SEO: The Art Of The Obvious

Isn't SEO just the art of the obvious these days?

Surely when you know how search engines work, isn't the "optimisation" part of SEO just the implication of those learnings?

I know there are hundreds of factors for working well. But for the majority of e-commerce sites, the long-tail of SEO isn't really relevant and can lead to sever consequences for getting it wrong.

In my 11 years or so doing SEO I've seen thousands of people overcomplicaing internet marketing by trying to game the serps with some ludicrous tactics knowing that they've got pretty significant brands at stake.

For me, just doing the basics right: title tags, keyword research, h tags, internal linking, great content creation and fostering referals can get you fantastic results. With the power being put firmly and squarely in the hands of publishers, there shouldn't be a need to try and swap or buy links. Create good, engaging content and you simply won't need to employ link buying agencies - publishers will link to you because of your content.

I was thinking, most of my SEO consultancy income over those 11 years, hasn't come from people that absolutely knew nothing about SEO, but those that thought they knew it and then employed me to fix their mistakes when they realised they'd tried too hard.

So my advice to anyone starting up an online business is not to over-complicate your site, keep users in mind, focus on what you want to achieve, get the absolute basics right and keep it simple. Don't give SEO consultants cash for fixing mistakes that were caused by being over-zealous.