For the past decade, I have consistently been one of the highest grossing freelance writers on Upwork (formerly Elance and oDesk), the largest freelance job site around. In four of those years, I was the #1 individual in the world for the writing category, and I can only describe those times as a true snowball effect.  I literally went from being slow in the spring of 2004 to having more work than I could ever possibly handle by that summer.  Then in 2005, I had an entire team of writers working with me and countless invitations bombarding my inbox every single day.

In fact, when Elance was transforming over to Upwork, I was the very first freelancer on the entire paltform that they reached out to for feedback.  It may sound silly but I’ve always worn that interaction like a badge of honor.  I can tell you firsthand that the talented people behind the scenes at Upwork really care about you and their clients.

Of course, I’m not saying all of that to brag- I just want to illustrate that I am incredibly good at landing jobs on Upwork.  With some luck, I’ll teach you here today how to replicate my success.  Fair warning though- this isn’t a “get rich quick” or “scam the system” type of guide.  I can teach you how to land virtually any freelance job, but there’s also going to be a lot of work involved as well.

So where do you start?  Let’s find out…

If you wanted to be a lumberjack, then you’d have chainsaws, axes, blade sharpeners, gas, oil and all the other tools of the trade, right?

So if you want to be a freelance superstar on Upwork, you need to acquire those same types of tools.  For instance, take a quick tour of my website- look at the branding, content and calls to action on each page.  This appears to be a huge company, right?  But it’s not, it’s just me and a couple of part time folks that help out.  So whenever someone asks for an example of a site I’ve worked on, you’d better believe that this is the very first place I send them.

Think about that- my best portfolio piece is my own business.  Can you see how that would make sense to a client?

Now, that doesn’t mean that you need an expensive looking website to impress people.  But you shoud have at least a full portfolio laid out somewhere online- even if it’s on Google+.  You need one place where a client can take a look and think, “Oh wow, this person is the real deal.”  This will be your #1 sales tool throughout your career BY A LONGSHOT.

Tools of the Freelance Trade

Likewise, you want to have the other tools of the trade as well.  That means getting certified by Google for development, AdWords or analytics.  Then head over to HubSpot and get certified in Inbound Marketing, design, content marketing, or wherever your expertise happens to be.  Moz also offers an SEO course on Udemy so you can get up to speed there- these are steps that most amateurs won’t bother with.

Then there are the skills tests on Upwork itself- clients actually pay close attention to these kinds of things.

Finally, there is your Upwork portfolio; it should be 100% completed with awesome content.  That means linking to your previous work, providing full descriptions, sharing why you’re the perfect candidate for the job and what to expect when working with you.  My Upwork profile still earns me at least 1 or 2 invites a week from people who find it in Google search engines.

One other thing you need to have in your arsenal- if you send clients SEO/analytics reports, wireframes, work summaries or anything else outside of the regular chat, you need to create branded documents with your logo and business/portfolio info in the headers and footers.

If you don’t have a logo yet, then design one on Canva for free.  It’s the most no-nonsense place I’ve found.

When a client posts a job on Upwork, Freelancer, iWriter or any freelance paltform, it’s almost like a fishing expedition.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve posted an ad to hire an extra writer and every sinlge application was just boring.  Here’s what 99% of all freelancer place in a proposal-

• Their name and how long they’ve been in the biz
• A few generic sentences about how they’re an expert
• The price they’d charge for the project
• End with something like, “I hope that we can talk soon!”

As a client, when you see 15-20 proposals that look exactly the same, it’s almost impossible to distinguish one applicant from another.  And when that happens, the client either decides to not hire anyone or they pick either the highest or the lowest possible bid…depending whether they’re searching for quality or value.  Most of the time though, they just walk away because they’re not impressed.

This also goes back to your portfolios as well (on Upwork and on another website).  When all the proposals stink, then the client will sometimes browse through the freelancer’s job history to see what others have said.  And if you’re not shining in that aspect, then it’s almost impossible for you to ever get hired for anytihng…except crappy jobs for low pay from crappy clients.

Writing a Killer Proposal

Here’s how I write a proposal on Upwork-

1)  I look through the client’s job history, click on a past job, and find the client’s username (You can’t see it in the current job page until after you apply- this is a quick little workarond.).  Then I Google that username to try to get a clue of who they are, what they do, etc.

2)  If I can find out what the business is, then I’ll visit their website and look at it critically.  What could they do better to impress customers?  Where are they losing out on a great call to action?  Are there awesome graphics, videos, and other stuff to make the page engaging?  How easy is their navigation to use?  I look at all of that stuff.

