I did my own SEO and it worked great. In time I learned a huge lesson.
The SEO game is like gold mining back in the 1800s gold rush days !!
When I got my first website, a gift from another landscaper, few had websites. It was actually easy to get on the first page even with pitiful SEO. And to the top few slots with a bit of work. The criteria used was different then too.
But the important part is this ... now Oregon has like 500 landscape companies with websites.
Want to know how to shut up an SEO person who calls and promises first page results? Tell them you can get them 50 of your industry friends too, and to get everybody in the top 3 slots !! Phone hangs up ... because it's hollow promise or revolving door technique.
If we take the 100 best SEO pros in a state and give them 100 of the best professionals, say photographers, they CANNOT get them top ranking. Although they can get them found and searchable.
In the old gold rush days, the first few to begin make gobs of money and really scored. Then as years passed, the veins depleted while thousands migrated hoping to gain the same riches, which was an impossible dream. Just like gold and silver in an area, the top page and top 5 spots on a search engine page are a limited resource.
This means that you want a well-designed site, referrals whenever you can get good ones, but also means that advertising previously abandoned for internet reasons, needs to be revisited. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I was one of the first Photogs on the internet (I actually had a website in 1994 - people would ask me: "What's a website?" when I would tell them they could see my work there...). I did very little to promote it other that taking out a couple of ads at local sites (back then they were called "linkbacks", and everyone had a "Link Page").
I took out an ad in about 1996 at www.charleston.com (Charleston SC's local tourism site), and it produced a steady flow of 25+ weddings/year for about 5 years. After that, I had personal contacts who referred me, so the business just kept coming.
I paid $100 for that ad...
Now, I am in a different market, have absolutely no idea what Google is looking for, and as they own search (this really is a questionable business practice that the Govt and the EU, and someone's really tough mom all need to take a serious look at...) there is not a lot you can do about it.
No matter WHERE I look, or whom I speak with, I ALWAYS come away with the same result: conflicting information.
I really wish I knew more! If anyone finds a magic bullet, or a book entitled "Here lies the Magic Bullet you have been looking for, ya moron!", please do share.
I have a relatively simple Wordpress site and decided to teach myself a bit of SEO.
I found Yoast to be very useful and it certainly helps when writing text which Google will agree with / like, and they have some useful tutorials and info.
But along with fine-tuning the website, I've found that playing Google's game has as much effect if not more than website coding.
So I ensure that each week I place a new post on Google Business, (which takes about a minute to create a small thumbnail sized picture and write 2-3 sentences), and I pop a new picture into its gallery. Google loves this interaction and when I don't do it, my position drops almost immediately.
But also, Google likes having text descriptions for all your photos on the site. (The Text Alt option in Wordpress and used for people with eyesight difficulties). I make each one simple but different and it can take an age if you've got a lot of pictures - but apparently Google loves it.
Take care when writing you descriptive slugs for each gallery / page. Google will sometimes try and do better and re-write. It took a few attempts before Google finally decided it liked my versions.
It was easier in the old days - just fill the top line of coding with keywords, but Google is smarter now. There is no magic bullet, but I've certainly found my activities out of my actual website on Google Business make more difference to positioning.
I went from Google refusing to acknowledge my existence, to being easily found even with vague searches for a photographer in my whole county.
Lots of effort initially and a bit of simple learning (I don't take to this stuff easily), but after that it seems fairly easy to maintain. I wouldn't be paying anyone to do it now.
leethecam wrote:
I have a relatively simple Wordpress site and decided to teach myself a bit of SEO.
I found Yoast to be very useful and it certainly helps when writing text which Google will agree with / like, and they have some useful tutorials and info.
But along with fine-tuning the website, I've found that playing Google's game has as much effect if not more than website coding.
So I ensure that each week I place a new post on Google Business, (which takes about a minute to create a small thumbnail sized picture and write 2-3 sentences), and I pop a new picture into its gallery. Google loves this interaction and when I don't do it, my position drops almost immediately.
But also, Google likes having text descriptions for all your photos on the site. (The Text Alt option in Wordpress and used for people with eyesight difficulties). I make each one simple but different and it can take an age if you've got a lot of pictures - but apparently Google loves it.
Take care when writing you descriptive slugs for each gallery / page. Google will sometimes try and do better and re-write. It took a few attempts before Google finally decided it liked my versions.
It was easier in the old days - just fill the top line of coding with keywords, but Google is smarter now. There is no magic bullet, but I've certainly found my activities out of my actual website on Google Business make more difference to positioning.
I went from Google refusing to acknowledge my existence, to being easily found even with vague searches for a photographer in my whole county.
Lots of effort initially and a bit of simple learning (I don't take to this stuff easily), but after that it seems fairly easy to maintain. I wouldn't be paying anyone to do it now.Angry shirts for angry mood..lil peep angry girl hoodie...Show more →
mdvaden wrote:
I did my own SEO and it worked great. In time I learned a huge lesson.
