There are, however, some structural SEO issues that can really make it tough for you to rank or at the very least tough for you to rank well. There are main structural issues that should be in place but the biggest part is to just get out there and blog. You can always update and redirect (if you have URL issues) in the future.
Jared Detroit recently posted..Custom Alerts With Google Analytics
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Jared, good points. The quality of backlinks plays a role in your rankings to and by providing valuable content there’s a greater chance that some good ones will come our way.
Ileane Smith recently posted..How To Ignore Google And Still Get Higher Search Rankings
I agree, with the popularity of social networking it is becoming less necessary to use any seo at all – if you are active in several social sites you will get all the traffic and interaction you’ll ever need from other supportive members. Ironically by just being active on other sites you are gaining backlinks which is the most important thing for seo anyway.
If the main purpose of your blog or site is to sell products (and you aren’t into the social thing) then seo practices become more important, basically if you rely on search traffic for the success of your site you need to be doing at least some basic optimizing.
invictawatches recently posted..Invicta Men’s Watches
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Yes, you got the point! Thanks for your input
Ileane Smith recently posted..5 Link Building Goofs You Must Avoid
Twitter: wordpresswb
says:
You can go along for years thinking that you do not need SEO but you will soon realize that you do…
I started out thinking I did not need it and built my first website on luck alone…It became popular because it had content that people wanted….I loved blogging and that’s it!
So I had 600 original posts on this website…..And I will use one post as an example….3 years ago I wrote an article…It got about 5 hits a day for that one article. I thought that was great considering I had 600 posts….So I could get 600×5 visits a day…Yes it did happen like that on average…..
Then I found out that SEO was important and went back and optimized that post for the right keyword along with related keywords….Then I did about 5 backlinks to that post…..
The 5 visits turned into 200 a day for just that post…I could not believe it…If I had done the thing right in the first place I would have been having that free traffic much sooner….
Anyway I continued to optimize this website. One post gets 1,500 visits a DAY…Others never succeed….If I did not do SEO I would be wasting my time….
Now what do you think about having one post on your blog that could get 1000% more free traffic… Why not get what you deserve because you are doing the work anyway?
You can still do all your guest blogging and social marketing but search traffic has long term effects that give your blog a solid foundation…
Mitz Pantic recently posted..SEO Keyword Research Tips and Tricks
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey Mitz, those are some pretty impressive stats. I have a question to ask you too – Did you ever find any of your competitors that ranked higher for your keywords – without doing any SEO? Or they didn’t do as good a job at SEO as you but still got a higher rank?
I like the method that you described for finding keywords – write a post and see what words are sending the post traffic. Then tweak your article to reinforce those keywords. Now that’s the kind of innovative stuff I like to hear more about. IMO, the hardest part of SEO is finding the good keywords that have high search volume, so anything that helps with that process is a life saver.
Thanks Mitz!
Ileane Smith recently posted..How To Ignore Google And Still Get Higher Search Rankings
Twitter: wordpresswb
says:
This is so true!
Everyday I do SEO for one post as that is all the time I have…About four days later I see the rise in traffic…
I do see which ones are performing first because I do not want to waste my time… I do this in Google analytics by looking at the top content and then drilling down to see which keyword or keywords sent the traffic. Then I go and search for these keywords in Google search and see where I rank for it. Then I go to Google ad words keyword tool and see if it is worth improving on. For example if there are enough exact searches and sometimes if the estimated CPC is good.
If it is good I do SEO…Then you know it is not a waste of time.
When it comes to new blogs and writing new posts, you basically have to do all of that research before even writing a post. I know that it is easier to work on a post that already has stats and something to work with.
This is a great method to use when you have guest bloggers posting on your website. Soon you will be able to see which posts are picking up organic traffic and work on them.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..SEO Keyword Research Tips and Tricks
Twitter: Anklebuster
says:
Hey Ileane! Nice post. I like the premise as well as your qualifying statements about SEO actually working for you. As the proud owner of exactly one consciously created optimized blog post, I do agree that SEO is the bee’s knees (that post is continually in my top 5 – since it’s about a plugin, whenever the author updates his plugin I get a surge of people looking for my tutorial.)
The flip side, the point you made so beautifully here, is that blogging for love (vs dollars) can be very rewarding when you get the feedback. Since, as Tia said, WordPress does the heavy lifting for your SEO, if you just concentrate on a relevant title and some basic outlines (H2 H3 Bold and UL / LI tags), then you can write that awesome blog post for your readers, not big G. Then the readers become your promoters, using social media. Whee!
Cheers,
Mitch
Mitchell Allen recently posted..Lunch with Stephen King
Twitter: shariffdotorg
says:
Hi Ileane,
I am still learning about SEO, and trying to understand what works best, still lots to be learned, and doing SEO to our blog articles will drive hugh traffic from search engines.
Presently just doing still seo for on blog, but not much.
Thanks for Sharing.
Imran recently posted..Increasr An Excellent Tool To Build Your Social Network
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey Imran, keep watching those videos from Matt Cutts on Google’s Webmaster Help YouTube channel. You can always search through past videos when you have a question and find out how Google weighs in on the answer.
