SEO Advice: Writing useful articles that readers will love
Okay SEOs, what can you learn from my previous post about changing the default printer for Firefox on Linux? In the last week someone wrote and said “I want you to talk about SEO, and don’t give me any of that crap about good content.” I’m going to beg to differ. 
I wrote that post mainly because I’ve looked for this information a couple times and never found exactly what I was looking for quickly. That tells me that in this small niche, I could utterly rock the search engines. Plus once I figured out the info, it was only 10-20% more time to package it up nicely. Now this short content post can act as an evergreen draw for searchers.
Notice what I did with keywords. I carefully chose keywords for the title and the url (note that I used “change” in the url and “changing” in the title). The categories on my post (”How to” and “Linux”) give me a subtle way to mention Linux again, and include a couple extra ways that someone might do a search–lots of user type “how to (do what they want to do).” I thought about the words that a user would type in when looking for an answer to their question, and tried to include those words in the article. I also tried to think of a few word variations and included them where they made sense (file vs. files, bash and bashrc, Firefox and Mozilla, etc.). I’m targetting a long-tail concept where someone will be typing several words, so I’m probably in a space where on-page keywords are enough to rank pretty well. I don’t need anchor-text for “linux default printer” or similar phrases; in the on-page space, I’d recommend thinking more about words and variants (the “long-tail”) and thinking less about keyword density or repeating phrases.
The meta-issues I’d mention would be:
1) The utility of an article is paramount. If you write 2000 words about mortgage loans and never discuss the industry landscape or impart some useful, concrete knowledge to your reader, that should set off a warning flag in your head. So use this advice only for good (high-quality articles), not for evil.
2) Be sure to study your niche. I just spent 10-15 minutes to tackle the “default printer in Linux/Firefox/Mozilla” space. Is that niche worth writing an article about? Well, it was for me, because I was looking for this information myself. In general, any time you look for an answer or some information and can’t find it, that should strike you as an opportunity.
But the larger point is that if you put in time and research to produce or to synthesize original content, think hard about what niches to target. My advice is not to start with an article about porn/pills/casinos/mortgages–it’s better to start with a smaller niche. If you become known as an expert on (say) configuring Linux or hacking gadgets, you could build that out with things like forums to create even more useful content. Look for a progression of niches so that you start out small or very specific, but you can build your way up to a big, important area over time.
There are a lot of niches that just take sweat equity. You could be the SEO that does interviews. Or the SEO that transcribes Matt’s videos. Or the SEO that makes funny lists. Or the SEO company that provides webmaster radio. Or the SEO that makes podcasting easy. Or the SEO that specializes in a certain content management system or shopping cart. Or the SEO company that specializes in Yahoo! stores. Or the SEO that specializes in accessibility. Or the company that mocks Silicon Valley and its companies. Or the SEO that specializes in AdWords API ROI tracking. Or you could be the SEOs that write-up a summary of every panel at every search engine conference. Or the company that does cartoons. Or the SEO who pays attention to Google Base, Google Co-op, Yahoo! Answers, or Facebook. Or the SEO that provides Firefox plugins. Or the company that provides metrics and tracking for blogs. Or the SEO that talks about patents. Or the SEO that specializes in dynamic sites. Eye-tracking. Beginner SEO tutorials. Making maps mash-ups. Ajax SEO. SEO for non-profits. SEO for Second Life or MySpace. SEO to repair a company’s reputation. SEO for MySQL, Python, Ruby on Rails, WordPress blogs, or .NET sites. The SEO that surfaces databases or Flash sites. SEO for self-publishing authors. The SEO that does radio ads.
An infinite number of niches are waiting for someone to claim them. I’d ask yourself where you want to be, and see if you can find a path from a tiny specific niche to a slightly bigger niche and so on, all the way to your desired goal. Sometimes it’s easier to take a series of smaller steps instead of jumping to your final goal in one leap.
Philipp Lenssen Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
Something else to consider is that interactive content (like games, or tests) as well as video and audio content (create a viral video or song) is also often heavily and quickly linked, which helps the pagejuice, if that’s what you’re after. Then again, maybe the real skill is not really wanting to achieve great content for the sake of being linked and improving rankings, but to create the content because you have something to say about it… because you really care about the subject.
kid disco Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 5:26 pm
“In general, any time you look for an answer or some information and can’t find it, that should strike you as an opportunity.”
I love this quote. I like to ping my friends, who are not totally internet-savvy, every once in a while and ask them for their input on failed searches that they have attempted recently… it’s a great resource for new project ideas!
Ryan Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 5:40 pm
Aww, Matt you’re giving away my secret.
Thats how most of my websites start… with me searching for something and not finding a good result..
Filling a need is the best SEO there is.
Ken Barbalace Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 5:59 pm
This indeed was the inspiration for some sections of my site. I needed stuff for my own usage and it didn’t exist in the format I needed. As I built what I needed in off line databases it became apparent that those resources would be valuable to others so I made them available on line.
One can build some really amazing stuff by simply following Matt’s advice I quoted.
Rob Said Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 5:59 pm
You forgot to splatter the page with AdSense ads!
Sheesh Matt, i really don’t think you’ve got the hang of this Internet malarkey!
randfish Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 6:20 pm
This might be my favorite Matt Cutts blog post ever. It put a smile on my face in a satisfied, sort-of “hopeful that the world will turn out alright” way that was badly needed at the end of a very tough day.
Thanks for that.
Dave Teare Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 6:25 pm
That second-to-last paragraph made me think Matt was trying to rank well for SEO
Joel Tanner Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 6:31 pm
Matt, you seem to have forgotten the most important SEO secret ever: Follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. You can’t go wrong with those, unless you’re trying to get listed in MSN or Yahoo, in which case you could just try doing the complete opposite of G’s Guidelines.
Great post.
Dave (Original) Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 6:34 pm
RE: “In general, any time you look for an answer or some information and can’t find it, that should strike you as an opportunity.”
==========================================
Or it’s a topic very few people are bothered about
I often run a AdWord campaign to get a rough guage of what users are using to find specific topics. Have used WordTracker etc in the past and….well, who/how many use Meta searches compared to Google!
E. K. Borin Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 6:47 pm
“That tells me that in this small niche, I could utterly rock the search engines…”
Well, if anyone should know what rocks the SEs, it’s you. And certainly a site would rocket to the top of the return list for searches on configuring Linux printers if a good how-to-article on the subject were added to it.
But you are addressing your blog entry to the SEO community. Can we therefore assume that putting content that is –. uhm, shall we say “somewhat less than relevant” (like printer configuration instructions) — on an SEO site will not negatively effect the site’s ranking in searches for things like “search engine optimization providers?” .
Aaron Pratt Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 6:56 pm
Did you get a call from the FBI yet Rand?
I have a simple rule, only write about stuff you enjoy, works for me but just wish it was something that paid a few bills! You can’t help but get a little jelous of those who hold up those huge paychecks from spammin’ and jammin’. My interests are in low traffic areas but for me it is about learning, growing and finding that zen place.
Also ever notice how quality, accurate and passionate writing requires very few backlinks?
The
GREAT
equalizer
Thanks Google, I think a few are starting to wake up to your fairness algorithm.
Mr SEO Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 7:06 pm
Matt… you didn’t have to do a post about me.
