Sometimes the Best SEO is "No SEO": 6 Tips You Can Use Right Now

I've written before about the importance of Google+ and tying your Google profile with ActiveRain, your own website, and really-- anywhere that you blog.

I recently realized something about optimizing websites for Google and the affects were so amazing, that I hesistate to even share... But I will.

It turns out, I'm not as good with SEO as I thought.

Oh don't get me wrong- I'm good. :-)

But a lot of what I've done has to do with the way I've built trust with Google over time.

I'm not really here to brag about it, and I'll tell you why.

If you Hire an SEO person, Make Sure He or She has a Good Reputation with Google

One day, while I was checking rankings on a client's individual posts, (as opposed to the home page), to my horror- I saw my face in the search results for this client's brand new website. I know how it happened, and it was my mistake, but Google thought I, Michael George, was the author of this particular blog post...which I am not.

Like I said, it was an accident, but I know how it happened and it was easy to fix.

So for about three days, I kept checking his rankings until my face disappeared. Well, one day, my face wasn't the only thing that disappeared-- his site disappeared.

Oh no!

I start looking through the results and he had dropped from page 2 to page 5 for his desired phrase. He went from #13 to #56 in a couple of days. I'm not saying I killed his site, he was far lower than #56 when I started. I helped him a lot, but I did not realize how much that help hinged on my relationship with Google.

The only thing I had done was remove my name... Hmmm... So I started experimenting with different Google "authors" with various levels of content and skill, on different websites, and I realized that the author himself or herself can add greatly to your SEO efforts.

I was also proud to see that my trust with Google was the highest among the authors I tested. Google likes me and knows I've been around a long time. I'm not a spammer.

Here is another example: Search Google for "AZ SEO Guru". At the bottom of page one, in result number nine, you should see my website: GuruEffect.com (Google results are getting personalized, so if you don't see it, you'll just have to trust me. For most people, my website is number 9.)

That so-called website is blank. What happened to "content is king"? Well, that site has no content and it never has. It is a brand new website and I haven't done a thing with it. Content is still king-- but my content is scattered all over the web. And my main website is reaping the benefit of my good deeds, because Google is keeping track of me...through Google+.

Google knows that GuruEffect is my website and Google trusts me.

There is no other reason that I would rank so well in Google. No reason at all. My URL doesn't contain the word Phoenix or Arizona; there is no content on my site; and nobody links to me (except me, from ActiveRain and Google+).

Most SEO experts would claim that is a recipe for failure and I would normally be one of those people.

But that SEO expert would be wrong.

If you want Google to like you, as Google likes me, you have to help Google. Scratch the Googlebot's back and it will scratch yours. Here is a list of things you can do to help your own website rankings, without touching your own website:

1. Make sure you have a Google+ profile and make sure you list every single place you contribute to. Right off the bat, you should have ActiveRain and your own website. Blog someplace regularly. If you can write a good blog in ActiveRain everyday, God will bless you and so will the Googlebot.

2. Be active in Google. Login every day. Add lots of people to your Google+ "circles." Have you ever noticed that, in the Google results, they show how many circles the author is in? Check out this search for Ann Arbor Real Estate. (It will open in a new window.) How would you like to have a listing like Kathy Toth? It's as if Google is saying: Look! Kathy has 118 Google friends. Kathy is helping them advertise their social network, to her own benefit.

3. "Plus" and share things to show Google that you are participating in it's new "democratic" search engine formula. In fact, if you like this post, plus it right now! (I sure would appreciate it.) 

4. Write reviews for local businesses. Good or bad, it doesn't matter. Be a participant in the system. I reviewed a crappy pizza place today. I even uploaded a photo of the limp, greasy fried green beans they served me. I am actually contributing content to Google, helping searchers learn about local restaurants, and personally doing my part to raise their stock price. It's a very public "bribe."

5. Sign up for an account at Answers.com and link it with your Google+ account. (Sign up with Answers, be logged into Google when you do, and they will automate the process for you.) Go to the real estate section and answer questions for people. Everytime you answer a question, you will be creating content and Google will know you are a good citizen.

6. Don't ever plagiarize or "spin" articles. If you choose to ignore my advice on this, then please take this advice: Don't associate your spammy or spun articles with your Google profile.

Be consistent, follow those six steps as many days per week as you can, and show Google what a great netizen you are. They will reward you.