Tweak Your Biz » Marketing » The 7 Day SEO Diet

The 7 Day SEO Diet

by antonmccarthy on March 28th, 2012
45 Comments



Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a really hot topic at the moment. Even in the midst of a social media generation focussed on Facebook, Twitter, et al, businesses still realise that search, and being found on Google, is of paramount importance in terms of succeeding online.

However, with this focus comes a lot of confusion amongst businesses large and small around how to start with SEO and how to achieve those high Google rankings. In this piece, I would like to cut through to the most crucial aspects of achieving SEO success by giving a one-week plan to set you on your way towards achieving those ever-elusive Google rankings.

# Monday

Treat Your Website Like A Novel You’ve Just Written

You have just published your first book. You are immensely proud of it. It has taken you months of time and effort. Now, you’ve just heard the amazing news that a prominent bookstore chain wants to feature it in their stores. You are delighted and go into a meeting with a box of your freshly published books. However, when you reach the store, the buyer is taken aback – for the following reasons:

-Your book has no title.

-Your book has no summary or description.

-Your book has no excerpt, table of contents, or introduction.

This is ludicrous, right?

How would book-store browsers ever find your new book? But this is not far removed from how many business owners treat their website. For example, I couldn’t even guess how many websites I have seen with no title or H1 (header) tags, or poorly optimised ones.

  • These tags comprise two of the most crucial elements of on-site SEO, and have a very strong and direct impact on how high your website will rank for your top keywords.
  • I have seen the most compelling evidence of this first-hand.

The lesson – make sure you have well-optimised title and H1 tags on your site, as well as reviewing other on-site ranking factors. A good place to learn more about this area is via the resources provided by sites like SEOmoz.

If you take the time and care to make sure your on-site SEO is on track – you are likely already one step ahead of your competition in this area.

Related: SEO vs. SEM: Is There a Difference?

# Tuesday

Make Sure The World Knows About Your Site!

It may sound plain old-fashioned– but always remember that word-of-mouth is the best kind of marketing for many reasons. Two of these are that you always value the recommendation of a friend and that word of mouth is free!

  • Today, simply ask your friends to spread the word among those who may be interested in your product or service.
  • This step could also lead to someone influential seeing your product or service, perhaps even contacting you – or just spreading your message.

This is no time to be shy!

This step also has an exponential effect – the more people who know about your website, the more people they can tell, and then it goes from there. You can see this working before your eyes on platforms like Facebook, where one like can turn into ten likes within a short space of time.

This mirrors the real-world, so get cracking and be your own best advocate!

Related: DIY Search Engine Optimisation

# Wednesday

Content Is King – No Matter Where You Post It

If links (which we will come to next) are the currency of the internet, then think of great content as its lifeblood. What this means for your site is that the more you produce great content, the more valuable you are to the internet ecosphere – and this has multiple benefits for you and your business.

The trouble sometimes is that business owners may feel bewildered by the many different avenues they feel they have to cover. Blogging, tweeting, Facebook updates, LinkedIn marketing, YouTube videos – if you aren’t covering all of these, you may feel you are missing out.

  • For this reason, think in terms of creating valuable content that people will want to consume and share no matter where they find it.
  • What you will then find is that it if it is valuable, it will automatically get shared on the various networks and channels without you having to play much of a part in that process.

Focus on creating superb content full stop – not on having to work on and service all the various channels you may use.

Related: 10 Kick Ass Content Marketing Ideas

# Thursday

Building Links – It’s All About Relationships

Building links to your website can sound like an arduous, complex task that often sends a business owner straight into the arms of the nearest SEO agency (which is fine, if you find a good one!). However, what SEO is about is building relationships – and this applies to link-building in particular.

You often hear people asking – ‘how do I get links’? This is the online equivalent of asking; ‘how do I get business partners’?

  • You build relationships with business partners by participating in and engaging with your community, by attending events and contributing to your area of expertise.
  • Doing this builds your reputation and your network – and it is no different for your website or your company’s online presence.