Thanks! Yes, I do interviews, the only podcast that teaches SEO, I do wacky lists and all that good stuff you wrote. 
It is true you need to find your niche and own it. You can start small and build it up. People needs to set goals and achieve them. I started with articles, went to building a forum and then a podcast. We need to have better SEO’s and let’s run those fakes out of town. So please be the best and what you do. Let’s educate people. The better educated they are, the less chance of SEO getting a bad rap. I hear about what a scam it is(SEO), by people who have been burnt. I do my part. We need to all have a part in that.
Search Engines WEB Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 7:16 pm
There are two concerns worth exploring…..
Would not the vibrant use of SEO on this post send red flags of a keyword Stuffing nature (which has been warned-off in this forum)?
Also as opposed to simply using SEO so vigorously, would not it be productive to alternate with Search Engine Optimization (optimisation) placement etc…?
Also even if one does pursue the tactic of Consciously using different FORMS of a keyword in one article - SYNONYMS are also important - and thus Keywords in Back Links play an important role with Link Exchanges and Rankings.
There are only so many variations that one can use in one piece, before it begins to have an odd effect.
Tyler M Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 7:20 pm
Am I the only one who noticed you slipping all of those SEO keywords and phrases into the post as a subtle suggestion of niches one could pursue?
That is a crafty move by a veteran blogger if I have ever seen one.
Great info and great job optimizing the article.
Thanks!
BillyS Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
>>Notice what I did with keywords. I carefully chose keywords for the title and the url (note that I used “change” in the url and “changing” in the title).
Matt - I see on forums the mention of penalties for using the same exact words in the url and title. We use a CMS that makes them exactly the same as a default. Is that a bad practice?
dazzlindonna Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 7:38 pm
Wow, Matt, now that post was spoken like a true SEO (of a certain kind). Seriously, good stuff. Thanks.
Wonder Monkey Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 8:02 pm
Hmm, the first time I’ve felt the desire to respond to a blog comment in a long time. This is a good one, really key. It’s so simple once you’ve been around SEO for a while too. Hopefully more people pick up on this (or that they don’t, leaving all these great opportunities for the rest of us who figured it out (even if we couldn’t summarise it as succinctly).
Alex Duffield Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:14 pm
WOW, your keyword density for “SEO” just when through the roof!!!
TxRex Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:14 pm
Now how smart does one have to be to recognize a hidden spam attack on different words? Take the second to last paragraph of Matt’s post beginning with…
[ There are a lot of niches that just take sweat equity....]
and ending with…
[ The SEO that does radio ads. ]
To list every potential idea that ties to various established well known sites and/or programs by using their name with SEO repeatedly…well that seems a little spammy to me…
Now why would Matt do something like that? To teach use how to do a niche OR to test how effective a new Google code detects junk? I really don’t think it is a matter of Matt needing more traffic from different hits this post might get from the search engines with the word SEO and whatever it was tied to above. People…think…read the post again and just skip the 2nd to last paragraph. The post maintains it’s theme and message without that paragraph. The only purpose for a paragraph like that is to spam the search engines.
So…Matt…really now…tell us…
Are you teaching…OR….Are you testing?
The Adam That Doesn't Belong To Matt Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:24 pm
Isn’t that Pratt? Don’t think A-dizzle would like anyone horning in on his market.
He’ll JACK you 404-style, homie! And then he’ll Dax your ass!
Harith Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:28 pm
I guess one of the important signals of this post must be:
“thinking less about keyword density or repeating phrases.”
Which could indicates that the current algos/filters pay no attention to keyword density! I.e keyword stuffing wouldn’t have any effect on raking on Google serps! Very smart move
Aaron Pratt Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:29 pm
Pay attention txRex, the example was his linux printer post, this post is obviously in good humor, take your anti-autism 2.0 pill dude.
Niche sites.
Gheesh, must….go…….to……..bed…..now.
Ken Barbalace Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:33 pm
That paragraph did leave me puzzled. It did seem to cross the line of a safe key word density. I didn’t even like the paragraph from a readbility standpoint.
Matt, what are you doing? Are you trying to play games with our minds?
Charles Heflin Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:34 pm
This just goes along with what I have been teaching my students…
Become an expert in your market before you try to “dominate” it.
By expressing your content as an expert, you will naturally include keywords that are semantic with broader keywords in your market and as time and content progress, you will naturally rank for broader and broader keywords because your site is seen as a true authority on the subject matter.
As you become an “expert” you will locate huge “untapped” information gaps that could easily be explioted to drive traffic and trust into your broader marketing game plan.
Focus on content and the expert keyword verbiage will flow naturally from your keyboard which will result in a burst of interest and visitor activity from areas you could never guess from your favorite keyword research tool.
I like the fact that you mention meta factors…
It seems that semantics plays a big role in rankings…
You can talk all day about mortgage loans (for example) but if your content isn’t inductry specific (discussing on-time, industry specific topics related to or semantic with mortgage loans) then you should question the value that you are giving to the potential reader.
It seems that Google (as well as others) is using semantics to guage the quality of content and it is very hard to “fake” yourself as an expert.
This is a great confirmation for me and my students!
Thanks Matt!
Michael VanDeMar Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:38 pm
Nice. Very, very nice.
Definitely one of your best posts.
-Michael
Matt Cutts Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:57 pm
“Or it’s a topic very few people are bothered about”
Dave (Original), I’d absolutely agree that one has to allow for the fact that one may just be weird.
BillyS, I wouldn’t worry about that. Lots of people use the same words in title and url. But varying the words might help you show up for a broader variety of terms.
I’m not testing, TxRex. That’s the way I’d say it if I were talking, so that’s how I wrote it. But I am not a fan of the “make one laser-focused high-density page for one phrase” approach; I favor the “write one really informative article that has most of all of the important keywords” approach. Of course, I feel the same way about making a small number of really great sites instead of making a ton of domains.
Joseph Morin Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 9:57 pm
…or the SEO who does the conference party posts
Awesome post Matt, I was just going to comment on wow, one of the better posts I’ve read in a long time before Rand beat me to it…
What I do find funny is the overanalyzation of these posts. For people that know Matt, (cuz we’re best buds…I have many, many pictures with him) is that he wrote that post just the way he would normally speak it.
No mind tricks here.
Joseph Morin Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 10:00 pm
LOL…OK…look at the time that Matt and I both posted…I seriously did not have time to read his comment and then post my exact similar comment.
Great minds think alike Matt!!!
Teodor Filimon Said,
August 21, 2006 @ 10:02 pm
I agree with Michael
+ your posts are refreshing and full of info. Thanks for the tips.
Dave (Original) Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:00 am
RE: “It did seem to cross the line of a safe key word density”
=========================================
That implies there is a KWD line and you know what it is.
It’s all really simple. Write for humans and don’t even think about KWD. If you do give thought to KWD you are *trying* to write for SE’s. BIG mistake!
Shane Jones Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:10 am
Thanks for the really inspiring post Matt.
Joseph Hunkins Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:14 am
Matt, great post and advice. A lot of the mom and pops are just starting to learn about “SEO” and it’s important they understand they don’t need tricks - rather improved and expanded content. I just hope this info makes it out to them as well as all the SEOs who read your blog religiously. Sometimes you are preaching to the choir here.
