I’ve been working as an SEO for over ten years now, it’s a long story, but essentially, all those years ago, I was a failing online marketer. It’s a common thread, but I was buying all the “shiney object”, “quick fix” Internet Marketing products that promised the world but delivered very little. I was chasing the dream, but couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working! Until I decided to “major” on Search Engine Optimization!

Here’s a little bit of the background story…

It’s A Big Reason For Failure

She was absolutely right, of course. I’d been self indulgent to the point of stupidity. Indeed, I asked my subscribers recently what is the one thing that they get stuck on, and being “addicted” to quick fix products was one of the biggest reasons cited. Maybe I’ll do an article about the psychology behind this at another time

To cut a  long stort short, for five years we tore it up and built a five figure per month SEO business together.

Unexpected Events

If you have read my story, you’ll know the tragic part. Just when we’d got our lifestyle and work/life balance sorted out totally, my wife tragically died. I won’t go into the whole thing again here, it is still hugely painful. But, essentially, I ripped up the business, cut it right back and went to Spain and drank myself stupid.

When I finally came to my senses, I knew I had to pick up the pieces but wanted to do if differently.

SEO Becoming More Difficult

Google had gradually been giving more and more real-estate to the big brands and authority sites. So, it’s true it was becoming more difficult to compete and also to be fully compliant. Google were giving sites that want to rank a lot more hoops to jump through. I guess that is a method of excluding the “small Guy”. So, Search Engine Optimization was becoming more comlpex for sure.

And, when I did come back properly, it took me a while to work out what was happening. Things like Rankbrian, Google’s AI engine aspect of the algorithm was taking searcher intent to a new level. It was inherently understanding search strings better and Google was becoming more query (question) based.

So, the new SEO landscape took a bit of working out.

A Pattern Of SEO

But, once I had worked it out I saw a pattern. It was a thing of beauty!

So, wanting a new business model, it made sense (to me anyway) to systemize what I could see and make it available for everyone. The idea being that small and local businesses, entrepreneurs and small online marketers would be able to compete with the big brands and SEO Agencies.

Muddy Search Engine Waters

You see, these Guys were deliberately making the SEO waters muddy. Why would they do that?

The keep the prime Google real estate for themselves – that’s why!

They wanted ot make SEO a “closed shop” so that:-

1. The Big Brands could dominate the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages)
2. The SEO Agencies could charge small and local businesses a firtune to do SEO for you.

I heard phrases like “it’s complicated”, “it’s technical”, “get it wrong and Google will exclude you forever”, “you’ll be sandboxed and once that happens there’s no escape”.

Is this a conspiracy theory?

This Is Fact!

Well, actually NO!

The issue is that these BIG Guys have realised that search traffic is absolutely the best you can get. The reason is that searchers are searching for what you have to offer. So, when they find you via search, they are musch more likely to:-

• Click
• Engage
• Sign Up
• Buy
• Become Long Term Customers

Hmmm, now that’s powerful, profitable stuff…because it’s warmer traffic

…especially when you consider the cost of ads on Facebook and Google to get colder traffic.

This is why those big brands and SEO Agencies guarded the secret so jealously!

Making SEO Accessible For Everyone

So, to make SEO accessible for the small business owner, entrepreneur and online marketer, I knew I had to clear the fog. Rip away all the smoke and mirrors that had been deflecting people from the truth about SEO.

The way to do this was take those patterns I’d found and systemize them!

So, SEO Acadmy is checklist based. Yes, there are video trainings that show you how to do everything in point and click detail, but…

…each and every aspect of SEO is backed up by a checklist. This makes SEO simple and easy. You’ll know what you need to do and when. You watch the video, take the action, check it off on the list.

Nothing gets left out, nothing is left to chance, your SEO is right first time, every time!

Here’s a quick overview video

Who Does This Work For?

The short answer – any business that has an online presence!

• Small business
• Entrepreneurs
• Online marketers
• ECom stores
• Online training
• Local business

Check Out SEO Academy

So, if you want to claim the SERPS real estate you and your business deserve, check out SEO Academy.

I’m here to tell you, you CAN compete with the Big Boys, In fact, it’s your right to be there at the top of the search engines. And, SEO Academy and all of the amazing bonuses ensure you can compete on your own terms.

Here’s the truncated sales video…

Click HERE To Get SEO Academy TODAY 

Massively Discounted Launch Price…

… Ending SOON

I made a video for the SMM Mastermind group on on-page SEO. I actually did a Zoom on Search Engine Optimisatioon and forgot to press the record button!

So, I had to re-record!

Anyway, I know SEO is seen as something of a dark art, but really the on-page aspects of it are really quite simple. So, here’s some pure content training regards on-page search engine optimisation and how to set up your website and specific webpages for best SEO effect.

The Rules For On-Page Search Optimisation?

• Subject specific
• Cover the subject in depth
• Make the content engaging
• Use rich media (words, video, images etc)

I hope you find this useful, let me know what you think in the messages below, or if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

If you want to see the page mentioned in the video, it’s HERE.

