SEO: Going from Good to Great!

A heated conversation broke out on Sphinn yesterday that centered on whether you need to know HTML to be good at SEO.  Frankly, I’m surprised that’s even a question.  It’s a kin to asking if you need to understand the human anatomy to be a good doctor.

I’m not trying to be mean or belittling but if you only have an academic knowledge of SEO factors, you can’t be good at SEO.  You only think you are because [1] the smallest changes can have big impacts and [2] you don’t know what you don’t know.

But in this article I’m not going to focus on the negatives.  I’m going to focus on some constructive ways to go from being a good search engine optimizer to being a GREAT search engine optimizer.  The following are the four core things, as I see them, which you need to be good at if you want to go from good to great in terms of SEO.

1. SEO Factors
This is the foundation of search engine optimization …obviously.  And the good news is that most of us have a pretty good knowledge of these thanks to people like Rand Fishkin who’s published the top search engine ranking factors as seen by some of the top industry experts and thanks to other passionate bloggers who are willing to share their knowledge in exchange for the hope of a little link love.

As an SEOer, you should never stop studying these factors and testing different tactics on your own.  And if you want to be really great at understanding these factors, you’ll need to become good at analysis and documentation.  What changes did I make?  What impact did those changes have?  Were they good?  Were they bad?  Where else can I test them?

This is how the most notorious SEOers got where they our within the community.  They tested, learned, and shared that with the rest of us.  If you’re unlike me, and your goal is to get speaking gigs, this is your first step.  Don’t be a poser.  Be an innovator.

2. The Anatomy of a Web Site
You will never be great at SEO if you don’t understand the anatomy of a web site (not just HTML).  The best SEOers know that great SEO starts with site architecture and making elements work together to produce the maximum effect.  They also understand that one of the first steps you take when starting an SEO project is to study the current obstacles that the site faces or how to build a site without obstacles.  Without knowledge of web site anatomy, you won’t know what those are, how to find them, or how to build without them.

There’s no easy route to get this expertise.  You’re going to have to start building websites, whether it’s just your own or for some mom and pop operations.  It is, however, a step you will need to take if you want to be great.

3. User Experience
This is, by far, the most widely ignored area of SEO.  Yes, we always hear that content is king, but that doesn’t scratch the surface of this topic.  That’s because user experience isn’t about having lots of content or a pretty website.  User experience is about giving the user exactly what they need in a way that works for that user.  In most cases, that means you are answering the question that was asked in their search.

In my opinion content is queen, and user experience is king.  This is why a site like Great Schools can rank in the top five for almost every “schools in [ANY CITY]” search with hardly any text on their pages, but using the three areas of focus I’ve mentioned to this point.  Great Schools is a great user experience because it answers the questions we are asking.  Google puts them at the top because, for us to keep using Google as our primary search engine, Google has to give us the best user experience …and to do that they have to deliver us the sites that give us the best user experience.

By the way, if you need to tie this back to SEO factors, this is the most organic way to get great links into your pages.

To be great at SEO, you’re going to have to study up on user experience.  There are many great books on the topic, but for the most part, user experience is as simple as asking “What is the goal of our audience and how can I help them meet that goal?”

4. Social Media
If you are great at the first three areas I mentioned, that’s probably enough to put you in the top 5% – 10% of search optimizers in terms of effectiveness.  If you want to be one of the best and really accelerate your SEO returns, however, you are going to need to be great at being a promoter.  That means you need to get a handle on social media like Twitter, Facebook, Digg …even blogging.

I’m not going to give you a “how to” on the topic.  There are a lot of great resources on the internet that will help you on your journey.  What I really want to stress is that the better of a promoter you are, the more link opportunities you create …and if you have the first three areas of expertise down, social media can literally create an army of advocates for your web sites.

To be perfectly honest, this is an area that I am still a novice.  But I see it as the next evolutionary step I need to make in order to increase the productivity of what I do.

Becoming a great search engine optimizer will not be an easy task.  In fact, it will take a lot of work if you are not already a good distance down this path.  With that said, any increases in expertise for these four areas will significantly increase the success ratio of your SEO work.  Unlike many things, any improvement in these are will bare fruit.  It’s an investment worth making.