Lucky Balaraman Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:14 am
Woo-hoo, that was one tour de force, Matt! Thanks!
Lucky
////////////////////////
Jan-Coen Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:29 am
I was going to ask you what happend on 17 Aug 2006, but I think I have found the answer.
Thanks!
JC
TxRex Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:39 am
Aaron Pratt… one of the things my buisiness does helps families who have children with autism… thank you for bring it up…
Alot of people read what Matt posts…some will respond and some won’t. Most are searching for a little insite. The subject matter of this post gives great insite into writing articles. Sometimes one has to toss in a little thought to make a point to those who might be silent and take some of the info in the wrong direction. There was a time when “SEO” people took paragraphs like that and used them as hidden text. There was a time when “SEO” people took paragraphs like that and placed them so far down the page one would have to scroll for 5 minutes just to see it. That is spamming the index. Whether one talks like that in person or not doesn’t matter to the search engine algos / filters when it comes to detecting spam or being reported as having spammed. Most buisiness In the brick and motar world would not use an article with a paragraph like that… so I challenge the “SEO” world to write for the people and not for the search engine. Maybe then the search engines will gain the time to create a search engine that allows for us to select what type of info our search term should be associated with…much the same way traditional libraries allow for us to find the book we need.
Matt…I agree…a small site with several connecting themes is far more useful than multilple sites displaying one theme each. As far as whether a “laser-focused high-density” or “important keywords” page approach, my thought would be neither. If you were writing a term paper in college, a newspaper article or some type of advertisement, you would use neither. Write the articles as how they are…a tutorial, news event, advertisement, etc…and write them for people as people will be the ones you want reading them.
The last thing any of us want is a response like
“That paragraph did leave me puzzled…. I didn’t even like the paragraph from a readbility standpoint.”
Peter van der Graaf Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:42 am
Hi Matt,
This is exactly why it is a bad thing that Google Trends needs a minimum amount of searches before it shows statistics on a searchterm. Most good niche keywords are below that threshold, but I want to know if my effords of building good content aren’t completely wasted on the wrong topic.
Could you guys lower the required amount of searches on Trends?
JB Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:07 am
Matt
I fully subscribe to the advice you have given here.
But, what about industries where people don’t want to read information, they want functionality/booking engines/quote engines.
Basically, industries where the main focus of attention is price.
I know sites with lot’s of unique, hand written content that hardly ever gets viewed, because people want to cut to the chase!
Have you got any advice of how people should start off and grow in industries such as these?
Gerald Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:09 am
matt, that’s a good one. but i wonder if not the seo article itself is the better example for such a long tail approach
would be nice to see future stats for this page(s).
Richard Michie Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:09 am
Great post Matt. This goes a little way to answering a question that’s been bugging me. Should I SEO my site or not? As I thought deep down it’ just about making pages for humans and ignoring the engines. Trouble is there are SEO techniques embedded in how we put our pages together. Should be unlearn all these or an I getting paranoid?
Thanks again Matt
Elmer W. Cagape Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:38 am
I must say this is one of the best posts I read. It gives everyone the opportunity to lead certain subjects and not those that have been tackled many times. Not really a secret, just common sense.
Hopefully someday when someone searches for something, they’ll never turn out frustrated in their searches. In that way they become inclined to use search engines ever more.
Free advertising Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 3:34 am
After just reading your post I get the feeling that you just wanted to keyword stuff it with the term “SEO”. It must appear at least 20 times only in the last paragraph, at least twice in the title and I couldn’t even be bothered to check the source code meta’s.
Is keyword stuffing a practice that you advocate?
Could you discuss why Google take so long to remove pages that no longer exist, please.
James.
Maurice Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 3:47 am
Good post ill point my collegues at it.
The problem is how does one sell the hard work required to create content to the average project manager or client.
We where cheking one of our clinets and found some one that was p2 in the index for what loloks to me like a spam site.www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk/directory/inflatable_bouncers/inflatable_bouncers.htm
oh and i found a page on that site with an adsense add forfake okley shades
Ben Wilks Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 4:05 am
Hi Matt,
Nice SEO (coff - LINK BAIT), those two paragraphs look like some of my pages from the late ninties. Thanks for the memory (oh that’s right most of them still rank - or should I say outrank
(also Mr SEO - Please don’t comment spam your podcast announcements, I have read the same spam from you already twice today, there has to be a better way, no??)
Peter (Brane) Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 4:26 am
Well, another page on the internet about :
“SEO Advice: Writing useful articles that readers will love”
Writing “useful articles” is easy. There is 1 problem though. There are literally millions and millions and millions and millions of “useful articles” out there. It needs something extra to also be useful for the website and not just for the readers.
So,.. Matt,… if you could do a post about:
SEO Advice: Writing useful articles that people will link to.
That´s the type of articles we want to write as well. And in my experience, just “useful” isn’t going to do it.
Dixon Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 4:27 am
Matt… Please share… what search phrases are bringing traffic to the “Changing the default printer on Linux and Firefox” page as a result?
Leo Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 4:38 am
Matt,
Are you trying to get your site in the top ten for the SEO related keywords?
SEO + interviews.
SEO + Matt’s videos.
SEO + company + webmaster radio.
SEO + podcasting.
SEO + content management system
SEO + shopping cart
SEO company + Yahoo! stores.
SEO + accessibility.
SEO + AdWords + API + ROI + tracking.
SEO + search engine conference.
… to name but a few
Bob L Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:47 am
Matt,
Great post.
I want everyone who doesn’t think that content, or on-site stuff matters anymore to read this. Anyone writing an article should try their best to understand the related keywords, and the value they create, and not just jam a keyword or phrase over and over and over.
Jay R Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:47 am
Wow, terrific post; filled with hearty, USDA approved brainfood!
Ryan Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:49 am
check the other search engines, Matt’s pretty much already there Leo
Nadir Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 7:04 am
Yeah, finally a “real” post about SEO, Matt! That’s some excellent advice, really.
Ryan Smith Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 7:37 am
I disagree with you. I think figuring out the information takes the first 90% of the effort. Then to “package it up nicely” takes the next 90% of the effort.
Eric D. Burdo Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 7:44 am
Manual Pingback:
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/sutra81951.html#81951
And an excellent post. Many people fail to follow this advice. I know I have in the past (and hopefully never in the future).
Chris Boggs Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 8:01 am
Thanks Matt for the great post/experiment. You certainly have quite an SEO view of the whole thing, especially if you read the many endorsements for unique, clear, and concise content paving the road to success in the SERPs.
I wonder if your use of the “chang(ing) in the text link from this post to the Linux post will combine with the Title to gain traction quicker than the search for “chang(e)?” Or should these theoretically move up the rankings, all other things considered equal, at the same pace?
Thanks again for the great “insite!” (sic)
Shane Jones Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 8:19 am
Wow Matt you have really caused a bit of a stir with this post. Everyone is talking about it, have seen a few with instances of your SEO
Aaron Pratt Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 8:35 am
Peter (Brane) - I believe what Matt describes is focusing on a niche, it is the great equalizer. If there are millions of hotel sites all with quality content then you are in a Viagra like sector and you are correct, you need other factors to influence your success. This doesn’t have to include spamming if you do it right and it is Google’s job to NOT allow spammers to win the prize.
