The Most Common Mistake of SEO

If you think about search engines, they are nothing but smart computers trying to make sense and organize the web. However, they’re not smarter than humans … not yet at least 😛

So, let’s talk about one of the most basic components of the web – URLs (the web address on the top of your web browser starting with http://www …)

There are two types of links:

1. Dynamic links
2. Permalinks

While they have their own advantages, one is significantly better for search engine optimization (SEO).

Here’s why —

Dynamic Links

Originally, the entire web was based on permalink (short for permanent link) because content was static.

However, since websites became more dynamic (e.g., blogs), referencing to dynamic content based on their IDs was more convenient. A telltale sign is when there is a question mark in the URL.

For example, this is a dynamic link:
http://www.tofurious.com/?p=7818

Disadvantage: Referencing the above example, does .com/?p=7818 make any sense to you? If it’s not human-readable, what makes you think search engines can do the same?

Even though search engines can dissect the content in the post, your goal is to make it as easy as possible for them to understand your content, thus more visibility on search engines.

Permalinks

Permalinks are permanent and never changing. Most importantly, they are human-readable.

For example, this is a permalink:
http://www.tofurious.com/photographers-seo/how-to-get-your-images-to-show-up-on-google/

Disadvantage: A single change to permalinks means it can potentially reference a different website. Notice how the PageRanks are different simply because I made About capitalized in the second screenshot?

Therefore, despite permalinks’ fickleness and permanence, it’s use is far better when it comes to SEO because we can actually read it!

How to Convert Your Blog to Permalinks

Even if your blog is using permalinks, there are several ways to optimize them all of which is elaborated in my SEO e-book.

Depending on your CMS (content management system – e.g., Blogger or SquareSpace), the settings may vary, but should be pretty consistent. The instructions below are for WordPress, which is most popular.

1. Settings – Permalinks

2. Select Permalink Type

By default, all blogs start as dynamic. You have to manually switch it over.

Do not worry about broken links. WordPress automatically creates redirects, which routes all traffic from old dynamic links to the new permalinks.

There are a number of permalink settings, but some are more optimal than others. And even then, options for customizations of permalinks are available. You can read more about it in the e-book.

Kind Words

In 2009, I hosted a nationwide workshop tour for SEO strategies. Since then, search engines have made many updates of which I included in an e-book; coupled with more advanced strategies. Here is a testimonial from my 2009 workshop.

Ciao,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. B is for burrito.

Other SEO articles:

• Why SEO is Important to Photographers and How You Can Get Started
• Think You Know Where You Rank on Search Engines? Think Again.
• How to Get Your Images to Show Up on Google
• The Most Common Mistake of SEO
• Not All Links Are Created Equal
• 7 Steps to Calculate the Effectiveness of Your Website

Learn how I got into SEO. It starts with a story of how I shot cats and then weddings.
Oh the memories … 🙂

Chapter 1: From Cats to Weddings
Chapter 2: Riding High On Referrals
Chapter 3: TheKnot Frenzy
Chapter 4: Searching For Myself

SEO Book – Found

SEO E-Book for Modern Photographers
Industry’s most advanced and comprehensive 126-pages of successfully proven strategies —

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