Sphinn - 20 Hard Core SEO Tips

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20 Hard Core SEO Tips

Went Hot: October 17, 2007 - 8:17 am
Posted By: AndyBeard 360 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://seo-theory.com)
Category: SEO

When you start reading down the list, you might think Michael has gone absolutely bonkers, until you get to his explanations further down the page.

27 Comments

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from Eavesy 360 days ago #

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That was a good read, I will certauinly be trying 1 or 2 of those out.

from tappingcreativity 360 days ago #

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Excellent post! These tips force you too look at your SEO efforts from a new perspective. That's a great way to keep learning and keep things fresh.

from planetc1 360 days ago #

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Summed up in a nutshell at the end of the post... "keep moving forward."

from nsmseo 360 days ago #

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Most enjoyable read - I like the philosophy behind it all.

from mpilatow 360 days ago #

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Excellent article. I was ready to argue with some of the points until I read his reasons for why you should do it. Very good advice.

from ChristianBk 360 days ago #

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Solid reading right there. Entirely true as well...

from majorbta 360 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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This is the only quality article with orginal material I think i have read on Sphinn in the last month. Usually everything is just a repurposed version of someone else's article. Not to mention I actually read this one all the way through instead of reading halfway and stopping, or skimming it. Thanks, an excellent read.

from JeremyLuebke 360 days ago #

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Good list except for #1, 4, & 5

#1 - Are you kidding me? You hate your regular users that much? That is taking 5 steps back (in usability) to take only 1 step forward. Give people consistancy and they will reward you. You can audit and tweak a site without redesigning it.

#4 & #5 - So basically you are saying since you have Jedi powers you do not need a light saber. Sorry but even Yoda carries a weapon. Why would you not use EVERY method to your advantage. Not to mention, if a page is about "blue widgets" it only makes sense to have that phrase in both the title and url for attracting the user searching for blue widgets.

from qwerty 360 days ago #

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I can't agree with this:

Stop using keywords in your titles. Why? Because if you don’t know how to optimize a Web page without stuffing your title, then you don’t know how to optimize a Web page. Titles and URLs are options, not requirements, in search engine optimization. Learn to understand and fully appreciate the difference between being able to do something and needing to do something.

Using keywords in your titles doesn't have to mean turning the title into a list of keywords, but it absolutely should contain at least your most important keyword phrase. After all, the purpose of the title tag is to tell the reader what the page is about. If the page isn't about your keyword, you've done something very wrong.

And note that this advice is on a page with the following title tag:
"SEO Theory - SEO Theory and Analysis Blog >> 20 Hard Core SEO Tips"
I wonder what that page might be about...

from Gamermk 360 days ago #

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A nice, unique perspective on things. I may not agree with everything said, but I appreciate the idea. Smart thinking.

from fctoma 360 days ago #

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Great article, nice read. I coudn't disagree more though... with your two points about removing the KWs out of the title and sometimes the URL. As said above, this can be done without stuffing. SUCH a big help when you've taken the time to write a page about a specific topic, optimized, and it gets to the top of the SERPs.

While at the same time, someone else creates a page, optimizes and gets their page to the top. Who's page do you think they'll click on first, the one with the KWs (what they were searching for) in the title.

Nice post.

from asnider 360 days ago #

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Excellent article, and a great read. I don't necessarily agree with all of the points, but most of them are very valid and incredibly original.

from KarlRibas 360 days ago #

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A very interesting read. As with most people who've already commented, there are instances that I don't agree with, but many instances that make sense that I've never thought to include. Great list!

from Bradley 360 days ago #

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MM always makes me think and think hard, whether I agree/disagree or am agnostic on any given post. I get a lot of value out of mulling over Seo-Theory daily.

from Jab 360 days ago #

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I don`t know...for newbies maybe a good list. For a "hardcore SEO" there`s not too much useful in there. But OK,...I have to admit, trying to look at things from a different perspective is never a bad idea. I`ll sphinn it.

from Halfdeck 360 days ago #

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"Using keywords in your titles doesn't have to mean turning the title into a list of keywords, but it absolutely should contain at least your most important keyword phrase."

He obviously knows keywords in TITLE works. His point is not to cling on to every optimization tactic like a safety blanket.

He didn't build a checklist of SEO tricks - he is using the list to make you think differently.

from AndyBeard 360 days ago #

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I did try to place emphasis on the explanations in the second half of the article were very important.

from NatashaRobinson 360 days ago #

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While many may never agree with all things Michael Martinez, he always has something thought provoking to say about SEO. For me, in this article it was:

"Define a metric that uses from three to five factors OTHER THAN Google PageRank, Alexa Rankings, Compete Rankings, Quantcast Rankings, and backlink counts. Use this metric to track five to ten sites you don’t control for six months. Why? Because you need a competitive advantage that you cannot possibly get from using someone’s backlink checking tool. Because you need to understand and appreciate that there is more to the Web than links. Because you need to be one step ahead of the other guy, who may very well have his own metrics in place before you even get started."

from Winooski 360 days ago #

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I kept flashing back to the scenes in "Kill Bill" (1 or 2, I forget) where Uma Thurman's character has to endure ludicrous hardship to train, e.g., punching a wall repeatedly with her bare knuckles.

I think many of the tips, like the hotly-contested avoidance of keywords in Title tags or URLs, are along these lines. The article title accurately reflects the nature of the training: These are difficult (if not extreme) practices that are offered to those for whom some self-sacrifice is acceptable.

It's a wholly worthwhile read. Will I be implementing any of the practices? Um...uh...um...

from KateMorris 359 days ago #

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Andy that was a great post. Can't say I'll do them all, but they are great ideas. The most thought provoking SEO articles I've seen in a while. Thanks.

from jweiss 359 days ago #

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Just to reitterate what was said above, it was a refreshing change to see someone post about the long term rather than the "rank #1 tomorrow" tip of the week.

from crazycat 276 days ago #

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I had a good read and most of the things you've enumerated are true.

from garytsang 267 days ago #

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good resource!

from MoRe 261 days ago #

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Excellent post! I think it's great to explain the list just in case you don't understand the instructions. Wrote some down on my SEO to do list...

from traduzione 210 days ago #

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very useful post, thanks

from claires 183 days ago #

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Some great ideas in this post and most of them i agree with. The issue is, that this is BEST CASE, and if your dealing with SME's who have very small budgets and their developers get them to pay through the nose for any tweaks to the site - it just isnt practical.

However, some of these i can feed back to my clients, but most i feel are for the larger conglomorates.
:)

from christian007 50 days ago #

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Great article. Why, because it not only lists many out of the box ideas, but also gives an explanation to all of them.