{"id":6311,"date":"2012-04-20T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T16:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/?p=6311"},"modified":"2015-09-30T18:54:29","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T18:54:29","slug":"confused-by-seo-15-seo-lessons-from-hard-rock-heavy-metal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/confused-by-seo-15-seo-lessons-from-hard-rock-heavy-metal\/","title":{"rendered":"Confused by SEO? 15 SEO Lessons from Hard Rock & Heavy Metal"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEO is a foreign language to many musicians. While I was speaking in Norway at Webforum 2012 someone presented me with this article and I just loved it. What a great way to try and explain the concepts behind Search Engine Optimization with examples that maybe musicians will better understand.<\/p>\n

This article is originally posted on iProspect<\/a>, written by @kaaregarnes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SEO Lessons from hard rock & metal<\/h2>\n

Ever wondered how much longer it will be before your SEO efforts are yielding results?<\/p>\n

So was a client of mine, frustrated by seeing only minor improvements three months in. Knowing he\u2019s an avid fan of aussie rockers AC\/DC, I ditched the standard explanation of all the variables that affect rankings and how \u201cSEO is a long term strategy\u201d and blah blah \u2013 and instead I quoted Bon Scott to him:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long way to the top (if you wanna rock\u2019n\u2019roll)<\/em><\/big><\/p>\n

Inspired by his positive reaction I dug deeper into my collection of hard rock and metal to see if there were further teachings to be found and shared.<\/p>\n

There was. <\/strong>
\n(You will find a link to all the music at the bottom of this post.)<\/p>\n

1: Hallowed Be Thy Name \u2013 Iron Maiden<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Maiden<\/a>\u2018s classic number points to one of the most important and often overlooked SEO factors: A good name.<\/p>\n

Your brand or company name can be a free ride into SEO happiness. Choose a name with your location and keyword in it, like \u201cOslo SEO<\/a>\u201d or \u201cHotel Tupelo\u201d and your natural URLs, title tags and incoming links will automatically give you an advantage.<\/p>\n

This requires only a willingness to be a bit boring when choosing a name \u2026<\/p>\n

2: Good head \u2013 Turbonegro<\/h3>\n

\"Turbonegro<\/a>
\nNorwegian denim-rockers Turbonegro<\/a> weren\u00b4t talking about title tags and meta descriptions when they wrote this deathpunk anthem, but few bands know know more about importance of image and presentation than these underground favourites.<\/p>\n

Remember that SEO is not about getting to the top of the rankings, but to get the users interacting and buying. How you look on the Search Engine Result Page determines how successful you are.<\/p>\n

That process starts with what\u2019s inside your head-tag. So put some work into making good titles and meta descriptions.<\/p>\n

3: Lovercall \u2013 Danko Jones<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

According to SEOmoz<\/a> the number 1 and 2 ranking factors are incoming links.<\/p>\n

Not only does this song have one of the best basslines in history, it also hints to one of the easiest ways of getting links; Asking your suppliers, customers, partners, employees and other\u00b4s whom you already have an established relationship to. Ask and you shall receive.<\/p>\n

Pick up the phone or shoot them an email: Learn the lovercall<\/em>, baby.<\/p>\n

4: Don\u2019t stop believing \u2013 Journey<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Doing white hat SEO takes time, especially if competition is strong. And when you\u00b4ve done all you can and rankings don\u00b4t seem to move, this absolute legend of a song can provide some consolation.<\/p>\n

It\u00b4s a long way to the top.<\/p>\n

5: You\u2019ve Got Another Thing Comin\u2019 \u2013 Judas Priest<\/h3>\n

\"Juda<\/a>
\nGoogle Panda, Google +, Google Places, Google This, Google That.<\/p>\n

The only thing certain in the world of search engine optimization is that there will be changes and new stuff you have<\/em> to learn and employ. SEO means staying updated and agile.<\/p>\n

Or as singer Rob Halford puts it in this megahit: \u201cit\u2019s a case of do or die\u201d<\/strong>. You got another thing coming.<\/p>\n

6: Fear of the dark \u2013 Iron Maiden<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Should Black hat seo<\/a> be feared?<\/p>\n

Employing it can potentially put you out of business if Google find out (and does something about it), so yes. Be sceptical about black hat techniques.<\/p>\n

However, don\u2019t be so afraid that you don\u2019t dare getting to know it. You should know your enemy. There might be techniques there that can also be employed ethically.<\/p>\n

7: Take it off \u2013 The Donnas<\/h3>\n

\"The<\/a>
\nSEO is not about rankings, but about getting searchers to find your content and do what you want them to do, whether it is to buy, download, like or read.<\/p>\n

If you have content that is not doing this, listen to these fine female rockers advice: Take it off! <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Rule of thumb: Anything that doesn\u00b4t contribute to you reaching your goals, ACTIVELY contributes to you NOT reaching them.<\/p>\n

