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7-Figure Small with Brian Clark
Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer
Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing
Get More Clients With Smarter Email Marketing
Hack the Entrepreneur
Members Only
Rainmaker.FM Elsewhere
Site Success: Tips for Building Better WordPress Websites
StudioPress FM
Technology Translated
The Digital Entrepreneur
The Missing Link
The Showrunner
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Youpreneur with Chris Ducker
Zero to Book
Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing
hosted by Darrell Vesterfelt and Tim Stoddart

Good SEO is Simple. Really.

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Previous Episode:Did Social Media Kill the Marketing Star? More Episodes Next Episode:The Content Marketing Question You Need to Answer ... Now

All Episodes:

March 30, 2020

The Advantage of Email Marketing, Featuring Nathan Barry of ConvertKit

March 15, 2020

How to Write Content That Resonates

March 9, 2020

How to Conquer Your Fear of Selling, with Leah Neaderthal

March 2, 2020

How to Build Remarkable Products to Grow Your Business, with Ramit Sethi

February 17, 2020

What You Should Talk about on Your Podcast, with Tara McMullin

February 9, 2020

How to Win at Search in 2020

February 3, 2020

How to Turn Pro as a Freelance Writer

January 27, 2020

Marketing Segmentation and Personalization with Brennan Dunn of RightMessage

January 20, 2020

Podcasting Still Matters, with Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income

January 13, 2020

The New Look Copyblogger in 2020

January 8, 2020

New Year, New Copyblogger

October 23, 2019

The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur with John Jantsch

October 2, 2019

Consistency Will Take You Further

September 25, 2019

The Past, Present, and Future of Online Learning

September 16, 2019

How to Get More of the Right Things Done

September 9, 2019

Why the Future Is Still Email

September 3, 2019

What’s Next for
Copyblogger Media?

August 26, 2019

How Smart, Nimble Companies Are Using Webinars Today

August 19, 2019

The Clarity Method: A Conversation with Tim Brownson

August 12, 2019

Digital Business Trends and the Latest on the Rainmaker Platform

August 5, 2019

4 ‘Naive’ Business Principles for Enduring Success

July 8, 2019

How to Write an Epic Blog Post, Part 3: Polishing and Promotion

July 1, 2019

How to Write an Epic Blog Post, Part 2: Getting It Written

June 24, 2019

How to Write an Epic Blog Post, Part 1: Thinking and Research

June 17, 2019

3 Almost Magical Headline Ingredients for More Traffic, Engagement, and Shares

June 10, 2019

Lessons Any Business Can Learn from an Impressive Influencer Marketing Fail

June 3, 2019

13 Ways of Looking at a Headline

May 27, 2019

The 7 ‘Bad’ Habits of Incredibly Successful People

May 20, 2019

Writers: How to Move from Making a Living to Driving Revenue

May 13, 2019

Choose the Right Frame to Boost the Power of Your Content

May 6, 2019

How Copywriting Teacher Belinda Weaver Reenergized Her Email List for Massive Engagement

April 29, 2019

3 Reasons Why Really Good Writers Sometimes Can’t Find Great Clients

April 22, 2019

3 Slightly Embarrassing Emotions that Drive Effective Copywriting

April 15, 2019

Get 10 Content Marketing Boosters in 20 Minutes

April 8, 2019

Becoming the ‘Chief Empathy Officer’ of Your Copy and Content

April 1, 2019

One of the Most Important Marketing Decisions You’ll Ever Make

March 18, 2019

What Nobody Wants to Hear about Content Marketing

March 11, 2019

Getting Your Big, Scary Projects Finished: A Conversation about Growing Gills

March 4, 2019

When Is It Time to Bring in a Professional Copywriter?

February 25, 2019

Using Content to Systematically Move Prospects Toward a Purchase

February 18, 2019

Understanding the Lifecycles of Your Website, with Pamela Wilson

February 11, 2019

5 Ways to Manage a Stress-Induced Creative Slump

February 4, 2019

3 Ways Strategic Content Can Drive Measurable Business Outcomes

January 28, 2019

The Social Media Platform Every Content Creator Should Be Using in 2019 (Nope, It’s Not Facebook)

January 21, 2019

Real Talk about Generating High-Quality Content

January 14, 2019

A Conversation with Paul Jarvis about Staying a ‘Company of One’

October 29, 2018

The 3 Plus 1 Foundational Elements of Effective Persuasion

October 22, 2018

5 Essential Copywriting Techniques from Copyblogger

October 15, 2018

5 Ways to Recover Your Professional and Creative Confidence

October 8, 2018

5 Stinky Sardine Secrets to Make Your Content More Fascinating

September 24, 2018

The Mindset ‘Hack’ that Frees Your Creativity and Makes You Happier

September 18, 2018

How to Kill Your Sales and Mess up Your Business: Lessons from a Used Car Salesman

September 4, 2018

The 7 Things Writers Need to Make a (Good) Living

August 27, 2018

Are You Making These Social Media Marketing Mistakes?

