16 replies to this topic

[shakin318]

I have a 4 page site for my small business, content on those 4 pages really has no reason to change other than if I choose to change it occasionally to keep it "fresh." I added a wordpress blog as a subdirectory (and a 5th page in my main navigation), in other words the wp blog is www.mysite/wordpress. I'm writing articles on the blog that give tips and insight for people who may be interested in what my company offers (casino parties -- please note that we are NOT a gambling site or comapny -- we offer casino entertainment that amounts to bringing casino tables to house parties and fundraisers -- guests DO NOT gamble for money -- it is all "funny money" and playing for prizes that the hosts provide! I point this out simply so I don't get "blacklisted' here for being a "gambling" site or company -- which we are NOT!!)

My question is do the search engines consider that /wordpress page as much a part of my site as every other page? I plan on writing useful and interesting non-salesy articles (I'm a professional copywriter by trade, the casino party business is my "second" job, as anyone living on Long Island can tell you is almost mandatory!)...I'm hoping to use this wp blog as something that will garner backlinks, and keep the search engines satisfied in their "new content" reviews.

Just wondering if it is a useful endeavor, or if creating a separate URL for the blog and then backlinking that to my business site would be more useful.

Thank you in advance for your comments!

[Jill]

If the wordpress blog is on your domain and you link to and from it then of course it's part of your site.

But if you think there's some advantage to "fresh" content, you may be mistaken about that.

[qwerty]

But if you think there's some advantage to "fresh" content, you may be mistaken about that.

True, but there is an advantage to lots of informative content. And if you should ever happen to write a blog post that's relevant to something in the news, the freshness of that post is likely to help, albeit temporarily.

[Michael Martinez]

I wouldn't want to think in terms of fresh content so much as in terms of content that is relevant to whatever people are talking about and looking for today. Some content is considered to be 'evergreen". It's as relevant today as it was six years ago. But changing trends in your industry may make it difficult to write evergreen content, so revisiting topics year after year helps you stay relevant to the current market.

[shakin318]

Thanks for your replies. I guess this gets into an area that I've been wondering about -- it seems that when I'm reading about SEO and what to do with "your site" the overwhelming majority of site owners are either blogging and hoping to make money off of ad clicks on their site, or they are online merchants that can make direct sales on their site. I am neither. I have a small business on Long Island for which my web site is nothing more than an "online brochure" that will hopefully get someone to pick up the phone and call me to hire me for my services. I understand that defining a website as an "online brochure" hearkens back to the early days of the web, but for some businesses (like mine), there really is no online conversion that is practical.

I just wonder if a lot of the SEO advice I read about applies to me. I have no doubt that if i could get my site to rank on the first page of google for my chosen keywords (which are geographic-specific) it would be a boon to my business. I happen to think that this is my potential advantage -- every other company in my "niche" is in the same boat as me...but if I approach SEO meticulously and patiently, I can dominate them. And thus, I am here

[qwerty]

Useful, unique content works for brochure sites too. Your site has to do more than say you exist. It needs to tell your potential customers that you're good at what you do, you're trustworthy, you're an expert in your field, dealing with you is convenient and that you're worth whatever it is you charge for whatever it is you do.

By building up the content of the site (whether it's with a blog or not) you're demonstrating your expertise to customers at the same time that you're creating more reasons for search engines to return your site for a wider variety of queries and you give other site owners more reasons to link to you, which in turn gives search engines even more reason to return your site for queries and gives potential customers additional ways to find you.

[shakin318]

Useful, unique content works for brochure sites too. Your site has to do more than say you exist. It needs to tell your potential customers that you're good at what you do, you're trustworthy, you're an expert in your field, dealing with you is convenient and that you're worth whatever it is you charge for whatever it is you do.

