A few months ago, the Council of Residential Specialists asked if I’d be interested in giving a webinar presentation on SEO. Of course I was interested (It’s scheduled for tomorrow!) and in putting the presentation together, it forced me to reexamine the state of SEO… and how to really get value out of an SEO campaign.
If I could summarize my point of view it’s that creativity is key to a successful SEO campaign… at least if you want to have any impact whatsoever.
When looking at SEO factors, there are three main levers you can pull… They are to
- Improve the on-site factors like titles, URLs, keywords, etc.
- Improve user-interaction factors like bounce rate
- Improve off-site factors like quality of inbound links and anchor text
If you’re creating interesting content on a decent blog platform like wordpress then you’ve got the first two areas because there’s only so much that can be done on your site to improve your SEO… and you’re more likely to end up spinning your wheels than get real benefits if you spend too much time there.
The real SEO benefits come from improving off-site factors like inbound links to your site… (Honestly, I’ve been saying this for years, and it’s one thing that never has and likely never will change in terms of SEO value!). One way to understand this better is that without quality inbound links, a site will never rank. However, a site with a horrible on-site SEO (title, URL structure, bad use of keywords, etc.) can rank just fine if it’s got enough quality inbound links!
So anyway, the point I really want to make in the presentation is there are some proven strategies for generating lots of quality inbound links… and ALL of them involve a bit of creativity and some time. If this is a topic you’re interested in, consider joining us tomorrow when I’ll dive deep into using social networks, social bookmarketing, social news and social group sites to generate great inbound links.
Other resources you might find interesting/helpful:
- 7 Tips to Getting SEO Value Out of Your Social Media Efforts
- Linkation, Linkation, Linkation
- Anything Matt Cutts writes on SEO
Also, if you know of any other great SEO resources, let me know so I can share them with others!
Great stuff, as always. Wish i could see the presentation live! Post the Video after?
Thank you much… and thanks again for the great conversations in Toronto that help guide this presentation! I don’t think the CRS team will post a video of the presentation afterwards, but I could be wrong!
Great points. Off-site optimization will likely continue (if not increase) to be a major factor of SEO as it is a part that cannot be easily manipulated, unlike on-site efforts. This is the kind of post that keeps me coming back.
First time at this site, found it through another article on Nu Wire Investor.
Hey wait, that must count for your in bound links.
Bam. Man practices what he preaches.
I like it. Your blog comes highly rated. And I need all the help I can get.
I love a good inbound links! and the folks at Nu Wire have definitely been kind! 🙂
Hey Dustin,
You are right about needing to be more creative about linking strategies. I would love to hear more of the details.
It would fit right in with my internet marketing strategy.
Cheers
Alina
Agree, but it is so much work and a little boring too 😀 that sometimes it’s almost impossible to be original.
Terrific post! I’m very interested in reading more of your articles on this topic.
By the way, I missed the webinar presentation on SEO. Is there a video of the presentation?
Thank you much. I’m pretty sure the CRS team recorded the session… and offer members the ability to view the presentation, but haven’t seen the video myself.
Thank you much. I’m pretty sure the CRS team recorded the session… and offer members the ability to view the presentation, but haven’t seen the video myself.
This blog was posted a while ago, but was the video for this talk ever posted? I would love to watch it.
Thanks.