Jun 08 2010

I.O.E – Qualities of a Great SEO!

Hello everyone, something that I want to make clear first is that I honestly believe that anyone can become an SEO!  In fact most of the time, those that run blogs or run their own websites are already thrown into the SEO world, some just don’t know it.  Any marketing they do online, anything that involves contacting other bloggers and writing guest posts puts them in the SEO category.  Even something as simple as writing a comment on a popular SEO blog or any other blog for that matter, with a link to your site has some value!

Everyone can perform On-Site Optimization, there are tutorials for this; it gives everyone a similar chance to do well in the same area!  However, there are boundaries between being an “SEO” and being a “Great SEO”.

Don’t misinterpret anything that I say in this article, as I am fully aware that no, one single SEO can ever have all the answers.  But there are qualities that an SEO can gather to be “Better” than average.  These are what make the difference between becoming a brilliant SEO and just scraping the surface.  If you want to improve your chances of ranking above the rest in Google, there are qualities you must first inherit in order to do so:

I call this the process of I.O.E (I know pompous isn’t it, I created my own acronym J – and no it’s not the Institute Of Education!  It’s mine now!).

  • I = Investigation: This is the key part of SEO, especially when it comes to link building.  Finding out competitor back links and those that you can acquire is a massive task, especially finding link opportunities that others can only dream about.  If you have the instinct to come up with creative ways and finding areas across the web that haven’t been utilised yet, then you can stretch your skills and find yourself in a market presently untapped, giving you and your client a head start.
  • O = Observation: Having the eye to spot linking opportunities or to see changes made on a competitor site that you believe could have helped them to rank well, is an attribute that not everyone can learn to use.  Actually being able to spot new chances and find those links that may not be as obvious to other SEOs isn’t as easy as it sounds.  When you can see how some techniques seem to be working better than others and have a good eye for testing new areas you have found something that others can’t learn very quickly.
  • E = Evaluation: The other two are very key components, but are completely useless without this one!  If you can find sources that can provide good links but then don’t know how to approach the situation or how to go about obtaining the link you could be stuck…  Evaluating the current circumstances quickly and deciding on a methodology to go about your next plan of action means that you will be able to quickly turn around the last two factors and get a decent result for your work in a short space of time.  Many people have trouble with contacting others, and approaching bloggers or site owners in the correct manner.  This is a key part in building relationships and future linking opportunities with site owners!

I hope that you enjoyed this article, of course there are other factors that make SEOs Great, but these are some that are more difficult to grasp and learn than others!

Mark Cronin works with a Web Design company based in Worthing.

8 Responses to “I.O.E – Qualities of a Great SEO!”

  1. Mukundan Srinivasan says:
    June 8, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    You have mentioned the best three factors of great SEO. Keep up the good work.

  2. Tola says:
    June 9, 2010 at 8:51 am

    I liked your opening paragraph.
    Anyone can know SEO, and a lot of people practise it as well, they just don’t know it.
    But really there’s a difference between being an SEO and a Great SEO.
    Nice tips as well. I agree you need to practise all three to help on the path of becoming a great SEO…

  3. Waterfront Real estate says:
    June 9, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Yes, great seo have these three qualities. You should update yourself with current marketing strategies.

  4. Jack harris says:
    June 9, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    Great post!!!
    SEO The experts at Ranking Solutions have in-depth knowledge and up-to-date information about search engine industry and endeavour to meet the mission and vision of clients. We offer our proven Search Engine Optimisation tactics to help you gain competitive ranking in search engines.

  5. Nicola Connolly says:
    June 11, 2010 at 9:43 am

    Investigation, Observation & Evauation are indeed all key points Mark.

    Also, doing thorough research before you begin and planning a clear strategy will make your results simpler to analyse (e.g. keeping a record of everything and working out which channels and techniques are most effective will make your efforts more efficient and successfully targeted over time).

    Nice article :)

  6. senthiledp says:
    June 21, 2010 at 9:58 am

    Blogs are not just about SEO. They should be about establishing reputation, attracting human beings etc. Humans buy; search engines don’t…….

    Mark Reply:
    September 30th, 2010 at 11:39 am

    Ya, but:

    Humans don’t buy from your site if they can’t find it!

    Smart Ass.

  7. funpages says:
    June 28, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    this post summarizes the qualities that i’ve struggled to understand in my earlier attempts at SEO. it is great advice now, as it would definitely have been then.