Does SEO really matter?

[S1lv3rdo7]

I'm new to the whole SEO game. However I know all the big tools out there to use Scrapebox, Xrumer, SEONuke etc. All of these programs be it through social media profiles, forum posting, blog postings are supposed to ultimately drive more traffic to your site by placing you higher in search engine rankings. I guess by also providing links for people to click you drive traffic that way too.

My question is do these methods really make that big of a difference in traffic? What's the difference in being on page 2 or 97 of goggle if most people just click the top link anyways? I know personally I have never clicked on page 2 of Google for a search. I just enter in a new term to search for. Unless you're #1 on the front page does it really matter? There's so much competition for that spot chances are you won't be there for long unless you have an obscure or new niche.

I would assume the amount of traffic you drive is relative to the quality of your post. We get spammers in here all the time posting about some crappy product which gets promptly deleted by admins along with their profile banned. Don't most forum moderators stay on top of spam? Don't most blog publishers delete or not approve comments?

SEONuke has a $100 something monthly fee now. Xrumer is $540. Scrapebox is $100. Unless it's done on a mass scale or you sell the services these programs provide I fail to see how it's profitable? What type of numbers are we talking about with these programs that make them and the services so valuable?

I'd like to see someone present a reasonable explanation and not unsubstantiated claims of earnings. The math behind the hype so to speak.

 

[Unemployed]

A: Yes

 

[Savant]

Why are you even here? XD

Kidding aside, yes, otherwise, the hype wouldn't exist. And the presumed uneconomical methods (paid softies) would deprecate. SEO-dedicated websites would close. SEO services wouldn't be paid for.

Yadda yadda, I hope you get my point.

 

[SweTech]

 

[S1lv3rdo7]

Thanks for the thought out reply. You kind of just confirmed what I said though. Unless you use low competition keywords it's pointless to pursue traffic on Google. Making you use weird topics/niches that don't have a lot of traffic, hence no money. Or at least not the type of money you need to be making to support the monthly fees for programs that promise to "help" you in this endeavor.

Your assuming that the comments you make on such blogs would be approved or not deleted. A general comment like that you can tell right away it's spam. Any comment that doesn't deal with the content of the post specifically is going to be deleted by the blog/forum admin. So again, what's the point?

Article spinning seems like a winning idea. Depending on the niche someone may want to read a review or get more information on something. I can see the value in that. Social media sites are obviously a winner. I've done that manually for dating niche, creating profiles and have seen profit from my efforts with that.

For me it comes down to, is the time I put in worth the return I get. If I spend all day doing Xrumer blast and half of the comments and forum post I make don't get approved or deleted within 24 hrs was it really worth it? If I spend a few hours making social media profiles and adding friends to make them look like real accounts and they're banned with 48 hrs was it worth it?

If you're going to devote time to a concept like SEO it's sounding like you better have a solid site to support. It's very misleading to see sites that sell backlinks and SEO Blast as if that one service is all you'll ever need. Only to find out there are so many "paid softies" and "SEO Service" sites out there. It begs the question would buying the traffic be a more cost effective manner given the percentages and letting your site handle the retention of visitors as opposed to the longevity of the link/forum post/blog post ensuring repeat clicks. $540 in Adwords or Xrumer I'm sure most would choose the latter. Given the time invested vs. return is it really the better choice though?

Getting traffic is a bitch. There's got to be a streamline, cost effective way to get people to a website that turns a profit.

 

[jstover77]

While being in the top position will get you around 40-60% of the search traffic, this does not mean that being in the 9th or 10th position should be discounted. The whole point is to get hundreds if not thousands of terms ranked in the search engines. A random keyword may only get you 5 clicks per day but multiply that by 1,000 and the numbers really start to make sense. This is just an example but you get the idea.

The initial investment can be a bit to swallow for some, but you have to understand that in the long run your efforts should be paying you back ten fold. Once you establish keywords on the first page that traffic is basically free from that point on minus random maintenance expenses.

Here is a quick case study for you:

One of my companies spends around $1500 per month on SEO. We are about 4 months into the campaign at this point (we are in a very competitive niche). Here is how it is going so far.

Month 1- Spent $1500 - Made us $0. Loss of $1500
Month 2- Spent $1500 - Made 600. Loss of $900
Month 3- Spent $1500 - Made $3500. Profit of $2000
Month 4- Spent $1500 - On pace to make about $7K this month. Profit of $5500

So by month four we are already in the green with this campaign, and it is only getting better every month. At this point we only have about 7 out of the top 50 high level terms we are optimizing on the first page, and they are sitting at 7-8-9th positions. We do have a ton of long tailed keywords and geo specific terms on the first page which are doing well. The whole point is, in 8 months we should be doing over $100K+ per month, and we are only spending $1500 per month.

