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10 things you can do today!
By David Brown | May 19, 2008
It’s been a busy week, we didn’t get to record a live show last night due to Brian’s ISP going down during recording. So sorry SEO 101 listeners, we will however have a live show tomorrow! Alright I hate making lists but since I’ve been dealing with several clients and everyone is FREAKING out about the Google changes that have been going on… I’ll take a crack at the 10 things list 
10 Things You Can Do Today! (to avoid the Google shakeup)
- Try some deep breathing - I was surprised to find that there are several different types of breathing. I mean they all get oxygen to you, so that you don’t keel over whist watching your rankings drop through the floor. In all reality… doing some of the breathing exercises outlined in chapter 10 of Dr. Larry Lytle’s book Energy Transcendence - A guide for living beyond the ordinary range of perception - is a great when combined with a power meditation. (you’ll start to realize that your freaking out about a little green PR bar… once you get there you can move on and start to make a change for the better)
- Pay it forward - Pay it forward was a GREAT movie, I’d suggest watching it if you haven’t already. Now I’m talking in the SEO field… no doubt you’ve been on forums and seen some silly questions and think How the hell can they not know the answer to this/that? Remember we were all beginners at one point in our lives! Go and help at least 1 person…. The reasoning behind this is simple. It’s easier to fix other peoples problems than it is to fix your own. So go help someone and when you come back to look at your problem you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to look at things differently, if even slightly differently. I’m always amazed how that works - if I’m stumped and hit the forums, I’ll take a bit of time to relax my mind and help a few people… then when I come back it’s one of those ‘Shoulda had V8 moments’! Try it you might like it
- Study your competition - Seriously sit down and take a look at what they’re doing. Find out as much information as you can about them. Yes this means taking the time to read through the entire blog! I love competition (I know most won’t agree with my paradigm) but I do I love my competition… it breeds a healthy marketplace! Besides… I don’t have enough time to help everyone that needs me, so what are those people supposed to suffer?
I kid but you get the point. Learning all you can about your competition can only serve you and your site in the long run. As you come to development decisions, design, links, whatever you’ll already know in the back of your head what your ‘competition’ is doing - and get this… all you have to do is “a little better”! - Don’t FREAK OUT! - I know this should go without saying but it seems to happen a LOT in this industry. People put all of their faith, goals, aspirations, and financial future into their ‘Rankings’ STOP DOING THAT… it’s just a Search Engine… Granted it’s great to be #1 for your desired key terms and selling a gazillion blue widgets… But let me ask you this : What would you do if it was all gone tomorrow? Have you learned enough from this first go round that you could recreate it and become successful again? If you answered yes… then STOP stressing out, all of the SE’s will adjust their algorithms from time to time, which means we have to learn and grow with them. (This is also why I haven’t jumped into the ‘SEO is dying’ conversation - someone will always need advice from those of us that have made sites earn money) Because the answer is not in a get rich quick, start 50 spam blogs, annoy people, short term success business plan. </rant>
- Check to see if you’ve Over Optimized - I won’t name names (you know who you are) Sometimes we become so enamored with the thought of being the BEST optimized site that we end up doing the exact opposite! We become Spammers - ew! One quick way to test and see if your getting close to that line is this simple test. Grab anyone (not a net geek) and have them read your index page copy to you…. How easy was it for them to read it? Did it sound spammy when they read it to you? Are you maybe trying to just write obligatory copy for the sake of getting keywords into your copy? STOP IT! make a great site for your visitors…
- Buy Links! - I’m kidding of course (oh Google please don’t spank me - I might like it) LOL sorry off topic - There seems to be some inside talk about buying links to drop competitors… Now a Karma lovin’ guy like myself sees this as a very Dirty trick. But the science side of me wants to do it as a test to see if it’s really that easy… I just don’t want karma to bite me in the ass! I figure a lot of people are sitting on that fence w/ me. *although some very reliable sources have told me it is getting to be that easy. (that’s scary)
- Find 1 thing you want to change - Easy right… I know I have a ton of things I want to change on this site! I could name about 20 in less than a minute… (carpenters house syndrome) So this is the easiest on the list… find just 1 thing you want to change - then do it… if it’s too expensive, look around - barter, trade, Ask for help - just do 1 thing to change your site today… it will take your mind off the changes that are occurring.
- Find 1 topic you want to write about - Now you don’t have to write about it today, just finding the topic and writing it on your white-board will make you think about it sub-consciously until your ready to put pen to paper. Then when you do, you’ll be surprised at how much you actually have to say about the subject. (because you’ve been thinking about it sub-consiously) pretty cool eh?
- Spend 1 hour following links on Twitter - You can always spend more time following links but the point is this - the leaders in your industry are putting links up. What does this tell you? You should be reading these, at the very least open it in a new tab and come back to it when you have some time. Most of the leaders in any industry (I’m not counting SPAM as an industry) post up great articles that will open your eyes to bigger and better things. So take an hour to forget your problems and expand your horizons… worst case scenario, you learn something new!
- Leave a comment on this post - It’s easy enough… put your name, website, and what you do to take your mind off of the Google algo changes… I think the site is set to just accept comments. (I’ll have to double check I just moved over to the WP platform for the whole site a month ago and haven’t been real active)
I for example… like to golf, I’m not that good at it… but I do like hitting those little balls w/ that big ass driver! A bucket of balls $10.00 Drive to the driving range w/ gas at $4.09 a gallon $5.00 Taking out all of my aggression on 100 helpless little balls - priceless
Oh yeah… I’ll also install that handy dandy do-follow plugin so that at the very least, reading this 10 things list has gotten you 1 IBL (In Bound Link)
As always these are David’s personal thoughts and in no way reflect the managements policies, thoughts, beliefs, and this should NOT be tried at home, as David is a crash test dummy.
DB
Topics: Branding, Personal, SEO, SEO Consultants, Social, Twitter |
May 21st, 2008 at 2:10 pm
NeO, this has got to be the best advice I’ve gotten in month of Mondays. Stepping outside of yourself sometimes is not the easiest thing in the world to do, and asking for help is even not…uhm….easier either.
The ten steps to SEO wellness.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
AWESOME! I think there are a TON of us out here that really, really, really need to do this, and not just think about it! (and not just on our websites, we know who we are!) ALSO, I know who to ask when it is time for someone to read my content for me *wink wink*…
May 21st, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Great advice Dave! I should definitely breath more.
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
Thanks for the 10 things to do. That should calm at least my top 10 frazzled nerves. It seems the Google algo changes come so fast, I decided not to worry about it. Then I begin to wonder if I should worry, so I worry about not worrying. Now I have 10 things I can instead of worrying about not worrying.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 am
Nice! To take my mind off the Google algo changes I search in MSN. NOT!
Actually I wait two days and check again. No wait, thats after I plant a seed.
Usually I redesign my whole site and change my mind before I upload it. Well, you get the idea. I just find something else to do. :O>
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:05 am
Very good advice!!! I was up until 4 in the morning working last night. Ben kept telling me to just walk away and come back tomorrow. I should have read your post earlier!!!
May 24th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Well said neo, This is part of the same excercise that you mentioned. I spend atleast 2 to 3 hours a day searching for some good website or blogs or links around the internet.
And once you have find your good link partners they will really help you boost your ranking and link building campaigns.
I like your writing style …. Keep up the good work .. you website is on my reading list now ..
Mark
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June 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
@Jessica: LOL… I love it when I’m right! Welcome to the blog Jessica! P.S. I like the concept of your site… should be a big hit.
db