Note: This post is a re-post of a discussion, written by me, on private LinkedIn group: “Fly Anglers in Business”. –

A group member, Wade Seymour, started a post for suggestions of new content for his guiding website. The conversation started down the path of SEO and I thought it be of interest to others in the group.

First – there are a lot of people out there who claim to do SEO and there is even more BS out there about how to optimize a site. What I state here works for me, in my position, for my clients, at my company. You may disagree and your mileage may vary…

The genesis of the Google search engine was called “Backrub”. They were trying to measure citations (links) to websites. Period.

In order to rank organically in Google on a particular keyword you must follow this formula better than your competitor(s) – The keyword must be stated in text, you must have a number of pages discussing that keyword, and you must have links pointing TO your website. The reason why Wikipedia is so prevalent in Google is because they are a text-based website with millions of pages and a lot of links into their site.

I should say, there’s some minutiae in the mixture but more is always better so long as you aren’t replicating content or trying to hide pages (spamming).

1. Keywords in text – there is no “magic” number to the amount of words on a page at a specific keyword density of repeated keywords. There was a formula but I promise that you will get nicked for doing it “too well” today. The best thing you can do is state the keyword in your metatags, your heading, and as many times on the page as it takes you to transmit your thought. Don’t count – just be consistent with your word choice.

2. Pages of text – Multiple (shorter) pages of text work better than one big, long page. Reason is that you can more closely control the consistency of keyword theme on the page. Plus, all those pages support the same theme (which is good); they have links between them on the same, relevant topic (good); and they’re easy on the eyes. Let’s not forget that the content is intended for the user – not for Google.

3. Number of inbound links – Get text links that point to your website. Make sure they are from reputable sources (not porn, gambling or link farms). Try to have the links match the same keyword theme as your site. The links to your site make you look like a subject-matter expert. Which you are.

You’re done. No magic formula. This is not a perfect science – it’s simply an arm’s race with your competition. Just build a good website with good content and links coming in. Of course, there’s more to it like keyword choice, URL directory structure, internal linking, etc. But these three pieces will get you 80% of the way there.

So, for Wade’s project (www.rmtroutfitters.com) — If you want to rank on a term like “Colorado Fishing Guide” – then having individual pages for each guide is a good thing. Write some pages about where you fish, what you fish for, and the flies you use. “Colorado fishing reports” is another keyword and a page for each river/area is helpful.