August 20, 2018

Fix These 7 About Page Mistakes for More Traffic and (Possibly) Better SEO

August 13, 2018

7 Ways to Boost Your Creativity

August 6, 2018

A 10-Step ‘Checklist’ for Your Content Marketing Site

July 30, 2018

The 3 Keys to Publishing Strong Content … Even If You Aren’t a ‘Great’ Writer (Yet)

July 23, 2018

Fix These 3 Points of Failure to Get Better Results for Your Content

July 16, 2018

Big Changes at ConvertKit: A Discussion with Founder Nathan Barry

July 9, 2018

3 Skills to Master to Become a Marketing Badass this Year

June 18, 2018

The Quiet Power of Conversational Copy

June 11, 2018

5 Rules of Thumb to Relieve SEO-Induced Stress

June 4, 2018

How to Use the GDPR to Make Your Business Stronger than Ever

May 14, 2018

‘Good Karma’ Selling that Works: A Conversation with Tim Paige

April 30, 2018

How to Get More Comfortable (and Effective) at Selling

April 23, 2018

Privacy and Permission in the Wake of Cambridge Analytica

April 16, 2018

Seth Godin and How to Create Change

April 9, 2018

Email? Chatbots? Social? How Are We Supposed to Reach People?

March 26, 2018

The Double-Edged Sword that Can Make (or Break) Your Content

March 19, 2018

Make More Progress by Getting (Gently) Out of Your Comfort Zone

March 12, 2018

Are You Doing Content Marketing Wrong?

March 5, 2018

Storytelling for Modern Content Marketing (Part 2 of 2)

February 26, 2018

Storytelling for Modern Content Marketing (Part 1 of 2)

February 19, 2018

10 Quality Factors Search Engines Need to See on Your Site

February 12, 2018

A Simple Content Strategy to Make Your Site Massively More Useful

February 5, 2018

How to Avoid a Heartbreaking Business Failure

January 29, 2018

Hey Writers: Let’s Get You Paid What You’re Worth

January 15, 2018

5 Keys to Making Your Content More Shareable

December 18, 2017

3 Observations on Trends (but not Predictions) for 2018

December 11, 2017

3 Tips Now to Build a Strong Foundation in 2018

December 4, 2017

The 3 Success Factors that Help Writers Earn a Great Living

November 27, 2017

How to Recognize a Great Content Idea

November 20, 2017

How to Cultivate a More Meaningful Gratitude Practice

November 13, 2017

Advice for Poets, Advice for Killers

October 30, 2017

Face Your Business Fears on Halloween Week

October 23, 2017

How to Make Smarter Decisions about Your Website

October 2, 2017

A Series of Unfortunate Content Events

September 18, 2017

The Evolution of a Successful Copywriter

August 28, 2017

7 Ways to Improve Your Marketing by Harnessing the Power of Evil

August 14, 2017

Smart Questions from our Brilliant Audience

August 7, 2017

Does the Web Have Enough Patience for Your In-Depth Content?

July 31, 2017

How to Write (Much Better) Blog Comments

July 17, 2017

Which Works Better: Positive or Negative Content?

July 10, 2017

How to Attract the Exact Customers You Want

July 3, 2017

How to Create Stability and Success as an Artist

June 19, 2017

Two Powerful Resources for Life-Changing Growth

June 12, 2017

How to Turn All that Marketing Advice into Action

June 5, 2017

How to Develop a Compelling Marketing Idea in 4 Steps

May 30, 2017

Getting Over the Fear of Selling

May 22, 2017

Talking Community and Digital Business with Tara Gentile

May 15, 2017

Plagiarism, Self-Deception, Bad Sandwiches, and Other Interesting Disasters

May 1, 2017

Professional Writers: Find Out How to Get Certified by Copyblogger

April 17, 2017

The Painful Core Lesson Taught by 3 Astonishing Big-Brand Fails

April 3, 2017

5 Mindset Habits that Actually Work

March 27, 2017

On Grammar, Usage, and Not Being a Great Big Jerk

March 20, 2017

Creative Strategies for Content Writers

March 13, 2017

A New Ultra-Easy Resource for Creating Excellent WordPress Sites

February 20, 2017

Thriving Freelancers and Clients from Hell

February 13, 2017

Politics, Content Marketing, and the 2017 Super Bowl Ads

February 6, 2017

Copyblogger Book Club: Winning the Story Wars

January 23, 2017

3 Content Marketing Strategy Fails (and How to Fix Them)

January 9, 2017

The 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: Your January Assignments

December 19, 2016

Bad Writing Advice: The ‘Post Truth’ Episode

December 12, 2016

Get Ready Now for a Creative and Productive 2017

December 5, 2016

The 4 Pillars Every Online Business Is Built On

November 28, 2016

Orbit Media’s Latest Survey of 1000 Bloggers

November 14, 2016

Have You Already Missed the Podcasting Gold Rush?

