Is SEO really "BS"?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Mia, Dec 6, 2006.

?

Is SEO BullShit?

Poll closed Dec 6, 2007.
  1. Yes

    18 vote(s)
    27.3%
  2. No

    30 vote(s)
    45.5%
  3. Jason Calacanis is full of shit

    18 vote(s)
    27.3%
  1. Mia

    Mia R.I.P. STEVE JOBS

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    #41
    Far bit it from me to disagree with the great shoe, but he did in fact say it. Not only that, he said it at the last SES as well.

    http://www.centernetworks.com/audio/mp3/ses-jason2.mp3

    I believe there are even video captures of him saying this on youtube as well.
     
    Mia, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  2. parusa619

    parusa619 Banned

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    #42
    SEO is not a BS because SEO helps the webmaster get their income from their websites.
     
    parusa619, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  3. Mia

    Mia R.I.P. STEVE JOBS

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    #43
    Actually nothing will get you ranked that fast.
     
    Mia, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  4. kh7

    kh7 Peon

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    #44
    Sure it can work. Look at a specialist keyword (like the name of the owner) and get at least two quality links to the site and bingo: top of the serps for that keyword. For small businesses that can be all they need.
     
    kh7, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  5. TonyW

    TonyW Peon

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    #45
    Im going to go out a limb here.

    The example about monkeys is a perfect example of basic writing from a high school comp. class. Good clean efficiant code is a must no matter what you are making(be it a desktop app or site). And promotion helps, altho links are not the only way you can do this(word of mouth actually works better, youtube and myspace are great examples of this). Therefore all common SEO things are basics for building a site. Promotion is basic business practice.

    Thinking of it that way, SEO isn't a must, its something you should be doing anyway. Weather you're selling a a product or ads you are selling yourself to the user. You could also think of it as selling the site to the user. You want to make them buy into the site and come back time and time again. In that sense you are just using common retail sales tactics.

    Just my $.02 at the moment. My view may change in the comming months since Im pretty new to this game.
     
    TonyW, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  6. CCD

    CCD Peon

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    #46
    Why not? I regularly get sites indexed and ranked in less than 72hrs, in fact that's around the norm. Sometimes it takes longer, if Goog is not updating so regularly or you just miss an update, but generally 3 days will do it. It's the competitive phrases that take time to rank well, not the small niche ones.
     
    CCD, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  7. Janet

    Janet Peon

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    #47
    I agree that good content is key, however, if you create the best site out there on your subject, but nobody knows it exists, then what you have accomplished? A great site with no visitors. That is where seo comes into play. It helps get visitors to your great site. One is not more important than the other, you really need both to be successful.

    BS? NOT!:D
     
    Janet, Dec 7, 2006 IP
  8. Nick_Mayhem

    Nick_Mayhem Notable Member

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    #48
    NO people playing this kind of publicity stunts calling SEO a BS is called BS.
     
    Nick_Mayhem, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  9. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #49
    everyone needs to make a living, and there is a demand for seo. So not really sure why people want to grandstand trying to be ¨the first to announce the death of seo¨ ;)
     
    Blogmaster, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  10. Nick_Mayhem

    Nick_Mayhem Notable Member

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    #50
    Exactly. They don't know that SEO might be feeding families. Old parents. Young childrens. It is not a BS or a SCAM.

    They should search for Nigerian 419 before they make some statements about scams.
     
    Nick_Mayhem, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  11. Ray P.

    Ray P. Peon

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    #51
    I don't know how Google is capable of ranking the pages the way they say they do. I just worry about content more than keyword density really, because I prefer natural flowing articles.
     
    Ray P., Dec 8, 2006 IP
  12. amnezia

    amnezia Peon

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    #52
    I like to look at it a different way. If you can't be bothered to produce good content then you need to be damn good at seo.
     
    amnezia, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  13. maldives

    maldives Prominent Member

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    #53
    Good point but, not all the webmasters expect income from their sites. ;)
     
    maldives, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  14. drewbe121212

    drewbe121212 Well-Known Member

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    #54
    Good content is definately more important then SEO.

