In my naivety I set up a links system on a website a while ago and accepted links from everyone and his dog.

My problem with the theory of quality links is that the said site is now number one for my desired key-phrase admitedly it only has a page rank of 3! However, a site where I have kept to links that relate directly to its subject is so deep in Google that it would take a miracle to find it – it has a page rank of 1 – guess I need to be more patient and perhaps target a less popular phrase

I think many sites fall foul of linking for linking sake. I tend to be picky of the sites I exchange links with, for example, sharing only with sites that have synergy with mine.

I also see SEO as an active and on-going marketing campaign. As you suggest, systematically researching your intended visitors and the words and language they might use to find a given website.

Regards

It will get worse over time, it could even start a backlink implosion. Everybody wants to be number 1, so everubody is using spam techniques to get backlinks.

I can see the headline “Back Link implosion cripples Google”

When will it stop

Today on the BBC Technology page Jakob Nielsen’s annual report was quoted stating that browsers are becoming a lot more ruthless in their browsing – obtaining the piece of information they were looking for and leaving a site. They are becoming more suspicious of traditional ‘buy lines’ and sales techniques.

As you point out in your articles, SEO is a small part of the marketing strategy for a website, content value being another.

My question is, do you think that we should alter our strategies for SEO and web marketing in light of Jakob Nielsen’s findings?

Yes. I agree. Many times we think too much about the details and forget the big picture

Put SEO in terms of traditional media visibility, and more people will understand.

Matt – That strategy has worked well for me too. I like to draw a parallel between SEO and traditional PR.

Thanks for your comments

I like to say, “SEO is being found the generic equivalent of your product or service.”

This is the basis, all people can understand this. Until your client’s motivation is to become more visible on the web, all your words will go in one ear and out the other.

And honestly, most don’t care or want to be bothered with the how. Not everyone wants to be SEO experts. They want profits.

Keeping it squeeky clean is paramount here for long term success. I see this point differentiating many SEOs. But without proper motivation, people won’t understand SEO.

Put SEO in terms of traditional media visibility, and more people will understand.

The How: Indexation, Content, Linking, Implementation, Measure, Refine, Repeat.

Think you’ve got the process spot on – as with any ongoing project the stages should be (1) planning (2) doing (3) measuring / concluding, before repeating.

Where people seem to mess up is not so much in the doing, as there is an experimental element to SEO anyway, but rather by not putting a proper strategy in place before they start or not being able to take a step back and evaluate the effects of their efforts.