April 2020 – Chetan Sharma

This is most frequently asked question by professionals hoping to build themselves a career in online marketing. The answer to this question is No.. SEO is not dead or dying. In fact, It is evolving every day. But, If you think there are some Quick Hacks and Tricks that someone can teach you and you will also become a pro, then you are Mistaken. SEO expertise comes with experience and not shortcuts.

Those days are long gone when People use to do a lot of so-called Black Hat SEO tricks, paid link building, pushing Keyword Stuffed Content on Multiple sites. Google is Smart enough and can figure all that. The Key to Success is Content and it always was. People forget this very basic thing while doing SEO.

If you really want to learn SEO then you should learn from those who are killing on Google Search results in whichever industry they are working in. Try to figure what have they done right, and try to reverse engineer.

Following are the few Basics of SEO:

Content – 70%
On Page Optimisation – 25%
Off Page Optimisation – 5%

Content

Make sure you write for end users not for Bot, not what your boss likes but what the end user would want to read, just make sure your content is always fresh and constantly updated, two things are really important:
1. Recency – when did you post the content?
2. Frequency – how regularly do you update the content?
Page Title and Meta description is very important, it tells Bot what your page is about. The more relevant you keep it, the better. If you don’t update Meta Tags regularly, google will even start ignoring it and will pick content from your page to show it as a snippet in Google search results
Avoid Copying content from other sites or duplicate content within your site.
Make sure whatever you write should have a specific purpose and Target Audience.
You should never have separate SEO pages. Your original site flow and content should be optimized for SEO

On Page Optimisation

Make sure to make full use of H1, H2, and H3 Tags
All images on the Site should be optimized for speed and should have ‘alt’ Tags
Page load time is really important, in fact, is the most important thing.
The site should be Responsive and Mobile Optimized. Avoid creating separate pages for mobile.
Site navigation as well as internal linking, is very important.
Make use of rich snippets where ever possible as well as schema tags

Off Page – is useless or at max contributes to 20% to overall SEO effort, If you get the first 2 things right, don’t worry about this.. you will do well

There are a lot more important things that I can’t share in one article. Feel free to ask any questions and email me at email@chetansharma.me and you will get a reply back for sure.

11 lessons to learn from Gabbar Singh the management guru

Many of you may be aware of the legendary movie called Sholay and the equally legendary character called Gabbar Singh. Those who aren’t, I’ll quickly summarize who was Gabbar Singh. Gabbar Singh was a notorious dacoit who had spread havoc in the village of Ramgarh. To help nab him, Jai and Veeru, two ex-convicts, are hired by Thakur Baldev Singh, a retired policeman.
I feel that Gabbar Singh more of a Management Guru than a dacoit. Some of the timeless management lessons he promulgates through his Dialogues in the blockbuster movie Sholay are given below:

1. Jo Dar Gaya Samjho Mar Gaya – If you don’t have the appetite to take the risk don’t start your own business or work in a Startup, its like jungle, survival of the fittest.

2. Kitne Admi Thhey? – It’s always important to understand your competition well and change the game plan accordingly, there is no one size fits all strategy.

3. Yeh Ramgarh Waale Apni Betiyon Ko Kaunsi Chakki Ka Aata Khilate Hai Re – To be able to give a better value proposition it is important to do thorough Market research and devise penetration strategy to have a competitive edge over your rivals.

4. Yeh Haath Hamka Dede Thakur – Do a thorough SWAT Analysis to Identify threats in the market and take measures to minimize the same.

5. Holi Kab Hai, Kab Hai Holi? – Always know which all festivals are important for your TG and keep your event calendar planned to avoid last minutes rush.

6. Itna Sanatta Kyun Hai Bhai? – Out of sight, out of mind, you don’t want your customers to forget you. Always have a strategy to stay top of the Mind.

7. Bahut Yarana Lagta Hai? – Always keep an eye on what’s happening around you in office space and outside, you never know what can come handy in which situation, you should have a good sense of timing while applying the ‘carrot and stick approach’.

8. Arey O Sambha, Kitna Inaam Rakhe Hai Sarkar Hum Par? – Every now and then it is important to make sure everyone around you know your worth

9. Tera Kya Hoga Kaaliya? – Employee feedback is important. Always ask for their feedback before taking a decision on them.

10. 6 Goli, Aur Aadmi 3, Bohot Naa Insaafi Hai! – Always make your team members believe that you are on their side and want to give them a fair chance to perform and save their jobs or get promoted whatever is the case…

11. Le Ab Goli Kha – …but when it comes to performance review the line says it all, you get the idea right?