The SEO Hydra | MLM SEO Tips
Okay, so today I thought we could just dig into some basic SEO Marketing tips, or SEM (Search Engine Marketing) as the experts call it.
Specifically, I’m going to tell you all about the absolutely terrifying “SEO Hydra”. And how to cut it up into itty-bitty digestible chunks…
Now, the ABC’s of Search Engine Marketing are easy to learn. Especially if you have a Wordpress blog. Because Wordpress makes SEO Marketing as easy as ordering a Bigmac. (Or a Whopper.)
Newbie Note: In case you’re living in a cave, Wordpress is practically the standard blogging platform these days. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend any other blogging platform unless you’re the programming type – which I’m not.
Anyway, assuming you’re all set-up in Wordpress, it’s gonna be really easy for you to follow along with these SEO Marketing tips in the days and weeks ahead.
OKAY, sooo what in tarnations is an “SEO Hydra”?
The SEO Hydra is a devilish creature that has two heads till you cut one off. Then it grows two more heads from the stump. After that, it grows two more heads, and two more, and two more until one of them…
Bites YOUR head off!
But, unlike the SEO Hydra, your head won’t grow back…
Anyway, you’re probably wondering, “Jason, what any of this has to do with SEO?”
Well, I’m going to tell you, right now.
You see, SEO is basically divided into two heads – like our mythical hydra. And the more you study SEO, the more complicated the structure gets, till it looks like a serpent with 27 fire-breathing heads sprouting from it’s leathery neck…
It can be REALLY overwhelming at first…
Downright terrifying even…
In fact, the first time I saw one I seriously had a brownie in my briefs. But that’s another story for another day. Anyway…
The SEO Hydra has one weakness.
You ignore all of it’s vicious fanged heads and take a running leap (or backflip) at the bloody stumps of the two original heads with a flaming blowtorch.
After that, it pretty much leaves you alone. It’s dead.
You can study it to your heart’s content…
–You’ll see that one horned head is your website or blog…
–The other horned head is everything else.
–Stuff you do on your website or blog.
–Stuff you do when you’re not on your website or blog.
–On-site SEO
–Off-site SEO
The two heads of the SEO Hydra…
Keep that in mind in the days ahead.
It helps you keep the whole SEO beast in perspective and makes it one hundred times easier to learn the basics of SEO Marketing.
If you enjoyed this blog post then please share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and Better Networker. Thank you. 
To your success,
-Jason The “Better Networker”
-The Jason Better Blog
60 Comments
Wayne Vassell on May 7th, 2010
Hey J,
Now you have really scarred me!… (ha)
I generally think, the simpler the better. Get started, jump straight in, make mistakes and improve.
I think you are right, you can study it till the cows come home, but it will make you more unlikely to take action due to fear of getting it wrong.
Whats the worst that can happen? (famous last words…) 
Nice post, and have a great weekend.
Wayne Vassell, signing out…
[Reply]
IlkA Flood on May 7th, 2010
Hi Jason,
“Brownie in your briefs” … you crack me up
When I first started ’studying’ (yeah, I really did!) SEO it about made my head explode. Then I totally gave up for a while.
When I moved my blog over to WordPress (yes, I was on one of those other platforms before because I didn’t know better) the first thing I installed was the “All in One SEO” plugin.
I think it works, but there’s got to be more to it. So I’m really looking forward to learning more about SEO.
Thanks for taking the time to teach us!
Have an awesome day!
Ilka
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May 7th, 2010 at 11:22 am
I nearly had a brownie when I read that too, Ilka
Thanks for your tip on the plugin.
Have a great day
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May 7th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Hi Ilka,
I use the “All in One SEO” Wordpress plugin too, but a great addition to that is the Scribe SEO Plugin, which you can find at http://scribeseoplugin.com
Some top Wordpress bloggers created it to give you SEO feedback on each post, to help you optimize each page for targeted keywords, which helps you get ranked in the search engines.
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May 7th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Thanks for that tip, David! I’ll add that right away.
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May 7th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Are you hosting your own blog? If so you must get thesis. This the theme this blog is hosted on. After doing a page grade Jason has an A in SEO. With. Score of 98. There is no alt tags for the images which might have gave it a 99%.
May 7th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
I have used Thesis and it rocks if you learn how to use the features. And the cool part is that you don’t have to use all the options.