Focus on the most accurate quality content for your visitors and links will eventually come. Websites take several years to build, SEO’s who have clients do not have time so those of you out there in your underpants at home have an advantage.
Life is good!
Ryan Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 8:48 am
Peter, the trick isn’t to just write a useful article, it’s to write a useful article that fills a need, or to make a site concept that’s a different twist on something else… that fills a need.
Example.. there’s a ton of articles on the web about internet slang, and a ton about keeping your kids safe on line…. so it didn’t take much for me to write “internet slang every parent must know”. It filled a need, and eventually got picked up by magazines. That’s kinda how my noslang.com website started.
Another example is my text message sites. Millions of sites let people send text messages, so I made mine give out code to put the little form on their myspace page or website..boom instant need that people didn’t even know they had. (of course it worked too well.. now there’s like 9 million people offering that) Fill the need… when others copy, you did something right.
For Matt’s example, he went a different route. Instead of just answering a linux question with “OMG, RTFM N00b….. go back to using your mom’s doze machine”, or telling the person that printers are “l4m3″, he answered it with easy to follow, clear advice; something that’s often not found in the linux community.
you do SEO, which given it’s volume (there’s probably more people selling SEO than buying), it may be hard to come up with something unique.
Offer something that most SEOs don’t offer, then talk about that. Maybe article writing(as most just tell the client to write articles), or some sort of metrics, or anything other than the typical “get your site on the top of Google.” stuff we’re all tired of hearing.
If I ran an SEO company I wouldn’t even mention “the top of Google”, I’d mention increased traffic, better conversion rates, and more targeted visitors.
anyway the key is to be different… and fill a need.. thats what gets links.
David Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 9:06 am
Thank you Matt,
You go to a search engine to find something, the pages that actually tell you something about what you are looking are easy to find. Users that are savy scan the SERPs for those results that have their answer!
I have an off subject question, so I was wondering when you were going to put up your grab bag post again…so we can add some fuel.
John A Davis Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 9:07 am
Yeeha! There is hope for high placement of my combination Rectal Clinic/Deli idea for a business!
Gus Farrah Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 9:48 am
Thanks Matt, great article, I would like to see a few more of those, good SEO advice and ideas, straight to the point.
“And one doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to loose sight of shore” A.G.
Michael Martinez Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 9:55 am
Matt, you do realize that the people who have been yelling “It’s all about links” for years will no longer want to be your best friends forever?
Anywy, it’s a little out of your venue, but I would be interested to know what Google intends for Google Scholar search, which now appears to only return fee-based literature portal listings.
Bob Gladstein Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:39 am
Matt, we’ve been telling people for quite a while that sticking keywords into file names (which on a blog is pretty much automatic) is a wasted effort, since it appears to carry very little weight. It seems you’re saying that it’s worth doing.
Would you go so far as to say that it’s worth changing file names and redirecting requests for the old URL just to get a keyword or two in there?
Naples Florida Real Estate Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:40 am
You mentioned that you use changing in the title but change in the URL. Have you done any testing to see which Google puts higher preference on? I like to make my title tags the same as the link text, but only because I don’t know any better. Any advice would be very helpful.
Steve Tateossian Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:46 am
It’ll be interesting to see how Google deals with Video Content online and how video content up-loaders tag that video. As video streaming online is becoming more accessible to users, the quality of video content will increase as well, which may begin to shift and balance the content we see online, less text, more video.
People really don’t read online unless, like Matt pointed out they’re looking for some key information, rather they scan the text in a web site.
Matt, how’s Google going to stop the abuse of video up-loaders tagging there video with keywords (content) that may or may not be found within their web site, similar to what went on with all the keyword stuffing in the early days of SEO. There were even books by so called experts that advocated keyword stuffing and hidden links/text!
Google should start their own university to teach all these guidelines into principles. You guys could seriously tap into a whole new market in the higher education industry.
TxRex Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 11:05 am
Ryan quote: “anyway the key is to be different… and fill a need.. thats what gets links”
And if you fill the need…those links will be bookmarks in browsers on computers in front of people who use them to return to your site…
And if you fill the need really good…those links will be the home page in browsers on computers in front of people who start their internet day by looking at your site…
This post could have been labeled Google Business Model 101…
In the early days of Google, the buzz of Google traveled as fast and loud offline in conversations as it did online…Most forget that Google wasn’t built in a day with search engines pointing the way to Google…Google followed the brick and motar way of building a business by creating a service and then marketing to support and sustain it…The niche was the service and the reward was the capital to sustain it…The buzz wasn’t an article or a link…The buzz was a service that filled the need…
In the old days, farmers would take a long pole and hang a carrot from it. They would hold the carrot in front of the donkey to get the donkey to pull the cart. Farmers needed carrots then. Along came the truck and replaced the cart and donkey. The need disappeared. One farmer decided to teach people different ways to cook and prepare carrots to eat. Another farmer decided to feed his carrots to his live stock that he sold to the people to eat. Each created a new need. The only business that didn’t change was the general store who sold the carrot seeds to the farmers.
Google is the general store selling advertising which needs articles to display ads to generate revenue to sustain the niche…it only makes sense to teach the SEO’s to write articles (that will get traffic) and create more space for displaying advertisements which will increase revenue…
Finally…if you can create a post or an article that lights a fire and then allow others to fan the fire…the result is a buzz…
[.........ummmm...I had way too much fun with this one...LOL...well done Matt ]
Peter (Brane) Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 11:23 am
[Quote]Ryan Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 8:48 am
Peter, the trick isn’t to just write a useful article, it’s to write a useful article that fills a need, or to make a site concept that’s a different twist on something else… that fills a need.[/Quote]
I am fully aware of these factors.. And these types of articles are great for once somebody has found your website. But don’t think for a minute that these types of articles are going to help you get more popular. Sure they will get you the visitors searching very specific, but still, you´re not going to get a huge backlink increase through these types of articles. They don’t have this purpose.
I´m interested in articles that do give this reason to link to. Of course Matt is not a marketer so it may not really be in his scope.
[Quote]Ryan Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 8:48 am
If I ran an SEO company I wouldn’t even mention “the top of Google”, I’d mention increased traffic, better conversion rates, and more targeted visitors.[/Quote]
This just makes me smile. You obviously never sold SEO services. Clients love “increased traffic”, “better conversion rates” and “more targeted visitors”,.. sure. But when you sit with them in a meeting room, all they´re really interested in is high rankings.
And it´s not about educating the client, it´s just that most businesses are already educated and they know that it is about more traffice, better conversion rates and targeted visitors. They´re so educated even that they know that high rankings are responsible for it…
The only thing we generally have to convince them of is that it is not about the high rankings for those couple of most popular keywords, but for all phrases the site can be found for. (which results in those targeted visitors)
My comment before to Matt was focused more on the type of content that people want to link to because it is so interesting, funny, cool, extreme, etc. etc. I would like to know Matt’s opinion on that type of content. And I am even more curious to some examples..
lbft Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:19 pm
Sheesh - I thought it was pretty obvious that the repetition of ‘SEO’ was just for emphasis. You guys have been working with SEO for too long
(I did think while reading it that search engines would possibly think it to be spammy, though.)
The Adam That Doesn't Belong To Matt Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:36 pm
Anyone else disturbed at the number of places for a sausage in this business model?