3)  From there, I use the business website to figure out who posted the ad.  Then I’ll look them up on Facebook and LinkedIn to see if we have anything in common.  If not, is there something there I can use as an ice-breaker?

4)  Finally, I’ll make their job requirements almost an afterthought in the conversation by focusing on what the client really needs.  NOTE- that’s way different from what they want to hear!

What does that mean?  

Let’s say that a client is looking to hire someone to create an email marketing campaign or sales funnel.  In my proposal, I’ll actually tell them NOT TO hire anyone because their website is not optimized for people.  Why would you let a client spend a thousand bucks to get people on their website when it’s not going to help them sell?  You always optimize the website and the calls to action first.  

By not actually bidding on the project, I accomplished something that 99% of all freelancers goof up- I proved my value without ever having to brag.  I also showed that I was loyal to them and not the money.  Clients will reply almost 100% of the time in those situations and they’ll ask me to tune up their website…then they’ll have me do the email marketing campaign afterwards.

Learning to Break the Ice

If that’s not an option, then I’ll use one of those ice breakers to show that I did my homework.  For instance, I sent a proposal the other week that started with, “I see that you just got back from vacationing in Orlando…did you happen to go to Disney Wolrd?”  Of course, I know they did because there was about 50 pictures with their kids and Minnie Mouse.  That’s how you break the ice though…you find something to start a conversation with.

The lesson here is to make sure that you’re completely different from every other applicant by paying attention to the client’s needs, writing a personalized proposal and tying in anything that the average person won’t bother to look up.  You’ll be amazed at how many doors will open for you quickly.

Want to hear about how I landed my first Fortune 500 client on Upwork?  I absoluely love this story.

About seven years ago, I hopped on Elance late one night just to see if anyone on the West Coast was posting a project before bed.  I’ve learned that if you can get your proposal in before anyone else and it impresses, then you have a decent chance of landing the job on the spot without any competition.

So I would check the job feeds fairly often back then- usually 3-5 times a day minimum.

Anyway, I see a project for writing a post card for an upcoming charity event with a budget of fifty bucks.  And I’m thinking a post card?  That’s almost not even a job.  I have a policy of never charging charities anything if I can help it but at the time, the minimum bid on Elance was $25 if you didn’t want to get penalized.  So I bid $25 for a series of five postcards, with visual cues for the front and the copy for the other side.

Now, the client didn’t ask for any of that…she only wanted the writing.  But it was for a good cause so I tried my best to go way above and beyond in any way that I could.  Even so, I spent maybe 30 minutes total on this project before sending it back to the client.  She was absolutely thrilled.

About a week later, the same client emails me and says, “Have you ever written a video script?  I work for <massive, huge company>  and I need five scripts for one of our major clients- I could pay you up to $1,000 if you could complete them within the next 3-4 days.”

Naturally I was blown away- I had no idea who I had volunteered for.  But it made sense; highly sucessful people are more likely to be involved with big charities.  And I happened to get on this person’s good side over a simple $25 project.

Over the last 7 years, I have billed this one client in excess of a half million dollars.  She’s also referred me to two others on the Upwork platform that add up to an additional $175,000 in freelance work.

The Art of Landing Small Projects

Personally, I love bidding on small projects that can show off my abilities because I know for a fact that the client will come right back to me the next time they need something.  So while others only bid on the jobs with $500 or $1,000+ budgets, I don’t pay any attention to the numbers part of the equation.  I just look for users with a history of projects and good feedback- if they have that, then I’ll spend two minutes researching them and try to get them on board.

Here’s the thing though- if I had delivered $25 worth of postcard copy, then that client may have never reached out to me again.  She loved me because I went above and beyond for a complete stranger…that’s how you prove your worth.

So remember this- there’s no such thing as a lousy job on Upwork.  If you earn great feedback and get the chance for more work later on, then it’s a win/win situation.  And you can always decline recurring projects down the road if the money is not adding up.  That feedback and making a great impression is literally priceless though- I initially built my Elance profile $25 and $50 bucks at a time.

The Joys of Scam Artists

In fact, I remember an early job- maybe the worst project I ever accepted on Elance.  It was for a “short eBook” on the driving laws in Australia, and the client said that he would be fully involved with the project and do all the research.  The proposal said to write around 15 pages and he was offering $300.  So even though the money was lousy, I said what the heck.

Only, the client completely lied- he didn’t share any research at all.  In fact, he didn’t do anything but make additional demands.  He changed the page count to 25 pages and then 35…all while promising me a hefty bonus at the end.  The end product was 42 pages AND I did all the formatting for it.

