I had to fire a client this week. The reason? “Black Death” SEO.

In the Middle Ages “Black Death“, aka, bubonic plague, killed half the world’s population. It was spread by rodent lice and caused a victim’s blood to gel into a black, thick, and vile smelling substance. It would be crass to compare human carnage to be like “Black Hat” SEO tricks to your content – but oops, I just did.

Quick-fix voodoo to influence search results is the devil’s playground. (Just ask JC Penney. They tried to game Google and got blacklisted.)

Symptoms of SEO “Black Death”:

“I guarantee #1 position in all Google keyword search results!”

Run, don’t walk from this complete moron. Google changes their algorithm daily and makes larger changes all the time.

“I have software and/or techniques most people don’t know about!”

You know, tools are great. But tools do not equal long term strategy or commitment.

“I am a social media expert!”

Ick. Save the proclamations of “I’m an expert!” for qualified peers to bestow on you, not repeated by the mouths of wallet-open prospects.

Remember: online communication technology has been evolving for more than 20 years. I’ll admit I’m biased, but if your last training came from “Certified Home Loan Origination School” during the housing bubble, well again, see point #1: this “expert” is a moron.

Are All SEO Claims Snake Oil?

No. SEO is a critical component to online marketing. For more on this check out the article I wrote at the Content Marketing Institute titled Warning! SEO Bubble Bursting!

So What Works?

I agree with this commentary about JC Penney’s judgement lapse:

The short-term benefits of black hat SEO do not make any sense to the longevity of a business.  It is better to focus your attention on developing real links from reputable websites and communities mostly using Content Marketing with articles, news releases, documents (e.g. Powerpoints), Videos, and Social Media. (via Search Engine Journal)

Hiring Someone? Consider If:

• This person has a proven and lengthy history of relevant experience;
• This person is making outrageous claims (e.g. “By next Tuesday!”);
• This person acts as if their contribution will be the cure-all for droopy sales performance.

Fellow Content Creators: Be Paranoid

Why did I fire this client?

First, in-person: I don’t want to be associated with with fly-by-night “seo experts” or other, dubious “overnight expert”. I have a professional reputation to protect, and you do, too.

Secondly, online: If truly stupid “black hat” / “quick results” black magic is deployed, I don’t want my name associated with that in any search engine. To that end, I’ve scrubbed links to and from this ex-client as best as possible…

Because when it comes to SEO “black death”, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

My friends at Deena Warner Design have hired me for an interesting, albeit, “odd” project: being the voice of their pet project, “Odd Staunton” – the “Officially Unofficial Guide to Staunton, Virginia.”

Matt and Deena started the blog as a hobby when they moved to Staunton from Northern Virginia in 2005. They are quirky, creative types (my highest compliments) and their view on the city reflects that. In fact, finding the “Odd Staunton” blog is how we met and became friends.

I’ll be writing a regular feature for “Odd Staunton” that highlights weird and wonderful things in the area. (I mean, what other cities greet you with a large watering can sculpture, seen here?) The first is a profile on Montgomery Hall Park.

Strategy-wise, this project has several objectives:

• showcasing the city’s unique personality
• using seo techniques to build on existing web traffic
• highlighting cool things, people, and events around the city

I think the Warners’ project provides a great community service, and, has already resulted in convincing another set of friends to relocate to the area.

I’m happy to be a part of it.

UPDATE:
More posts for “Odd Staunton”…
Cannon You Believe It?
Swannanoa Palace, or, Why You Cannot Die!

Lawsy—you thought you knew web lingo. But then you heard the term “NSO”. What’s NSO? How can it help you?

NSO is lingo for “Natural Search Optimization”. It’s similar to SEO, “Search Engine Optimization”. Both are the collection of techniques used to get your website noticed by search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

Why bother? Easy enough: the number one way Internet users find web sites is through search engines. Achieving a top search ranking helps you get people in the door 24/7/365. Think of NSO as the “organic” method for doing so.

Here are some tips to get your NSO a go-go:

Fresh Content. Search engines are hungry for fresh content. Your human visitors like updates, too. Update relevant content on a regular basis. If you can’t write up the material regularly, hire it out.

Avoid Flash. Flash animation is great for certain applications. But search engines can’t “see” the text on your site. And text (key words) are the keys to opening up large gains in search results.

Key words. Speaking of words, how do you find the best words to drive traffic to your site? In SEO you typically pay for them. With NSO, you do some digging and get them for free. Then you add them to your site and wait for the engines to notice.

For example, I automatically include code in my client websites so that clients can monitor the words and phrases that bring traffic to their site. Often, there are words and phrases the client might not have considered. Using these words and phrases in your fresh content updates effortlessly results in inclusion in more search results.

Other tips: if you know HTML, review your code to include the appropriate meta-titles and meta-tags. And a good site map helps, too. Don’t stuff your site with popular [pornographic!] search terms that have no bearing on your site’s content. Doing so will risk getting yourself demoted in the search engines. Plus, it’s just sooo 1998.

How soon can adding NSO techniques pay off? It takes some time to naturally build. Anyone who tells you differently or guarantees certain rankings should be viewed with some suspicion. But regular application of specific and unique terms to your site will help your site float to the top. Ask your web designer or developer. Do it, and think of it as a long-term investment.