Fionn Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 12:48 pm
So if I write an article about “pill popping porn stars unable to raise conventional mortgage funding turn to the casinos to buy their homes” it wont help me get ranked for ’search engine optimization” Damm there goes that business model.
Sadly there are still people out there buying canned articles spewed out by a machine about their “subject” thinking it will help them. I hope anybody who reads your post realizes that SEO is about work and after the last two Google updates Hard Work.
James Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:04 pm
Hey Matt, you could have used the ohrase “SEO” 3 or 4 more times without getting dinged for repetition.
Harith Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:08 pm
lbft
“Sheesh - I thought it was pretty obvious that the repetition of ‘SEO’ was just for emphasis. You guys have been working with SEO for too long”
Did you mean that Matt is spamming the index?
Lets do the only right thing; report him to Google WebSpam Team
Navneet Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 2:08 pm
Matt,
Now are talking more like an SEO rather than Google engineer! Talking about variations and targeting keyowrds etc. I think we SEO’s are going to bring you to the dark side!
BTW are you trying to rank # 1 for keyowrd “SEO” ? Coz you might know that this can trip the “keyword frequency” + “keyword repitition” filter at Google and you can get black listed and taken out of Google’s Index
(I really just wanted to say this to you).
Dont know if this is the right place to ask question about Adwords bot. Now they say that adwords bot will crawl the page to give a “Quality Score”. Now what happens if my Landing page is Flash or AJAX (yea, its me again!). Do I get bad score since Google adwords bot cannot understand my content? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask question. BTW any experts here who can answer this, would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Halfdeck Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 4:02 pm
I’m all for filling a need, but what if I’m not interested in the subject matter? I don’t want to waste time on something I’m not passionate about. For example, I get hits from people asking things like “what is supplemental listings.” I wonder if I should write an article about that. But do I really feel like writing a post about something everybody should already know?
Plus besides providing a roundabout technical definition, what do I really know about the topic? SEO searches on Google usually lead me to more unanswered questions. I can’t remember the last time I ran a search on Google for any topic search related and came up with a definitive answer.
Matt Cutts Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 4:19 pm
“Sheesh - I thought it was pretty obvious that the repetition of ‘SEO’ was just for emphasis. You guys have been working with SEO for too long”
What lbft said.
It can be a good thing to write in the same way that people speak. Check out this boxed set:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000032HG/102-5466284-3144128?v=glance&n=5174
That’s some pretty compelling content, and I guarantee not one speaker thought about keyword density.
TxRex Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:19 pm
…ummmm….my niche at last…
Great Posts and Videos of Matt Cutts 2006 [Boxed Set] - Priceless
Pre-order yours today and get your free SEO upgrade!
Disclaimer - Not available every where or any time soon, subject to Mr. Cutts content approval, Google review and your ability to bookmark this page for future reference. Priceless is used as a price and is not used in conjunction or related to any Master Card commercial for copyright purposes.
Mark Alan Effinger Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:32 pm
Hi Matt,
Most excellent post… this is the stuff I totally chow on.
Here’s an idea that work like magic for me, and hits all of your keypoints right between the SEO-eyes: Online press releases.
Why?
On a service like http://www.PRWeb.com, they’re push-content and rich-content.
They have H-tags to give correct, organic precedent to Title, Summary and Body. Embedded links, named images, RSS feeds and social media tags. No waiting. Instant response.
You get immediate feedback on whether your niche will pull (vis statistics and RSS pickups). You drive traffic to a landing page (whatever page you’ve listed on PRWeb’s engine).
I can create a series of press releases and compose them well, and kill two blogs with one post: my content is both syndicated and appropriate for articles and other rich content applications.
This is a natural for working bottom-up niche development, and keeping it clean with the Google Housekeeping seal of approval.
(P.S. I own a very niche business, broken into 20 sub-niches that serve me well. I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page, and much appreciate you expounding on the process).
Any thoughts on this?
Best,
Mark Alan Effinger
Dave (Original) Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:38 pm
I’m astounded the buzz this one from Matt is creating! I would have thought it would come under plain ole common sense, no, correction, IT IS plain ole common sense. Seems like most in SEO World see it as a totally new and and insight into Google.
Guess it just confirms my thoughts on the SEO industry as a whole.
Armand Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 5:44 pm
Geez Matt,
You had me at SEO! he he..
Great stuff mate! Keep ‘em coming!
cheers,
Armand (from Down Under)
Peter (Brane) Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 6:49 pm
The buzz isn’t so strange. Matt was giving a “lesson” on “how to focus a page on its keywords.”
SEO isn’t anymore the “know how to properly code your pages” thingy. There is so much more to it now and what´s mostly to it is marketing.
Now that´s a problem for technical people!!!
HTML code is direct. It´s either wrong or right. If you have a technical background, you love this. But marketing is neither right or wrong. Something that works great once, doesn’t necessarily work great the next time you use it. Most SEO’s with a more technical background have a really big problem with this. It goes against their nature.
But the fact is that search engines are getting so good that it´s not that much about very well coded pages anymore. Good code is a requirement now, not the reason for success. The real success in the SERP’s comes from good marketing!
And what Matt described is also a requirement,.. less technical and more about the focus in a web page, so more reasons to discuss it, but still,… a requirement.
IncrediBILL Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 7:16 pm
“It can be a good thing to write in the same way that people speak”
I’m not sure I know how to write in drunken slurs, barely intelligible accents, nor will AdSense perform well with tome heavily doused in expletives.
[update]
Never mind, my wife pointed out I write in drunken slurring expletives almost nightly.
Liam Anthony Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 7:43 pm
“I also tried to think of a few word variations and included them where they made sense (file vs. files, bash and bashrc, Firefox and Mozilla, etc.).”
thought you might wanna know..
if you’re trying to vary words in your sentences for firefox and mozilla, dont. instead, make it a phrase; Mozilla Firefox, you can increase your keyword density by 100% on “mozilla” and “firefox” plus you can also add “mozilla firefox” for a keyword.
dont bother varying for plural and singular terms as your engine see and highlight it on the description as the same. just make sure you encoded both the singular and plural terms on the meta keywords tag.
funny someone mentioned common sense..
Michael Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 9:08 pm
Hi Matt,
Good write up on seo techniques, finding a niche is a great tactic which I regularly use. I’m sorry but I have an unrelated querie for you
I recently reported spam through google sitemaps, but nothing seems to be happening to the site I reported, if anything its rankings are improving… The site has an alphabetical list at the bottom of the page and when you click on these it takes you to a keyword stuffed cloned page full of keyword links. Surely this is spam?
Joseph Hunkins Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 9:56 pm
Matt - looks like some wordpress blogs, mine included, lost their snippets and have been ranked below my older blog entries at blogger.
How to fix “canonical blog confusion” would be a nice post by you. (I don’t hink there is a way to use a sitemap at Wordpress or Blogger)
Toby Adams Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:09 pm
Wow! Lessoned learned. Good points in the beginning. But, then it’s apparent you got ‘keyword aware’. From a readers point of view, this entry Matt, was just was not easy to read. You might as well put the ‘or a’ paragraph in white text, since only the die-hard Cutters would read all that. I still have a hard time believing Matt Cutts wrote this. Did someone sneak a look at his wordpress login and is now just having fun with us?
hrvoje461 Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:37 pm
Nice article. Some of this tips I already implemented in my articles before but ther was some things I didn’t even think about so next time I will pay more attention to them when I’m writhing my articles.