But all of a sudden, the client wouldn’t respond.  I could see that he was logging into Elance, yet he wouldn’t reply, release the payment or talk about that huge bonus he promised.  So I’m contacting customer support and screaming bloody murder…this crook ripped me off!  They did initially get the $300 released to me though since the client was non-responsive.

Nightmare job, right?

Of course it was.  Yet, I received an invite for an eBook job about seven months later from a really, really good client.  This person happened to like my profile and then he noticed that project, which convinced him to reach out.  So even bad projects pay off if you deliver quality work.

I’ve saved the best (or possibly the worst) for last since this is something a lot of people won’t want to hear.  To succeed on Upwork, you only have to do one thing well- impress clients.

Throughout this article I’ve given you almost everything that you need to shoot up to the top of the ranks…there’s only one little thing missing.  Your work ethic.  Are you willing to go above and beyond for evey client?  Have you created an awesome portfolio, stationery and all the other tools of the trade?  Can you guarantee that you’ll never miss a deadline?  Will you research clients inside and out before applying (with a custom proposal)?

These are all the things that the best of the best do on a daily basis.

Over the years, I have literally trained hundreds of writers, digital marketers, SEO professionals and copywriters at all stages of their career.  And if there was one thing that the vast majority were lacking, it would have to be an amazing work ethic to consistently go above and beyond.  They wanted to put out minimal effort and receive great pay…that’s just not how the freelance world works.

If you’re really committed to your craft though and you’re ready to take the freelancing world by storm, then Upwork is certainly a place that you can do that.  The best advice I can give you is to be yourself, work hard and always overdeliver for your clients.  Focus on building actual relationships as well- that’s what clients are ultimately looking for.  The last thing they want to do is scan through dozens of postings every week, they’d rather just hire that last person who did such a great job.

So become that person who always leaves clients with a smile on their face.  Then the frelance world will literally be your oyster.

By the way, I LOVE netowkring and comparing notes!  If you’ve had a different experience on Upwork or see anything that I’ve missed, feel free to share it in the comments section below.

After all, if you want a great cup of coffee, then you would visit the best coffee shop in your town.  If you need a new suit, then you go to the premiere tailor around.  So why wouldn’t you hire a website designer to help you build a great website?

To put it simply, a freelance website designer is good for only one thing- coding HTML into websites.  And for the sake of argument, let’s say that you do need a website built.  Should you hire one then?

No.  Heck no.  Don’t even think about it.  That’s a big mistake Mister.  Do not hire a website designer and expect random miracles.

Why?  The initial coding elements of your website are a minor part of the overall picture compared to things like design, branding, marketing, search optimization and customer engagement.  The vast majority of web designers don’t know about any of those things, so they’re definitely not the one you want leading your online face lift for the masses to see.  Choose a creative design firm instead.

If that’s not enough to sway you to never hire a website designer, then here are 27 more things to consider-

1) Can you speak in HTML, PHP or Klingon?

Let’s start with what websites designers are actually good at; programming in languages like PHP and HTML, plus brushing up on their Star Trek lingo for this summer’s Comic-Con.  Since you don’t speak these languages though, then you’re going to have no idea how to make any adjustments.

3) Are you a genuine WordPress expert?

Let’s say that you do hire a website designer and they deliver you a site as promised.  Now what?  Do you know your way around WordPress enough to actually turn an empty domain into a place that potential customers would want to visit?

A website designer is a person who takes instructions and works with code to make your idea come to life.  But well over 90% of them now very little about how to attract customers or make a website become popular.

5) Do you enjoy being frequently lied to?

Now, we’re not saying that website designers are liars, because most of them have the best intentions in the world when they say that they can design your new website from top to bottom in a few weeks.  But again, they’re thinking about code and the bare minimum of back-end stuff to make something qualify as an actual website.  All of your content marketing, lead banners and images in place are a completely different story.

If you hire a website designer with the sole intention of driving sales or attracting new customers, then that’s the very first question you should ask- can you prove that you can do that kind of stuff?

6) Do you follow the latest SEO algorithm trends?

If you do then that’s great, because your web designer almost certainly doesn’t.  He has to keep up with new programming languages and the latest apps/tools instead.  That means you’ll have to do a lot of reading on Moz and HubSpot for hiring a website designer.

There’s another inherent problem here though- and that’s Google’s inherent love towards innovative online businesses that strive to make customers happy.  If you hire a website designer that’s not studying these trends and continually expanding their strategies, then you’ve already lost before your website is even built. 

And don’t even get me started on those “specialty website design firms” that essentially sell everyone the exact same website over and over again- the automotive world wastes billions of dollars every year on websites that will never, ever draw customers because of poor design and horrible SEO.

8) Can you create an effective banner ad?

