SEO Blues
You don't understand SEO, it gives you a headache, and you're not sure you could be paid enough to care.
Fair enough.
Let me explain it in one sentence, and then we'll talk work-arounds.
The term refers to various types of information that can be inserted into your site's code to help search engines know what's important on your site, and also, how to arrange information for maximum search engine benefit. There's some more, but I promised one sentence.
I think it's pretty neat, but I can see how it would be deadly dull to many people. Given a choice between doing SEO and making comics, I'll take comics 90% of the time. Still, it's a great opportunity to communicate directly with search engines to help them do a better job of reporting your site.
So how do we help you develop an amazing site without it? I can think of several ways. Some involve learning a little bit, and some don't.
1. We could teach you the three most important SEO issues, and the single step most people take before working on them. We could point you to some handy gadgets, tell you what you need, and call it a day after you have checked off this accomplishment.
2. We could ignore SEO and focus on things you enjoy, like drawing your comic or making wallpaper for your readers. Here's the rub. Doing the minimal SEO described above is so much more effective than many things that it hurts to skip it.
3. You could hire a webcomicker. There aren't many doing this kind of work for people, but it's much easier than a lot of things people need help with, and you should be able to get assistance fairly cheap.
I haven't printed the follow-up article yet, but a while back in my column I asked if anyone wanted a free SEO job -- strictly amateur, but decent. I got an immediate taker, I put in about six or seven hours, and didn't touch his site, just walked him through what to do, so he could manage it, a little at a time.
I was thrilled by his thank you letter. He felt he got real value and I got a chance to try my skills on a site I didn't own -- at no risk.
We may see webcomic creators offering SEO help for hire. If they appear, I'll try to list the good ones.