Thanks for great tips.
Dave (Original) Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:52 pm
RE: “SEO isn’t anymore the “know how to properly code your pages” thingy. There is so much more to it now and what´s mostly to it is marketing.”
==========================================
It’s always been a matter of applying common sense after reading and understanding the SE guidelines, still is and likely always will be.
Of course, there too many unethical SEO “professionals” with vested interests to have this widely known.
RE: “Good code is a requirement now, not the reason for success”
=======================================
“requirement” for what?? Certainly not good SERP position.
Nintendo Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 10:56 pm
>>Or the company that provides metrics and tracking for blogs.
Is missing ‘SEO’. Let me help you…
>>Or the SEO company that provides SEO metrics and SEO tracking for SEO blogs.
meinhard Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 11:21 pm
SEO could be so easy without SEO experts.
Halfdeck Said,
August 22, 2006 @ 11:21 pm
>>Matt - looks like some wordpress blogs, mine included, lost their snippets
That’s because your wordpress pages have meta noindex on them, Joe.
Maurice Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 12:52 am
RE coding
well theres always more than way to do it (tm larry wall) and correct code what do you mean by “correct” - depends what schema your writing to.
Interesting and keword stuffed post - or was the intent to over do it ?
I was rather tickeld by the sugestion of SEO for mysql
persoanly i cant see how optimising mysql would help finding someone who knows more than SELECT * from tab_foo might help a site but not in an SEO sense
snd Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 4:53 am
deem,
i had nice message but your deem security code with this veird thing made me enter and it was wrong, please click back and my message deleted!
deem, lets talk about web forms and usability!
Mike Levin Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 5:38 am
“In general, any time you look for an answer or some information and can’t find it, that should strike you as an opportunity.”
It’s almost as if a specific tool should exist that tells you where your audience has not been finding their information quickly, and issues those topics as suggestions. Oh yeah, I already did–three months ago.
Peter (Brane) Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 5:39 am
“well theres always more than way to do it (tm larry wall) and correct code what do you mean by “correct” - depends what schema your writing to.”
Good question,.. I meant with correct code the use of the right tags that help search engines understand a webpage the way it is presented to a visitor.
J de Silva Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 6:05 am
Hello Matt,
This is what most of us do, write about stuff that we had to figure the “hard” way. It’s what I have always been doing. In other words, there are still some of us who are not motivated by money (or the highest paying keywords and topics) — we write because that’s what we’d like to do, about stuff that interest us.
Now, I have no problems with your suggestion here, but you must allow me to share this story with the rest of your readers.
May 2006, we published a “how-to” that was useful to a very small group of people (as we normally do). Despite targeting a specific group of people, the article received quite a bit of traffic from the popular search engines (including Google).
Sometime in July/early August (some 2 months later), some webmaster extracted bits off the article (and some others, meshed them together) and published it to the Net.
When I searched Google using a unique phrase (off the original article), I was shocked to find the one result I was expecting, but it wasn’t ours anymore!
If it (Google) returned both I would have understood, but it didn’t. It just returned one (the “duplicate”)!
If you search Yahoo or MSN for ["Using lspci, the sound card is identified as"], they correctly return the one result (the one off my web site), ignoring the “duplicate”.
Now, a few weeks later, I search Google (for that unique phrase) and get NOTHING!
Again, your advice is sound, but you’re not going to convince me that the Google Search Engine is working the way it is supposed to be working, especially in this context: “That tells me that in this small niche, I could utterly rock the search engines.”
PhilC Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 6:47 am
I haven’t read all the comments, so I don’t know if anyone has voiced this, but I’m going to pour a little cool water on the post.
The Title is: SEO Advice: Writing useful articles that readers will love
That’s ok if the articles are written for existing site topics, although it’s not really a proper seo method (I’ll explain what I mean if asked). But the post described starting new topics in sites, or new sites on new topics, and that’s not seo at all. That’s how to get traffic for something new, and has nothing to do with the sites that people want traffic for - business and hobby sites, for instance.
The post is great for finding new areas and maybe succeeding in them, but it isn’t what people are wanting to do for their existing sites, which is what most people are concerned with. It’s an excellent post for this blog, but it doesn’t belong in the SEO section
BillyS Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 6:52 am
>>BillyS, I wouldn’t worry about that. Lots of people use the same words in title and url. But varying the words might help you show up for a broader variety of terms.
Thanks for the response on this Matt - saves us the trouble of changing 1,200 titles. I understand your point about varying terms. Good stuff - removes a lot of the myths.
The Adam That Doesn't Belong To Matt Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 7:10 am
Not necessarily true. While the topic may serve as the primary focus of the article, results could be picked up from secondary phrases and words that the owner never even thought of. Not only that, if the topic of the article becomes a popular issue, then the first article out there often gains a certain “authority” status as a result.
Mind you, the more I think about it, the more I see this as a potentially bad move on Matt’s part (sorry, Matt, but it is and I will explain). The vast majority of article sites and places that publish articles are full of crap, literally; crappy articles about the same stuff with no real useful insight.
With this article, we’re going to see a whole bunch of “related” articles about how to write an article citing Matt’s blog post, as well as “new and informative” articles that are basically reworded versions of the same crap that’s already out there.
I’m not talking about an article that gets syndicated among a bunch of sites, either…that’s just the effect of a good article. I’m talking about a series of articles that get distributed by a series of authors about the same damn stuff.
In other words…I’m hoping someone takes this in the context Matt probably intended (I won’t say for sure because a bunch of you will crawl up my ass claiming I don’t know him and blah blah blah yadda yadda) and write original articles, if any at all.
Michael Martinez Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 7:43 am
It didn’t take you guys long to start pounding on the straw men.
Frankly, with all the misguided SEO tutorials out there right now, what is most needed is more content like this post from Matt. Yes, people will link to it and say, “Here is what a Googler is talking about.”
Matt isn’t actually saying anything new. He’s just demonstrating that if you know there is a need related to your own interests, you can fulfill that need and write a useful article.
SEO tutorials inevitably derail all the trains. People are going to knock this one off the track, too. But instead of arguing with Matt, you guys should be taking close note and stopping to think, “Hm. Maybe he’s trying to say something I haven’t been listening to.”
Looking beyond the SEO myths is difficult, but you can all do it.
Mortgage Expert Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 10:33 am
How ironic. Everybody teaching the Google guy about keyword stuffing. Now, we are posting about SEO. And, we are actually helping him.
PhilC Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 11:50 am
You are right, Adam. I didn’t try to scotch Matt’s post. I pointed out that the idea doesn’t apply to the sites that people generally want to promote. The idea is about finding new topic areas to capture, but the sites we want to promote are already about existing topic areas, and finding new topics isn’t what we a generally looking to do, so it isn’t seo.
For instance, you are in website design, and the average website designer wants to seo his/her website design site/business. (S)he doesn’t want to start promoting something completely different, just because an opening has been spotted.
It’s an excellent post about acquiring traffic (and possibly business) in areas that we are not currently involved in, so it’s a ‘business’ post and not an seo post. That’s the point I was making. It’s nothing to do with seo.