I would hope that my site copy does just that, considering that I'm a copywriter by trade (in my "real" job ) and seem to be able to keep some pretty major clients happy! But getting under the hood of this SEO stuff is new to me, which leads me back to my original question:

For google ranking purposes, would it be more beneficial to have a distinct URL for my blog (not a subdomain or subdirectory, but its own site), and backlink it to my business site, or is it preferable to keep my blog as a subdirectory on my business site? (Another point to consider is that I've been turned down by a blog directory with the comment "it is not a blog" simply because my wordpress blog was a page within my greater business site.)

[qwerty]

I'd say it's better to have the blog as part of your main site. That way, links coming into the blog will filter through the entire site, including the non-blog pages.

I would hope that my site copy does just that, considering that I'm a copywriter by trade (in my "real" job smile.gif ) and seem to be able to keep some pretty major clients happy!

Absolutely. Even if you weren't a copywriter, having a blog on a site isn't an excuse for bad copy on the rest of the site. Your blog pages should add additional good copy to what you already have. Keep in mind that if you genuinely believe that your site covers everything anyone could ever want to know about you, your services, and the knowledge you're able to pass on to your readers, there's really no point in adding a blog, as it would just be filler. But I'm betting that as a writer, you've got plenty to say.

I've been turned down by a blog directory with the comment "it is not a blog" simply because my wordpress blog was a page within my greater business site.

That's just silly. Then again, it's silly to create a "blog directory" in my opinion. Do they define "blog" as a site built using a common blogging content management system, or as a site with posts appearing in chronological order by default but with the option of sorting them by category or tag? By either of those definitions, a "blog directory" is going to list sites covering any and all topics. They might as well just make it a general directory, because excluding sites that don't meet either of those definitions will add absolutely nothing to the usefulness of the directory.

[shakin318]

Keep in mind that if you genuinely believe that your site covers everything anyone could ever want to know about you, your services, and the knowledge you're able to pass on to your readers, there's really no point in adding a blog, as it would just be filler.

Although I enjoy writing, I added the blog for one reason only: to help generate backlinks. Despite the "wonderfulness" of the copy on my business site, there is really no value there for other sites to link to, unless they are a local business directory or one of the few local companies that we share work referrals with. My business appeals to a very specific geography only -- Long Island New York. During my intensive SEO self-studying of the past month or so, I've become convinced that high quality backlinks, in high numbers, are SEO gold (of course that doesn't mean I'm ignoring the other best practices I've learned about). So my conundrum is that I need these backlinks, but unless I'm missing something, there's not really a reason for many sites to link to my "online brochure." Thus, I plan on writing blog articles (non-salesy), including acceptable links in the articles, and submitting those articles to as many sites as possible (ie eZine, About, etc.) I also plan to visit as many blogs as possible related to the subject matter of my business and blog, and make relevant (non-spam) comments to their articles, with backlinks to my own subject-relevant articles.

Does what I'm doing make sense? I would love for there to be an easier and less time-intensive method, but I don't want to pay for garbage backlinks that will end up getting me de-listed by google...and unless I'm missing something there really doesn't seem to be another LEGITIMATE way to get good "link juice" other than what I'm doing.

[qwerty]

Your methods make perfect sense. I'm not a big fan of article syndication, but that's a minor point and it's mostly a matter of opinion.

Where I think you're on the wrong track is in your goals. If you go all the way up to the home page of this site -- not of the forum, but of the site itself, you'll see the following phrase right at the top of the page: Helping sites to be the best they can be. Those of us who spend a lot of time here in this forum have plenty of disagreements, but I think it's safe to say that we agree that, in the long run, that's what SEO is for. Not that it's the final goal; when you optimize a site it's usually to serve a business and improve its ROI. The site usually doesn't exist for its own sake. But a better site doesn't necessarily make for a better business. I can't help a psychologist become better at psychology. What I can do, given the opportunity, is make that psychologist's web site into a really good site.

When I recommend building up the content of a site, it's true that more unique, informative content is likely to improve rankings and that it's likely to garner links, which will also improve rankings. But ideally, the rankings are improving and the links are multiplying because the site has become a better resource. It's interesting, it's informative, it's engaging, and as such, it's making the business it represents look that much better.

