I recently watched an excellent video on SEO. This video is great for beginners as well as experts on SEO because the content is that good.

I am often surprised when people say they don't need SEO. Simply put, SEO is lead generation. If someone is interested in lead generation for their business, it makes sense to have SEO covered.

I recently booked the highest paying job I have yet to book in a new market I have been working towards. The timing when I got the lead was fortuitous in that it almost coincided perfectly with the timing of my progress in preparing for this new market. It just so happens that the client found me because of SEO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm2KXhBPZDg

Hey Tim, Before I comment, know that I have not watched the video. The first thing that stands out to me is the date of the video... coming up on 3 yrs old. Two years ago Google put heavy emphasis on Local Search, which had a major impact on how traditional SEO was used.

I'm not opposed to watching the video, but I wanted to address this first. Is the video primarily about "on-page" tactics?

Tim, if by "on page" SEO you mean keyword placement, he covers that however he covers much more as well. It truly is an all encompassing overview. Believe it or not, it is still relevant today. One distinction is Duane references Bing throughout the video and not Google, but all the Bing strategies he covers work the same on Google.

Tim, to clarify, "on page" covers everything done with the website code:

- Content Creation -- good keyword placement, images, video, news
- Stucture -- internal links, speed, meaningful URL, speed, navigation
- HTML -- title, header and image tags, description

While "off-page" includes things like listing distribution, building citations, backlinks, social marketing and republishing content.

Today, "off-page" factors have a significant impact on the total SEO picture. Traditional on page tactics are no longer as effective by themselves. That's why I asked. Again, I'm not discounting the value of the video, just curious. I'll take a look.

Is 3 years a long time in that field? I mean I know painfully little about these things and am curious. It seems pretty long to me.

Tim, you know much more about this than I do. I believe it is still very relevant, but I would be interested in what you think once you have watched it.

Danny, yes a lot can change in 3 years. Regarding SEO, what worked 2 weeks ago may not work the same way today! At the same time, there are basic, "common sense" principals that remain constant.

For example, when writing content on a web page or blog, it's common sense to include information that is relevant to the person who is searching for your information. How? By including keywords someone might use when searching. In 2013, Google introduced an update that introduced "semantic" search, a way to decipher user intent rather than mapping out individual keywords and phrases. It's Google's way of understanding "meaning", rather than matching keywords. BUT...keyword research is still important to guide your focus when writing.

Bottom line, if you're going to do a website yourself, remember that content is still KING. The trap most do-it-your-selfer web people fall into is contantly trying to write content to impress Google, when they should be writing/talking to the USER.

Tim, I've been working in the online marketing space for about 10 years, but am no expert by any means! SEO is a very complex subject and I only know bits and pieces. I'll take a look at your video link...

I asumed that was the case but truly have no idea. So much of what is common sense is so wrong I never try to apply it based on that lol.