November 7, 2016

Getting More Traffic, Links, and Shares to Your Content

October 31, 2016

5 Quick Wins for Content Marketers

October 24, 2016

Announcing: An Intriguing New Tool for Collaborative Content

October 17, 2016

A New Book to Make Content Marketing Easier

October 10, 2016

Behind the Scenes at Copyblogger: Our New Email Approach

October 3, 2016

The ‘Obligatory’ Structure of Effective Content

September 26, 2016

7 Powerful Content Strategies Borrowed from Advertising Masters

September 15, 2016

How to Handle Demographic and Psychographic Segmentation (without Looking Like an Idiot)

September 8, 2016

Ethics, Professionalism, and Good Manners for Content Marketers

September 1, 2016

3 Questions that Can Haunt Creative Professionals

August 25, 2016

How to Give and Get Exceptional Testimonials, Part Two

August 18, 2016

How to Give and Get Exceptional Testimonials, Part One

August 11, 2016

Are You Leaving Money on the Table with Weak Headlines?

August 4, 2016

Content Marketing for Nonprofits

July 28, 2016

The One-Two Punch that Creates the Most Successful Copywriters

July 21, 2016

Pokémon Go: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

July 14, 2016

5 Suggestions When You’re Writing About Controversy

July 7, 2016

Announcing: A Breakthrough Educational Collaboration between Copyblogger and U.C. Davis

June 30, 2016

How to Break Past the #1 Conversion Killer

June 23, 2016

The New Age of Marketing Automation: Powerful, Simple, Cost-Effective

June 16, 2016

How to Make a (Really Good) Living as a Freelance Writer

June 9, 2016

Self-Publishing, Side Hustles, and Doing It All: A Conversation with Linda Formichelli

June 2, 2016

A Process for Content Marketing Success

May 26, 2016

Content Marketing Best Practices: Getting Email Opt-Ins

May 19, 2016

Behind the Scenes: Adventures in Advertising

May 12, 2016

Trump, Apple, and Facebook Advertising: Content Marketing News for May, 2016

May 5, 2016

Sally Hogshead and the Art of Fascination

April 28, 2016

Behind the Scenes at the Rainmaker Digital Company Meeting!

April 14, 2016

Social Media News, Social Media Constants

April 7, 2016

Strategies for B2B Podcasting, with Clark Buckner

March 31, 2016

Content Marketing Success Stories: Fitness Powerhouse Examine.com

March 24, 2016

Behind the Scenes: An Inside Look at the Rainmaker FM Redesign

March 17, 2016

Our Latest Advice and Resources for Digital Business Owners

March 10, 2016

Should Content Publishers Adopt Google’s New AMP?

March 3, 2016

7 Ways to Get Smarter with Social Media Listening

February 25, 2016

Content Marketing Shout-Out: Orbit Media and Andy Crestodina

February 18, 2016

The Tactic You Should Steal from Copyblogger

February 11, 2016

Content Marketing News for February, 2016

February 4, 2016

Email Marketing: The Misunderstood Powerhouse

January 28, 2016

The Secret Weapon Behind Great Websites: The Role of the Content Editor

January 21, 2016

Behind the Scenes: The Relaunch and Re-Imagining of Copyblogger.com

January 14, 2016

Trends and Predictions for Digital Commerce: A Conversation with Brian Clark

January 7, 2016

2016 Content Marketing Resolutions

December 28, 2015

The End of The Lede, The Beginning of Copyblogger FM

November 10, 2015

Constraints Can Be Blessings (Plus 2 Other Essential Lessons Jerod Re-Learned This Week)

November 3, 2015

Long or Short? The Content Length Question Answered, Once and For All

October 27, 2015

The Simple Publishing Hack That Gives Old Content New Life (Plus 3 More Tips)

October 20, 2015

The Surprising Truth about Earning a Profit from Your Content

October 13, 2015

How to Move Your Audience From Infatuation to Love

October 6, 2015

3 Things Your Audience Wants You to Know about Useful Content

September 29, 2015

Revisiting Authenticity: What It Is, What It’s Not, and Why It Matters

September 22, 2015

Publishing Lessons from Dave Pell, the Most Fascinating Email Newsletter Writer in the Business

