Jason - SEO Fitness Workbook: 3rd Edition - The Seven Steps to Search Engine Optimization Success on Google

Introduction

Welcome to the SEO Fitness Workbook! This workbook explains how to succeed at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in seven steps .

SEO, of course, is the art and science of getting your company to the top of Googles organic (free) results. Why is SEO so valuable? Simply put, SEO is valuable because customers turn to Google first to find new products and services, new companies and consultants.

Everybody uses Google!

( Well, a few people use Bing, but the game is the same. Rest assured that all techniques covered in this Workbook apply equally to Bing ).

The question for you is: when a customer does a relevant keywords search, does your company appear on the first page of Google results? Are you displayed in the top three Olympic positions (Gold No. 1, Silver No. 2, Bronze / No 3), or at least on page one (top ten results) or are you not on Google at all? If your customers use Google, and your website doesnt rank on page one, you need SEO! If Google is important to your Internet marketing, you need SEO!

Recall that SEO is the art and science of getting to the top of Googles organic search results. SEO is how to get free advertising on Google. SEO is the art and science of getting Google to drive qualified web traffic to your website, where those clicks become sales leads.

But isnt SEO hard?

Well, thats what Google would like you to think (so spend money on AdWords) And thats what many in the SEO industry would like you to think (so pay us big consulting fees, and dont ask any questions!)

I dont agree. SEO isnt easy, but it isnt exactly hard either.

Ive taught thousands of people in my online classes, in classes in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in corporate workshops, and I can confirm there is a lot of confusion about SEO. People think its hard, or impossible, or mysterious, and thats simply not correct.

SEO , you see, is a lot like physical fitness . Although everyone can conceivably run a marathon, for example, few people make the effort to learn how and even fewer take the disciplined steps necessary to train for and ultimately finish a marathon. Does that make running a marathon easy? No. But does that make running a marathon hard?

Not really. Like running a marathon, SEO is conceptually simple ( exercise a lot, train with discipline, dont give up ) but practically hard ( you have to work at it nearly every day ).

And, of course, the Olympic champions dont just work hard , they work smart .

Thats the beginning of the good news. If you just learn how to work smarter (not harder), youll find that SEO isnt really that hard. And it gets better.

In most industries, youll find that your competitors are not that smart. Most industries are not as competitive in SEO as you would think, and metaphorically speaking, you dont have to run faster than the bear; you just have to run faster than your buddy!

SEO = GOOGLE FITNESS

Fitness takes determination, discipline, and knowledge. This workbook guides you through the seven steps to successful SEO. Along the way, well set goals, understand technical details, and have fun. Along the way, I will be your fitness coach to explain how it all works and to motivate you to keep trying. You can do this!

To see SEO in action, launch your web browser, go to Google ( http://www.google.com ), and enter a few of the following search terms:

SEO Class
SEO Training Course Online
SEO Training NYC
How to get your picture on Google Search?
What is Web spam?

Youll see the JM Internet Group ( jm-seo.org ) on page one of Google, and often at the top of these search results, and youll usually see my picture (Jason McDonald) there as well. The methodology? The Seven Steps to SEO Fitness , the methodology youll learn in this book!

Isnt that cool? I think it is. And, if I can do it for the JM-SEO.org and JasonMcDonald.org, you can do it for your business, too!

Throughout this workbook, I will share with you other examples of businesses that understand SEO and succeed using the seven steps .

SEO = FREE ADVERTISING ON GOOGLE

Before we get started, a few words about the SEO industry. Back to metaphors: the SEO industry is a lot like the fitness and diet industry.

How so?

Just as the diet and fitness industry is plagued with the latest crazy diet schemes such as strange nutritional supplements and other nonsense vs. the tried and true techniques of eating less and exercising more, so the SEO industry is plagued with fraud, crazy schemes, and all sorts of nonsense. Does that make SEO impossible? No, not at all. It just means that you must keep your wits about you, and follow a method that is clear, consistent, and based on facts.

Beware of hucksters promising quick success via shadowy tools! Scams, schemes , and scoundrels abound in the SEO ecosystem. (Doesnt that sound like the diet and fitness industry?)

What else is common in the diet and fitness industry? Guilt and intimidation . Just as many in the diet and fitness industry would like you to feel bad about yourself, to feel you cant succeed without their magic pill, or their secret knowledge so the SEO industry is full of obnoxious computer nerds who seem to thrive on putting mere marketers and small business owners down. Youre stupid , they say. Feel guilty you dont get it, they say.

They want you to feel stupid, so you dont challenge their authority. They want you to feel powerless, so those checks keep coming.

Oh, and another thing about the diet industry. Its in a symbiotic relationship with the food industry: they sell us Big Macs and Mac N Cheese, and then they sell us diets to get off of them.

There is a symbiosis in the SEO industry as well. The SEO gurus along with Google attempt to convince us that SEO is an incredibly difficult, mystical skill... and then the same SEO gurus sell us expensive, esoteric services, while Google sells us AdWords advertising.

Google doesnt want you to understand SEO (which costs you nothing , and makes Google nothing ). Google wants you to believe SEO is impossible, so you spend your money on Google advertising, i.e. AdWords.

GOOGLE HATES SEO
AND LOVES ADWORDS

I respectfully disagree with my friends in Mountain View, California, and my friends in the SEO industry.

I want you to feel powerful and intelligent . I want you to succeed at SEO.

The seven steps to SEO fitness are built on a philosophy of empowerment. Can you understand SEO? Yes you can! Can you implement SEO? Yes you can! It takes some knowledge, it takes some effort, but yes you can do it.

I am going to teach you how in seven simple steps .

Lets get started!

Meet the Author

My name is Jason McDonald, and I have been active on the Internet since 1994 and teaching SEO, AdWords, and Social Media since 2009 online, in San Francisco, at Stanford University Continuing Studies, at workshops, and in corporate trainings. Over 1700 people have taken my paid trainings; over 19,000 my free webinars. I love figuring out how things work, and I love teaching others! SEO is an endeavor that I understand, and I want to empower you to understand it as well. Learn more about me at http://www.jasonmcdonald.org or at my corporate website http://www.jm-seo.org .