The SEO game is like gold mining back in the 1800s gold rush days !!
When I got my first website, a gift from another landscaper, few had websites. It was actually easy to get on the first page even with pitiful SEO. And to the top few slots with a bit of work. The criteria used was different then too.
But the important part is this ... now Oregon has like 500 landscape companies with websites.
Want to know how to shut up an SEO person who calls and promises first page results? Tell them you can get them 50 of your industry friends too, and to get everybody in the top 3 slots !! Phone hangs up ... because it's hollow promise or revolving door technique.
If we take the 100 best SEO pros in a state and give them 100 of the best professionals, say photographers, they CANNOT get them top ranking. Although they can get them found and searchable.
In the old gold rush days, the first few to begin make gobs of money and really scored. Then as years passed, the veins depleted while thousands migrated hoping to gain the same riches, which was an impossible dream. Just like gold and silver in an area, the top page and top 5 spots on a search engine page are a limited resource.
This means that you want a well-designed site, referrals whenever you can get good ones, but also means that advertising previously abandoned for internet reasons, needs to be revisited. And there's nothing wrong with that and best high end 6.5 component speakers....Show more →
Could you share your strategy with us? i also want to do my own SEO
jimsmiths wrote:
Could you share your strategy with us? i also want to do my own SEO
If you want to do your SEO, it would still take a lot of work to do it right. But the top slots are still limited no matter what. So either you become a near specialist and still fight for the top positions as other good SEO fight back and forth, or you pick a different strategy.
Consider the time and effort to stay on the first page or top of it. So if that time is invested in older neglected means, maybe the old-school thing is better. Like networking with wedding planners, buying a billboard space, distributing post cards or magnets, etc..
Otherwise, just make sure the basics are done right so somebody with your name finds your website. Make sure you name is written on the home page. Be sure your name and keywords like photography or wedding photographer are in the description tag or the title tag. And also a paragraph or two on the home page about yourself including the relevant words and your name and city and state.
That way, at least anybody looking for you specifically, can't fail to pull your site up on a search.
Then the SEO thing is an entirely different ordeal.
mdvaden wrote:
If you want to do your SEO, it would still take a lot of work to do it right. But the top slots are still limited no matter what. So either you become a near specialist and still fight for the top positions as other good SEO fight back and forth, or you pick a different strategy.
Consider the time and effort to stay on the first page or top of it. So if that time is invested in older neglected means, maybe the old-school thing is better. Like networking with wedding planners, buying a billboard space, distributing post cards or magnets,animal costumes, etc..
Otherwise, just make sure the basics are done right so somebody with your name finds your website. Make sure you name is written on the home page. Be sure your name and keywords like photography or wedding photographer are in the description tag or the title tag. And also a paragraph or two on the home page about yourself including the relevant words and your name and city and state.
That way, at least anybody looking for you specifically, can't fail to pull your site up on a search.
Then the SEO thing is an entirely different ordeal.
I recently started to do this because I want to see if I can get higher rankings this way. I'm still new in this, but I hope it works. At this point, my website is on page 6 for 4 different search terms, but I want to try and get to the first page because we all know, nobody really searches something any further than the first page. I did a lot of research and I chose to work with Just SEO after all because I read only positive reviews, and they were also recommended to me, by a few colleagues. We'll see how this goes, but I have high hopes.
OhioMurray wrote:
I recently started to do this because I want to see if I can get higher rankings this way. I'm still new in this, but I hope it works. At this point, my website is on page 6 for 4 different search terms, but I want to try and get to the first page because we all know, nobody really searches something any further than the first page.
How much do you care if they do a Google search and happen to find you? Is your overall marketing strategy dependent on being found serendipitously, or is your marketing intended to drive potential clients directly to your website?
Why all of you think that SEO is like an enemy in online business. SEO is the process of making a web page easy to find, easy to crawl, and easy to categorize. It is about helping your customers find out your business from among a thousand other companies. It helps small companies to gain authority and customers. It's not worse than all the ads you see everyday on TV or on the internet. And for you to know it's not only based on making backlinks, there are used a lot of tools and methods how to make a site more viral. One of it is a fancy text generator like https://limitlessreferrals.info/seo-tools/fancy-text-generator, that doesn't anyhow affect negative, but only attracts customers sights and helps a site to evidence.
Coca-Cola, General Motors, General Electric, Alcoa Aluminum, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, WalMart, Intel, Exxon Mobil, Walt Disney, Nvidia, Adobe, Nike, Netflix, Comcast, Toyota ... just to name a few
I am a part of a group called Easy SEO with Jeff. He shows a super simply and easy way to start ranking on google with really easy steps. Backlinks help...but they are not everything!
Here's the link to the free Facebook group if you want to check it out!
