Post here what you think are the most important things, in order from most important to least important in SEO. Here's what i think, from most important to least: - Related Back Links from high PR websites. - Related Back Links from any websites. - Other Back Links - related or unrelated (e.g. signature links on forums, etc). - Unique Content - Age of Domain - Title Tags in HTML - Lots of content - Keyword(s) in the actual domain Post what you think...
To be honest... the most important and often over-looked aspect of SEO is right at the beginning; KeyWord/Phrase research and targeting. You can do all the on-site and off-site work you want and get a #1 rank in Google... if the term misses and brings in little in the way of traffic and ultimately conversions.. it is all for naught. Your time and or money down the drain. A simple example I like to give is for a site I work with that deals in Free eBooks. They have a TON of the top ranks for free eboks but the numbers as far as traffic are telling. The top 3 search referrers ( all #1 ranked on Google ) and traffic in the first half of June were; free ebooks -- 14 236 visitors free e-books -- 4 819 free ebook -- 3 790 There is a MASSIVE difference in the 2 terms now isn't there? This is common all throghout target terms on various sites we work with. It shows the importance of not only the research and targeting phases, but hte value of a quality analytics application to track things... Anyways.. just my rant on KW/Phrase research cause it is sooooo overlooked IMO
While there are so many "little things" that you can do to impreove your SERPS there are only two big things that matter: Backlinks (the higher the PR of the backlink the better) and lots of unique content! Everyone likes to make it complicated but when you break it down those are the two pieces that will yield you the results you are looking for!
Sure, that's what is important for RANKING... the question is 'What is the most important aspect of SEO? ' As I said.. you can build backlinks and rank all you want for the WRONG terms.... without KW/Phrase research.. it's a moot point. If you think backlinks is the gig.. you have the cart before the horse...
Thegypsie made a valuable point as well, all optimization efforts are wasted if the top rankings yield no traffic. There is several terms im top 3 for with 250 million results and they dont bring traffic. It may sound impressive but if i actually tried to rank for them id be pretty unhappy.
I found Spirit Walker's keyword stats very interesting and a reminder to me to take more time and care when doing the research. Apart from that, I think plenty of good content is a must - if it's good enough, you'll get other sites linking to you. Plus, getting backlinks from high PR sites.
I agree also that research is very important. For example, i guessed that if i was on the first page of google for "UK Web Hosting" i would get loads of traffic and sales. Unfortunately, i do get some decent traffic/sales but not nearly enough as i thought i would... So research is definetely important. For example, i am now considering what should be the best keyword(s) to target out of "Web Design UK", "Web Design London" or "Web Design Company". Only problem is i can't find a good website that tells me how many times the search term(s) are typed in Google every day/week/month/etc. Anyone know a good tool that can do this? (only interested in one that can do it for google.)
It's funny how some term you think is bound to bring a stack of traffic doesn't. Until last week i was page one for "Internet Design" with 900 Million results and it didn't bring anywhere near what i though. So i de-optimized for it and i'm around #25 now. "SEO Company" same there, not as much as i thought. I'm #5 for "Internet Design Company" from 220 Million, again not much traffic. Yet i got a company to page 1 for both "Web Design" and "Web Design Company" and they were swamped. So from the ones you listed, i'd be inclined to target the plain "Web Design Company" as you will get alot more traffic having no geo-specific terms.
I wrote a blog post about How to Achieve High Search Engine Ranking for your Keyword within 6 Months or Less. I have a few tips there about what I think are the most important aspects of SEO.
Backlinks is the most important + the rest basic things (good domain / meta tags / titles/ age of domain)
Its the continuous process of improvement and development, required due to the Algorithm changes that the SE's put in place. This aspect of providing SEO services, to me is important as it makes for a long term business relationship with Clients.
related contextual back link from high PR page or site! quality, unique, fresh, and related/targeted content!!
Thanks for the GREAT post.. it further illustrates my point. As a professional SEO it is something you learn ealry on... All Target Terms are not created equally. While quality targeted backlinks are an important part of RANKING.... it is not the most important factor in SEO.. Target the WRONG terms... and you've wasted all the efforts..... plain and simple