Since sites like Canva and BeFunky make it easy for almost anyone to get their art on, then maybe you can crank out a decent looking banner all by yourself.  But do you know how to upload it and link it to your squeeze page?  Can you configure it with your lead generation software?

Probably not…and neither can your web designer.  That’s why you never hire a website designer to handle creative aspects of your domain (HINT- which should be the ENTIRE FREAKING WEBSITE!)

9) Do you like people who overstate their credentials?

Unfortunately, most website developers earn a bad rap because people have no idea what they’re looking for when hiring a professional.  So here’s a little cheat sheet-

• Web developers install themes and write code
• Programmers create apps, often from scratch
• Designers make pretty page layouts & graphics
• Copywriters and bloggers handle your site’s content
• Marketers focus on traffic and generating leads
• Analysts dig deep into the data to find insights

Very rarely will one person have some serious skills in all of these areas since each can take decades to master.  That’s why you hire a digital marketing team instead of a web developer.

10) Do you prefer face to face business meetings? 

If so, then your boss will either laugh or cry when the “website guru” you hired shows up in the board room wearing cutoff jeans, a tie-died tee shirt, and flip flops.  Either way; you’re probably in for an ear-full from the VP of Common Sense after the meeting adjourns.

Not that web designers can get dressed up for a meeting, mind you…that’s not really the point here.  You need a firm representing your brand online that understands business, marketing, sales projections, customer loyalty and all that good stuff that really matters.

11) Does your company work late-night?

If so, then hiring a website developer may not be such a bad idea after all.  That’s because a large portion of the top web geeks tend to work well into the night and sleep until noon…just because they can.

Between that and Halo tournaments, that’s essentially why it takes three weeks for you to get a simple answer.

On the bright side though, if you hire a foreign web designer then his nights are your days so everything works out perfectly!  That is, as long as you have enough time to overcome the language barriers.

13) How important are overall results anyway?

Let’s say your boss is a big AC/DC fan and he wants the song “Highway to Hell” to auto-play on your homepage as soon as new visitors arrive.  Sounds like a pretty terrible idea, right?

Well, too bad for you that the web developer you just hired could care less about what may seem like a good or bad idea.  Their only job is to build a site and get paid…they could care less about results.  And once your boss realizes that heavy metal misses the demographic , guess who gets paid all over again?  Cha-ching!  Time to hire a web designer all over again.

Go ahead and click play though- you know you want to.  Better to get it out of your system now.

14) Hey look, the homepage is giving some random 500 error…

Oh, you actually believed that random web developer when he said that you can call him day or night?  Sorry friend, but it’s a Buffy the Vampire marathon weekend and definitely not a good time.  Maybe try back next Tuesday when his mom will be there to pick up the phone…

Seriously though, you want to hire a website designer that has a long history of great customer service.  At times it will fell like you’re married to your design firm since they play a vital role in practically everything your company does.  So focus on your relationship early and makes sure all lines of communication are wide open.

15) Are you looking for results-based quality?

Surely by now you’ve seen a little bit of a pattern forming here…it’s not just in your head.  The average web developer knows absolutely zero about actual design, marketing, search optimization or your customers, so they can only deliver a mere fraction of what you’re looking for.

That’s what I’ve been saying all along here; do not hire a website designer if you’re looking for the total package.  Such a person doesn’t exist in the modern world unless you’re looking to spend $150/hr for the next 18 months.

16) What if I want to work directly with a top-level programmer?

Here’s a little secret for you- the rock star programmers in today’s world are earning comfortably in the six-figure range creating apps and future technologies.  The few that do develop websites are often either-

·         Making their own custom themes and affiliate sites, or

·         Earning a huge paycheck with a top-tier agency/corporation

Either way, there are only a small handful of top-tier website developers out there that still build websites from scratch.  The rest use platforms like WordPress or Joomla.

18) Do you take deadlines even halfway seriously?

Was Picasso given timelines when creating a masterpiece?  Heck no…and he didn’t even know C+ Basic.  So when you’re braving the world of programmers and building something from scratch, there’s no such thing as a timeline for actual launch.  You can be given estimates, but definitely not any sort of deadline.

To be fair, you can experience this type of setback with any reputable design firm if communication breaks down or you simply like watching underlings dance in terror.  That’s why you never want to hire a website designer without properly vetting them first- grab the phone and call a few of their previous clients directly.  Just because their site is pretty doesn’t mean it didn’t finish six months late and $15k over budget.

20) Wait- there are cheap AND talented foreign website developers?

Definitely, and you can find some world-class developers from Pakistan, India and similar regions for less than $200 a week for full time work.  But be warned; there are many language and cultural barriers that will drive you absolutely nuts if you don’t know what you actually need completed.

