Does SEO Work?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is about consistency.

To be successful in this field, you need to stay patient and constantly network with people by circulating links.

It’s also a need to study your daily activities day-in and day-out.

With the emergence of Google Panda and Google Penguin, SEO has evolved in many ways.

Niche blogs may not allow to input URL. The forums are getting stricter with its rules. It’s unacceptable to submit multiple versions of a spun article to article directories.

On a good note, SEO becomes a fair marketing playground for everyone due to these new algorithm updates. These updates are protecting the search engine from spamming links.

Have time to thoroughly read the Google Guidelines and you’ll realize the rules are not complicated at all. It simply reminds you to “judge, link and write like a human.”

In real life, performing those black hat techniques in SEO is synonymous to corruption. Those spammers are politicians who choose to play dirty just to get rich (the use of illegal techniques to rank higher in search engine).

Technique 1: White Hat SEO for Long-Term Success

There are hundreds of techniques in off-page optimization published online. For many, it gets confusing what to use, what to follow and when to use it.

But don’t worry a thing. Simply choose the techniques that have high link value. Or, consider hiring a professional link builder should you need assistance.

The link builder studies your niche. He or she will create a detailed plan to improve the placement of your keywords, the circulation of links and what contents are to be published.

To reach the top of Google, Yahoo! and Bing, expect your link builder to use the following techniques to your benefit:

Technique #2: Active Participation in Q&A:

Q&A websites such as Yahoo! Answers (no longer in operation), Quora, WikiAnswers and Answer.com make use of the question-and-answer format as a type of socialization.

I regularly participate in Quora and I am completely satisfied with my experience there.

The website contains loads of smart questions in any topic and in some ways, it also reminds me of Facebook. You can vote-up and write a comment to an answer.

Once you’re a member of Quora, it’s also your goal to create friends. Your friends are your followers.

The link you insert in your answer can get enough clicks should you have more followers.

The one great thing about what was once Yahoo! Answers is its leveling-up feature.

The feature awards you two points for every answer. This type of format encourages you to give answers that are a stand-out and well-researched. If the answer is well-researched, it will be voted as “the best” and you’ll be awarded with more points. The more points you receive, the more popular you are in the community.

Another feature of Yahoo Answers that I like is its rectangular box in which you’re going to input your sources and references.

Technique #3: Active Participation in Forums:

Be patient with online forums. The administrators are stricter due to the widespread use of profile linking, which is a black-hat-technique.

Spammers create profiles in various forums even it’s not related to their niche. Their attempt is for the search engines to crawl on the profile that contains the URL of their home page.

Again, this is nonsense SEO! It might bring success on your niche but it’s only for short-term.

In time, your website can either be penalized or banned. Profile linking, in real life, is a form of coercion.

It’s a perfect picture of a corrupt politician who bribes people just to get votes for the coming election.

It takes patience and time to achieve success in forums. You will have no problems in your stay once the policies are strictly followed after registration.

That’s why; it’s suggested to browse around. Provide quality answers to the threads. The forum administrators prefer to see quality answers that are filled with helpful information and are thoroughly explained with the use of proper grammar.

A number of forums also don’t allow spammy-like responses such as “This is great!”

Technique #4: Blog Commenting:

Commenting is one of the easiest techniques to boost online reputation. Should you regularly comment on niche-related blogs, the owner recognizes your presence.

However, the primary goal of giving comments is not only to get recognized. You need to show them that your anchor text is worth-clicking – by asking a smart question, by reacting positively and by giving additional inputs. This is a common task done by link builders.

Technique #5: Social Networking:

Three of the most popular networking sites nowadays are Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus (2012). These sites rank high in Alexa and millions of people are talking about them every day.

Ask any SEO expert and no one will say that using these sites are not useful. The sites offer off-page optimization techniques that can bring massive traffic back to your site.

In Facebook, make use of the various features to get attention.

Post worth-reading updates, post inspiring quotes, upload photos, create professional and attractive pages, share informational notes, share worth-clicking links, comment on other profiles and create polls. A smart way of gaining friends is to play games and try to lure people by offering freebies.