SEO Secrets: REVEALED!

[Patrick Singson]

If you think you'll gain hard-won SEO secrets from this blog post, please think again.

There are no secret methods that will get you ranked higher than ordinary known methods.

Any secret methods that are employed are secrets only to other website owners that do not read the generally available tactics and techniques disseminated on the web. [preach] Remember: being able to read and not reading is operationally the same as not being able to read at all. [/preach] Also: employ anything outside the bounds of generally accepted practices and you risk getting dropped from the Google index. This is defined, from an SEO perspective, as BAD.

SEO is an ART!
Like many things that people don’t fully understand, like Bigfoot, UFOs and the Grand Unification Theory, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) gets wrapped in mystery, or labeled as an Art. Unlike many other SEO analysts I do not espouse the idea that SEO is an Art. It is not an Art. Search engines use mathematical algorithms to identify relevant sites. This means that SEO is absolutely science. And by using the scientific method we can discover ways to move webpages to the first page on Google, and even a #1 result.

The problem is that we can only apply the scientific method as it relates to search engines at that moment. Since search engines can, and do, change their search and rank algorithms, what works now does not necessarily work later.

The answers are in the RESULTS!
Put in a keyword phrase in Google and look at the top three returned results. Examine why the top three sites rose to the top (with zero aftertaste). For example, looking at the title tags, header, and see if the content on the page is relevant. The search engine results are the clearest indication of the “great and mysterious” Google algorithm.

A lot of people think that getting to number one is SEO perfection. It is not. The reason is that all number one positions in Google can be beaten.

SEO is a zero sum game: in order to win, someone must lose. The results are displayed linearly; if your site becomes number one, then some other site must drop to number two. Not only that, when your site becomes number one for a keyword term ALL other sites drop in rank. Your site effectively “eats their lunch.”

Become the “LEAST IMPERFECT!”
The real way to rise to the top is to do the things on your site that define it (in what Bruce Clay calls) the “least imperfect.” The goal is to become a site that is less imperfect than your peers. This includes doing all the right SEO janky dance moves that prove your site to be most relevant (such as inlinks, keywords and expert content). All else being equal, if your site follows one extra SEO element that your competitor does not, your site will be the "least imperfect" and rise above your competition. Analyzing the top three sites that get returned in Google results define the threshold that you have to reach - and exceed.

How, pray tell, does this apply to HOSPITAL ONLINE MARKETING?
Search Engines allow for extremely targeted marketing. The ability to optimize keywords people use to find your site is available to anyone with enough knowledge and wherewithal. Coming up number one for particular keyword phrases can be seen as “brand marketing.” If your hospital must come up as #1 in Google for a particular keyword phrase then you need to understand advanced SEO, (or find a person/business who does).

In an ideal world, the most relevant site should come up as number one for a particular keyword phrase. But this is not an ideal world. Since search engines use mechanical, mathematical means to return relevant websites that are related to search engine queries, a multiple of SEO methods can be employed to assure that your site’s highly relevant webpage comes up in first page results.

Illegal and quasi-legal SEO methods are often employed. This may rank websites high in the (extreme) short-term. Only legal SEO methods will raise your hospital website to number one in the medium and long-term. There is no need to employ “SEO Secrets” in order to rank high in Google. Using ordinary SEO methods is the secret.