What is SEO Defense? SEO defense is just that, defending your position against the competition. How is this done?, by focusing on metrics based on quality and refinement rather than quantity and volume.

All you need is one page and one solid link to potentially create relevance, aside from that, it is the competition for the phrase that determines how difficult or easy it is to attain it.

Defending your position in the SERPs (search engine result pages) can be just as fierce as getting the position in the first place.

At the end of the day, it’s about two things quality and relevance (not to mention a few million competitors vying for the same position), but what makes one search result more relevant than another? and Why is defending your position necessary? Let’s address the first question, but we really shouldn’t have to answer the last question, should we?

Here’s my take on this.

1) Site age - obviously for authority and trust. If you don’t have trust from search engines (if they don’t spider your content daily), then this is your first objective.

2) Topical relevance - the quantity and quality of the information on your site. How many pages on the topic, are the pages supporting each other through virtual theming and deep links? *think wikipedia here, a site structured to rank for any phrase large or small and how? Through content and internal links. If the quality is great, leave the link building to others (since they will link to you as a resource).

3) Who you link to and who links to you - Obviously another crucial component, but not as big a deal as people hype it up to be. Tweaking your content and site structure can produce equally as phenomenal results as building links from external sources. Particularly when attempting to hem up more competitive keywords. You should also reduce link velocity the higher you rank, remember it’s about quality over time vs. overcompensating with quantity in the short-term that wins the race in the long-run.

4) Traffic - People are the reason websites either rank or tank online. When people find content that has an affinity with their persona, they embrace it. By embracing it, the are endorsing it with their time and user engagement.

5) Understanding the limitations of your technique - Building links is not always the solution, sometimes other optimization tactics won’t work either (it all depends on the site and the circumstances). So, understanding the limits and advantages for each SEO method you employ (and the fact they it may not work in the future) is enough reason to seek diversity in your method.

Search engines are looking at more than just links and content, they are observing metrics such as the amount of time visitors spend on your site, spikes in traffic, and dozens of distinct algorithmic patterns. Now more than ever, it is all about holistic optimization as the total package vs. relying on one SEO tactic excessively.

Using each of the aspects above are the techniques or rather results of SEO defense, how you employ them is up to you. Ultimately, when combined with strategy, timing and forecasting (building a cumulative result over time) these methods are what keep your site in spotlight with search engines spiders.

If everything lines up, then your defense will be impenetrable, at least long enough to keep the competition at bay until all of your efforts consolidate as a dynamic SEO synergy.

You need to defend your SEO the moment you rank for a competitive keyword . Since millions of others are fighting for that keyword relentlessly, by you acquiring it, there is a virtual bulls-eye painted on your back. This is the time to think ahead of the curve, anticipate a challenge and set plan B into play.

So, just in case you think its time to relax, think again and stick to SEO basics combined with a solid plan of action, because the best defense is not to be there “so keep moving” at all costs because a moving target is much harder to hit than a static one.

It’s not always about being defensive, it is creating positive momentum, quality content, traffic and relevance. So, in reference to this drill, tactical planning, strategy and offense is truly the best defense to accomplish your mission.

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