{"id":5592,"date":"2022-08-16T21:45:17","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T21:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/"},"modified":"2022-08-16T21:45:17","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T21:45:17","slug":"6-fundamental-truths-about-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"6 fundamental truths about SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Brands and SEO professionals must take responsibility for the performance of the websites that they run and manage.<\/p>\n<p>Applying these six SEO truths will help you achieve next-level website performance, according to Bruce Clay, the founder and president of digital marketing optimization firm Bruce Clay Inc., who spoke at SMX Advanced.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/#1_SEO_needs_to_be_a_strategic_initiative_across_the_company\" >1. SEO needs to be a strategic initiative across the company<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/#2_SEO_should_beat_the_competition_not_the_algorithm\" >2. SEO should beat the competition, not the algorithm<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/#3_SEO_done_right_cares_about_content_architecture\" >3. SEO done right cares about content architecture<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/#4_Its_not_the_job_of_SEO_to_make_a_pig_fly\" >4. It\u2019s not the job of SEO to make a pig fly<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/#5_Cheap_SEO_is_a_near-death_experience\" >5. Cheap SEO is a near-death experience<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/16\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo\/#6_SEO_is_done_when_Google_stops_changing_things_and_all_your_competition_dies\" >6. SEO is done when Google stops changing things and all your competition dies<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_SEO_needs_to_be_a_strategic_initiative_across_the_company\"><\/span>1. SEO needs to be a strategic initiative across the company<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The entire organization participates in <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/guide\/what-is-seo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SEO<\/a>. It starts at the leadership level \u2013 everyone must understand that SEO is important, commit to it and make it a priority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t just do your SEO on Monday. One person can\u2019t randomly do SEO. It isn\u2019t going to work if you aren\u2019t working on SEO every day.<\/p>\n<p>The organization must think about SEO every time there\u2019s a meeting to discuss changing the website. Somebody in that room has to ask, \u201cHow does this impact SEO?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can we improve the overall quality and operation of our website so that it actually generates traffic or meets a KPI of the business? \u2026 If the commitment is to do SEO, and if you buy into it being long-term, then SEO is a winning operation within your business,\u201d Clay said.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_SEO_should_beat_the_competition_not_the_algorithm\"><\/span>2. SEO should beat the competition, not the algorithm<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We must understand how ranking algorithms work. But our job isn\u2019t to beat the algorithm. Beating the algorithm is an insurmountable battle.<\/p>\n<p>Google makes <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/google-made-4500-changes-to-search-in-2020-351445\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thousands of changes<\/a> to search every year. And every keyword you\u2019re trying to optimize for is essentially a new algorithm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your job is to beat the <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/search-competition-who-are-you-really-competing-with-338403\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">competition<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The best we can do is determine who ranks and determine what they\u2019re doing. Are there any common characteristics? Are there any common words and can we use them better?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe story I always tell is of two friends who go camping. They set up their tents. They start a fire. They\u2019re cooking a meal and along comes a bear. They take off running down the path. The bear is chasing them. The guy in front doesn\u2019t need to be an Olympic runner. He just needs to be faster than his friend,\u201d Clay said.<\/p>\n<p>Well, SEO is much the same thing. You have competitors. You have to be better than them.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_SEO_done_right_cares_about_content_architecture\"><\/span>3. SEO done right cares about content architecture<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Websites must be built in a way so that search engines see you as a subject matter expert. Publishing authoritative and trustworthy information takes a concentrated effort.<\/p>\n<p>Google prefers content that is presented in a clear hierarchical structure. In other words, a drill down (e.g., a website about electronics has <em>cameras &gt; digital cameras<\/em>; a website about automobiles has <em>Ford &gt; Mustang<\/em>). This is called siloing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt actually performs better in search because you\u2019ve concentrated, in one location, all of the information about that particular keyword, instead of spreading it all over the website,\u201d Clay said. \u201cIn order to get SEO to perform correctly, you have to be the subject matter expert. You cannot randomly throw a bunch of things onto a website and expect it to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Its_not_the_job_of_SEO_to_make_a_pig_fly\"><\/span>4. It\u2019s not the job of SEO to make a pig fly<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes, no amount of SEO can save a poorly maintained website. That\u2019s why website maintenance has to be built into your SEO program.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t just push an \u201ceasy\u201d button and say you want to rank tomorrow if your website looks like it\u2019s 20 years old, hasn\u2019t been updated in years or isn\u2019t mobile-friendly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the job of SEO to take that pig and work with you to genetically engineer it into an eagle. Then you may have something that works. Way too many people come to us with old technology. They haven\u2019t updated their site in five years. They haven\u2019t updated content. And they\u2019re expecting that the search engine is going to give them a reward in the face of people that have been maintaining their sites all along,\u201d Clay said.<\/p>\n<p>Organic search competition is intense. Your competition may have a whole team working on their SEO. Sometimes it can be like trying to compete against websites armed with machine guns while you only have bows and arrows.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Cheap_SEO_is_a_near-death_experience\"><\/span>5. Cheap SEO is a near-death experience<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Cheap SEO has consequences. It can harm you. No business should expect cheap SEO to work well.<\/p>\n<p>Do you want bad advice for half the price, or do you want good advice? How long is it going to take you to discover what went wrong after it goes wrong? And how much will it cost you to fix it later?<\/p>\n<p>What you end up with cheap SEO is inexperienced people experimenting at your expense. And they often can be wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet it done right and get it done properly, the first time. You can\u2019t afford to do it over,\u201d Clay said.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_SEO_is_done_when_Google_stops_changing_things_and_all_your_competition_dies\"><\/span>6. SEO is done when Google stops changing things and all your competition dies<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>SEO is a perpetual project because search is constantly changing. So is what your competition is doing. (Oh, and also search behavior.)<\/p>\n<p>Google\u2019s goal is to please users, so they have leaned heavily into things like user experience and rewarding truly expert, accurate, trustworthy content.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you are in an environment like that, where the search engine is going to be constantly changing and experimenting and trying to make itself better \u2013 those are changes that are going to seriously impact how you perform in search results,\u201d Clay said. \u201cYou cannot ever be done with SEO. The search engines have seen to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/6-fundamental-truths-about-seo-387230\" target=\"_blank\">6 fundamental truths about SEO<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brands and SEO professionals must take responsibility for the performance of the websites that they run and manage. Applying these six SEO truths will help you achieve next-level website performance, according to Bruce Clay, the founder and president of digital marketing optimization firm Bruce Clay Inc., who spoke at SMX Advanced. 1. SEO needs to be a strategic initiative across the company The entire organization participates in SEO. It starts at the leadership level \u2013 everyone must understand that SEO is important, commit to it and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5592\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}