These are super-friendly, hardworking people that really aim to please…just be prepared for quite a long trial and error period.  If you do hire a website designer from overseas, then it would be a great idea to start with a consultation from a reputable digital marketing firm here in the USA (hint, hint- that’s us!) and have them manage the project with your cheap labor.

21) Are you a true patriot?

Of course you are…so why are we talking about hiring foreign web developers and putting some hard working American college graduate out on the streets?  You should be ashamed of yourself for even entertaining the notion!

Then again, what’s more American than saving money on business expenses?  There are certainly pros and cons to hiring individuals overseas so I’ll let you decide how to proceed there.

22) How versed are you on finding and optimizing keywords?

These days, it is almost impossible to appear on the first page of the search engines for your major keywords by accident.  Ranking a website is a process that’s both time consuming and highly technical; plus it takes a creative flair and a solid understand of consumers to execute correctly.  So this person with a multitude of talents either needs to be on your staff (likely for six figures), or it can be part of a creative team working on your behalf.

For you to hire a website designer that has all of these skills though, it will be like finding a needle in a haystack.  Unfortunately, the only way a designer becomes the total package is by sheer experience working with a number of leading companies and start-ups while wearing a number of different hats.  And quite honestly, these types of folks usually get hired by major corporations before you’ll ever find them.

23) What is your actual end goal with web design?

Most people would answer this question by saying, “I want to make more sales or gather more leads.”  That’s what we all want from our websites.  But the only way to achieve that is by having a fully optimized website that engages your customers and answers their most pressing questions.

Remember that getting the customers to your domain is only half the battle…the rest is convincing them to stick around and actually experience your brand.

24) Who’s going to hold your web developer accountable?

Hopefully you’re not the type that listens to some fast talking salesman and then says, “Sure, let’s run with it!”  Since you don’t personally know website design or the many other skills it requires to make a website rank favorably, it will be impossible for you to hold a web developer accountable or even guide them in the right direction.

That means you either need someone on your staff that understands tech or you need to partner with a firm that has earned your trust through delivering actual results.  If you just hire a website designer off the streets though because you saw their spammy ad on Facebook, there’s very little chance that they’ll have your best interests at heart.  After all, they’ve already proven that they have a quantity over quality mentality.

26) How do you measure success and failure online?

When a website visitor stumbles on your website, how do you know whether they had a great customer experience?  Where’d they even come from?  What do they want?  Is anyone actually paying attention to this sort of stuff?  You need answers to these difficult questions and very few website developers are qualified to be the one interpreting it.

If this is starting to sound like a broken record, that’s because you should never hire a website designer that doesn’t talk about conversion rates, click-through rates, time on site and all the other metrics that mean your customers are actually being engaged.

27) Why are you so negative about website developers anyway?

Like I’ve mentioned several times already, I have nothing against web developers since they are essential for both my business and yours.  I just want for it to be crystal clear in your mind that website development is a very small (although important) aspect of your complete online presence.  Web developers are generally weak at copywriting, photography, graphic design, search optimization, lead generation and marketing…which are all vital to your success.

So you absolutely, positively need to hire a website designer…but you don’t want that person in charge of your overall campaign.  Would you recommend an awesome mechanic to be the next VP of Marketing at Ford or Chrysler?  Of course not- the same principle applies to hiring web developers.

Have any good horror stories from hiring a website developer?  Did I miss something in my list?  Feel free to share away in the comment section below.

It’s no secret that search engine optimization has changed drastically over the years as Google continuously adapts to reward the most helpful websites with coveted first page rankings.  And for the average small business owner or entrepreneur that’s on the outside looking in, it can seem like executing the perfect SEO strategy is nearly impossib

What if I told you, however, that everything you need to know about search optimization is summarized in the very first sentence on this page?

Go ahead and look again if you don’t believe me- I’ll sit here and wait while you do it.

The websites that go out of their way to help their customers the most are the ones that SHOULD rank at the tops of the search engines.  That was the goal in 1991 and it’s still the goal today.  The only thing that’s really changed is that Google and Bing have become much better at detecting unsavory tactics that allow websites to artificially rank, but the goal still remains exactly the same.

So as we work through this guide together, I want you to remember one universal truth that can guarantee your excellent search placement for the next fifty years- the site with the best content should always win.

That means that as long as you’re making serious efforts to bolster your customer’s online experience, you will remain in favor with the search engines and continuously see improved results.  It really is that simple.

Since this is an official SEO Strategy Guide, however, then you’ll probably want a little more detail than that to work with.  So let’s get down to some key points of interest for your search optimization strategy.

