by Luke Hsu
When I was studying about SEO a few years back, I read all kinds of posts from the SEO experts. I was bombarded with information. I just couldn’t handle it. I did not know which SEO rules are more important than others. I didn’t even have any idea where to start.
The whole subject of SEO optimization that I had in mind, was like following a bunch of rules, and not making any mistakes, especially not the “Black Hat” techniques that Google forbids.
But then, after I ran my blog for about 3 years time, also taking on some clients here and there, and giving out some advice along the way, I developed a different view toward SEO optimization.
SEO, to me, has become like a dating game. Google is just like the dating APP, connecting people.
If you were to go on a dating app and your only idea was to “follow certain rules and not make mistakes,” you are not likely to find success. In order to be a master of the dating game, you need to absorb those rules, and then truly be yourself. Be authentic. Be free. That’s the key to mastering the game.
Let me be more clear on how to win the SEO dating game.
1. On the dating app, you must know what people are looking for.
On a dating APP, people know what they are there for. If you just wanted to show off your talent with the violin, which is not what people using dating apps for, you will very likely be ignored most of the time. This is the same for SEO. Really simple. Since it’s the “search engine,” then your content must be searchable. It needs to answer some kind of question, solve some kind of problem, or provide some important information. It needs to be the kind of content that users search for.
Conclusion: In order to optimize SEO, you need to have searchable content.
2. On dating apps, people are looking for different things
Just to give a simple example, some people are looking more for good-looking people, others are looking for muscular bodies. My point is—although they all have a general desire to date someone, this need can break down into more specific needs.
For SEO, you do the same. Don’t just focus on the general topics. Try to find more specific topics that can help you find more targeted audiences.
For example, my general topic can be “Building Websites for Beginners,” however, I can break it down into topics like “Things You Need to Know Before You Build Your First Website,” or “Things You Should Optimize After You Build Your First Website.”
Conclusion: Break down the general topic into smaller niches and it will be easier to stand out.
3. On a dating app, popular people get more popular.
On some dating apps, you can see how many times a profile has been viewed. It represents the that person’s popularity. And popular people get all kinds of advantages.
For SEO, there is also a measurement of popularity. It’s called “backlink.” When other websites link to your website, that’s a backlink.
When you get backlinks from other websites, it implies that your content is being referred to, which shows that your content has some kind of value. For Google, the more backlinks and the better quality backlinks you get, the more valuable your content is.
If you can get a good amount of high quality backlinks, your SEO ranking will improve very quickly. The trick is how to get a good amount of high quality backlinks, but that’s another subject and I’ll leave it to another post.
Conclusion: Backlinks represent the popularity and the value of your content. Good backlinks still matter a lot to SEO rankings.
4. On a dating app, first impressions matter a lot
Your thumbnail matters a lot on a dating app. It is the very first impression someone makes of you. A good thumbnail will attract more people to click; bad thumbnails will deter people from finding out more about you.
For SEO, the first impression is measured by the “Click Through Rate (CTR).” CTR means the percentage that visitors click on your website when you appear on the search engine results page (SERP).
Generally speaking, websites that have better rankings, should get better CTR, since they gets more attention from the visitors. However, say if Google discovers that the ninth-ranking website gets better CTR than the third-ranking website, Google will know that the ninth-ranking site provides valuable information, and it’s time to move it up in the rankings.
In order to get good CTR, you need to make your meta title and description more attractive, even irresistible.
Since CTR matters a lot, the internet has developed a technique called “clickbait,” usually used quite a lot by the content farm websites.
Almost nobody likes a content farm, so I suggest not trying to trick users with clickbait, but do use the form of clickbaits, just don’t lose your authenticity while using them.
Conclusion: The title of you post should be attractive, in order to increase CTR, but remember not to lose your authenticity.
5. People can smell BS from a mile a way
Nowadays, everyone has the ability to tell whether something is a scam with just one glimpse. On a dating app, people can tell if something is terribly wrong from the very first glance at a profile.
The same phenomenon happens for SEO as well. Some people make an effort to copy other people’s content, and these people will be out of the game very soon. They might still get clicks, but the clicks are useless. Visitors will know whether this content is “legit” the moment they start reading.
To make use of SEO, the goal is not just to attract traffic, but to let people know that you are an authority on the subject, and you have a tremendous passion for it. When everyone wants more of your content, that is what good SEO is all about.
Conclusion: You cannot optimize SEO just by copying other people’s content. You need to use your heart and your soul to produce your content.
6. What happens on a dating app, stays on that app. Only when you take it out of the app does it become real
Dating apps are just places that connect people. The real world is what matters. To be a boss on a dating app, you need to take it to the real world, go on real dates.
For SEO, it’s the same. Marketers always talk about traffic, but traffic is just the first part of the game. Only when you finish the game, do you become a winner.
To finish the game, you need to use SEO along with all kinds of ad channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube Ads, Google Display Network, etc. Also, you need to arrange lead collecting mechanisms such as displaying a form on the sidebar or the popup.
If your goal of SEO is only to attract more traffic and share your knowledge, you are not playing the full game of SEO.
Conclusion: Don’t forget to do remarketing with SEO, also use the traffic to collect leads.
7. Dating apps are not for everyone. SEO is not for everyone either
There a a lot of ways to find love; not everyone needs to use a dating app.
SEO is a very big project that takes a lot of time. You need to put in a lot of time to write valuable content, optimize the SEO from on-site to off-site, and accumulate good quality backlinks. It also takes at least 2–3 months to see the effects. SEO is not for everyone. Before you get in the game, you need to evaluate whether you actually even need to play the game.
What kind of businesses should play the SEO game?
Businesses in which customers have clear pain points, or businesses where the users would like to collect information before they buy can benefit the most from playing the SEO game.
If your business relies on using content to stimulate users’ desire, for example, in the fashion business, then SEO is really not that necessary for your business.
Conclusion: Not everyone needs to play the SEO game, so before you play, think about your business.
What’s the connection between domain names and SEO?
After reading this article, you should have a more comprehensive grasp of SEO.
To get more traffic on your website, you don’t just need good SEO, but also backlinks on your domain name. In the other words, you can also get more traffic to your website or brand if you choose the right domain name.
Read our article 4 Ways To Use New Domain Names To Promote Your Business to find out more about how to choose the best domain for your brand.
Gandi offers more than 750 top-level domains (ccTLD), covering a wide range of industries. Get your domain name to improve your online rank now!
SEO is a just like a dating game. Winners don’t win by just following the rules.
If you want to get better at this game, follow my blog: https://luke.cafe/
Or here’s my fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/newbiebosscom/
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