September 15, 2015

Why Content Creators Should Kiss Their Programmers

September 8, 2015

Finally — A Podcast about the Superiority of Written Content

September 1, 2015

Hot Seat: Grilling Jerod on Using Audio Content to Seed a Content Arsenal

August 25, 2015

How to Optimize Your Headlines for Content Discovery with Vinegar (Before You Die of Cholera)

August 18, 2015

5 Stories That Explain Jerod Morris (Plus One Massive Marketing Lesson)

August 11, 2015

Lede Potpourri: A Big Idea, Talking About Demian Behind His Back, and Lessons from #PM15

August 4, 2015

How to Attend an Industry Conference Like a Boss

July 28, 2015

Getting the Most Out of a Conference When You’re There to Promote, Part 1

July 21, 2015

How Much Does the Modern Content Marketer Need to Know About SEO?

July 14, 2015

Are Podcasters Digitally Sharecropping Without Realizing It?

July 7, 2015

Celebrating Our 101st Episode (with a Special Guest Interviewer)

June 30, 2015

Why The Phrase ‘Leaders Are Readers’ Should Die

June 23, 2015

Why You Should Think Outside the Box About Online Courses

June 16, 2015

The Proper (and Safe) Way to Republish Old Articles

June 9, 2015

How to Grow an Audience on LinkedIn by Repurposing Content

June 2, 2015

Key Takeaways from Three-and-a-Half Hours with Henry Rollins

May 27, 2015

Rapid-Fire Takeaways from Authority Rainmaker

May 19, 2015

The Proper Way to Grow an Audience on Medium

May 12, 2015

The Introvert’s Guide to Launching a Successful Podcast

May 5, 2015

The One Quality All Popular Podcasts Share

April 28, 2015

Proof That Grit Is the Only Way to Reach Your Potential

April 21, 2015

Do We Celebrate Failure Too Much?

April 14, 2015

Choose Yourself Part 2: James Altucher Fights Back

April 7, 2015

Should We Fear Content Shock? (Or Could It Actually Be a Good Thing?)

March 31, 2015

Should You Really ‘Walk in the Direction of Your Fear’?

March 24, 2015

Is ‘Choose Yourself’ Good Advice … or New-Age Phooey?

March 17, 2015

Is Authority Earned or Bestowed?

March 3, 2015

Dan Pink on How to Succeed in the New Era of Selling

February 24, 2015

Here’s How to Answer the Most Important Question in Life (and Make a Living from It)

February 17, 2015

Sally Hogshead on How You Can Unlock Your Natural Ability to Fascinate

February 10, 2015

How to Learn from Your Successes

January 27, 2015

How to Learn From Your Mistakes

January 13, 2015

Lessons Learned from Conducting Two Monster Audience Surveys

December 16, 2014

Adaptive Content: A Trend to Pay Attention to in 2015

December 2, 2014

The Most Important Lessons You Should Have Learned in 2014

November 18, 2014

How We Built Our Careers Online (And What You Can Learn From It)

November 4, 2014

Interview with Brian Clark: How Customer Experience Maps Help You Develop a Smarter Content Strategy

October 21, 2014

How Empathy Maps Help You Speak Directly to the Hearts of Your Audience

October 7, 2014

How to Ignite a Feeling in Your Audience

September 23, 2014

Are You Overlooking This Cornerstone of a Smart Content Strategy?

June 26, 2014

How to Curate Knowledge, Turn it Into Wisdom, and Build Your Audience

June 19, 2014

How Successful Writers Curate Ideas

June 13, 2014

The 5 W’s of Link Curation

June 6, 2014

Why You Should Curate Content (And How to Do It Right)

May 30, 2014

How Freaks and Misfits Can Succeed in Business: A Conversation with Chris Brogan

May 23, 2014

The 2 Reasons People Don’t Click on Your Buttons … And How to Overcome Them

May 16, 2014

Chase Customers, Not Clicks

May 9, 2014

How to Be Authentic

May 2, 2014

How to Close With Style

April 25, 2014

The Best of Seth Godin on Copyblogger

April 17, 2014

How to Choose Arresting Images for Your Blog Posts (And Why You Should)

April 11, 2014

Removing Blog Comments: The View So Far

April 4, 2014

How to Use Internal Cliffhangers

March 28, 2014

Hangout Hot Seat with Brian Clark

March 21, 2014

How to Tell a Seductive Story

March 14, 2014

How to Create Exquisite Subheads

March 7, 2014

How to Write Killer Bullet Points

February 28, 2014

How to Write Damn Good Sentences

February 21, 2014

How to Use Persuasive Words

February 14, 2014

Michael Stelzner on Capturing Emails and Committing to Quality

February 7, 2014

How to Nail Your Opening

January 24, 2014

How to Write a Magnetic Headline (in Under 15 Minutes)

