Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short is more published, more debated, and to be frank – more deceived about, than any other technology topic on the Internet today. As I’ve worked in the technology sector for the last 10 years, I’ve had my share of successes, and my share of failures.
But as I continue to learn and grow and seek wise counsel, I’ve come to realize that there are some principles in Business, and even in the world of SEO that do not change. These principles have stood the test of time, and come out in the changes that are enforced by Google even with the most current “Panda” updates. Here are those principles and what I’ve learned about SEO from the Bible.
Principle 1 – Work Hard
Proverbs 14:23 (NIV) All Hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
No matter what you do, no matter what you promote, understand that it’s going to take work, a LOT of work. In the same way that it takes time to build a brand, it takes time to build a good reputation online, and it takes time to build good search engine rankings.
Principle 2: Don’t quit in hard times. Stay the course!
Proverbs 24:10 (NIV) If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
This is a simple concept. Don’t give up! Stay the course. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to start something, and dropped the ball, and never finish it. As I’m sitting here in my office, in a closet right next to me are several computers that never got fully built, and several projects that I “committed” to at one point in my life, that just went by the way side. Stay the course, don’t give up, keep going.
In Hard times also realize that your family and closest friends may look like their supporting you, but they may just not want you to succeed, so they will mock you and tear down your ideas and principles. It happens, but don’t give up.
Principle 3 – Be Honest
Exodus 20:15 (Message) Don’t Steal
Exodus 20:16 (Message) No lies about your neighbor.
Don’t scam people, don’t exaggerate your experience or knowledge, or lie about who you are or what you can do. Don’t steal other people’s content, use programs that copy other websites’ content online, or copy and past articles and play them off as your own, then try to profit from them with your own ad-sense account.
If you use a program that goes out to copy other people’s articles online, that’s the equivalent of of a child committing plagiarism in school, or an adult stealing information from the company he works for. Scraper sites and spinning software may seem like a good idea to produce a lot of unique content now, but accountability always catches up with you, and you will get penalized, if not banned by the search engines if you do it.
Principle 4 – Seek Wise Counsel
Proverbs 20:18 (NIV) Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.
This can be a hard one to abide by. I’ve been learning about SEO topics and techniques for over two years now, all on my own, and I’ve found that a large portion of the content online, regarding this topic has been a scam, giving the entire affiliate marketing, and really the entire Internet, a bad reputation.
Principle 5 – Build the business in cash
Proverbs 22:7 (NIV) Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.
Whenever you build a business, boot strap your way through. Before starting out, save $1000 or $2000 and use that to invest in the business. A few good places to start in the world of SEO is to invest in a good computer like the quad i7 macbook pro, which will come in handy down the road when beginning to harness videos to market your products and services.
If you take out a loan to get started, then you will be negatively impacting the financial future of your business, and if revenue doesn’t come in consistently (and it almost never does at first) that puts your business at a much greater risk for foreclosure, or losing the items you took the loan out for.
Principle 6 – Charge a fair price
Proverbs 28:8 (NIV)Income from charging high interest rates will end up in the pocket
of someone who is kind to the poor.
This is a more difficult principle to understand, but charging unfair prices can ultimately lead to the demise of a company. If you are one of ten fruit vendors in town, and all the fruit vendors in town start out charging .50 per apple, and you decide that $1 per apple is a better price, then you may initially see more profits, but over time you’ll build a reputation for manipulating people and you’ll be seen as someone taking advantage of people.
Principle 7: Don’t act on instinct without taking caution against mistakes
Pro. 19:2 Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.
Pro. 22:3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The
simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
This is one of the biggest Key Principles of SEO that I think most people fail to do well. Take time to learn how to do things right, and track the success that you have using Google analytics or another analytics program. Track the number of unique visitors you have to that site and your conversion rate, bounce rate, and average time on site, and then test those metrics of a given page, against the success of another similar page, using the Google Website Optimization Tools to do A/B testing.
If page A has a conversion rate of 1%, and B has a conversion of 2%, then make Page B the new page, then Compare page B against another page, Page C, and compare and track again. Track and Test, Track and test. Always be improving on your pages, and learn from your mistakes. Another key point is to have a good backup hard drive or some other solution to make sure you can revert back to an old page, in case the old page is converting better than your new test page.
Principle 8: Make and plan for healthy goals
Proverbs 13:04 (NIV) The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
Each year for your business you should layout specific, measurable goals, that will help you achieve what you want to accomplish, with realistic action steps to get to that goal along the way. A Bad goal would be “I want to lose weight.” A great goal would be, “I want to lose 50 pounds by January 1, 2013″ That goal is specific, and measurable, 50 pounds in about 50 weeks time, 1 pound per week. This could be done by cutting out 2000 calories of what you eat per week, or exercising and burning 2000 calories more than what you are now, per week.
Principle 9: Focus on your strengths (and trust others for their expertise areas)
Pro. 12:27 The lazy man does not roast [b] his game, but the diligent man
prizes his possessions.
Pro. 27:23-27 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful
attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not
secure for all generations. When the hay is removed and new growth appears
and the grass from the hills is gathered in, the lambs will provide you with
clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. You will have plenty of goats’
milk to feed you and your family and to nourish your servant girls.
For the last Ten year’s I’ve been working in the IT industry, fixing computers, servers, wireless networks, and videography with my Professional Camcorders. I however am terrible at Graphics. I don’t know if i could use Photoshop hardly at all to produce a pretty looking image.
My two year old daughter could probably draw in crayon a better graphics header than I could, which is why I usually ask for help from others when doing graphics work for my site. Focus on the things your good at in your business, then contract or outsource the other tasks to people that are good at those areas.
Principle 10: Take a day of rest
Pro. 23:04-05 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show
restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely
sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
The final principle is to learn to take breaks. Understand that building a business takes time, and that becoming obsessed about all of this stuff can ultimately ruin your marriage, or the relationships that you have with others around you. I’ve learned to relax watching my LG 50PS80 Plasma TV with my family, enjoying time at home and taking a break at the end of each day, and take a break on Sundays.
Conclusion
No matter what you do, the ultimate commandment should ring true with everything that you do:
Luke 10:27 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your Heart and soul, mind and strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself.
In other words, Trust God, have faith, and treat others the way you want to be treated
Chris Wensink has been working in the world of Information Technology for the last 10 years, offering computer support, recommending videography products such as the Panasonic AG HMC40 camcorder and the quad i7 macbook pro. He lives with his wife Kara and daughter Ruthie in North West Wisconsin
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Tags: bible seo, search engine optimization, SEO, SEO and the bible, seo from the bible, SEO techniques, seo topics, world of seo