Matt (not Cutts) Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 11:56 am
I agree with those who talked about this being commonsense. It is. It says something about today’s SEO’s quick-fix, hammer-and-tongs strategies that Matt has to write a post explaining it all again. Pretty much what Brett has talked about in WW years back - but I guess there are some who will get it only if it comes from a Googler.
Hawaii SEO Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 12:00 pm
(IMO) A bulleted list can work much better for readability on the internet than a contextual list contained in a long paragraph . It can help provide information at a glance without making the user read a long paragraph.
You could be the SEO that does:
• Industry Interviews
• Transcribes Matt’s videos
• Makes funny lists
• Provides webmaster radio
• Makes podcasting easy
• Etc…
If you want to use the word “SEO” as a descriptive modifier for each item in the list for on-the-page keyword optimization purposes, it’s usually better to use a contextual list, otherwise the bulleted list could look repetitive & redundant.
You could be the:
• SEO that does interviews
• SEO that transcribes Matt’s videos
• SEO that makes funny lists
• SEO company that provides webmaster radio
• SEO that makes podcasting easy
• Etc…
JLH Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 12:10 pm
Speaking of SEO do a google search for” five seo excuses ” (no quotes)
http://www.google.com/search?q=five+seo+excuses
Someone did a great job there, results 1 through 5, in order and the subdomains when read are a nice little sentance. Did they do that with on-page factors or off page gaming? I’ll leave it to you experts to figure it out.
Andy Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 1:00 pm
Good post Matt. I have been coming to the same conclusion that you have recently; do a search for something you believe your target user would type in and if there is nothing which fits the bill, get writing! I have lots of small, long tail, questions/articles which I think would rank highly and get attention, the only problem is finding time! It takes a good few hours to create fresh, new content which is SEO’d (not too much;), reads well and is spell checked. Better hop to it!…
Michael Martinez Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 2:25 pm
Designing content that ranks well in a search engine is ALWAYS about search engine optimization. Matt’s post is spot on.
We need more examples like this, Matt. You have a long, hard battle ahead of you.
Joseph Hunkins Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 5:43 pm
Thx halfdeck and sorry Matt for OT posting.
was my problem, though it got there mysteriously.
Durant Imboden Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 7:22 pm
>>An infinite number of niches are waiting for someone to claim them.
Dave (Original) Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 7:43 pm
RE: “That’s ok if the articles are written for existing site topics, although it’s not really a proper seo method (I’ll explain what I mean if asked). But the post described starting new topics in sites, or new sites on new topics, and that’s not seo at all.”
==========================================
Again, common sense SHOULD dictate that IF you write content (which you DO know about) for humans and not SEs you will be creating content that Google gives a high score to. So, in that way, it most certainly is SEO and about one of the best ways!
As I have said, every aspect of good safe long term SEO comes about from reading/understanding the SE guidlines then simply applying common sense. However, many in the SEO industry have too much of a vested interest to have this known and would rather the general population sees SEO as rocket science. That way, they can justify their high fees.
The Adam That Doesn't Belong To Matt Said,
August 23, 2006 @ 11:32 pm
Maybe if we all just wrote articles and did interviews like this guy does them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLTJP6n8AI&mode=related&search=
JAGSHEMASH!
PhilC Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 3:06 am
You seem to be missing my point Dave. A hardware store has a business website. That’s the site that needs seo, so that the business can improve. It’s not seo to tell the owner to create another site about something completely different, just because an opening has been spotted.
So the hardware store owner also wants to know about changing a printer in Linux, but he can’t find the information, and decides to create website about it - and he “rocks the engines”. Then what? Where’s the increased business? Where’s the money? What’s that got to do with seo for his business?
Matt’s post has nothing to do with seo. It’s about getting traffic for the sake of getting traffic - perhaps for AdSense clicks - but it’s not seo.
Jose Lozano Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 7:38 am
This is an awesome post!!!
I would like to make emphasis on the following phrases:
“If you write 2000 words about mortgage loans and never discuss the industry landscape or impart some useful, concrete knowledge to your reader, that should set off a warning flag in your head.”
Definitely we need to write something that helps others. This way we will attract people and keep them as long as we continue helping them. I am tired of books or articles about “How To” when they actually talk about “What Is”, so they are more definitions-based than steps-based documents. People need answers. As you said “If you become known as an expert . . .you could build that out with things like forums to create even more useful content”
We must love what we write about to become an expert. I do not imagine someone being an expert without enjoying what she/he is doing.
“In general, any time you look for an answer or some information and can’t find it, that should strike you as an opportunity”
This is the fuel that makes me write articles. There may be somebody else looking for the same information. There are millions of people using Internet; even a small niche could be a huge number of them
And, I think the best advice we can get from this post is:
“use this advice only for good (high-quality articles), not for evil”
Victor Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 8:05 am
Excellent post! Thanks for this great resource!
Michael Martinez Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 9:12 am
A hardware store site would provide great opportunity for writing many “how to” articles to help visitors and potential customers, thus exanding the site’s visibility and appeal. What Matt proposes would be a great approach for a hardware store site to pursue.
It doesn’t take a creative marketing genius to see that establishing your credentials with surfers involves giving them a lot of useful, relevant information.
Navneet Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 9:33 am
Matt,
You are on top of second page of Google for “SEO”, and its this post!
http://www.google.com/search?q=SEO&hl=en&lr=&start=10&sa=N
Good article anyways. Thanks
Franck Silvestre Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 10:39 am
Yes it’s an excellent article.
Actually, I noticed on my blog since a while that the keyword density was not “so important”, and that visitors find my blog with phrases like:
“Everything you need to know about….”
I like that.
JLH Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 10:45 am
Three days and on the top of page 2, NICE!
Hopefully we can expect a blog on the top Five SEO Excuses soon from you!
Blazes Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 11:08 am
For those not knowing where to start, consider questions your users ask. There’s usually 1 or 2 good topics in every question to write about.
PhilC Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 3:54 pm
Yes it would in that case, but that’s not the point I was making.
Dave (Original) Said,
August 24, 2006 @ 6:55 pm
RE: “It’s not seo to tell the owner to create another site about something completely different, just because an opening has been spotted”
It is if the page(s) (not site) is written in the manner Matt descibes. Sure, it may not be on topic to their hardware store, or perhaps makes zero extra dollars. So what?
Jim Westergren Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 5:13 am
Hi Matt,
Good post and very good advice. I also advocate to start small and grow big.
But I have a question. You are writing quality unique content in your blog (IMHO) then why are your blog posts going in the supplemental index??
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.mattcutts.com&num=100&hl=en&lr=&filter=0
cmircea Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 5:24 am
Simply amazing… Number 3 in google after ’seo’…woof…
Peter (IMC) Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 5:38 am
PhilC is a very technical SEO that focuses almost entirely on getting an existing page higher up in the SERP’s. Hence his opinion about the post Matt made. From his point of view he is right, but running a business (website) is more than just focusing on the SEO for existing pages.
Marketing a website, increasing its value for visitors (and thus for the search engines) is also important and you can argue about whether or not that is SEO. In any way, it is good practice to do increase the value of your website…
Navneet Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 1:01 pm
And Yes Matt, I agree with you! Probably some of us have been doing this SEO thing for too long, sos much so we see everything in terms of ranking and keyword relevancy/frequency!