On the other hand, any Wordpress blog is a huge improvement over oldschool HTML coding and trying to optimize each page in code… That’s almost as terrifying as the SEO Hydra
May 7th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Hey Ilka,
I also use the same 2 SEO features
in Wordpress, All in One and Scribe
really make a difference in your
articles.
Tommy
David Wilcoxson on May 7th, 2010
SEO Hydra, love it! I’ve attended a lot of trainings in the last year about SEO, PPC, social media, tribes, etc…
It got so overwhelming I had to draw out a flowchart just to remember where I needed to link.
p.s. Did Jason and the Argonauts slay Hydra?
[Reply]
May 7th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
I’m not too sure…
I know Hercules did.
It does get overwhelming.
Feels like your head is going to explode like a melon on a road…
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May 7th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
SEO copywriting is a funny thing. If you generate lots of traffic through SEO strategies, but your copy sucks, then visitors will just click away and Google will make note of the Bounce Rate, and will grade your site accordingly.
Brian Clark of Copyblogger just sent me a great 28-page report on SEO copywriting called “How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines.” Here’s the link http://seoreport.scribeseoplugin.com
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Jerome Ratliff on May 7th, 2010
Wow! I learned something new today.
What a great way to explain how SEO has two heads.
I never looked at this way. SEO Hydra, huh! Awesome…
Have a great weekend,
Jerome Ratliff
[Reply]
John Garcia on May 7th, 2010
“had a brownie in my briefs” Ha! You’re too much Jason!
Yes plugins is where it’s at.. thanks for the tip. Can’t wait for the next one
Talk soon cartoon,
John
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May 7th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Cartoon?
Why I outta…
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May 7th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Yeah man but it’s cool though … ’cause you’re in good company — Roger Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, uhhh who else … Fred Flintstone, Donald Duck, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Believe it when I say it – cartoons RULE!
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Nelson Montanez on May 7th, 2010
Excellent way of looking at SEO as this 2 headed monster. Looking forward to hearing more on this topic. Have a blessed weekend!
Thanks
Jason
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Richard Kaulfers on May 7th, 2010
Just to point out what I am sure most of you have looked at is the SEO link in the nav bar up at the top.
Chunking it up is a great tactic indeed.
Let’s not forget to start with the end in mind. More traffic, higher page rankings. And not to killed by the monster.
Strap in. We are in for a long fun ride.
Have a great weekend.
Richard Kaulfers
[Reply]
Richard Kaulfers on May 7th, 2010
Just to point out what I am sure most of you have looked at is the SEO link in the nav bar up at the top.
Chunking it up is a great tactic indeed.
Let’s not forget to start with the end in mind. More traffic, higher page rankings. And not to killed by the monster.
Strap in. We are in for a long fun ride.
Have a great weekend.
Richard Kaulfers
[Reply]
May 7th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Darn double post. Still getting use to this smart phone.
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Hector cuevas on May 7th, 2010
Hey
You’re so right about wordpress. It simplifies the complexity of SEO with all the cool plugins you can add.
The real ‘fun’ starts when the backlinks, LSI, and keyword density heads start popping out – …riiiight, fun :-/
Talk soon,
Hector Cuevas
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May 7th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Definitely a big topic…
Backlinks is definitely where it’s at.
Picking keywords will have to be a whole post on it’s own… if not multiple posts.
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John Rothstein on May 7th, 2010
Hey Jason,
Were you talking about me or the Hydra? Possibly interchangeable. I am looking for to your SEO training. Have an awesome weekend Jas.
John Rothstein
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May 7th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
It depends what you mean…
Hah, maybe?
I might alternate the SEO with some E-mail stuff.
We’ll see.
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Gayle Buchanan on May 7th, 2010
Morning Jason
Nice, platform all settled ready for the ‘jason juice’.
PS ‘Brownie’, ha, brilliant!
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May 7th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Jason juice?
You’re crazy Gayle.
That’s why I like you so much.
We get along just fine.;-)
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Dan Johnson on May 7th, 2010
Nice explanation Jason, breaks it down to where it’s understandable at least.
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Mark Gubuan on May 7th, 2010
J,
SEO hydra is almost as scary as that bunny in Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
“It’s just a cute bunny…raarrr”
Mark
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Wayne Wu on May 7th, 2010
It can definitely be a bit overwhelming at first but if you take a step by step approach like you should with everything else, it’s not long until you master it.
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May 7th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
For sure Wayne.