Old-school search optimization depended largely on stuffing keywords, cranking out tremendous amounts of content and getting any form of backlinks to your website.

The Internet back then was like the Wild West; everything was available for the taking if you didn’t mind being called an outlaw.  And that’s why quality was almost an afterthought over the past two decades, the search engines did not have a strong enough algorithm in place to properly identify what we now call spam.

I won’t lie to you- some of those tactics still perform well with the major search engines these days.  You can still take a few shortcuts building backlinks and almost any form of traffic is still considered a positive signal, even if it comes from spammy sources that have no interest at all with your brand.  These black hat methods are becoming harder and harder to execute properly though, and there’s one crucial thing you have to remember about being an outlaw-

Outlaws eventually end up dead or in jail.  So stop trying to be an SEO outlaw, even if think you’re the quickest draw in the West.

• DO create informative content to educate your customers
• DO update your FAQ and core information pages
• DO commit to a weekly blog about your industry
• DO share your blogs on social channels to increase engagement
• Do focus on a quality over quantity approach
• Do update or remove poorly written pages
• Do post content that leads to additional actions (read more, call, opt-in, etc.)

So when it comes to content for your website, don’t even think about taking shortcuts in 2016 and beyond.  Everything you post should engage your audience and help them learn a little bit more about your brand.  That means you should be getting down to the nitty-gritty and sharing precise details about anything and everything your customers have questions about, and it should be written in a way that just makes sense.

Let’s talk about backlink building as a search optimization method for a moment…and I’ll start with an obligatory, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position.  We are about to experience some severe turbulence.”

Over the past few years, creating a solid backlink profile has become increasingly difficult.  Let’s just look at what Google tells you not to do-

• DO NOT guest post on websites with questionable ethics
• DO NOT leave random comments with your link in it
• DO NOT buy backlinks under any circumstance
• DO NOT swap backlinks with other websites
• DO NOT associate yourself with any spammy site
• DO NOT use the same anchor text across most of your links

That’s where we reach the turbulence part of this journey, because chances are pretty darn good that you’ve violated some or all of those guidelines over the past few years.  If that’s the case, then we strongly recommend that you disavow your less-than-reputable backlinks since your website is likely facing penalties because of it.

With that said, link building strategies have not changed much over the past year other than to avoid the ComLuv’s of the world that Google has clearly blacklisted.  In fact, you should probably forget about any form of guest blogging where you’re permitted to insert a backlink straight to your website, unless it’s in an author bio.  There are still tens of thousands of quality content sites to write for out there as well- just use a little more caution this time around.

Social media is still a powerful way to receive natural backlinks as well, and Google vastly prefers this approach since others are choosing to talk about you on their own sites.  Other solid opportunities for gaining backlinks are creating highly-sharable content like infographics or case studies, utilizing directories within your niche, press releases and blogging about authorities within your industry.

One more word on backlinks before we move on.  Remember that your profile does not need dozens of backlinks to every possible page in order to achieve solid overall rankings; this is the old-school formula for grey hat SEO and it is completely unnecessary.  The search engines would rather see a handful of natural high authority links to your domain over thousands of weaker ones, so make sure your focus remains on quality partnerships.

Let’s talk about backlink building as a search optimization method for a moment…and I’ll start with an obligatory, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position.  We are about to experience some severe turbulence.”

Over the past few years, creating a solid backlink profile has become increasingly difficult.  Let’s just look at what Google tells you not to do-

• DO NOT guest post on websites with questionable ethics
• DO NOT leave random comments with your link in it
• DO NOT buy backlinks under any circumstance
• DO NOT swap backlinks with other websites
• DO NOT associate yourself with any spammy site
• DO NOT use the same anchor text across most of your links

That’s where we reach the turbulence part of this journey, because chances are pretty darn good that you’ve violated some or all of those guidelines over the past few years.  If that’s the case, then we strongly recommend that you disavow your less-than-reputable backlinks since your website is likely facing penalties because of it.

With that said, link building strategies have not changed much over the past year other than to avoid the ComLuv’s of the world that Google has clearly blacklisted.  In fact, you should probably forget about any form of guest blogging where you’re permitted to insert a backlink straight to your website, unless it’s in an author bio.  There are still tens of thousands of quality content sites to write for out there as well- just use a little more caution this time around.

Social media is still a powerful way to receive natural backlinks as well, and Google vastly prefers this approach since others are choosing to talk about you on their own sites.  Other solid opportunities for gaining backlinks are creating highly-sharable content like infographics or case studies, utilizing directories within your niche, press releases and blogging about authorities within your industry.

