I am a SEO professional, so that means I get websites - or I try - to rank high in Google (and Bing/Yahoo). I have done this work for seven years.

Google constantly updates its ranking algorithm, so I need to constantly stay on top of the latest and greatest changes and how that impacts SEO - search engine optimization.

I use Google all the time in my personal life. It's my preferred search engine because it typically gives me the exact results I need. Professionally, it is my nemesis. GRRRR.

The two sites I currently manage are not ranking well in Google and I am trying hard to figure out why. Thin content? Not enough backlinks? Are our users bouncing off the site? Did I get a search engine algorithm slap and that's why we're not ranking high?

I know this is probably VERY boring to most people, lol. But this is the work I do and also why it's been hard for me to land a job. And I don't think I do my job very well..... I have ranked a site before #1-3 in Google for various terms, but lately, I haven't been doing so hot.

Now I am trying to catch up on Google's latest changes to prep for my interview Thurs and come up with a few good theories/reasons why we're not ranking well. In Bing and Yahoo, we're doing great.

So today, I am not liking Google very much.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading this very boring entry! This is more of a rant, really...

[Shazerac]

Google has been pissing me off lately too. Sometimes I have to wade through a page or 2 of ads before I get any actual results.

SEO is a constant battle. I used to have a website, i didn't try terrible hard because it wasn't a money making site. Just a hobby.

Yes, I can relate!!!!

SEO is definitely very tricky and hard! A constant battle, as you said.

I also have my own blog which isn't ranking well in Google, which tells me I suck at SEO. :/ I just have to get better at this. Though my blog is ranking well in Bing and Yahoo, so that's something at least.

Thanks for your reply, Shaz! (((Hugs)))

Ah yes. Recalling my days of SEO optimization for a company I worked for, and trying to keep up with it for my hobby sites as well. Not my strong suit.

Grrr to those inexplicable ranking mysteries.

It's not my strong suit either, and it's my field of work, LOL. Why I had to pick such a challenging field, I have no idea. Hmmmm.... yeah, grrr to the algorithm mysteries.

[reb569]

Question for you. Do the sites you currently work on display well in Mobile devices? In research I've been doing recently for SEO, I've found that in 2018 Google is planning on going to a mobile first index. Sites that display well and are optimized for mobile devices will get higher ranking that sites that dont/aren't.

Within the next couple months, after a start winding down on the Web Accessibility for our site, I am transitioning over to SEO as a primarily large project. I'm lucky in that our site is responsive, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Have you read about this? I think my search term for this while researching was "SEO for Mobile Devices".

[ArcheM]

Well, I don't know if this is on-topic, but I kind of hate Google. Personally, I have to constantly wrangle with it to get the results I want. At least I feel like that. I mean, the fact that it ignores case and some special characters makes me give up on some questions I'd like answered. And often I need the exact term, not some sideways related one it's come up with (yes, I know about double quotes, but even that it sometimes just ignores if it "thinks" it knows better)... I don't know if we're in the same camp or opposite. Does this vagueness help or hurt your job?

Originally Posted by reb569

Question for you. Do the sites you currently work on display well in Mobile devices? In research I've been doing recently for SEO, I've found that in 2018 Google is planning on going to a mobile first index. Sites that display well and are optimized for mobile devices will get higher ranking that sites that dont/aren't.

Within the next couple months, after a start winding down on the Web Accessibility for our site, I am transitioning over to SEO as a primarily large project. I'm lucky in that our site is responsive, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Have you read about this? I think my search term for this while researching was "SEO for Mobile Devices".

I was just reading about the mobile first index yesterday to prep for my interview Thursday! Funny you should mention it. We have responsive design on our sites, so this change won't impact us. However, our page load speed score is low on mobile, so we're optimizing that.

Originally Posted by ArcheM

Well, I don't know if this is on-topic, but I kind of hate Google. Personally, I have to constantly wrangle with it to get the results I want. At least I feel like that. I mean, the fact that it ignores case and some special characters makes me give up on some questions I'd like answered. And often I need the exact term, not some sideways related one it's come up with (yes, I know about double quotes, but even that it sometimes just ignores if it "thinks" it knows better)... I don't know if we're in the same camp or opposite. Does this vagueness help or hurt your job?

Anyone can share anything here that they like! Google is now based on a machine learning algorithm so it tries to make the best guess to what you are searching. I now wonder about the interpretation of special characters.

[ArcheM]

Curiously, I've just realized that I have an example that contradicts my own point.

My work involves a lot of machine-recognized text (if that's a term), in a specialist field, which means a lot of garbage. Sometimes I just copy and paste a "word" (for lack of a better term) into Google and it manages to figure out what I want to ask, by, presumably, stripping out special characters, among whatever other magic it does. And I also rely on databases where the contributors don't bother with consistent indexes. For example, in one place it might say "AB-123", in another "AB123", or even "AB12-3". And all that Google manages to handle.