    To really optimize your website, make sure you have unique meta description/keyword tags per page, and a unique title. I think the querystring in the URL's (when people say it is poor SEO) is a little honkey. Hell, just look at Digital Point. It has almost 280,000 pages indexed in google, and it still has variables in the query string.

    SEO'ing the query string makes it look more pretty and makes it look like actual files are being ran rather then variables; however when I see a file like this: /file/user/action/id.html it is so obvious what is going on.
    Dunno... Just my .02 cents
     
    drewbe121212, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  15. KLB

    KLB Peon

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    #55
    I said voted SEO is bullshit because most people who claim to know SEO don't and their assumptions are based on urban legends, myth and bad information more than on empirical evidence. I also find most practitioners of SEO, especially those who sell their SEO services, make it sound way more complicated than it is trying to convince others that they need all kinds of special services and software to optimize a site for search engines.

    There are really only a handful of really important things people need to keep in mind when designing a site and if these things are kept in mind while designing a site from the ground up optimizing for search engines is really very easy.

    Is "optimizing" a site for search engines important? Yes it is, but it should be a natural part of website and content development, and most of the people selling their SEO services are selling nothing more than snake oil.
     
    KLB, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  16. solomonrothman

    solomonrothman Member

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    #56
    The current use of the word SEO can encompass many different services such as link baiting and general online marketing tasks that are centered around search engine technology. Anybody who claims SEO is BS, is wrong for one, but is probably using the term incorrectly and is equating it to something overly simplistic like submission, onsite and reciprical linking.

    One of the major things I setup for most of my SEO clients is an optimized blog, a viral marketing strategy for content (stuff they can write about and how to spread it) including social media optimization and then I promote their blog and feed everywhere, and work on getting links / strategic partnerships. It a lot of work and involves many subtelties, even if you had all the knowledge and tools to do it yourself it would still take you hours and hours, which you could better spend creating content. Plus, you'll probably not be as good at it as certain professionals. I agree with the previous post that many SEO companies and firms are snake oil salesman and there isn't a lot of standards or validity in this industry, but SEO that empasses online marketing tasks is hard work and extremely effective by anyone's standards.

    Some of the individual tasks includes link baiting, blog promotion, content creation, site restructing, onsite optimization, correct use of web services, profile setup at niche directories and business networking sites, reciprical linking, social media optimization, content creation to target niche keywords, feed optimization, submission and promotion (blog or website), press release authoring / submission and a lot more. Only a brain dead person would claim those tasks wouldn't help you rank and show results. He's using a micro definition of SEO he invented. The term is not specific and not all SEO campaigns encompass the same thing, but SEO generally means tasks aimed at ranking a site in the organic listings and can include all the stuff I listed here.
     
    solomonrothman, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  17. ferret77

    ferret77 Heretic

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    #57
    personally I think just spamming the engines with whatever you can is where its at, at least for me

    its by far been the most profitable
     
    ferret77, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  18. SportsOutlaw

    SportsOutlaw Active Member

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    #58
    Yes you can. I have spent virtually no time at all getting backlinks to my top performing site. First came the google rankings, later came the backlinks as a result of people finding the site in google and linking to the topics.

    I haven't seeked out a backlink for any sites since. Seems like building the content first and letting the links come naturally is the way to go for me.

    That said, SEO is important, but not the most important factor. Seeking out directories and other sites for link exchanges is not my idea of SEO though.
     
    SportsOutlaw, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  19. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #59
    Takes notes

    Discounts some posts as very uninformed.

    Thinks... some people should stay in their niche and not try to dish dirt on something they know an iota of...:eek:

    While SEO may or may not be BS what is not BS is a marketing plan that is well devised... and not based on the advice and conjuncture of webmasters who do not work with many diverse businesses from many parts of the world with websites constructed in various methods......will allow most business to determine where to begin in their marketing needs at the best cost and maximum ROI.

    A true SEO takes the imperfect site and molds it to meet the webmasters goals.....

    No chemicals added ;)
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 8, 2006 IP
  20. ferret77

    ferret77 Heretic

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    #60
    really? the site just ranked with no links?

    usually when my sites rank in google , i get lots of links from screen scrapers
     
    ferret77, Dec 8, 2006 IP