It’s like that question:
“How do you eat an elephant?”
One bite at a time. 
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Rhonda Miller on May 7th, 2010
Dang Jason. You nearly had me terrified to death. Whew!!!
But I knew I had to keep pushing through, kinda like a recent infamous battle with a Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich. (For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, you can click on my name and visit my blog for further explanation).
Now it’s time to go have some dessert. Actually, I think I’ve lost my appetite for dessert after the “brownie” comment.
However, this article has been very tasty. And I am going to concentrate on keeping my blog to a two-headed serpent instead of like something out of the Book of Revelations.
Have a great weekend,
Rhonda
[Reply]
May 8th, 2010 at 8:46 am
I think I ruined brownies for everybody.
All for the sake of illustrating a point. I have to watch myself sometimes. 
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Marcus Baker on May 7th, 2010
“…and take a running leap (or backflip) at the bloody stumps of the two original heads with a flaming blowtorch.” Do you have this on video?
Have a great weekend!
~Marcus
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May 8th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Mitchell probably has footage of it somewhere…
He caught me on camera the other day.
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Amy Starr Allen on May 7th, 2010
Entertaining, Jason…
And I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the next post…
-A
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May 8th, 2010 at 8:48 am
I know this post was a bit of a teaser…
But don’t worry, there’s juicy tips ahead.
I just wanted to make sure everybody knew about
the two types of SEO.
Otherwise, it gets a little confusing.
[Reply]
Craig White on May 7th, 2010
Jason,
Nice article! For a minute there I thought I was reading the Poseidon Adventure.
I wrote a blog recently on some wordpress SEO tips.
check it out.
http://craigandkimwhite.com/training/wordpress-plugins-seo/
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May 8th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Awesome,
Although I commonly discourage links here.
What would life be like without plugins?
I know there’s been a few suggestions for All-In-One-SEO-Pack.
That’s a great one too.
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Tommy DiPietro on May 10th, 2010
Hey J
This was an awesome post.
I also use the All in One SEO Wordpress plugin and the Scribe SEO Plugin. I have been nailing my targeted keywords because of my SEO tactics.
I was concentrating on words that were mentioned 500,000 times on Google. Since I stepped up my efforts, I have been targeting words that are mentioned close to 1,000,000 times. My SEO efforts has put me at #1 on first page of Google (Tommy MLM was a real test for me and nailed it). This was for words that I never even used to get on page 1 for.
Thanks for this information. I hope it gets more people to have a clear understanding on how to do it. Many think all they need to do is write a good post, a little SEO is like waving the magic wand.
Have a great day…
Tommy D.
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Fred on May 10th, 2010
Great analogy Jason,
Since I am new to all of this SEO stuff, I am trying to learn all that I can. Look forward to hearing more about this subject from you.
Sparkle & Shine,
Fred
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Derek Alvarez on May 10th, 2010
I love the way you simplify things, Jason!
This is a great way to explain SEO.
I’ve tried to keep it as simple for myself as I can and I’ve gotten some pretty good results so far…
Without knowing all there is to know.
Seriously, if you want to do well starting out — write a blog post every day.
It’s amazing what consistent action will do!
[Reply]
Successful New You – Home Business Tips – Personal Development – Network Marketing » Blog Archive » How to Write Better Articles and Drive More Traffic Using a Can of Pepsi | MLM Copywriting Tips on May 11th, 2010
[...] a classic example of how Jason Better uses his MLM copywriting skills to relate some mythical creature that we haven’t read about since the 6th grade, to SEO [...]
Tommy DiPietro on May 20th, 2010
Hey J
I was laughing while doing some keyword research and because of my comment knocked me to #2 and this post to #1 for that target word.
Hope they aren’t working you to death!
Tommy
[Reply]
Hey Jason,
Brilliant…Brilliant!!
Nice job tying this two headed monster to what we are going to learning from SEO. Looking forward to next week.
Have a great weekend!
Josh
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May 7th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Thanks Josh,
Congratz on Better Networker for your trending article too.
That rocks.
I don’t even think it was shared in the Best of but you have more votes a views than half the other now.
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May 7th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Thanks!
That is cool seeing up on the popular post and all the votes. To the Better Bunch don’t forget to visit BetterNetworker.com and check out the article that I posted. One last favor…please give it a vote.
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May 7th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Totally.
I wasn’t surprised though.
Your articles rock.