May 18, 2012

Seth Godin on When You Should Start Marketing Your Product, Service, or Idea

May 11, 2012

How to Attract an Audience by Integrating Content, Social, and Search

March 30, 2012

Why You Should Build an Audience Before You Build a Business

March 16, 2012

How Chris Brogan Built His Content Platform

March 9, 2012

Jay Baer on How to Turn Interested Prospects into Lifelong Customers

March 2, 2012

A 30-Minute Copywriting Course from a Master of the Craft

February 24, 2012

The Path to a Legendary Copywriting Career

February 17, 2012

5 Tips for Affiliate Marketing Beginners

February 10, 2012

Why Not Sell Physical Stuff With Digital Media?

February 3, 2012

Whether You Call it Blogging or Not, Online Content Still Rules

January 27, 2012

Answers to the 3 Biggest Email Marketing Questions We Get

January 20, 2012

How to Newsjack Your Way to Free Media Exposure with David Meerman Scott

January 13, 2012

Steven Pressfield and the War of Work

November 18, 2011

The Strategy Behind the Copyblogger Redesign

November 11, 2011

7 Ways to Create an Email Marketing "Snowball Effect"

November 4, 2011

Warning: If You're Not a Privacy Nut, You're Losing Sales

October 28, 2011

The 3 Kinds of Writing That Builds a Business

October 21, 2011

The Art of Seductive Writing: A Conversation with Robert Greene

October 7, 2011

Why Content Marketing Doesn't Suck

September 30, 2011

Are You Weird Enough to Succeed at Content Marketing?

September 23, 2011

What Works With SEO Right Now and Why No One Does What You Want

September 16, 2011

Are You Flushing Your Marketing Down the Social Media Toilet?

September 11, 2011

Seth Godin on Blogging, Business Books, and Creating Content that Matters

September 2, 2011

The Return of Copyblogger Radio …

June 10, 2011

Answered: Your Most Burning Content Marketing Questions

June 3, 2011

How to Get All the Clients and Customers You Can Handle

May 20, 2011

Is Content Marketing Worth the Work?

May 13, 2011

How to Write Nearly Undeletable Emails

May 6, 2011

Is the Online Gold Rush Over?

April 22, 2011

The Art of Enchanting Online Marketing with Guy Kawasaki

April 15, 2011

The Market for Something to Believe in is Infinite: An Interview with Hugh MacLeod

April 8, 2011

How to Constantly Create Compelling Content

March 25, 2011

The Content Marketing Question You Need to Answer … Now

March 18, 2011

Good SEO is Simple. Really.

March 4, 2011

Did Social Media Kill the Marketing Star?

February 25, 2011

How to Write (and Execute) a Simple but Powerful Business Plan

February 17, 2011

How to Kick Groupon to the Curb and Become a Local Hero

February 3, 2011

Convert … Or Die

January 27, 2011

Attention: Is Your Headline Getting Any?

January 20, 2011

How to Craft Landing Pages that Work

January 13, 2011

Why Every Smart Business is in the Media Business

January 5, 2011

2011 Content Marketing Predictions

December 15, 2010

Tim Ferriss on How to Reinvent Yourself with Blog Marketing

December 8, 2010

The 6 Elements of an Influential Web Experience

December 1, 2010

Your Staggeringly Unfair Marketing Advantage

November 17, 2010

How to Get Some Action

November 10, 2010

The Foundation of All Marketing that Works

November 3, 2010

Introducing Copyblogger Radio

March 18, 2011

Good SEO is Simple. Really.

I remember sitting in Mr. Burgerwinner’s calculus class thinking, “Oh man, I am totally hosed.”

Maybe for you it was that time you brought your first child home from the hospital. No nurse, no buzzer, just you and … her.

What’s the common thread here? Frustration. Mystery. Terror.

A thick fog of FUD.

Sometimes, we simply have no clue how to proceed. Everybody is offering advice, and a part of us just wants to throw in the towel.

Working out a basic search engine optimization plan can seem like that. But it’s not like that. It’s actually a very simple thing to get your head around — once you know what you’re dealing with.

In the next twenty-six minutes, we’ll tell you how …

In this episode Brian and I discuss:

  • What SEO is, and why you’re in the game whether you like it or not
  • A way to think about Google that will make your SEO goals crystal clear
  • The three all-important ingredients of all good (and ethical) SEO
  • What your automatic SEO starting point has to be
  • The old-school, shoe leather way Brian attracted links when nobody knew who he was
  • The only digital social status that matters now

Hit the flash player below to listen now:

Good SEO is Simple. Really.Robert Bruce
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Want to discover the smartest ways to mix social media, content marketing, and SEO? We’ve got you covered with Internet Marketing for Smart People. It’s a FREE 20-part course and email newsletter that delivers the techniques and strategies you need to know as an online marketer.

