Google-Facebook-SEO
One of the big internet buzzes these days is Google+.
Are you on it?
Alas, I am not…In fact, the other week I thought my Facebook Fanpage got deleted and my first thought wasn’t panic, but relief. What do you think of Facebook and Googley +1?
Let me know on the blog here:
=> http://www.InternetIndependence.com
Today’s QnA is about the role of social media in Search Engine Optimization, and it has been handed off to the Rambo of SEO, Rick Porter.
In his conclusion, Rick leaves us with the 5 fundamental of success that will never go out of style.
(Funny story…I got so engrossed in Rick’s article on Thursday afternoon that I forgot about a meeting. His side rant at the end is the best thing he’s ever written. Enjoy.)
Question: “There is talk that SEO will be dead in a couple of years and the “LIKE”, “+” and “SHARE” buttons will be what determines the value of websites. I’m not saying that I’m believing in this as I remember people saying that SEO would be dead in 3 years…3 years ago. What is your take on the future of SEO and what can we do now to ensure our websites stay on the first page?” – Dan.
Answer from Rick Porter: There is a tremendous amount of talk regarding the Google +1 button and the Facebook like button.
It’s true that social signals are being worked into the algorithm, but for some reason when people hear something is being factored in they think it’s time to drop every single
fundamental and focus on the something new.
Usually they are failing at the core pieces that work to begin with so they are hoping they can move to something different, maybe even easier.
First off, let’s talk about why so many people are already frantic about Google +1.
How many emails have you got from internet marketers about Google +1 in the last 4 weeks. I’ve got dozens of them. And I have deleted them all without reading or wasting my time and I went back to work. Included in each of those “very important” emails was link of a product I need to get or I will have no shot at being in the search engines next month.
So let’s go BACK to BASICS and identify what really determines how Google ranks a page.
The answer is simple:
Google ranks a page based on the RELEVANCE and QUALITY regarding the actual keyword searched.
On the other hand…
The Google +1 button is going to be more for Google targeting YOU with ads that they hope you click on rather than creating a better search engine.
They already have very powerful metrics in place that measure if someone likes a site, including:
– Bounce Rate
– Time Spent on Site
– # of Pages Visited
Those metrics are extremely accurate.
Another key point…
There are already services out there where you can buy thousands of ‘+1’ and ‘Likes’ and those people aren’t suddenly
showing up at the top of Google.
If a page has a high bounce rate with no one sticking very long or visiting any other pages then it is quite evident that the person probably didn’t ‘like’ the page in relation to what they were searching.
Do you think if you have 2000 +1 clicks yet a 100% bounce rate that Google is going to rank you higher than someone without any +1 clicks, however has a very high stick rate and people spend a lot of time on the site?
Backlinks from high authority and trusted sites are always going to have much more weight, while it could take a tremendous amount of ‘likes’ to equal 1 good backlink.
Bottom Line: Stick with the fundamentals of what is working now and what Google has created as a core foundation of their algorithm.
They aren’t going to change their business overnight based on an experimental button.
Strong, relevant content, is going to be “liked” and Google will be able to tell whether anyone is clicking the +1 or Like.
Perhaps they will use these social signals more as a “tie breaker” when deciding on 2 sites and who should be #1 and #2, but to think that the +1 will make SEO obsolete is insane.
Google is still trying to deliver search results that are relevant. I don’t particularly like a lot of the results on Wikipedia but Google sure likes to serve them up in the top spot because it is super RELEVANT information.
But only if you like reading an encyclopedia would “like” Wikipedia.
“That’s the bottom line, because the SEO Rambo said so!”
(CB: Okay, I’ll admit it, I wrote that last line in quotes… but Rick has a couple of final points to make. It’s some of the best content I’ve ever published in this newsletter. Powerful stuff, thanks Rick.)
Side Rant from Rick Porter
I’m all for watching trends and staying ahead of the curve, but let’s be reasonable and remember to run our business doing the things that work to make money today and not by what a bunch of people are saying are going to work because they want you to buy a new tool.
Everyday I have either a client or people that know me email me some latest product asking me to watch the sales page and tell them if it’s worth it. Sorry, I just don’t have time for that!
People that are new to internet marketing are notorious for spending their time watching webinars and reading sales pages to find some easy way to do things.
Don’t waste your time being sold to all day long. Get back to work with the fundamentals!
Craig’s blog has EVERYTHING you need to know, and it’s free.
It may disappoint a lot of people to come to find out that success requires work and there is no push button solution.
But that’s reality.
To get started you need to break away from the 9-5 job mentality and truly have an entrepreneur type outlook with build a website business.
Have you ever worked 100 hours and didn’t receive a paycheck?
This is a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow because they are used to instant gratification and getting paid for their work immediately.
My first 100 hours in internet marketing I didn’t make a cent.
Most people would have quit after 10 hours.
But if you open up any kind of business are you raking in paychecks your first week?
No.
If you want to get paid immediately for your efforts you have to get what is called a ‘JOB’ – and most people doing internet marketing are trying to break away from having a job, so make sure you have an entrepreneur mindset and not an employee mindset.
Were those first 100 hours a loss because I didn’t make money?
Of course not!
It was 100 hours of learning, training, and trying to set myself up with the skills I needed to really be successful.
After that first 100 hours of not making anything, I started a new site on fitness boot camps and after putting in 100 more hours using what I had learned it was making $1,000 a week.
It continues to make that money week after week whether I do anything or not.
I’m sure glad I didn’t quit after those first 100 hours and decided to invest 100 additional hours working towards my goal of being my own boss.
If this type of mindset is difficult for you to grasp I highly encourage you to read the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill and you’ll start to “get it”.
One of the quotes that sank in was about Thomas Edison in regards to inventing the lightbulb and being asked what it was like to fail 1,000 times.
He said he didn’t fail 1000 times, he found 1000 ways that didn’t work (which ultimately led him to the one that did).
Every time I think back to those 100 first hours of internet marketing I realize I was just figuring out many of the things that didn’t work to finally break through to what does.
That was 2 years ago when I was making ZERO per month and now 2 short years later I’m starting to crack 30K per month with my internet business and growing fast.
Please realize you can do it too, if you’re willing to stick to these 5 fundamentals:
1) Find an honest person with proven success to mentor you (i.e. Craig Ballantyne)
2) Don’t get distracted by hype
3) Work on the core fundamentals
4) Have an entrepreneur mindset
5) Never ever quit!
Rick Porter
RickPorter.org
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Wow, awesome. Thanks so much Rick.
Have a great weekend,
Craig Ballantyne
Never underestimate the opposition to purchasing your product. Make sure you overcome every objection and every last bit of skepticism. Remember…you’re probably trying to sell something to a complete stranger over the internet…think about that for a long time when you’re creating your website and offer. That’s a big hill to climb. Work accordingly.