Lilit Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 1:29 pm
so, you are saying that a keyword in URL still carries som weight?
thank you.
John Colascione Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 6:05 pm
I’ve got a question related to content and I am not sure where to look for your grab-bags that you mention so I am going to try and through it in here since it relates to content…..
Q - If a local utility company posts a press release about something happening in the community on their website and then they forward it to me, a local newspaper website, should I be worried about posting this same content on my site from a duplicate content prospective…?
Now this would be useful content that my readers would love, but where do you draw the line on duplicate content from press releases vs a page scaped for content or made for adsence pages? How would Google differentiate the two? Would there be a penalty applied to the weaker or less authoritive site when it comes to syndicated content?
Dave (Original) Said,
August 25, 2006 @ 7:08 pm
RE: “PhilC is a very technical SEO that focuses almost entirely on getting an existing page higher up in the SERP’s. Hence his opinion about the post Matt made.”
==========================================
That doesn’t add up and is not what PhilC has used as *his* argument.
Me thinks you are putting words in his mouth.
The Adam That Doesn't Belong To Matt Said,
August 26, 2006 @ 9:51 am
That may be the greatest euphemism for blackhat I’ve ever heard. That is brilliant!
I am truly impressed, Peter.
zankyw Said,
August 26, 2006 @ 4:20 pm
I’m the SEO that specializes in a certain content management system. (or almost I would like to be that kind of SEO).
My favourite CMS is phpBB XS, because it has integrated 3 different Feeds, you can Add easily AutoLinks, and much more
I think that this CMS is giving me very good optimization
Wit Said,
August 26, 2006 @ 11:37 pm
[quote]…why are your blog posts going in the supplemental index??[/quote]
Probably because all these pages have the exact same title (for starters) and that looks a bit spammy
(Just guessing here)
Dave (Original) Said,
August 26, 2006 @ 11:40 pm
RE: “That may be the greatest euphemism for blackhat I’ve ever heard. That is brilliant!
I am truly impressed, Peter.
=====================================
LOL! It most certainly is. BUT, don’t forget that PhilC only uses blackhat methods when whitehat methods don’t work. In his own eyes that makes him a whitehat, go figure!
Ray Said,
August 27, 2006 @ 9:34 am
I have only recently come across Matt’s blogs but in many of the things i have read so far, things kind of don’t add up when i see the actual results that users get on searches. It’s one thing to give out information about the technical side of things, (and i think i’m a fairly accomplished programmer if i may say so myself).. but it is quite another to very broadly generalize what the intentions are. I mean, from a pure programming logic point of view, many of the things that are discussed in these blogs about how the bot software and crawl and index works, it is almost an impossible feat. Because google for its size still has to rely on the boundaries of logic. A simple case in point: duplicate content. Unless a human is looking at every thing, a ’somewhat’ similar content is just almost impossible to catch by any programming logic. I do not think google hires magic programmers. As an example, if you were to take any article on the net and change the order of paragraphs, while it is still duplicate, the programmers cannot easily identify each and every paragraph order for every site. I am not discussing black hat or whatever else kamikaze seo tactics, i just am always bewildered as to what boundaries of programming logic are pushed when some of things discussed on this blog are put into practice.
Skeptic on the net
Ray
Michael Said,
August 27, 2006 @ 8:25 pm
We are about to launch a “Do It Yourself” SEO service called “SoloSEO”, falling into the line of our own little SEO niche. So hopefully we will be the “SEO for Do-It-Yourself-ers”. We see a need for the Do-it-yourself self-learning small-business owner type that has little to spend on marketing, but can afford putting in some time for it. We will have tools and reports to help you SEO, and a “to do list” style of walking through our subscribers through the process. We’re pretty excited about it! We just made a cool tool, a site-wide keyword cloud that parses an XML Sitemaps page and makes a keyword cloud using all the words from your website.
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this blog!
Rebecca Said,
August 28, 2006 @ 12:30 pm
Am I the “transcribes Matt’s videos” SEO?!? I’d rather be the “SEO who’s Matt Cutts’ BFF”, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Mantees Said,
August 29, 2006 @ 2:51 am
Hi Matt,
I just noticed that you don’t use meta description and keywords tags for your blog. Any particular reasons for this? Mind to share us your knowledge about SEO and meta tags?
Conrad Said,
August 29, 2006 @ 6:45 am
And Matt rockets to page one in the search for “SEO”
Paul Said,
August 29, 2006 @ 7:47 am
Thanks Matt,
I find every niche has some unfulfilled wants and needs, hence the content should be written aiming to those needs by giving a solution that fulfill the gap and thus it can enhance the utility and value of the content and that will be useful to the readers and possibly search engine will like that.
IrishWonder Said,
August 29, 2006 @ 8:26 am
Erm shouldn’t all those SEOs have been linked to the actual people?
Maria Said,
August 29, 2006 @ 10:11 pm
Hello,
I know something that does not seem easy to find, and it happens to be about niche contents. I woud really appreciate if you could enhance your blog popularity by explaining this
I wonder, if a page scores high with Google for, say, “lively pets,” will it help another page on the same site to score for “cockroaches”? I mean, how related the terms must be to “help” each other? Or, to put it in more general terms, how does Google categorize content?
Thank you!
Maria
Marc Peterson Said,
August 30, 2006 @ 3:14 am
Hi
Everyone please let me know if i am heading in the right direction, started with reciprocal links exchange and then one way link, have submitted to many directories.
Now have also started posting in various blogs and also am a moderator for a blog.
Also sometimes use peeking, i hope its the right way to go about it. PLease advice me if there is any more ways to be a good SEO guru.
Weed Said,
August 30, 2006 @ 5:48 pm
Marc Peterson said
> PLease advice me if there is any more ways to be a good SEO guru
hi Marc,
the way to become a search engine guru is to forget about the search engines for a while and develop your site content for the benefit of your visitors
of course there’s a few common sense guidelines, such as avoiding frames and flash and any other clever stuff if possible ,and having relevant page titles, original text and simple effective navigation etc
but the most important thing is create a high quality site — and if it doesn’t get highly ranked by the search engines and you’re not doing anything to annoy or confuse them, then that’s their problem, not yours — have faith, they’ll sort it out sooner or later — providing their visitors with good search results is what they specialise in
PS i avoid reciprocal linking — it doesn’t benefit my visitors
PPS most of the traffic to a successful site comes from repeat visitors
remember, the reason behind Google’s rise to prominence isn’t because it wanted to become the biggest or most popular or most profitable search engine — it’s because it wanted to be the _best_ search engine — ah, those were the days
it’s less about what the net can do for you as what you can do for the net
Weed
Halfdeck Said,
August 31, 2006 @ 9:40 pm
Looks like Matt’s linux printer article is #1 on Google for “change default printer linux”…
http://www.google.com/search?q=change+default+printer+linux&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
A few of us fixated on this post being keyword stuffed, but the “test” page is the linux page; this page I think Matt wrote up just to emphasize a point about contributing useful pages to the web.
Bob Mutch Said,
September 1, 2006 @ 3:53 pm
Fix the title tag Matt and put your aritle title first.
SEO Company Said,
September 1, 2006 @ 10:38 pm
Well what the most important thing is that article writting gives you lot of free and one way links which help you in rankings. Isn’t it?