When it comes to getting links, think in terms of websites and businesses with which you have synergies. Could you write a guest blog post for them with a link back to your site in your bio at the end of the article?

A simple example could be a new cake shop writing an article for the website of the local bakery who stocks their products, or an insurance broker penning a post for a financial advice forum or blog.

# Friday

Track, Test, Tweak!

If you are not assessing – yes you truly are guessing!

If your website does not have Google Analytics installed – or a solid analytics package of some description – you can’t have a realistic picture of how your site is performing for you – and neither can you successfully test how new updates and changes to your website affect your overall online performance.

Given you have set up a website in the first place, you will already know which keywords you want your website to rank for in search results pages.

Free tools such as Google Analytics allow you to determine which keywords are driving the most traffic to your site:

  • But more importantly – they enable you to see which keywords are driving the most conversions among your site’s users.
  • Sometimes, these keywords may not be the ones you had expected.

Being able to pinpoint your top keywords and traffic drivers allows you to target your SEO efforts accordingly – maximising your marketing investment both in terms of time and money. Make sure you have an analytics package installed and start tracking and testing today!

Google Analytics is free, and you will soon have a wealth of actionable data waiting for you.

# Saturday

Build Your Offline Brand To Enhance Your Online Brand

It may sound strange or counter-intuitive, but being good at SEO is as much about being a good networker and building your company’s brand and profile in the ‘real world’, as much as anything you actually do online.

This is simply because again, it all goes back to relationships – making connections and seeing this reflected in how these connections shape your online presence.

Think of the following example:

You are on a flight home from a trade show, and a key business person who is particularly influential in your business sector is sitting near you on the same flight. You happen to strike up a conversation, which then leads to the key person mentioning your business in their blog write-up on the trade show. Then, they also happen to tweet the blog post – and perhaps mention your name – in a tweet to their 30,000 or so followers.

If you consider all of the interactions you have with those who will be interested in or advocate for your business or service on a weekly basis – it all adds up to a powerful and compelling proposition in terms of driving awareness of your online brand, offline.

Related: So, Why Brand?

# Sunday

Have Fun, Be Yourself, And Mix It Up!

Let your own personality shine through in everything you do online. Your brand is unique because it has been conceived in your mind, and is a reflection on what you care about and are passionate about.

In practice, this can be as simple as creating a quick, fun instructional video for your new concept, an unusual or eye-catching visual showcasing your new product, or just a passionate blog post telling the world why you set up your shiny online venture in the first place.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs To Party

SEO is primarily about two things – great content and influential links, aka relationships. Creating the former gets you the latter, and pushes your business forward.

Start the 7 day SEO diet today, and put it into continual practice.

What are your top SEO tips? I would love to hear your top strategies, and what has worked particularly well in your sector or niche.

Images: Featured: Healthy breakfast setting on isolated background. Post: 1.“The new book on a white background, 2. good news, 3. Gold crown, 4. Shaking hands of two business people, 5. Analytics, 6.  Two business colleagues shaking hands during meeting & 7.Young couple jumping from a pier into the water/Shutterstock“



Category: Marketing Strategy, online marketing

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Author:

Anton McCarthy is an ex-Googler, online marketing specialist and entrepreneur who is passionate about helping businesses get more out of their web presence and excel online. Anton has over 7 years experience in online marketing and product management, and has successfully delivered online marketing campaigns for various businesses in addition to launching a number of online ventures. http://www.swarmfor.com

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Add Your Comment

  • Warren Rutherford

    Anton – great post. On my site, http://www.theexecutivesuite.com, I try to work content on my practice focus around long tail keywords that fit my approach and audience. Good content with SEO appropriately placed makes a difference, as does keeping content fresh.  Of course it always helps to know what your competition is doing, so tracking their efforts helps as well. You’re the expert so I look forward to more great guidance.

  • http://www.garybembridge.com/ Gary Bembridge

    thanks for this post! Very practical and very actionable too. I am defiantly going to try this diet on my blogs!

