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SEO Research: Because Nothing Makes You More Informed Than Being Misinformed

By Mike | January 3, 2011

Every so often an SEO blogger breaks away from their everyday banter and does a piece on hiring the right SEO or SEO team for your website.  They usually go down the usual topics, go with the company whose goals match your own, get examples, get references, but then they throw in do your research or talk to the most SEO savvy person you know.  That last point is usually the one that sends a chill down my spine. Why? Because last I checked the SEO industry was full of contradictions, bullshit, and misinformation.

Let’s face it; if the SEO industry gets a wild hair up their butt you’re sure to see a dozen “next big things in search”.  The last big craze was LDA, before that it was site speed, and let’s not forget the most important ranking factor of all; bounce rate! Needless to say at any given moment when researching SEO you are bound to find thousands of different theories, ideas, and techniques.  These ideas can lead you to believe that a legitimate SEO firm has no idea what they are talking about, simply because they see through the nonsense.

But I Know A Guy

When it comes to talking to an SEO savvy person you’re bound to get the same results.  Nine times out of ten it’s a guy you know who knows enough about SEO to get himself into trouble and he usually claims to know a guy that works at Google.  I had a recent battle with this when someone was fed that Google only crawls 500 words of content.  Even after proving this was wrong the “Google Guru” still knew best.

So what’s a website owner to do?  Stop researching how to SEO and instead look to the search engines for information on how you shouldn’t SEO.  Instead of being riddled in theories, buzzwords, and craphat techniques, the search engines offer guidelines on what the best practices are to help you find an SEO and help your site rank.  Gain a basic understanding of this and then follow your gut feeling when you go to hire and SEO or SEO team and you should be fine.  Fill your head with misinformation about a topic you’re completely out of touch with and you are sure to set yourself up for disaster, or at least a lot of headaches along the way.

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  • SEO Research: Because Nothing Makes You More Informed Than Being Misinformed

Topics: Other Stuff | 26 Comments »

Posted on 03 January 2011 by Mike Wilton

Mike Wilton is the internet marketing manager for a top medical marketing company in the U.S. He is also an independent internet marketing consultant that specializes in SEO and social media. You can find him on twitter (@mwilton13).

has written 1 articles for SEO Bullshit

  • http://twitter.com/WarnerCarter Warner Carter

    the one thing I could never get is why people think SEO stands for search engine optimization when actually it stands for Secretly Eating OREOS. DUH!!!!

  • http://www.theistudio.com Judith

    Sage advice, Mike! But… what you recommend in your last paragraph takes effort, the desire to acquire knowledge and then the work ethic to apply. As long as there are other venues that negate this or cater to what folks want to believe (cheaper, faster and easier) — all bets are off. Total BS! Whose got the Oreos!?

  • http://www.nevermoresearch.com Mike Wilton

    Agreed Judith. It’s a sad reality, but I think because there are so many SEO snake oil salesmen out there, more and more people are looking to educate themselves before they hire someone to take on their website. The problem is that none of them know enough about SEO to know if they are being fed the right information. At the end of the day most businesses and individuals are going to go after the cheapest solution that sounds the best, but hopefully the ones that really want to put forth the effort to protect themselves will find this sort of information useful.

  • BullShitWebsites

    If everyone follows the same SEO tricks, than how does Google know which sites to index.
    If that someone knows about the SEO secret, why does s/he want to share it? I can show you the gold but do you think I am going to show you all the goldmine?

    This SEO business is a bunch of scam.

  • http://twitter.com/JohanDam Johan Dam

    SEO is a weird buisness, you can get the basics of it for yourself but it takes alot of time to get to know the right tricks. Once you do you can make alot more money then if you would apply them for yourself. If I knew the google algorithm and used it on my own site, I wouldn’t make as much as when I would sell it to the highest bidder. That goldmine is useless if you don’t have the tools to mine the gold.

  • http://www.trupanionpetinsurance.com Brent

    SEO is just crazy and unpredictable. But like you said, if you just follow the guidelines and build sites that people actually find informative, then you should do fine. Know the basics, follow the rules, and read, read, and read. The more informed you are of what not to do, the more of an expert you will be.

  • http://yoyoseo.com DanaLookadoo

    This is a perfect example of how people who have read a few blog posts hang an “SEO Guru” sign on their door, err, their website..

    Nicely done, Mike!

  • Mel Nelson

    Nice Advice Mike, but the idea that clients are actually going to educate themselves is sort of nice but very Utopian.

    Trying to outsell snake oil salesmen, who have no reputation to lose is in itself a losing game. If only somehow we could get the word out that there is not one single trick the will lead to SEO success, but instead it takes continual study and practice to keep abreast of what currently works and what does not.

    In addition to this there is the necessity for an SEO to have talent in this field. Just as it will take more than a desire to play basketball and lots of practice to make someone into a Michael Jordon, without that spark, your SEO may not get you the results you like.

    So how should the average website owner choose an SEO? The very best way is a recommendation from someone who has used the person in question and was more than satisfied.

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  • http://twitter.com/badams Barry Adams

    Uh-huh. Right. Good luck with that.

  • http://www.i-com.net Adrian Berry

    Over the years i’ve found that pretty much anyone can talk the talk in SEO. Best option is to get them in front of a pc /mac if you are thinking of hiring

  • Spamdie

    I got to say this site’s kinda a fun read. I’m been trying to get my boss not to be sold on the SEO is the cure all for the lack of showing up near the top of the good ol search engines. But its next to impossible to find anyplace that doesn’t put SEO on a pedestal. And the when he shows me that the page is getting thousands of “links” the last SEO “guru” brought in I try to explain. They’re all spam.. Can’t win, can’t win.

  • http://www.upgrade-software.com Upgradesoftware

    Wow! I am so happy I found this site. Lately everyone seems to be parading in the guise of SEO Genius, yet when you glide your nose past the purported ‘Genius’ you will regularly catch that familiar whiff (to most) – it’s the precluding scent of snake oil. So what to do as to prevent from being taking for a ride? Become informed by working back from the source as opposed to swallowing the final polished product – the ‘SEO Genius’- Reverse Engineering anyone? An intelligent and endearing suggestion Mike, Cheers! More revelations please.

  • http://twitter.com/onlinedeal onlinedeal

    I’ve recently used a company by the name of mindshark – anyone heard of them. Thus far, I am NOT happy with the response time and results.

  • Krom Dog

    It’s all about keepin it real thanks Mike

  • Anonymous

    At the finish of the day most businesses and individuals are going to go after the lowest priced solution that sounds the best, but hopefully the ones that require to put forth the work to protect themselves will find this type of information useful.

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    I wouldn’t make as much as when I would sell it to the highest bidder.
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