Dump Your SEO Software

Optimization - optimisation software is a "cookie cutter" approach to a market that requires uniqueness and usability. I have been spending more time in the forums lately, and I am hearing queries from webmasters getting started in SEO who are clearly trying to make use of junk software like Web CEO. Things like, "I have to mention my keywords 3x", or "my keyword HAS to be exactly the same in my heading tag". There is NO way to effectively automate your site's SEO and still maintain the needed uniqueness and quality of content needed. So a webmaster writes great content, then loads it up in Web CEO...and basically destroys it! I actually tested it, my site which is ranked top 10 for most of it's terms, was considered very poorly optimized by Web CEO's standards. If that wasn't enough possible damage, then the damn thing wanted to do auto submissions too! To some really oddball engines, and some others that will surely be rejected as the information you enter will not meet their guidelines anyhow. I will say however, I found the keyword tool to be very efficient and useful. I will also caution anyone using this software, DO NOT use the recommended "Meta Refresh" technique, this is SEO suicide. Meta refreshes, are not just refreshes...They are 301 redirects when set to 0, and spammy 302's otherwise. If your concern is caching, then use the proper "no cache" or "no archive" tag. Let's face it, doesn't it piss you off when you are reading a page and it refreshes all on it's own?

So, I suggest this...Read Google's Webmasters Guidelines. Then do your optimization - optimisation the right way, the first time. I have blogged most of these topics already, so I'll just give you the appropriate posts (In case you need them).

1. Optimization starts with good, unique, usable content (text). You really should try to shoot for 300 words or more per page for the best results.
2. Pay close attention to your navigation.
3. Optimize your Meta information so it's unique and relevant for each page.
4. Server side URL canonical issues can cause duplication problems, don't ignore this.
5. Don't buy links without a "nofollow". If you swap links for traffic, keep the number of these reciprocal links low. You might even consider using a "nofollow" for them, if they are for traffic.
6. Manual directory submissions are still a valid tool for building your site's backlinks, and some minor traffic.
7. Link out to relevant trustworthy sites that your visitors will find useful. Check out the sites you are linking to...They say a great deal about how Google see your site.
8. If you use a keyword tag (Which I think you should), use it correctly.
9. Make use of the search engine tools available to you for sitemap submissions and indexing help.
10. Make a sitemap using the current accepted protocol by all top engines, and include the map's URL in your robots.txt for auto-discovery.
11. Last but far from least, continuously build your backlinks and update your site every 30 days or so for the best indexing and ranking potential.

So really is this stuff so hard that you need a program to do it? No it's not, at the end of the day you'll have pages that you built, and you got ranked..Because you learned a thing or 2 about SEO, instead of mindlessly following the directions in some program. Sure, there is alot more you can do with SEO...But just these basics will deliver a far better level of success than any "cookie cutter" optimisation program can deliver. I find it useful to generate a checklist for new sites...So I don't forget anything. But then I am a Virgo...................................

Peace and SEO

Melanie Prough
"Baby"


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