  • http://www.sarahryanblog.com/ Sarah Ryan

    Great post Anton – lots of really good tips. Will definitely be starting this diet!

  • http://www.sianphillips.ie/ Sian Phillips

    What a brilliant post Anton. Great tips and easy to read so make sense simply. This is one diet I think I’ll like :)

  • http://twitter.com/marketingdebbie TheMarketingShop.ie

    A great post Anton, this will help a lot of small business owners as SEO is one of the most talked about but least understood ways to make a difference to your online presence.  I’ve seen businesses using link-farms and submitting random articles that didn’t do them any favour on the advice of “experts” and the “€299 guaranteed number one on google” people are still preying on the small business owners.  I think “the 7 day seo diet” is the perfect title, we all know quick fixes don’t work on weight loss – same on seo.  Thanks Anton.

  • http://www.zoealexanderuk.com/ DaddyBlogZAUK

    Anton, I have bookmarked this article because I can see so many benefits from doing an in depth analysis on our own site. It’s true, we are discovering new things all the time and trying to find people to give critique on our site is proving difficult! Friends and family don’t want to hurt our feelings and so it is quite challenging to find ways to improve it for potential new customers. We have only been launched 9 weeks so we are new and visibility and celebrity endorsement are proving difficult. I know determination, engagement and perserverance will ring through in the end! 

  • John Twohig

    Very informative read, thank you for sharing. It is all about relationships, which is something people forget when it come to the web. They think running a business online is different. The principles are the same, the values are the same and if you are authentic in your dealings with people the online community will embrace you.

    John

  • http://www.bloggertone.com Niall Devitt

    Hi Anton, what I really love about this post is the way you have communicated SEO for a traditional business mindset and in a language that normal business people can understand. Too many SEO experts don’t consider that the rest of the business community don’t always understand the lingo. I think that this might one of favorite TweakYourBiz/Bloggertone posts ever, excellent job! :)    

  • http://write-on-track.com/ Lorna

    I really like the ’7 day approach’ you took in writing this post too.

  • ElliStGeorgeGodfrey

    I echo Niall’s comment. You make such good sense and so practical! Good timing too as I’m taking a fresh look at my business website to reflect more of what I do now. 

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Hi Warren, thanks very much. Definitely, in fact keeping content fresh means that Google will keep coming back to your site at regular intervals as the bot will be somewhat ‘primed’ to expect new content, as you’ve shown that you are keeping everything fresh. That is what Google is looking for and is what will benefit your site greatly, especially in the long run. 

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks Gary! Glad you have found it valuable, and let us know how you get on and how it benefits your blogs!

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks for the comment Sarah! Let us know how you get on! 

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks Sian! Yes, there are few diets that fit the bill, so maybe this could be one of the few :-)

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks Debbie, that’s right – SEO must be the number one area where confusion reigns among businesses, and I wrote this post with that firmly in mind. I think even the term ‘SEO’ can be daunting for some in itself – conjuring up images of ‘techie’ – when in reality SEO is far simpler than people realise.

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks for the comment! Definitely - I firmly believe the forumla is passion + persistence = results :) On the site critique, I recommend using forums where IT guys/web developers and creative people hang out. I know Sitepoint is a huge forum that caters to this, and you may find you get some great, unvarnished feedback! Good luck with the venture.

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks John. That is exactly it, you’ve pretty much summed it up there. Treat the web like you would any offline medium or way of interacting with people, and you will see the same benefits online as you would offline.

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Wow, thanks Niall! :) You have got it in one – most of the time people describe looking for online marketing help as ‘a mindfield’, so when they look for guidance on what they should be doing, they are looking for advice that they can simply relate to. That was my goal here. Thanks for the comments!

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks for the comment Lorna, and yes, I think it works better than ‘a huge list of stuff to know about SEO’ :)

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks Elli. That’s great – hope the site refresh goes well and glad the tips are timely!

  • luciesdaniels

    Most of time individuals explain looking for internet promotion help as ‘a mind field’, so when they look for assistance on what they should be doing, they are looking for guidance that they can basically connect with.