Ileane Smith recently posted..5 Deadliest Blogging Mistakes You Should Avoid at All Costs!
Twitter: michaelaulia
says:
I honestly almost never optimized my posts or blog for any SEO… it’s too much work for me (and they are not the most pleasant things to do). Got good traffic (around 3,000-4,000 visitors a day after a couple of years). Got slapped by Google Panda to 2,000 a day..ouch
Michael Aulia recently posted..Amelie’s Café HD promo codes giveaway
Maybe you got slapped by that pesky panda because you didn’t optimize for SEO.
Hope your traffic comes back that would be a shocker having traffic drop by half!
Chris recently posted..Mens Rolex 2 Tone Daytona Mother of Pearl Watch for Sale
Twitter: wordpresswb
says:
I got slapped on one of my websites…Always relied on luck to rank well….I went from 10,000 uniques a day to half that… I was devastated! Luckily I got over it and got to work!
I panicked and was swearing at Google! I went onto Elance and Odesk to hire people to help me…OMG that was a mistake…Everyone came up with a different cause and had slow solutions which all turned out to be wrong… one guy went on about SEO and I thought that answer was too obvious.
Then I looked deeper into it…All the posts that had taken a beating were not optimized and had no SEO for them. So I went to work and started doing SEO…
That was April 11 and it is now 17th May and the website is back to around 7,500 to 8,000. It has taught me a valuable lesson…
You cannot just rely on great content…which I thought would always win with in the end…
Of course the rules to ranking and SEO will change again and we will all be lost once more.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Manage Social Media Profiles for Your Small Business
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Mitz, thanks for sharing your story. Can you share one or two of the most important ways you tweaked those sites that have come back after Panda? Did you add new content or rewrite existing content?
Thanks for the heads up on Odesk and Elance too
Ileane Smith recently posted..How-To Get StumbleUpon Traffic
Twitter: wordpresswb
says:
I really didn’t know where to start but I did not create new content. I began rewriting and doing SEO on the content I had. Then I did the back linking, and optimized internal linking within the website. I made sure that I optimized to certain keywords, then made the anchor text to match on the back links and on the internal linking.
By the way…I hate to say this but (when I was wondering what the hell was going on) I went to Google webmaster forums and got the worst advice of all from “top contributors”. I guess the top posters there just love to chat..
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Manage Social Media Profiles for Your Small Business
I made the above comment a little tongue in cheek about being penalized by the big bad Panda from not optimizing but it seems there is some merit to that observation.
It is sad that google is penalizing people who write unique content but aren’t technically savvy enough to know how to do SEO. It just rewards the big companies that can afford to hire out that work, and the very unscrupulous spammers who also know how to optimize their sites (ironically the very people google most want’s to get rid of)
I’m glad to hear you are recovering Mitz, albeit slowly – it is a good wake up call to bloggers though that we need to give more thought to SEO.
Chris recently posted..Baume & Mercier Men’s 8402 S Capeland Chronograph Automatic Watch
Nice post, you make some good points. I think SEO is heading away from building links in mass to rank and getting back to more of, create awesome content and then you will rank. Hopefully
bingobabe recently posted..Bingo Entertainment Shows 48 Revenue Hike in UK Market
Twitter: Ileane
says:
HI Bingobabe, thanks for your feedback.
Ileane Smith recently posted..Do YOU have what it takes to be the next best guest blogger
I did absolutely nothing but built a website with no idea of SEO and got rankings, traffic, conversions and PR. When I started looking into SEO I got more of all the above but I am glad that Google looks at more than backlinks. Content is suppose to be King and I like it that way.
Debs
Debby recently posted..Orion Jupiter Water Ionizer
Twitter: nexusmagicstore
says:
In your earlier blogs reaching a page rank of 4 was because first off it was natural content and not contrived to seem natural. Your content was organic, interesting, and keyword rich. These are the primary ingredients to a perfect blog. So yes you are exactly correct Seo is not necessary but the ever increasing content on the web and the constant search engine algorithmic changes. SEO is becoming more and more important to reaching your audience initially. – My thoughts
ringleader recently posted..Johan Lorbeer German Illusionist
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi ringleader, I beg to differ. I had no clue what a keyword was nor did I know how to optimize them back then. My tags, categories, meta-data etc. were all wrong and like I said I haven’t touched the blog since July of last year and it still has a PR4. Now, it is very interesting, I’ll give you that one
Ileane recently posted..Keep Off the Post That Can Hurt Your Blog Readers
You’ve clearly found a method that works for you. You’ve basically networked a PR 4 and that’s VERY impressive. I’m inclined to listen closely to what you have to say.
Matt Cutts? Well… not so much. Look, he’s a smart guy and he’s in the know where Google is concerned, but he tends to gloss over the cracks and fissures in order to tow the Google party line. It’s important to keep an ear on what he says (and more important to listen for what hes NOT saying) but you need to take everything with a grain of salt. Google would prefer it if NONE of us did ANY SEO. It would certainly make their job easier, but it would also put a lot of online retailers and service providers out of business.
Twitter: veryveryblessed
says:
I just believe that SEO and building the blog content go hand in hand.