Links from the Show:

  • Check out the new Scribe video tour
  • How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines
  • The Google “Farmer” Update
  • David Armano on the Future of Search — Social vs. Keyword
  • The Genesis Framework for WordPress

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s Chief Copywriter and Resident Recluse.

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Comments

  1. Randy Kemp says

    March 18, 2011 at 8:52 AM

    I’m glad you guys covered the basics of SEO. It’s a topic I haven’t yet met in Copyblogger.

    I know you guys market WordPress themes. Without mentioning brands, there are good SEO WordPress themes (i.e. including the ones you market) and plug-ins out there.

    It’s good to emphasize white hat. I didn’t think you would emphasize black or gray hat.

    Keep up the good work.

    Reply
    • Robert Bruce says

      March 18, 2011 at 11:57 AM

      I’ll mention brands Randy: Genesis + Scribe is the killer SEO app.

      😉

      Reply
      • Nathan Rice says

        March 23, 2011 at 4:38 PM

        I’ll second that 🙂

        Reply
  2. Nick Stamoulis says

    March 18, 2011 at 9:40 AM

    So many business owners are afraid of SEO, and they don’t have to be. Yes, it involves a lot but it shouldn’t be looked at as the online equivalent as a monster under the bed. I think the problem is that black hat SEO has given the industry a negative reputation, and business owners are worried about getting labeled as one of “those” companies.

    Reply
  3. Paul Gram says

    March 18, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    It’s great to see you covering ethical SEO methods. I can’t tell you how many times I get emails from people freaking out because they were de-indexed in Google. In almost all of the cases, they got greedy and tried to shortcut the system by basically building their SEO foundation on sand.

    Reply
    • Jesse Green says

      April 3, 2011 at 11:41 PM

      I’m with you on the ethical SEO methods. I’m surprised by how many link farms are still in existence and how some “SEO experts” dupe bloggers and website owners about being able to get their sites on the first page of search results within a matter of a few days.

      Reply
  4. Joshu Thomas says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    Yeah, you are very right at the point that there are thousands of people and websites offering tonnes of advices online on what not! Its important to understand the basics of core SEO before you learn about the top plugins or article submission directories list.

    cheers

    Josh

    Reply
  5. Chris "The Traffic Blogger" says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:09 AM

    I have found that the best way to build SEO is through guest posting. You get a link, credibility and of course give free content to the site owner.

    Reply
    • Brian Clark says

      March 18, 2011 at 10:15 AM

      It’s certainly one of the best ways to build links, which is one of the 3 critical components of SEO.

      Reply
    • Allen Walker says

      March 18, 2011 at 11:38 AM

      Yes, I agree. 🙂 It’s definitely something that I want to be focusing more on building this year.

      Reply
  6. Bamboo Forest - Tick Tock Timer says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:23 AM

    I’m all up in the SEO game.

    I think a podcast is perfect for SEO… such a big subject.

    Reply
  7. Martyn Chamberlin says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:38 AM

    Oh yes! I’ve been wondering about SEO lately. As soon as I get my pencils out and start drawing, I’ll hit the play button. Thanks Robert.

    So Brian. I’m putting this little post together. You mind sharing your average time spent writing a blog post?

    Oh, and I’ve already heard back from Seth Godin. You’ll have to subscribe to the Two Hour Blogger to find out his answer. 😀

    Anyways, the point is you’ll be in good company if you join Godin and Brogan, etc. 😉

    Reply
    • Joseph says

      March 18, 2011 at 11:34 AM

      Martyn,

      I’m looking forward to this post. Let me know when it’s up.

      Joseph

      Reply
      • Martyn Chamberlin says

        March 18, 2011 at 12:03 PM

        Whoah there Joseph … you’d better subscribe. (You can always opt out.)

        Reply
  8. Danny Iny says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:49 AM

    It all comes down to creating stuff that Google wants to show people – if your people like it, then either Google will like it now, or they’re a couple of algorithm updates away from liking it in the near future.

    Reply
  9. Ayo, Internet Success Stories & Business Tips says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:54 AM

    Hi Brian.

    Surprisingly, we are all going back to SEO strategies after the unstoppable rave about social networking.

    Great post!

    Reply
    • Brian Clark says

      March 19, 2011 at 11:53 AM

      It’s not about going back, really. Social media has become one with SEO, because social is where the good content gets shared and linked to.

