I'm new- and a little confused...

Okay..

I've read alot of articles on seo, I own a few books as well...
And the information is still swirling in my head...

I can't tell what's total BS, and what actually works...

I want to learn 'real' seo... I'm just not sure where to start...

I know some of the basic concepts like back links, authority pages, Page Rank.....

I'm just not sure what to do next, I don't want to spend the next year trying my hand at SEO and do everything WRONG with my web site...

And my confusion grows with every article I read

One guy says "do XYZ" another say's "XYZ" no longer works, the search engines have evolved since then...

Another guy say's "don't listen to them, XYZ still works, if you do it right..."

Who to believe?


I'm a complete SEO idiot, please, please, some one get me on the right path!

Apart from spending the next two months reading through the vast volumes of information located here, or sitting down with an actual SEO, the best advice that anyone can give you is listen to your gut.

With any move you make on your own site, think about it from an altruistic Google perspective. Ask yourself am I doing this for my visitors? Or am I doing this to please the bots? If it's the latter, you can forget it; if you always operate with the visitors in mind, then you will never have a problem.

If things get complex, look for recent posts here. You can ensure that the search only covers topics from the last 3 months (which ought to be current enough). If you still don't find an answer, post it as a question here. Make sense?

~5yb

That advice is all well and good...

But obviously I don't create back links for my customers in mind, I don't change my onpage optmization for my customers...

I do provide "content" for my customers, and products...

I don't need any SEO information to do those things... there are millions of great sites who provide great content and great products that are poorly ranked...

And yeah, I figured that this web site is a great resource...

this post was obviously to generic...

My best advice to you is Trial and Error.
One of my first sites that I ever built with SEO in mind is a huge mess! But after a few months of learning, I started to get things right-on, and the rest is history.

Dont be shy, try a few different domains and niches.

Well ask a generic question, and guess what! The answers will be generic.

The fact that there are millions of sites out there who provide great content and still don't rank proves that SEO is more than content; it's also about presentation. In other words, how do you talk about what you are going to talk about? (metas, titles, comments, alts, heading tags) And how much weight does your word carry? (reputation management) Oh, and how visible is your message anyway? (backlinks).

In the days before the internet, businesses wouldn't get very far if they didn't advertise, no? These days, your backlinks are the equivalent of a concert poster (or an advertisement). Now they can be big and glossy, and they can be strategically placed; they can be a billboard, or a flyer hanging in the window of a coffee-shop. So you say that you wouldn't see the point (more or less) in creating IBLs, and I'm telling you that the people that do are professional SEOs for a reason. A well placed link with a valid link partner can drive as much or more traffic than Google on a given day. Think about tech innovators that get dugg or Gizmodo'd.

Now I don't know what you do, and I really don't care; but find the industry authorities in whatever your industry is, and find the hubs, and find the news outlets, and give them a reason to link to you! And for gods sake, if you have a real question, then ask it. If you want real, current SEO information, then read a blog; here is a list of some of the more important ones (by no means complete). Apart from that, I can't help you.

Good luck.
~5yb

SEO is a Game you should play By ur self, coz everyone has their own ideology and tips and tricks, they maybe rite or they maybe wrong. Only way to findout which works well and which doesn't is to learn the basics and then jump to the SEO field and practice it with great patience.

Closely Observe your SEO methods and try new methods if they produce less results. This will take time, but hec its worth the time and effort you put in

Good Luck

Buddy, stick around in this forum and read posts here,it will solve many of yours what's n ifs's.what works and what does not.

There are some very senior people round here and u can always trust their advice.