Back when I was the SEO wizard for Content Solutions, I was a member of the DFWSEM, which is a bit of a “club” for those involved in search engine anything. There’s happy hour, a presentation, and then more drinks afterward. I liked the meetings, and I learned a lot. The only reason why I’m not a member now is because my boss paid for my membership back then. It’s difficult as a solo entrepreneur to make that work at times.
That said, however, I’m still on their email list for upcoming meetings. Their March meeting has a special guest to talk about the fact that SEO is not a plugin. That confused me greatly. I mean, of course SEO is not a plugin. There are plugin tools to help, but you can’t rely on these tools to make the SEO magic happen or even happen accurately. I read a synopsis of the upcoming speech, to see if maybe I was missing something important, and I’m not. Apparently SEO professionals are relying solely upon these plugins to somewhat do their job for them.
I expect SEO novices to do rely on plugins, such as web developers who do nothing with SEO or solo business owners who use pre-built websites to quickly get their message up. But SEO professionals? That greatly surprises me.
I do use SEO plugins for my sites and my clients’ sites. They are wonderful, wonderful tools. But they’re just that: tools. Tools help you get the job done, but you can’t rely on them to do so. You can use them to check off if you have the necessary elements for good SEO, but it doesn’t mean that your SEO is any good.
Good SEO doesn’t mean that the SEO is any good.
SEO plugins will definitely tell you that your title and meta description contains your keywords. It will pick up on your alt tags containing your keywords, if you have images, if you have backlinks, and if you have outbound links. That said, though, it won’t answer the following questions for you:
- Are your keywords commonly searched by users and potential customers?
- Are your backlinks relevant for your post or webpage?
- Are your outbound links relevant for your post or webpage?
- Are your keywords relevant to your post or webpage?
These are incredibly important questions. The answers to these questions are what helps you receive your desired audience, make them want to come back, and keep your search engine ranking above the competition.
A plugin won’t tell you that the keyword phrase you’ve selected is a good one. A plugin won’t tell you if Google will appreciate your outbound links. A plugin won’t tell you how search engines view your site for visitors.
SEO is about reaching users, and reaching the right users. Don’t be looking for those green checkboxes in a plugin. Don’t make sure that Yoast gives you a thumbs up before you publish. Check your keywords for searchability. Check to see if users would possibly use them in search. That’s how to start down the path to the desired SEO.
Curious how I can help? I’d love to talk!
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