8: Speed King \u2013 Deep Purple<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Speed is an important factor<\/a> for Google \u2013 and for users! Google openly states that their main goal is to get people the info they want as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

This means not only making sure your load time is superfast, it also means that you should use rich snippets <\/a>to allow google to put you right on the SERP. (Disclaimer: If your business is clicks: Think twice before using rich snippets)<\/p>\n

9: Hellbelly (Jesus without the suffering) \u2013 Therapy?<\/h3>\n

\"Therapy?<\/a>
\nTroublegum might be the most underrated album in the history of music and in SEO context it gives a number of valuable lessons.<\/p>\n

The first is about linkbuilding. Some think you can do SEO without linkbuilding and if you a unice offer and an abundance of creative resources at hand you might. But a competitor with the same resources and a willingness to suffer through linkbuilding will outrank you.<\/p>\n

You cannot be an SEO savior without the suffering.<\/p>\n

10: Trigger inside \u2013 Therapy?<\/h3>\n

Troublegum\u00b4s second lesson is that SEO is about not about rankings, but conversions, and you will never get any unless you have a \u201ctrigger inside\u201d.<\/p>\n

You need something that makes people take action. This includes urgency factors, uniqueness and simply being clear about what you want people to do.<\/p>\n

Without triggers, people will procratrinate.<\/p>\n

11: Green Manalishi \u2013 Fleetwood Mac\/Judas Priest<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This amazing Peter Green classic \u2013 done even more amazingly by Priest \u2013 has a fantastic line about user experience:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou come creeping around, making me do things I don\u00b4t wanna do\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With Panda the user experience has \u2013 thankfully \u2013 become an important factor for search rankings, and we need to make sure we don\u00b4t mess up the user experience by having flash intro\u2019s, uneccesary form fields and having users jump through hoops to get where they want.<\/p>\n

12: Giving the dog a bone \u2013 AC\/DC<\/h3>\n

\"Angus<\/a>
\nLinkbaiting<\/a> is a fantastic tactic, but often companies never get around to this as they think it\u2019s about creating \u201cviral\u201d videos.<\/p>\n

It\u00b4s not. It\u2019s about giving people tools, infographics, videos etc. = content they need in a format they want. Throw them a bone and links will follow.<\/p>\n

13: Have a drink on me \u2013 AC\/DC<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it amazing how many songs AC\/DC have made about SEO? In this 1980 classic they explore the concept of freemium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The idea that people will like you better if you give them free alcohol is easy to understand, and if you have ever engaged in this activity at your local you might also have noticed that people tend to buy you alcohol back \u2013 and throw in a shot.<\/p>\n

In the SEO world this translates into you giving away something of value, like a report, a tool, knowledge \u2013 and people will say thank you in form of links, PR, social shares etc.<\/p>\n

Free alcohol is the easiest way to a huge following.<\/p>\n

14: Diamond in the rough \u2013 Airbourne<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As stated earlier, SEO is about conversions and the conversions are more likely found in the long tail. Trick is to find keywords with good traffic and low competion. So do propper keyword research and find those diamonds in the rough.<\/p>\n

15: Aggressive Perfector \u2013 Slayer<\/h3>\n

\"Kerry<\/a>
\nThe first song thrash gods Slayer ever recorded teaches us to always be testing \u2013 and to appreciate good guitar work!<\/p>\n

Thing is, to really succeed online is to always be looking for that little something that increases conversions. Be an aggresive perfector.<\/p>\n

Bonus lesson<\/h3>\n

Remember: The most important teaching to take away from the distinguished gentlemen and women of hard rock and metal is \u2013 of course \u2013 to:
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Please leave a comment with \u2013 or without \u2013 your favourite metal song with SEO connotations before you head over to youtube to listen through all the wonderful songs above on my SEO Metal playlist<\/a>. (play all<\/a> \u2013 opens in new tab)<\/p>\n

You should also follow me on twitter @kaaregarnes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEO is a foreign language to many musicians. While I was speaking in Norway at Webforum 2012 someone presented me with this article and I just loved it. What a great way to try and explain the concepts behind Search Engine Optimization with examples that maybe musicians will better understand. This article is originally posted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12],"tags":[1350,1533,1534,1535,1536,1537,1538,457,1539,1094,149,1540,1442,1541,1542,1543],"class_list":["post-6311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","category-music-marketing-2","tag-acdc","tag-airborner","tag-danko-jones","tag-deep-purple","tag-fleetwood-mac","tag-iprospect","tag-iron-maiden","tag-journey","tag-judas-priest","tag-search-engine-optimization","tag-seo","tag-seo-lessons","tag-slayer","tag-the-donnas","tag-therapy","tag-tubonegro"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11518,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6311\/revisions\/11518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}