This is useful. I guess I wish that in my free time I could interact with a version of Google for not stupid people.

[Jen35]

[QUOTE=golden_eve;5844996]I am a SEO professional, so that means I get websites - or I try - to rank high in Google (and Bing/Yahoo). I have done this work for seven years.

Google constantly updates its ranking algorithm, so I need to constantly stay on top of the latest and greatest changes and how that impacts SEO - search engine optimization.

I use Google all the time in my personal life. It's my preferred search engine because it typically gives me the exact results I need. Professionally, it is my nemesis. GRRRR.

The two sites I currently manage are not ranking well in Google and I am trying hard to figure out why. Thin content? Not enough backlinks? Are our users bouncing off the site? Did I get a search engine algorithm slap and that's why we're not ranking high?

I know this is probably VERY boring to most people, lol. But this is the work I do and also why it's been hard for me to land a job. And I don't think I do my job very well..... I have ranked a site before #1-3 in Google for various terms, but lately, I haven't been doing so hot.

Now I am trying to catch up on Google's latest changes to prep for my interview Thurs and come up with a few good theories/reasons why we're not ranking well. In Bing and Yahoo, we're doing great.

So today, I am not liking Google very much.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading this very boring entry! This is more of a rant, really...[/QUOT

Hello! I'm studying SEO too and keep seeing recommendations that if you write original material and write frequently - using enough keywords but not overdoing it - you will rank well. Apparently it's not that simple?

Originally Posted by ArcheM

This is useful. I guess I wish that in my free time I could interact with a version of Google for not stupid people.

I hear ya.

Originally Posted by Jen35

Hello! I'm studying SEO too and keep seeing recommendations that if you write original material and write frequently - using enough keywords but not overdoing it - you will rank well. Apparently it's not that simple?

Hello there! No, it's definitely not that simple -- I wish it was!!!

Proper SEO comes down to many things:

1. Good website architecture and search engine friendly backend coding
2. Intuitive, user friendly website design
3. Long-form content ranks highest (over 2,000 words)
4. On-page SEO (a website that is fully optimized for SEO)
5. Off-page SEO (link building, or gaining links on other high authority, relevant websites)
6. Social media marketing and gaining shares, likes, comments, etc.
7. Yes, consistently fresh content that is SEO optimized with keywords (without keyword spamming) and related terms (LSI keywords which are synonyms and similar "like" terms)

The three top ranking factors today are great content, backlinks, and now Rankbrain, which is determining and satisfying user intent with a search term.

SEO is a multi-faceted process that takes months to implement and achieve higher rankings....

[reb569]

Originally Posted by golden_eve

I was just reading about the mobile first index yesterday to prep for my interview Thursday! Funny you should mention it. We have responsive design on our sites, so this change won't impact us. However, our page load speed score is low on mobile, so we're optimizing that.

Glad you've read of it. I dropped that on my Division Chief in our meeting last week. Page load time is part of our issue too. Primarily we have too many images, and the image size in kb is too high. I've been telling our graphic designer this for years but she usually won't listen to me. We also have some issues with display size of our headings in mobile, they are just too large. It's good that you are aware of this for your interview.

Originally Posted by reb569

Glad you've read of it. I dropped that on my Division Chief in our meeting last week. Page load time is part of our issue too. Primarily we have too many images, and the image size in kb is too high. I've been telling our graphic designer this for years but she usually won't listen to me. We also have some issues with display size of our headings in mobile, they are just too large. It's good that you are aware of this for your interview.

Yeah those images need to be compressed for sure! I get so frustrated when people don't follow my guidance at work. That's annoying.

[OfficeWarrior]

I know how you feel. I used to have some very bad days/weeks/months after google update back when i was doing client SEO.

I found the main issue is not google, but the clients. Especially the ones who are at the edge of their seats all the time thinking their life will end if site page drops off page one. And the ones who don't understand that ranking takes time, and give you hell and brimstone because they are paying you NOW and aren't seeing any results NOW. Or they aren't actually tracking their ROI's and figure you're not doing that much for them, terminate agreements and walk off with all the hard work you've done for them over the years => Bye bye time, business and everything you've invested into their site.

I stopped doing SEO and started renting out domains, and generally working on performance based rates. My life is a LOT simpler now. Google updates don't bother me that much, and i get around to it when i get around to it. No more angry calls, no more pesky clients, no more threats of contract terminations, everyone is happy, especially me. Best part of all this; if i do get an annoying client, I just cut them loose, and i loose absolutely nothing because the domains all belong to me, and i just transfer them to another, less demanding client.

Downside is I do have to perform to get paid BUT, I was doing that anyway, and now it's on my terms and i know that the investments i make and the work I put in all goes into my own assets and not someone else's.