You really have to put it into perspective. Yes $100 and $600 may seem like a lot of money, but when you are making $15K or even $100K per month it is an afterthought.

Also, you don't need to use these tools to be successful with SEO. I have never used Xrumer or Scrapebox.

 

[agente808]

Unless you're #1 on the front page does it really matter? There's so much competition for that spot chances are you won't be there for long unless you have an obscure or new niche.

I think you are maybe stumbling on the initial research.
There are a surprising amount of decent, profitable niches without heavy competition, you just have to find the gems.

Don't most forum moderators stay on top of spam? Don't most blog publishers delete or not approve comments?

hahahaha, you'd be surprised how many don't stay on top of spam - although the goal should be to make your spam not look like spam.

SEONuke has a $100 something monthly fee now. Xrumer is $540. Scrapebox is $100. Unless it's done on a mass scale

Yeah. one half-baked website isn't going to justify these prices obviously.... But 100 of them might

 

[jstover77]

Getting traffic is a bitch. There's got to be a streamline, cost effective way to get people to a website that turns a profit.

Unfortunately there is no easy way to get traffic. No magic bullet. I mean I have been searching for it for the last 10 years and I still have yet to find it. If you do find it please let me know

The simple truth is driving traffic is hard, but can be simplified. I know that when you are new to IM all of this can be hard to compartmentalize, but the more you do it the easier it gets.

When I first start a site my plan of action always looks like this:

Main Traffic Sources:
1) PPC
2) SEO
3) Craigslist

Other Traffic Sources:

1) Articles
2) Forum Sig files and posting
3) Actual blog comments that make sense and will contribute
4) Shopping Feeds
5) Yahoo Answers
6) Video Marketing
7) Social Networking


This model has made my businesses very successful.

 

[GooglesMostWanted]

To answer your thread title....

Is Matt Cutts Gay?

 

[xphase]

I think you're looking at it wrong, you'll find success if you target long-tail keywords, it's easier to get #1 if you cover all your bases.

 

[marcus7777]

Backlinking is not same as SEO. You dont need any tool if you know about keyword digging. Just use your old, well considerated by google site and talk about things others didnt talk yet. That means more visits and more money. Also onpage SEO is so powerfull, learn how to use it and again you dont need backlinks. Try to investigate your own things. Any method used by EVERYONE will not work in long term. There is life after profiles and comments links.

 

[dragon123]

What about those "buying" keywords?.Words that people use that mean they want to buy something..I have made the mistake of getting keywords to the first page in google but the visits i was getting did not covert into many sales.

 

[_Sunny_]

To answer your thread title....

Is Matt Cutts Gay?

naaa....i love calling him "Child Molester"

 

[GooglesMostWanted]

naaa....i love calling him "Child Molester"

Either way, he's a faggot.

Oh and OP...

SEO does matter.

 

[carmamir]

 

[efwebs]

OK...so page two isn't great, but how to do you get to the top three spots on page one?

 

[weBay]

Just because a KW gets a lot of searches doesn't mean it will be hard to rank for.

Just because a KW gets few searches doesn't mean it will be easy to rank for.

 

[SuperLinks]

Absofuckinglutely does SEO matter. If done properly, you can literally make $xxx,xxx/mo for the right keywords and terms. This isn't unheardof and I've spoken to several people in my time that were bringing in that kinda money simply from there websites rankings in Google.

Its no secret though that the more competitive keywords take some time and money upfront to rank for. Heck some of the larger keywords have paid link campaigns in the $xx,xxx/mo! Xrumer and Scrapebox has nothing on a solid foundation of extremely hard to identify paid links.

Not to deter you though, there is indeed an opportunity for you to make some great money with SEO if you know what you are doing and stick with it. There are always new goldmine keywords coming out that you can capitalize on today with very little SEO.

 

[ambalaldarji]

yes of course SEO does matter to make a brand, increase traffic and sales for your business.

 

[dowser]

I'm new to the whole SEO game. However I know all the big tools out there to use Scrapebox, Xrumer, SEONuke etc. All of these programs be it through social media profiles, forum posting, blog postings are supposed to ultimately drive more traffic to your site by placing you higher in search engine rankings. I guess by also providing links for people to click you drive traffic that way too.

You start with a good SEO base and use these tools to boost your main and secondary keyword pages - either directly or through intermediate pages - web 2, forum posts, bookmarking, etc.

You can make a few quick bucks using mostly or only the tools you mention, but in a long run the sites with good content will make a lot more.

I'm new to the Black Hat tools and techniques, but I started making money on the Net in 1998 (though I'm not a millionaire -yet!)