By now, you’ve already had it drilled into your head on a regular basis – search engine optimization is about as far from dead as possible. Although it’s certainly more content-oriented now than in the past, its importance to one’s success on the web literally cannot be understated. If your site isn’t properly optimized, it’s not going to rank. If it doesn’t rank, users don’t find it. And if users don’t find it, well… You probably shouldn’t quit your day job. Now, search engine optimization may have changed a great deal, but in many ways, it’s the same as it always was. Even though we’re well past the days of crap-hat SEO ‘tricks’ like keyword stuffing and content spinning, there are still…I suppose you could call them ‘shortcuts.’ There are still tips and tricks which, if used properly, can give you a significant leg up on your competition. Here are just a few of the most valuable secrets to be found in modern-day content optimization.
Your Website’s Speed Counts Towards Its Rank
I’ve said in the past that Google’s ranking algorithms are starting to shift more towards how navigable a site is to the end user – and one of the key components of navigability is speed. If your site is lightning-fast, it’s naturally going to rank higher in search results. By that same vein, if it’s slower than a sloth, Google’s going to penalize you relative to a faster competitor. For that reason, if you’re really interested in your website getting big, it never hurts to shell out for a bit more power server-side.
Don’t Just Let Your Old Pages Die
For those of you who don’t already know, Cracked.com is one of the Internet’s largest comedy websites, with millions of monthly visitors and thousands of articles on topics ranging from video games to self improvement to science and history. One of the ways they’ve managed to stay on top is by constantly recycling older content – they never let one of their older articles die, especially if it was a popular one. You can learn something from that. Don’t just ignore all the old stuff on your site in favor of newer pieces – update it with new information whenever it becomes available. Engage with users on it whenever you notice someone new’s come by. Most importantly, be sure to occasionally share some of your more popular pieces through social media – after all, there’s always a few new readers to be had.
Build Links Only In Moderation
So, you’ve set up a new website? That’s awesome – time to start marketing it and working on link building. Don’t get too excited, though. Just as you should submit content sparingly, you should also be careful to exercise a bit of restraint when building links for your site. If you dive too thoroughly into link building in the beginning, you may be left without organic links somewhere down the line – and that isn’t a situation you want to deal with.
Don’t Just Think About Your Target Audience – Think About Your Colleagues
One of the most valuable things I’ve ever had told to me was that, when you’re producing content, you shouldn’t think exclusively about its value to your target audience. That may sound counterintuitive, but bear with me here – your preferred demographic isn’t the only one you should be targeting with your articles; you should also take steps to make your stuff more valuable for your colleagues. In other words, don’t just write for your readers – write for other bloggers, too. After all, if they share your stuff – or even better, quote you in one of their pieces – you’re going to start garnering a reputation as an expert in your field. That’ll bring in more readers, and more bloggers that want to tap into your expertise.
There Really Is No Secret Except Hard Work And Dedication
By far the most important secret about search engine optimization is that there really are no definitive secrets or shortcuts. Search engine optimization is, was, and always will be a great deal of work. Anyone who tells you anything different is probably a snake oil salesman trying to sell you their ‘expertise.’ In short, you probably shouldn’t listen to them. At the end of the day, all you can really do is create awesome content, and talk it up to people who might be interested in seeing it. If you can do that – if you can effectively market your content, design a site that people find appealing, and create stuff that everyone’s interested in seeing – then you’ll do just fine. That’s the true secret, really – just be awesome.
Image: Flickr/Matt Arasmus