One more word on backlinks before we move on.  Remember that your profile does not need dozens of backlinks to every possible page in order to achieve solid overall rankings; this is the old-school formula for grey hat SEO and it is completely unnecessary.  The search engines would rather see a handful of natural high authority links to your domain over thousands of weaker ones, so make sure your focus remains on quality partnerships.

Here’s a statistic worth remembering- almost 80% of all mobile searches in the United States directly lead to a purchase.  Since almost 73% of those purchases occur in local brick and mortar stores, local search optimization (AKA Google Maps) should definitely become one of the most important parts of your overall SEO strategy in 2017 and beyond.

How do you optimize for the local search engines?

• Create/verify your listings with all the major search engines
• Complete the certification process to show that it’s your business
• Complete your profile 100% (photos, categories, descriptions, etc.)
• List a local contact phone number in your profile
• Repeat this process on major directories (Yellow Pages, Yelp, etc.)
• Ask your best customers for honest reviews/ratings
• Build backlinks from social and authority sites
• Focus on your main website’s core engagement levels

Essentially, Google and Bing want to see you treat your local search profiles exactly like you would your own website, so remember that the little things really do matter in this instance.  Also, make sure that each of your local search profiles uses 100% unique content for the spiders to crawl, but all of the other information should be exactly the same.  In other words, do not list different addresses, phone numbers and other information that the search engines could see as a conflict, and avoid toll free numbers altogether since they signal that you’re probably not seeking local business clients.

Quick question- why are you worried about your website’s SEO in the first place?  And before you answer, let me point you right back to the very first sentence on this page once again.  Because the answer you’re looking for should not be, “So I can make lots of money.”

Honestly, Google could care less if you are making income through your website or not.

Their only worry is that your site’s content makes visitors happy, and it is a huge red flag for the search engine giant if they see just a few paragraphs of text and a dozen or more ads.  Without even looking at anything else, they know right off the bat what your real intentions are.

• DO use appealing calls to action in contact forms
• DO ask users to visit your social sites
• DO monetize your pages in natural, logical ways
• DO offer freebies and giveaways to generate leads
• DO NOT lose focus on making great content the top priority

Now, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use ad banners and email captures on your website; just don’t do it in a way that would make people question your motives.  Remember, this is not so much about the amount of advertising, but about how much actual content there is to balance it out.

So don’t be that guy who posts 12 flashing ad banners per page- not even John Chow does that anymore…and you’re no John Chow.  That is, unless you are actually John Chow and you just happen to be reading my blog.  If that’s the case, then I guess this last section doesn’t fully apply to you.

But for everyone that’s not named John Chow, then you may want to reconsider limiting your ad-space and focusing on your actual visitors instead.

Even though you probably have a web developer that handles the heavy lifting when it comes to the back-end of your website, there are several minor issues that could cause you to lose appeal to the search engines.

I won’t dwell here though, just scan through this list of miscellaneous items that could be harming your search ranking-

• Slow loading times/not enough bandwidth
• Poor navigational structures
• Missing pages that do not properly redirect
• Broken inbound and outbound backlinks
• Images not properly labeled
• Missing H1 (main title) tags
• Lack of meta keywords & descriptions
• Plugin conflicts that affect functionality
• Suspicious redirects (possibly by hackers)

So if you see any of these issues, contact your system administrator and tell him that he stinks at his job.  Then call me to fix the issues and we can make fun of that other guy together!

You may have heard some of the experts mention that keywords are officially dead, and to some degree they are absolutely correct.

You should no longer be focused on things like keyword density or packing in as many combinations of key-phrases as you can in any given page.  This is no longer a valid tactic since the search engines have made it abundantly clear that they are more focused on your visitor’s engagement levels.

At the same time, keywords certainly do still matter, so let’s go straight to our bullet points-

• DO mention on at least one primary keyword on each page
• DO use keyword software to find popular phrases with low competition
• DO hyperlink your targeted keyword to other parts of your website
• DO hyperlink your targeted keyword to authority sites within your niche
• DO include your targeted keyword in the title, meta title, and description
• DO NOT repeat keywords just for ranking purposes
• DO NOT ever use a keyword unless it fits naturally within the text
• DO NOT forget that quality and engagement are the most important factors

To prove that, let’s do a little experiment and talk about our famous SEO Keyword Spatula, which is something that I just completely made up for testing purposes.  It does sound like a pretty cool product name though and since I bolded it, the search spiders will likely see it as being important.  Notice that we’re not actually keyword stuffing though, since the phrase is only being used twice total.

If you take peek in AdWords, the phrase “SEO keyword spatula” has zero natural competition (as expected) but it is also somewhat related to almost 600,000 similar monthly searches containing both “SEO” and “keyword” within the phrase.  And if our little experiment here works, then I should have the #1 ranking not only for the worthless phrase I just made up, but also have the opportunity for getting noticed in dozens of similar search terms that people are actively searching for.

