Do Your Own Thing

Maybe I am the one who is wrong, so be it. I will give you all some life advice here, ingrained in me from my dad. DO YOUR OWN THING. I visit tons of forums and Blogs covering a vast array of subjects, some I participate in...Some I don't. I never fail to be amazed at the people who will advise others to do as their competition does. "Study their keywords and fix your content to hit the same ones". Do you really think for one split second that Google cares to have 2 pages with the same keyword density on the same results page? Besides isn't that the peak of lame and uncreative?

I rarely ever use Google search to search my links or indexed pages for example......But alas when I opened up Analytics this morning the site and link command were a VERY highly searched keyword for my Blog. Now, it's really not that I care at all. I'm kinda flattered. I do believe people should research their competition to some extent, but many people spend too much time and energy on what someone else is doing. I don't. Simply put, I spend time on what I am doing. I am not a tightwad with the outgoing links, if credit is due I damn well give it. I don't deny anyone in a forum or comment any help I feel I can deliver (if they are amicable), and I publish here to try to help others.

OK, off the soap box now...Some quick rules to webmaster by....

• Don't set out to copy your competition, instead research new ground in the same line. You will find that an untapped oil well has far greater potential.
• Seeking links from the same places as your competition is lame too, find your own road. Develop your own content stream within your niche and link within it.
• Maintain traffic while ascending the mountain. Yes everyone wants to hit those great big search terms, but they do not happen overnight. Incorporate smaller terms to maintain and build your authority, credibility, backlinks, traffic, and PageRank while you are aging and climbing.
• Watch YOUR stats, give your visitors what they want...Not what you assume they want. I know that sounds stupid, but it is a reality.
• Do you even know what your site should be hitting for? What are your keywords? Find out and if you're not happy with it change your content.
• Fresh content will help you out a great deal, but please keep it all in the scope of your theme. If you want another topic, get another site...Don't dilute your content.
• Take this or leave it. I optimize for long tails one or two at a time. When they are hitting well, I choose another. They are also great link bait. The traffic can go either way, depending on the strength, competition, and popularity....But they are highly relevant and have a great bounce and conversion rates.
• Last thing...Marketing. Seeking advice is great, don't ever let anyone tell you "that's dumb". Some of the "dumbest" marketing ideas have been the most highly successful.

HAVE A COKE AND A SMILE!

Disclaimer: I'm not the least bit offended that people are looking into my site, I really am flattered. This was actually sparked off last night by advice given in a forum of the nature described above.

Peace and SEO

Melanie Prough
"Baby"


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