The Search Ninja

The following post is transcribed from a conversation that transpired between a Search Ninja reader and myself concerning statements which I made regarding the SEO industry and my involvement therein.

In your Search Ninja blog you mention that “If todays top SEO’s really are doing well for their clients, they don’t have a clue why.” You also mention that SEO firms have a shady reputation, etc. My question is… How could you feel this way and still have worked at an SEO firm? e.g. Pole Position.Thanks,

Reader

Hi Reader,Thanks for visiting the blog. Regarding your question:
When I stated that “If today’s top SEO’s really are doing well for their clients, they don’t have a clue why.”
I was voicing my frustration at the SEOMoz ranking factors v2; a document which was produced
as a collaborative effort between the top SEOs in the world. It’s information was largely misdirected
and/or vague and at other times a flat-out embarrassment to the industry.

On a personal level it made me realize how fundamentally different my approach is when contrasted
with that of most SEOs. This is why I felt compelled to coin the term “SEO2g (2nd Generation SEO)”,
which refers to a next-generation, R&D driven, scientific approach to SEO (As opposed to SEO1g which
defines the prominent best-guess/rumor-mill/ultra-linear approach that dominates the industry).

Secondly: In regards to the public perception of SEO, that is exactly what I was referring to:
the public perception. I myself proudly accept the title of SEO (2g). Accordingly I am proud of my
work with Pole Position and am grateful to have had the opportunity to help evolve that business.

I sincerely appreciate your inquiry and thank you again for visiting the Search Ninja blog.

Regards,

Jason J. Green

Interesting. Thanks. Where can I find more info about 1G vs. 2G? I’m not sure I see the difference. Or, more accurately, I’m not sure I understand 2G.Lastly, if you were an online retailer with an SE friendly site, etc., would you hire an SEO firm to help you? i.e. Would the $20K-to-$50K-and-more you’d pay them per year be a good investment? If yes, how do you differentiate between an SEO firm that’s a good investment vs. a scam? Do you know of good SEO’ers or SEO firms?

Thanks,

Reader

Hi Reader,As far as 1G vs. 2G; you will not likely find direct information so titled. I would direct you to investigate areas such as Web IR, Search Engine Design, Consumer behavior, standards compliant extensible web development, etc. SEO2g is a synthesis of technical skills and education across a broad range of subjects. For example:

Standard (1g) SEO Campaign might look like this:

1) Perform simple site analysis, check for crawlability issues, meta data, etc.

2) Brainstorm many keywords that are probably relevant, research their traffic volume and select those with the highest search volume and lowest competition.

3) Include the selected keywords in page titles, meta data, text and internal links.

4) Support the on-page effort by soliciting links, submitting to article repositories, link buying, etc.

5) Check progress monthly and make adjustments in an attempt to find an optimal state.

An SEO2g Campaign might look like this:

- Preliminary Research

• In-Depth Site Analysis covering: On-Page, Link Analysis, Usability, Spider Simulations, etc.
• Industry Analysis
• Topical Community Analysis
• Coverage, Authorities, Arena
• Competitor Technical Analysis: Term/Doc Matrix creation, Lemmatization, NVN Patterns, visual link geometries,etc.
• S.E. Behavior Discovery
• Search Marketing Plan and Campaign Development
• Competitive Advantage Development
• Determination/Development of project specific Metrics
• Targeted Search Phrase Research: Multiphase Refinement, Expansion, Correlation, Semantic Relation Index, etc.

- Domain Optimization:

• Name Selection
• Registration Length
• analysis of hosting provider (screen for IP block bans, etc.)
• Registrant History analysis.

And that’s before a single line of code is touched on the existing site, and its still just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what actually takes place.

Concerning the online retailer scenario: The answer is emphatically yes, assuming that I was able to locate a suitable firm/professional. That is what will make or break the value of a 20k-50k annual investment. However given an ideal situation with a truly skilled professional SEO: it’s worth every penny and more.

The problem rests in finding a professional that is the real deal and not a snake-oil salesman. Not an easy task for most potential clients in the market for search engine optimization. This is because SEO is still largely, as they say, a “black art”. No industry standardization, formal academic programs, etc. This makes “best-practices” hard to define explicitly and universally.

Thank you again for your interest and interesting discussion.

Regards,

Jason J. Green