Does that make sense? It’s sort of a backdoor ninja approach to capturing the easy stuff and possibly getting noticed in the ultra-competitive niches as well.

You should be doing the exact same thing with all of those long-tail keywords within your niche that others are not actively targeting.  And the long-term benefits of consistently searching for and using new long-tail keyphrases within your website copy can pay serious cumulative rewards.

Many people are on the fence about video marketing since Google cannot actively see the content contained within your embedded multimedia players.  Hopefully by now you’re not going to make me refer you back to the very first sentence again though; modern SEO is not about what Google sees.

It is about how your visitors react to the core content on your domain.  And if a video captures their attention while they’re visiting you, then Google doesn’t have to understand what they’re watching.  It helps you anyway.

• DO use videos to explain core products and services
• DO share videos on social sites
• DO share other videos on your site that resonate with viewers
• DO keep the majority of your videos under two minutes
• DO focus on lighting and sound quality
• DO NOT hesitate to shoot simple, first person videos with a smartphone

Here is another incredibly important piece of the puzzle for video though– the most influential video hosting website on the planet is owned by Google.  So not only does video marketing get the benefit of its very own search stream for consumers, but Google also prioritizes YouTube videos within both the natural and the video types of searches as well.  So you literally get three streams of exposure by posting one video on YouTube and embedding it into your website…and your customers will love you for it.

What does a homeless young Korean man in a singing competition have to do with SEO and video marketing?  It’s almost impossible not to be moved by his amazing journey…and that is engagement at its very finest.  However, if your videos happen to answer the specific questions that your website’s visitors are contemplating, then it is an extremely powerful sales technique as well.

So while video marketing is not a core SEO factor all by itself, the engagement that it creates certainly matters.

Throughout this guide so far, we’ve talked about the term “engagement” in almost every single section.  It is certainly one of those buzzwords that are tossed around frequently by experts, but it hardly ever seems to get properly defined either.  So let’s define it now by search engine standards.

Customer engagement refers to any positive action that is taken by a user on a website.

Any when I say “any positive action”, that’s exactly what I mean.  Think about this for a moment- the average smartphone user visits a website and qualifies it in the mind in a mere three seconds.  So if you manage to tick over to that four second mark, it’s a positive.

Not a good one, mind you, but still a plus in your favor nonetheless.

And your entire job as a website owner is to create more and more of those positive experiences so the search engines know that people are finding good stuff there.  This can include any combination of the following-

• Visiting multiple pages
• Clicking on a backlink
• Filling out a contact form
• Leaving a comment
• Sharing on social media
• Watching a video
• Downloading a file/app
• Users revisiting to your website
• Opting in for email alerts
• Giving likes, +1’s or other nods

If you look in your Google Analytics account, the search giant has been tracking these types of metrics for years now, so it only makes sense that you should keep up with these key metrics as well.  Every chance you get to create additional engagement helps your website overall, so know that your on-page metrics are as important as ever in the eyes of the search engines.

If you’re wondering how to boost your on-page statistics, just try to make each page as pleasant of an experience as possible for your visitors.  Here are just a few techniques to do that-

• DO focus on using only top notch writers
• DO keep your navigation simple
• DO add lots of visual elements to your website
• DO incorporate video, charts, and infographs
• DO use bullet points and subtitles to break up text
• DO use bold and italics to make key points stand out
• DO link internally so users have easy access to more content

If you haven’t realized it by now, search engine optimization is all about the consumer.  The more you go out of your way to provide great information and make your visitors happy, the more Yahoo, Google and Bing will reward you with a boost in natural rankings.  And even though some of the things I’ve shared so far may seem super technical and difficult to implement, I’ll tell you one more time to read the first sentence of this article- that’s close to 85% of today’s SEO right there.

As long as you’re putting forth a genuine effort to become more helpful online than all of your competition, then you will eventually outrank them…even if it’s purely by dumb luck.

So let’s recap real fast with the highlights-

1. Write great content.
2. Optimize for mobile users.
3. Focus on quality backlinks.
4. Use local to your advantage.
5. Don’t be that guy with too many ads.
6. Make sure your website loads smoothly.
7. Continue to focus on keywords.
8. Post a few videos on your site.
9. Use smart page layouts to increase engagement.
10. Always focus on pleasing your consumers.

That’s not so hard, is it?

If you have any questions about modern search optimization or want to point out a tip or two that I missed, please feel free to reach out through my contact form or leave a comment below.  I’m here to help.