  • http://www.ioventuresinc.com/ Jordan

    Great article for people who don’t have much knowledge on SEO.  The 7 day way of thinking about it makes it very simple.  But SEO is not something that will be done after a week, or two or even ten.  It requires consistently doing the things mentioned in this article. 

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Hi Anton ,

    As a fellow SEO consultant, it’s wonderful to read a post that explains so clearly what the benefits of SEO are. It’s a real tough area to translate, but has huge importance for website owners.

    I’ll echo Debbie’s comment about ‘link farms’ and guaranteed number one spots. SEO requires analysis and deep understanding of the business keywords before assessing the likely positions. It’s not a ‘one fit for all’ – target audience, location, keywords, strategy and budget will have huge effects on the activity itself.

    Plus – once is never enough. The interest is organic and as each comepetitor site makes adjustments affect their rankings, so too does it affect yours. Again, dependant on your keywords and strategy.

    Top tips and worthy of many shares!

  • http://twitter.com/FurnFairIRL Furniture Fair IRL

    what an Excellent overview for the SME – thank you for distilling it down to very understandable key concepts with a clear mapping tool using the days of the week!

  • http://www.Blake.co.za/blog Sarah

    This is a brilliant break down of SEO and how to get started. SEO really does make a big difference if you are doing it right. 

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Hi Christina,

    Thanks for the comment. You are spot on in relation to what you say re SEO requiring analysis – at the end of the day it has to be all about looking at who your customers are, what they are looking for, and what the competitive landscape looks like. And of course SEO is indeed never-ending!

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks for the comments! No problem – glad you find it useful and clear!

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks for the comment Sarah, glad you liked it.

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Thanks for the comment Jordan – indeed it is a continual and consistent effort that is required.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/seo-experts-the-best-in-the-world SEO Experts

    This list is definitely informative for people who aren’t familiar enough with SEO – but I’d like to add a couple things.  Firstly, content IS king, and you should therefore focus almost every single day on producing great articles / videos / whatever it is that your site promotes.  Users want to see constantly-updating content, and so does Google.
    Secondly, people need to understand that GOOD optimization takes quite a bit longer than a week.  Certain strategies should be done nearly every day (content production, link-building, etc.), and they’ll take weeks or even months to really get your site ranking.  This is especially true when you’re a legitimate site owner who’s trying to succeed in a saturated / spammy niche.  If you’re running a site about weight loss or “how to make money,” you can expect to wait quite a while before Google realizes that you’re actually legit.

  • Pradeep Nagar

    Thank You

    The given information is very effective
    i will keep updated with the same 

    seo services in india

  • Donna

    I’m just starting to learn SEO and it’s overwhelming at times.  Thanks for a clear article!

  • http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

    Welcome! Keep it simple and use common sense, and you’ll be fine. Good luck :)

  • http://tweakyourbiz.com/ Niall Devitt

    Hi Olwen, this is an important post! “When your business fails, you are not a failure”, this is the key point for me. when a business fails, a person can learn, there is always opportunity. Failure is in many respects, a critical metric on the way to real success.

  • http://about.me/Lindeskog lyceum1776

    Bob: Thanks for speaking out. It is scary that if you try to compete with the stated owned postal office, they could “go postal” and put you behind bars…

  • http://www.bizsugar.com/ Heather Stone

    Hi Bob,
    Thanks for the great post. Ultimately, organizations facing competition like this need great leadership above all else, so lack of leadership simply makes this issue worse. Thanks to Sian for sharing this post with the BizSugar community.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    In 1970 congress was again ingnoring the plight of Postal Employees working conditions, where most did not earn a decent wage or have benifits for working , and many worked 3 jobs to survive, or were on welfare, working for the USPO which was behind in paying a fair days wage for a fair days work, so the great postal strike took place, and after the dust had settled, the workers in the USPO began to get wage increases and benfits keeping up with the private sector, the collective bargaining rights were re-enforced to enable this in the postal system and the no strike law came in to being and the USP0 was changed to the USPS taken out of the Presidents cabinet where before many of the managers of the post office were politcal appointees and could and did have greed and graft to run the USPS, with this the USPS was to operate more like a business model .

