If you work a lot with SEO, like I do, it is easy to get frustrated by the bad information and the quick fixes being offered. After I received my 1,582,452nd message on how I can improve the SEO on my blog, I wrote the following. I hope it is helpful to you.
My Background
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of my primary focus areas and specialties when it comes to websites. I have been creating websites for over 15 years, and I have kept on top of SEO best practices the whole time. Despite what some may say, the basics have not changed. Even though some aspects may carry a different weight in the search engine algorithms they are still very relevant. Recently I have seen a rash of “helpful” comments on my posts in my various websites, such as the one shown below. While the basics of what they say are true and relevant, there are fallacies and misinformation throughout which could cause your website to have problems if you use their plug-in or follow their advice. I am sure plenty of site owners fall for these messages, end up harming their site, and then blame SEO.
The Message
Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at. Seo Plugin
First off, why do I think they are a scam and what makes me any better? Well, what I didn’t show you was their email address was a random name @gmail.com. Any legitimate company or SEO would have its own domain and email addresses. Also any real company or SEO would not spam a potential client’s website posts. They would use the handy contact form. As for me, I am posting this on a website that not only bears my name, but gives you the opportunity to contact me directly.
The Responses
So, let me just go through their message and tell you what they have right and what they have wrong.
“for one you do not use all three H tags in your post”
– Actually there are six H tags (H1-H6) and there is nothing that says you need to use three of them or even all six in every post. Basically, H tags tell a search engine what the primary topic of the page is about (H1), what the secondary focus is (H2), the tirtiary (H3) and so on. You can have multiple H2 tags on one page if needed. Basically you can think of H tags like a standard essay outline.
“also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization.”
– Bold and italics have no positive impact on SEO. They are there for the same reason they appear in hard copy: for emphasis. Actually there are many in the industry who feel that the search engines might look for bold keywords as a signal that the website is spammy and regard it as a low quality website.
“On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda.”
– Google Panda was released in February 2011! The latest update was Hummingbird, and in reality, if you create quality content and follow SEO best practices the algorithm updates should never effect your website.
“No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO.”
– Those have never been the key to getting rankings. Sure they are a component, but the Google algorithm is made up of over 200 variables, each carrying different weights. You have always needed on-page SEO… this has been true ever since I started in 1997.
“First your keyword must appear in the title.”
– Yes, this actually is a best practice, and probably the best piece of advice they give.
“Then it must appear in the URL.”
– This is also a really good idea and a best practice. However, if your system does not allow this do not fret. It will not destroy your page rankings.
“You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing).”
– There has been a lot of debate on keyword density, and the consensus I have found from the most respected people in the field is that you should include your keyword in your copy where it makes sense for the reader. There is no magic percentage of density. However, if you mention the keyword too often your site will be marked as low quality. So, make sure you write your copy for the reader, not the search engine. As for LSI, if you are writing good copy then the search engine will be able to figure out the context in a meaningful way.
“Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.”
– I’m not sure what they mean by “spread all tags in your article”. However, best practices dictate that you use them as headings to show importance of topics and sub-topics.
“Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page.”
– Yes, it should appear in the first paragraph since you are writing about that very topic. Having it in the last sentence is ok if it makes sense, but I have never seen any experiments saying that it helps.
“You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.”
– Using bold and italicized words have no effect on SEO. This has been stated many times by Google itself. Use bold and italics if they make things clearer to your reader.
“There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword”
– Again these are best practices, and while I agree with them, I feel you should only include them if they make sense in the context of your article.
So, if you receive this email or one that is similar please feel free to just ignore it. If you do need help feel free to reach out to me at GPS Digital Marketing.
