I Love the post but I do have a question about
#16. Target Competitor Brand Keywords
If you have competitors that are slacking on SEO it’s very easy to rank for their brand name. With enough website authority, you can create a page on your website and optimize it for their brand name and outrank them.
In my niche, there is one big player that everyone has heard of and they have a very annoying law firm working for them that gets you nice letters in the mail if you get anywhere close to using any of their trademarks. When I received a letter I didn't think I was infringing on their trademark so I did a little research to see if it was just a bluff. (the important stuff related to #16 is coming up) I came across a court document that the big player was suing a smaller player for using PPC with their trademark phrase and even the big players' company name. I don't know if they won, but it did go to federal court.
Do you think that it would be legal to go after some brand name keywords? I am not thinking of going anywhere close to the big player even if it is legal (they spend more on legal in a month then I make in 10 years) but maybe going after a small local competitors brand.
I think you'd be safe enough, get creative with the content on your target page. Being careful not to infringe on their trademark, working the onsite in a smart way would be key. If they can't rank for their own brand name there's something badly wrong and that's their problem.
In terms of the PPC court case you mention, I guess the guy was actually using the competitors name in his ads?.. because outside of that there shouldn't be a problem. It's a pain in the ass but lots of companies target the brand names of their competitors in their adword campaigns, you see it all the time.
96. Include Your Target Keyword in Your URL
Simple URL structures are best, and including your keyword is the best practice. You can even experiment with some pages that just feature the keyword in the URL, not the entire page title.
Hi,
How Do I do that with my Wordpress Home / Front Page URL?