Also I've found that google will be a much better friend to you if you provide them with the content they want people to find. So instead of building domains tailored to the client i just find clients tailored to the domains now. Makes it much easier to avoid google slaps, since they're basically on the same page.

Originally Posted by OfficeWarrior

I know how you feel. I used to have some very bad days/weeks/months after google update back when i was doing client SEO.

I found the main issue is not google, but the clients. Especially the ones who are at the edge of their seats all the time thinking their life will end if site page drops off page one. And the ones who don't understand that ranking takes time, and give you hell and brimstone because they are paying you NOW and aren't seeing any results NOW. Or they aren't actually tracking their ROI's and figure you're not doing that much for them, terminate agreements and walk off with all the hard work you've done for them over the years => Bye bye time, business and everything you've invested into their site.

I stopped doing SEO and started renting out domains, and generally working on performance based rates. My life is a LOT simpler now. Google updates don't bother me that much, and i get around to it when i get around to it. No more angry calls, no more pesky clients, no more threats of contract terminations, everyone is happy, especially me. Best part of all this; if i do get an annoying client, I just cut them loose, and i loose absolutely nothing because the domains all belong to me, and i just transfer them to another, less demanding client.

Downside is I do have to perform to get paid BUT, I was doing that anyway, and now it's on my terms and i know that the investments i make and the work I put in all goes into my own assets and not someone else's.

Also I've found that google will be a much better friend to you if you provide them with the content they want people to find. So instead of building domains tailored to the client i just find clients tailored to the domains now. Makes it much easier to avoid google slaps, since they're basically on the same page.

Oooooh... that is brilliant!!! You rent out domains? I may PM you about this. I am very curious how that works. You must have built up domains into websites with loads of content that have earned traffic and rankings? I use to try and buy and sell domains. I earned a total of $160 doing that, lol. I sold just one domain.

I may be stuck with SEO though since i need a steady paycheck AND health benefits. SIGH.

[seesaw]

I'm just commenting that I find this whole topic fascinating, and you seem very knowledgeable, Golden Eve. I'm sure you will land a job soon!

Seesaw

Originally Posted by seesaw

I'm just commenting that I find this whole topic fascinating, and you seem very knowledgeable, Golden Eve. I'm sure you will land a job soon!

Seesaw

Glad you find it interesting! I figured this would be suuuuperrrrrrr boring to most, lol. I think it's actually very interesting, which is why I suppose I like this work. And thanks for the nice compliment! I am in the second round of interviewing with two companies!

Originally Posted by golden_eve

Hello there! No, it's definitely not that simple -- I wish it was!!!

Proper SEO comes down to many things:

1. Good website architecture and search engine friendly backend coding
2. Intuitive, user friendly website design
3. Long-form content ranks highest (over 2,000 words)
4. On-page SEO (a website that is fully optimized for SEO)
5. Off-page SEO (link building, or gaining links on other high authority, relevant websites)
6. Social media marketing and gaining shares, likes, comments, etc.
7. Yes, consistently fresh content that is SEO optimized with keywords (without keyword spamming) and related terms (LSI keywords which are synonyms and similar "like" terms)

The three top ranking factors today are great content, backlinks, and now Rankbrain, which is determining and satisfying user intent with a search term.

SEO is a multi-faceted process that takes months to implement and achieve higher rankings....

Oops. I forgot to mention two other important ranking factors:

8. Fast page load time (3 seconds or less)
9. Mobile-friendly website (Google soon will have a mobile first index)

[OfficeWarrior]

Originally Posted by golden_eve

Oooooh... that is brilliant!!! You rent out domains? I may PM you about this. I am very curious how that works. You must have built up domains into websites with loads of content that have earned traffic and rankings? I use to try and buy and sell domains. I earned a total of $160 doing that, lol. I sold just one domain.

I may be stuck with SEO though since i need a steady paycheck AND health benefits. SIGH.

Sure you can PM me, i'll help if i can.

You don't need to "quit" your SEO efforts to build out your own domain. The two aren't mutually exclusive. I started with SEO clients to get some cash flowing, then converted them once i had my competing domains up and running.

[divine1966]

Well I am not in the field of computers at all but I am “googled up” lol we do everything on google, google classroom, googke shared drive, google this google that, our kids have google chromebooks etc etc

I had a colleague who used to say “the best technology is a book and a paper and a pencil. That’s all one really needs to learn”.

I sometimes miss old days before all these fancy shmancy stuff ha

Originally Posted by OfficeWarrior

Sure you can PM me, i'll help if i can.

You don't need to "quit" your SEO efforts to build out your own domain. The two aren't mutually exclusive. I started with SEO clients to get some cash flowing, then converted them once i had my competing domains up and running.

Ok, cool, thanks!! I may do that.