If you want to learn about SEO in more depth, check out this post on SEO Academy.

I’ve been doing Search Engine Optimization for getting on for seven years now, and I can tell you for free that SEO is more difficult than ever as we move in to 2019.

Why is SEO tougher in 2019? Well, here’s a quick video I recorded to show you some examples. I’ve also added some comment beneath with further explanations and points.

What Does Google Want?

To add to the examples I gave in the video, I think that Google wants to see a few things before it will give you rankings

1. The content is good and informative and indeed useful for the reader. They want to see that, if people land on the page , they stay on the page and engage. Now this is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. It could be argued that unless a page is ranked it’s not going to get found and clicked on…let alone anyone sticking around to read and engage with the content. Search engine optimisation is very much Google’s ball, of course. So, they dictate the rules and unfortunately, we have no option but to play by their SEO rules.

2. They want to see big content that is rich in media (images, videos). Neil Patel will tell you the optimum length for an article is 1,890 words. Neil does some seriously detailed research and is worth following if you want to take search engine optimisation further. You can find his site at the link above.

3. They want to see that you are an “authority” on the subject matter.

4. They want to see the page stay online and the content evolve.

5. They want to see backlinks build gradually over a period of time.

6. They want to see increasing social signals pointing at the content as a source of refrence for others.

SEO – A Different Game In 2019

So, as you can see, SEO is a very different game. Yes, a couple of PBN link backs and that used to be enough to get pretty much any content in the SERPS. Now, you need all of the above.

And, even then, there are no guarantees as I mentioned in the video with my Online Business Mentor post. It is my belief that this content is genuinely helpful to anyone who is looking to build an online business. It is also useful for anyone looking for a mentor or mastermind group to help them do that.

But, despite a concerted SEO campaign, I am only showing some low initial rankings. I’m not easily beaten of course! I will get the page ranked for most of the target keywords, but as I said, it does now take more time.

So, the bottom line is that search engine optimization is still very much a valid online marketing technique. However, you have to bear in mind, Google will give priority to sites with the highest authority in any given niche.

You also have to bear in mind that, in 2019, SEO is a much longer game.

It should be a strategic part of your online marketing arsenal for sure. But you should accept that, as a small business, you are unlikely to achieve everything you want from inplementing it.

Google’s Perspective

I guess you can see it from Google’s perspective!

Firstly, they want to maximise profits. That is why ads and Google shopping are becoming more prominent.

They would argue the snack pack allows local small businesses who take the trouble to claim some meaningful online real estate.

Secondly, Google will (and do) argue that it is all about user experience. The more authority a site has, the better placed they are to provide a better user experience. Maybe even the more qualified. Certainly the core algorithm, update of 1st August 2018 (dubbed “The Medic”) gave preference (in a big way) to sites Google perceive as authoratative.

Overcoming SEO Limitations

There are, of course, ways and means around this. In my 2015 product Keyword Cash Loophole (which I am currently re-writing for 2019), I taught you how to dig deep into niches to find profitable keywords.

This is certainly one way around the problem. To find keywords the authority sites are not targeting. If these keywords attract the same market but have low competition, you have a “route in” to the SERPS.

YouTube As An Alternative

I am also developing a YouTube technique based around similar research techniques. I think YouTube will be easier to manipulate for the next 2-3 years. And, whilst it is owned by Google, it is still quicker and easier to get rankings on the platform. YouTube is now the world’s second biggest search engine behind Google itself.

I understand YouTube is much more “how to” based whereas Google is more knowledge based. However, keywords and phrases can be manipulated to reflect this. The way to think about this is…”if you want to know something Google it, if you want to find out how to do something, search it on YouTube” – wise words.

I hope you found that useful, if so, please add a comment or follow me on YouTube.

Want to know about SEO now we’re deep into 2020? What’s changed? What’s new? Check out my extensive review pf my new SEO product SEO Academy.

Today I’ve made a video for you about how to use IFTTT. If you have not heard of this, it’s a free site that allows you to automate syndication of your content across the Internet. You can use anything as your base link and syndicate to pretty much any media across then entire Web. It’s a rather cool tool and you can find it at https://ifttt.com/

You will need to set yourself up an account to use the service, but it takes a couple of minutes and is well worth while.

To give you an example, you can take an RSS feed and every time there is a new post, make a tweet about it, or post it to Facebook, send it to Tumblr or Blogger. The permutations are endless. You can even update your Hive over IFTTT for goodness sakes!

Images to Pinterest, Instagram, whatever you can conceive pretty much, IFTTT can do for you. BUT, be warned there are quirks, and I make a recommendation to you for dealing with them.

But first up check out the power of IFTTT with this 7 minute video.

As I said in the video, you can quite easily penalize your site if you use IFTTT wrongly, so it is worth checking out the IFTTT SEO Academy or maybe some other training on the subject. You need to get this right if you are going to use it, but get it right and it is pretty powerful.

Get IFTTT Academy HERE

catch you soon.

Derek