SEO article in Forbes

will have to try the social media stuff on a domain one of these days.

It's a good write up for someone who has zero understanding of SEO but he could have gone deeper without losing anyone. He doesn't give any sense of scale for example. If those are the three 'pillars' of SEO, the content pillar is about 5x the height of the other two, because while backlinks and social do also definitely improve your ranks, content is what makes them stick. Also he doesn't differentiate different kinds of social. For example, anyone who thinks Google weighs a tweet, a FB like and a G+ equally is fooling themselves.

There is a great scene in breaking bad, where someone asks Jessie Pinkman why he can't cook instead of Mr. White and he explains that following a recipe is not the same as fixing one or creating a new one. It applies perfectly to SEO work as well. SEO is not hard and anyone can do it as long as they follow a recipe that works. It's when the recipe doesn't work anymore, or when a new ingredient is found that the Badgers, Jessie Pinkmans and Walter Whites really separate themselves.

The one thing I tell any client seeking SEO help is this: if the person selling you services can't or won't explain exactly what they will do, why it should work and show examples of it working... Do not give them any of your money. Nobody has 'a friend at Google' who will rank you. If you are paying for magic beans, beans are all you'll ever get. If you are paying for specific quality work, you'll get exactly that as well.

Very good sir

"following a recipe is not the same as fixing one or creating a new one"

and that dude Matt Cutts just recently said in a round about way - guest blogging is a joke.

Deja vu man ;)

Yeah, thankfully I won't have a Google Panda problem posting it because the other version is behind a password

I believe what I understand he said to be careful and it can be beneficial. Just don't abuse the system.

KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid.

That's a talent in itself.

The concept of SEO is really - and I mean really - simple.

If you want a long-term project to do well, content is always going to be king. If people actually go to your site and think 'hmm, this is actually my kinda thing!', you'll rank.

It might take a month, it might take a year, it might take two: but if you build the best product you can, people will come, and you'll rank #1 for any search term you want.

Be the best and you'll be recognized. Guaranteed.

Agree

yah guestblogging is the way to go...forbes is really upfront with its information

what ranks in 2014: sites loaded with full length video content, news stories and social media sites / pages. if you think anything else is ranking now you are living in the past. sure a glitch in the algo might rank your blog for a week, but the penalty clock is ticking on it so don't get too attached to it.

It is a shame, but from a viewer's perspective, you can appreciate that tube sites are pretty much the best SERPs they can get, right?

All the adult industry has to do is work on ways to drive an interesting site that doesn't give away everything a surfer wants for free.

Cool, thanks!!