      Reply
      • Ayo, Woculus says

        April 6, 2011 at 11:22 AM

        Wow … that’s a better way to look at SEO & social media.

        Reply
  10. Chris Johnson says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    I wonder how long it will be before the sound of a typewriter is totally foreign to anyone that’s not pushing retirement age.

    Reply
    • Sonia Simone says

      March 18, 2011 at 11:27 AM

      I always wonder that, it makes me smile to hear.

      Reply
    • Robert Bruce says

      March 18, 2011 at 12:00 PM

      I was working on a 1968 Smith-Corona Galaxie Deluxe until about six years ago. Don’t spread that around.

      Reply
      • Sonia Simone says

        March 18, 2011 at 4:01 PM

        I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.

        Reply
  11. Conrad Walton says

    March 18, 2011 at 11:28 AM

    I totally agree. I’ve been saying this for years. Thanks for reinforcing it.

    Reply
  12. Sathishkumar says

    March 18, 2011 at 11:30 AM

    Another useful Podcast. IMO The best way to optimize your blog search engines starts with the content your write and publish at your blog, with building backlinks using useful methods like guest blogging and blog commenting.

    Reply
  13. Secrets of Entrepreneurship says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    Great pod cast. Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  14. Janice Cartier says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:08 PM

    “Spoon feeding the toddler” aha moment phrase for me thx.

    (I am loving Scribe BTW )

    Reply
    • Brian Clark says

      March 19, 2011 at 11:55 AM

      Thanks Janice! Robert seemed to like that analogy as well. 😉

      Reply
  15. Ahmad Rahim says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:05 PM

    We speak to so many business owners each day who don’t know the value/ROI of SEO.

    Reply
  16. Steve says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    It was mentioned that genesis can provide one headline for readers, and an alternate headline “in the code” for search engines. I’ve got Genesis, and would love to try this out. Can anyone provide a little more information on how to do this?

    Reply
    • Brian Clark says

      March 18, 2011 at 1:26 PM

      Directly underneath the normal WordPress posting area (same for pages) you’ll see Genesis SEO Options and Settings. The first field is called Custom Document Title — enter your alternate title here that will be displayed in Google and other search engines. You can also provide a Meta Description, which only appears in your code and is the description people see for your content in search engines.

      Reply
      • Steve says

        March 18, 2011 at 1:36 PM

        Ah! Gotchya.Thanks Brian.

        Reply
  17. Theresa Delgado says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    Brian,

    A huge Thank You to you and the team for Scribe! This tool has helped me so much. Everything you point out in this show Scribe helps the writer to achieve, SEO-wise, the content is still my responsibility. : )

    I can’t wait to dig into Premise!

    Thank you – Theresa

    Reply
    • Sonia Simone says

      March 18, 2011 at 4:00 PM

      We love that, thank you Theresa! We’re so glad the tools are helpful for you.

      Reply
  18. Daniel Z says

    March 18, 2011 at 2:48 PM

    Well after listening to this session I must say SEO is starting to sound more like marketing to me, with more networking and clever writing than the usual link building campaigns through means of directory submissions and bookmarking.

    I frankly don’t know what to say about this though. SEO is less of a sure thing nowadays if you’re relying on making friends in the industry or writing a certain way. I might as well be in marketing business if I was forced to do this to be on top of Google for a certain phrase.

    Reply
    • Sonia Simone says

      March 18, 2011 at 2:53 PM

      SEO is starting to sound more like marketing to me

      Fraid so.

      Reply
      • Conrad Walton says

        March 18, 2011 at 3:07 PM

        Um…Ah…

        Isn’t everything we do “marketing”?

        Reply
    • Brian Clark says

      March 18, 2011 at 3:06 PM

      SEO has always been about marketing. The really good SEOs who are still in the game knew that from day one.

      Reply
  19. Mani Viswanathan @ DailyBlogging says

    March 18, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    SEO is not at all simple. Be it in any form (offsite / onsite).

    Reply
    • Brian Clark says

      March 18, 2011 at 3:48 PM

      Simple is not the same as easy. SEO powered by quality content is actually quite simple, just not always easy. That’s why we created Scribe, to make it easier.

      Reply
  20. TheInfoPreneur says

    March 18, 2011 at 9:22 PM

    Man,

    The “I’m totally Hosed” just caused some Merlot to “almost” fly out of my nose. Sitting here, kicking back, blog hopping…run across copy blogger, and bam….you hit me with that one and thoughts of my 7th grade came flying into full focus.

    SEO…is good and all, but when you provide excellent quality content…like here at copyblogger…ehhhh…your monetary mechanisms will stay work.