[Michael Martinez]

Although I enjoy writing, I added the blog for one reason only: to help generate backlinks....During my intensive SEO self-studying of the past month or so, I've become convinced that high quality backlinks, in high numbers, are SEO gold (of course that doesn't mean I'm ignoring the other best practices I've learned about). So my conundrum is that I need these backlinks, but unless I'm missing something, there's not really a reason for many sites to link to my "online brochure."...

I think you may be reading too many SEO tutorials, trying too hard to master the game for yourself. A lot of "high quality backlinks" don't really assist with SEO efforts. A lot of "low quality backlinks" can be leveraged into all sorts of stuff.

The pursuit of both "high quality" and "low quality" backlinks is a two-edged sword. You can be a spammer just as much when settling only for "high quality" links as when gouging the Web for "low quality" links.

Good SEO doesn't rely upon either links or content: it fashions a plan for leveraging whatever you have to work with. That is, it's about optimizing your resources, not hitting some SEO blogger's threshold for imaginary KPIs. Trying to do things the way all the bloggers tell you to do it is an almost guaranteed path to confusion and in some cases penalty.

...Thus, I plan on writing blog articles (non-salesy), including acceptable links in the articles, and submitting those articles to as many sites as possible (ie eZine, About, etc.) I also plan to visit as many blogs as possible related to the subject matter of my business and blog, and make relevant (non-spam) comments to their articles, with backlinks to my own subject-relevant articles.

What will get you the backlinks you want -- and the visibility you need -- is writing articles that other people appreciate, even if they are not directly relevant to your business. You can find anecdotes to share, impart good advice, teach from your experience, and light up other people's lives with the joy you find in your work and your engagement with your customers. THAT is the kind of content that will attract truly useful backlinks.

Don't waste your time "submitting articles" and spamming blogs with comments (yes, what you propose IS spam). The people who are great at submitting articles are professionals who do that sort of thing day in and day out. If that's NOT the line of business you want to be in, then don't invest your time in becoming expert at it.

The easiest way to build a great site that other people link to is to share your passion about who you are and what you do and what you love ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE. In a business context, it's all about your customers and other business partners. If they have blogs, link to their blogs. If they don't have blogs, link to other people's blogs, news sites, educational resources, etc. Be generous with your links and ask for nothing in return.

And make sure your blog pings the search engines. There is usually a setting in your admin dashboard that says something like, "Make this blog visible to search engines". Be sure that is turned on (set to YES).

[Jill]

What Michael said.

[shakin318]

I think you may be reading too many SEO tutorials, trying too hard to master the game for yourself.

After a month of self-educating (which is driving me toward self-medicating!), I think I'd have to agree. Last night I decided to streamline and organize my approach to this SEO business. I'm going to table much of what I've "learned" for the time being (including all the conflicting advice), and simply follow the "Avoiding SEO Brain Freeze" articles found on this site.

[Jill]

While many sites may not some of that stupid SEO crap stuff to get ahead because they're in highly competitive areas, a local business shouldn't need to go that way, in most cases. (Real estate not included.)

[shakin318]

While many sites may not some of that stupid SEO crap stuff to get ahead because they're in highly competitive areas, a local business shouldn't need to go that way, in most cases. (Real estate not included.)

I will say that some of the stuff definitely worked. Long story short I inherited a rather crappy site designed and built by someone who apparently had no awareness of SEO. I went 20 pages deep in google on logical keywords/phrases looking for my site before coming to the conclusion that it was virtually invisible to search engines. For a few bucks I purchased and ran the SEO Analyzer on GoDaddy; my site was failing on all 10 of the criteria on its checklist. I addressed all 10 issues (titles, descriptions, content, sitemaps, robot.txt files, etc etc), and within a week, my site was on the bottom of the 4th page of my google search. Still buried and useless, but at least in the game! Continuous tweaks and additions to content have gotten my site to the middle of the third page...where it seems to have settled. Unwilling to settle for that, here I am...trying to separate the wheat from the chaff and spend my time doing things that will be useful to reaching my goals.

Sorry, guess it was long story long...