Advanced SEO advices

[l(s)eo]

Hey guys,

I've been doing SEO for around 2 years now.
I know all the basics obviously and some more advanced strategies like focusing on long tail keywords first, siloing etc.

The problem I have is with link building. Even with great content it's kinda hard to get links.
For example let's say I want to get a barber shop ranking locally. There are probably already tons of barbers shops with websites and blogs. Getting them to write articles is not easy.

Once I have optimised the content, got links from the barber's network and from a couple of blogs and directories, set up google mybusiness/yelp/... What is left to do ?
Is it worth it to do a little bit of black hat ? Is it worth it to buy a couple of links (just a dozen that is) ?

I feel like really good SEO professionals manage to do grey/black hat at a scale where they are not caught.

Basically once everything is optimized what's left to do besides black hat ?
Is SEO only press relations after this point ?
Do you guys do black hat for 'real' businesses ?

Many thanks.

 

[thomasnielsen]

IMO, there is nothing clearly black or white. The world is full of grey.
However, real business need analytics to scale and make correct decision on the dashboarding. Using too much black is just hitting themselves.

 

[MisterF]

Do you guys do black hat for 'real' businesses

Do you mean for your own real business or clients ?

 

[Lauren Shawn]

I had the same questions! It’s pretty obvious once you think about it. Google is using link popularity to rank websites, so in order to jump to the SERP’s top you have to generate good amount of quality backlinks. And there are a lot of ways to do it. What I'm using is a guest blogging.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Anything that ranks you without having to buy adwords is "black hat". Google just wants your money.

 

[l(s)eo]

Yup, I get that SEO and optimizing content is already greyish.

I meant for my clients.

I have a couple of blogs myself and getting links is incredibly time consuming.

I have never tried buying links before at all. I always tried to publish great content worth sharing but when the niche is very small it's very hard to get links.

 

[We Bring Rank]

Get the high quality back links from the targeted country sites.. Do complete on page optimisation works.

 

[Cshark]

Once I have optimised the content, got links from the barber's network and from a couple of blogs and directories, set up google mybusiness/yelp/... What is left to do ?

Many thanks.

Where's ON-Page SEO? What about citations? How about guest posting in related niche sites? How about some authority .edu and .org links? Video SEO? High DA outreach?

There are a lot of things that you can do. You just need to know where you stand.

 

[l(s)eo]

Where's ON-Page SEO? What about citations? How about guest posting in related niche sites? How about some authority .edu and .org links? Video SEO? High DA outreach?

There are a lot of things that you can do. You just need to know where you stand.

On Page SEO is done.
- All the technical stuff is mostly done.

- I'm not sure what you mean about citations ?

- Guest posting : the niche is sooooo small it's very hard to guest post. It's also very time consuming and it's what I mean by "PR", because you need to contact and actually convince people.

- Authority .edu .org site : I had no idea that was a thing, I am reading an article right after I finish this post. Thanks for that.

- Video SEO : never tried because budget. It's planned though.

- High DA outreach : News websites and press relationship ? You have to pay for that don't you ?

Anyway, thanks for your answer Cshark, it's already giving me stuff to look into.

EDIT : The problem is also, as I am working with french clients, that most of the tools to find do follow comments/forums etc don't work.

 

[ricp]

If possible I would like a list of thing you can do while "stuck" with small local business SEO. Thank you

 

[homautomation]

Site Speed Optimization
Advanced Link-Building Techniques
Establishing a Multi-Platform Presence
Ensuring the Accessibility of Your Site
Subverting the Knowledge Graph