    Brandon

    Reply
  21. Nigella says

    March 19, 2011 at 5:57 AM

    I love SEO, it’s a fascinating subject. You mention ‘white hat’ but what other colours of hat are there and why didn’t they get a mention?

    BTW the headlines video/screencast you referenced was great and helped me a lot. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Sonia Simone says

      March 19, 2011 at 1:17 PM

      So-called “black hat” and “gray hat” techniques are those that attempt to trick Google into ranking content higher than it otherwise would.

      We don’t talk about them because they tend to a) too often result in content that doesn’t work for the end user (thus they’re actually not all that useful, since if your content doesn’t work for humans it doesn’t really get you anything), and b) get blacklisted by Google as Google’s algorithms get smarter.

      Reply
  22. Website Tips says

    March 19, 2011 at 7:07 AM

    Guys, great podcast. I have now listened to it three times and posted a link to it on my website.

    SEO is always a hot potato, the basics are essential. Well covered.

    Reply
  23. Cathy Presland says

    March 19, 2011 at 7:55 AM

    Loved this one, yes it’s nice to ‘jam’ on some of the bigger issues and concepts around content marketing, but for business owners, the nitty gritty of how to get people to our sites is really critical.

    Thanks 🙂

    Cathy

    Reply
  24. Tinh says

    March 19, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    Nice idea but I think SEO is something vague that I never understand how to master it even I read a hund of SEO guide ebooks!

    Reply
  25. Elle says

    March 19, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    It would be really nice if you had a transcript posted for those of your readers who happen to be deaf or hard of hearing. There are millions of us just in the US you know. If I overlooked it somehow please send me a link. Thanks, Elle

    Reply
    • Sonia Simone says

      March 19, 2011 at 1:18 PM

      Hi Elle — a better resource for you would be our email newsletter, which is all text. You can get that here.

      Reply
  26. Peter Lawlor says

    March 19, 2011 at 12:25 PM

    The greatest nugget of info Brian delivered, which I never really considered much before, is that people like to share quality content and be “the curator” of quality content. For some reason I never thought about that, but it makes sense.

    When you create quality content, it intuitively gives an incentive to readers to share content. It’s on par with the reptilian mind approach to selling. People will take a particular action when they have an incentive to do so … and they will not be able to explain why they took a particular action. It’s the reptilian or subconscious mind. If you want people to share your content, then rather than hoping they do it as a favor to you, create content that people want to share because they wish to bolster their reputation as a curator of quality.

    Great stuff.

    Reply
  27. Niall Harbison says

    March 19, 2011 at 4:29 PM

    Good SEO is easy after you understand it and when you have been blogging for a couple of years. Having said that thinking back to the early days when I first started I didn’t have a breeze and had no idea where to start! I find the best strategy is to just write amazing content and have good basic SEO and the rest will look after itself pretty much!

    Reply
  28. Sonia Simone says

    March 19, 2011 at 4:40 PM

    Everything depends on what you want to rank for. If it’s a term like “copywriting” or “SEO copywriting” you’re going to need some serious authority on your site. But for something like “Santa Fe copywriter” and “Santa Fe SEO copywriter,” it can be done surprisingly quickly.

    It just depends on how many savvy people are fighting you for one of those 10 first page positions.

    Reply
  29. The Backyard Harmonica Teacher says

    March 20, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    Re: SEOmoz’s article, “Google’s Farmer/Panda Update: Analysis of Winners vs. Losers,” that you reference…

    I saw Etsy is a “Winner,” having increased in results-standing by 17%.

    Not sure exactly how this impacts my “BackyardBrand” store on Etsy (http://www.BackyardBrand.com redirects there) but I’ll by looking at GA to see a bump. (I want to rank higher for the word, “harmonica.”)

    I can say this… In just the past week there’s been a significant increase in blog posts about my patented FlashHarp® USB. Maybe the algorithm tweak is why (that, and the fact the FlashHarp just makes so much more sense today than harmonicas that just make music!)

    Reply
  30. Rosh - Synectics Media says

    March 22, 2011 at 9:30 AM

    I find it amazing how basic SEO can quickly improve the bottom line. The key part of every digital marketing plan should be not to confuse Google. People still to do anyway.

    Rosh

    Reply
  31. Doug says

    March 24, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    Great podcast, guys! Always a worthwhile topic – confusion around SEO is pervasive – even among many of the so-called “ninjas”.

    I wrote a blog post a little while ago using the Google-as-digital-librarian metaphor which seemed to resonate w/many of my colleagues: http://www.mindofmarketing.net/2010/04/search-engine-optimization-seo-for.html

    Thank you for all of the great info you provide – keep it coming!

    Best,

    Doug

    Reply

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