FAQ’s on SEO : submitting to search engines | automated link building | multiple keyword-rich domains

I receive lots of questions from lawyers in the LexBlog community about search engine optimization (SEO). One of the best to answer SEO questions is Jill Whalen of High Rankings. Jill is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and host of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter.

In this FAQ Jill answers questions regarding submission to search engines, automated link building and multiple keyword-rich domains. Take it away Jill.

Submitting to search engines

Q. I submitted my site [manually] [automatically] [last week] [last month] [3 days ago] and it’s not showing up in any of the search engines. Have I been penalized/banned?
Jill: If the site you submitted doesn’t have any deceptive qualities, then no, you’re not banned or penalized. However, all the submissions in the world won’t get your site listed or bring search engine traffic if there aren’t links pointing to it from other sites — and if it’s not optimized for specific keyword phrases. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere submitting

to search engines is not necessary nor even helpful. The search engines automatically find new pages on their own.

As with everything SEO related, the keys here are patience and time. If you don’t have both of those, you might as well get out of the SEO game right now and simply buy your way into the search engines through PPC ads.

Can I automate link building?

Q. Link building is hard and I don’t like it. I send out tons of emails requesting reciprocal links, but barely get any responses. How can I automate the process?
Jill: You can create something so great and wonderfully unique that people naturally link to it. This won’t happen overnight, and of course there will be lots of hard work to get to that point and to keep it up, but at least you won’t have to worry about link building. (See my site for an example of this at work. I’ve never once asked for a link, nor do I ever plan to.)

I would highly suggest some means of constantly adding information to your site, such as through a weekly or monthly newsletter, a frequently updated blog, or articles that relate to the products/services you provide. Because even if you do have a completely unique and great site, you still need a means of letting others know this.

Multiple keyword-rich domains

Q. The guy who fixed my roof told me to purchase a minimum of 10 keyword-rich domains for various aspects of my business. What’s the best use of these for search engine optimization purposes?
Jill: Unfortunately, there’s no good use for those when it comes to the search engines. If you try to gain an unfair advantage in the engines by blanketing them with lots of different sites, you will then be into that ‘deceptive’ territory I’m always talking about.

In my opinion, your best bet is to simply park them all at one domain, and then forward the whole lot via a permanent 301-redirect to your main site, while telling your roofer to stick to roofing. ;-) (See ‘How To Redirect Multiple Parked Domains.’)

The only other viable option for the domains would be to truly build completely different sites at some of the domains. There’s nothing wrong with having a few sites, but they really should each provide different info in order for them to be effective. Just remember that keeping and maintaining many sites is a lot more work than just having one site that is the best it can be!

Thanks a ton Jill.

For those looking for excellent SEO work, Jill Whalen specializes in search engine optimization, SEO consultations and seminars. Jill’s handbook, “The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines” teaches business owners how and where to place relevant keyword phrases on their Web sites so that they make sense to users and gain high rankings in the major search engines.