Search Engine Marketing Is Slow Work
Diary of an SEO Campaign
The continuing saga of a site known only as The Site, launched on 8-1-06, as it tries to reach the top 3 slots of Google for its key search term.
Day 80
I remember Jules Verne's classic 80 Days Around The World and I ask myself, if Phileas Fogg could circle the globe in 80 days, how come I can't get The Site to page one of Google for my selected key phrase? The only answer is that search marketing is a heck of a lot harder than travelling around the world was back in the late 19th century, and that's a sobering thought!
But seriously folks, you probably want to know how the SEO campaign is going, as I strive to boost The Site from its lowly launch level to the stratosphere of the Search World. Well, I'm not quite ready to hire a search engine marketing company just yet (or an internet marketing search engine specialist, as I saw someone refer to himself recently). But if I can't make The Site move up from where it's ranking currently, in the next month or two, I may need to seek out a little professional search engine marketing. (No emails please, at least not just yet).
To bring you up to speed, I did what I thought was a significant story a couple of weeks ago, and put it out to a bunch of article distribution sites, as well as a handpicked list of top media. It did not fare anywhere near as well as I hoped when I planned this little search engine marketing strategy. (aka Link Bait). It did get published in a couple of places, with a couple of good link backs, but just not as well as hoped, especially given the effort I put into it. (Search engine marketing tip #1 - this SEO business is not for those of you who can't stand rejection, or for those of you looking for a quick buck).
Anyway -- onward and upward. The task now is to create another article, for which I already have a good idea, and write that one up and put it out there. I am done with submitting to directories. (Not for all time -- just for this site. Directory submissions have their place). I continue to add good content, and I think what is also needed is another round of asking for links, which is a core element of any good search engine marketing.
My own method of asking for links has evolved somewhat over the years. I used to go the route of reciprocal linking, where I would select my target link partner, add their link to my website first, and then ask them to reciprocate. Given how much reciprocal linking has probably been devalued in recent times, I no longer do this. I strive whenever possible to get quality, one-way, in-bound links.
How do I obtain what is essentially free search engine marketing? One way is I simply dig methodically through the backlinks of the competition, find who is linking to them, and I ask for a link. Most times I don't hear back, but occasionally I do get a free link, and I consider it well worthwhile. I feel that one good one-way link has to be worth about ten reciprocal ones, so it's worth the effort. And sometimes, the other website initiates a reciprocal linking with me, which I can then decide to accept or not. There are many other ways to get one-way links of course -- I am not trying to be exhaustive here.
Well, so much for my gameplan for the coming week or so. I will also continue to write the blog on The Site (I am a huge believer in the power of blogging as a component of online search engine marketing). Unfortunately, the blog on The Site it is not on a topic that really lends itself to fresh, daily blogging. Not everything does. I'll be sure to continue recording all my steps in this process. Who knows, maybe I can use the blog posts to start a search engine marketing newsletter.
Save to del.icio.us
Technorati Tags: online marketing, SEO, links, link building
online promotion, search engine optimization, website promotion, search marketing, search engine marketing
The continuing saga of a site known only as The Site, launched on 8-1-06, as it tries to reach the top 3 slots of Google for its key search term.
Day 80
I remember Jules Verne's classic 80 Days Around The World and I ask myself, if Phileas Fogg could circle the globe in 80 days, how come I can't get The Site to page one of Google for my selected key phrase? The only answer is that search marketing is a heck of a lot harder than travelling around the world was back in the late 19th century, and that's a sobering thought!
But seriously folks, you probably want to know how the SEO campaign is going, as I strive to boost The Site from its lowly launch level to the stratosphere of the Search World. Well, I'm not quite ready to hire a search engine marketing company just yet (or an internet marketing search engine specialist, as I saw someone refer to himself recently). But if I can't make The Site move up from where it's ranking currently, in the next month or two, I may need to seek out a little professional search engine marketing. (No emails please, at least not just yet).
To bring you up to speed, I did what I thought was a significant story a couple of weeks ago, and put it out to a bunch of article distribution sites, as well as a handpicked list of top media. It did not fare anywhere near as well as I hoped when I planned this little search engine marketing strategy. (aka Link Bait). It did get published in a couple of places, with a couple of good link backs, but just not as well as hoped, especially given the effort I put into it. (Search engine marketing tip #1 - this SEO business is not for those of you who can't stand rejection, or for those of you looking for a quick buck).
Anyway -- onward and upward. The task now is to create another article, for which I already have a good idea, and write that one up and put it out there. I am done with submitting to directories. (Not for all time -- just for this site. Directory submissions have their place). I continue to add good content, and I think what is also needed is another round of asking for links, which is a core element of any good search engine marketing.
My own method of asking for links has evolved somewhat over the years. I used to go the route of reciprocal linking, where I would select my target link partner, add their link to my website first, and then ask them to reciprocate. Given how much reciprocal linking has probably been devalued in recent times, I no longer do this. I strive whenever possible to get quality, one-way, in-bound links.
How do I obtain what is essentially free search engine marketing? One way is I simply dig methodically through the backlinks of the competition, find who is linking to them, and I ask for a link. Most times I don't hear back, but occasionally I do get a free link, and I consider it well worthwhile. I feel that one good one-way link has to be worth about ten reciprocal ones, so it's worth the effort. And sometimes, the other website initiates a reciprocal linking with me, which I can then decide to accept or not. There are many other ways to get one-way links of course -- I am not trying to be exhaustive here.
Well, so much for my gameplan for the coming week or so. I will also continue to write the blog on The Site (I am a huge believer in the power of blogging as a component of online search engine marketing). Unfortunately, the blog on The Site it is not on a topic that really lends itself to fresh, daily blogging. Not everything does. I'll be sure to continue recording all my steps in this process. Who knows, maybe I can use the blog posts to start a search engine marketing newsletter.
Save to del.icio.us
Technorati Tags: online marketing, SEO, links, link building
online promotion, search engine optimization, website promotion, search marketing, search engine marketing
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