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    In 2000, 2001, postal employees were made to pay in an extra 15 percent to their retirment systems known as fers, or federal employee retirement system and csrs or civil service retirment system the older stystem that did not include social security for workers, where fers is 3 teir aide in retirment, social security, retirement and matching funds if desired of a 401 k, out of employees checks the retirment comes with matchinf funds from the USPS, the extra 15 percent was paid in under the 1997 budget reconcilation act, for budget reasons only, and the postal workers were thanked by both the President and Congress for their ‘sacrfice” at a time when Americans were getting tax cuts they had a tax increase . The Increase was removed from the Presidents budget in 2002, and new legislation began plus a report to Congress that the USPS had paid in full its obligation to the fers and csrs and also overpaid or overfunded the retirment accounts, fers was overfunded by 15 billion and csrs by 140 billion.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    The new legislation was passed by voice vote not even read really into existance in 2006, basically because the retirment systems had been overpaid, or overfunded it was felt it monies were distrubuted back this would increase the deficit, so therefore the amount to be given back which amounted to about 5 billion a year, was instead charged to the USPS profits and set aside in an escrow account for the USPS to meet the obligation of retirments for workers not hired or born yet for the next 75 years in a 10 year window from 2006 until 2016, since the USPS had overpaid and overfunded the other two retirment accounts. This was called the Postal Accounitiblity and Enhancement Act of 2006, signed in to law by the President at that time.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    with the event of the PAEA, as written it also included pay per performance increase for top managment since it was deemed they wanted to keep excutives and pay them in the comparable private market, so the PMG Potter at that time in 2006 recieved an increase of 72 thousand a year in pay, more benifits and proceeded to make over the cap pay of the vice president since that was stipulated by law in his pay, so doubled his pay and salary from 400,000 a year to 800,000 a year twcie what the President of the United States makes and got a retirment package in 2010 worth 5, 5 million dollars ( I believe anually) so did the rest of the 12 top executives meanwhile due to the paea non replacment of attrition due to overpaid retirment , began to take place in the lower craft or labor employees known as federal taxpayers, who had an increase of tax and now were being basiclaly being told non replacmeent of people workign with them sometimes on a 3 to 1 ration where they are expected to do more for the same amount of money, so working staff below top executives and managment are having increased stress in the workforce due to the paea. For information to read up on the matter the link to the American Postal Workers Union, 3800 first area tricounty local, PA , library can be read online, in the stress in the workplace artical copywritten in 2008, called, ” How the ongoing violation of the USPS guiding principles are creating a toxic work enviroment. “

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    the us labor deptarment is in charge under the post master general for the running and managment of the USPS, followed by postmasters of which that is their union, then there is the nalc or national association of letter carriers union ( of which you can to to their website and read of the great postal strike ) and then the APWU americn postal workers union or clerking craft, and then the rra, or rural route assoicaiton workers, so in every office there are usually 4 unions and the US Labor dept is repsonsible for staffing but due to the paea is currently enforcing under the pmg non replacment of attrition due to the paea.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    post masters usually get pay per perfomance pay in order to micromange workers, thus the case of death of a letter carrier in mousouri recently last summer due to the understaffind and non repalcement of attrition, for which osha investigated due to the media coverage and fined the post office 70 thousand not the labor dept for mistreament of an employee.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Nostdahl/1025990186 Val Nostdahl

    postal comments to the federal trade commision can be read online, dated august 6, 2007

  • http://www.thesmarttrain.com/ Elaine Rogers

    I am so pleased the term social business is now used extensively – it’s such an important aspect of all business, and can help remove the stigmas around formal business (inc that fear you mention)
    Great comprehensive post John!

  • John Twohig

    Thanks Elaine, got you on Biz Sugar:)

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