Welcome to Part 2 of White Hat, Black Belt’s three part series, 11 SEO Lessons You Can Learn From Heidi Montag, by guest blogger Andrew Martin of The Cosmetic Surgery Directory Blog. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

Lesson 4: Pretty on the Outside

A pretty face can, at least in the short term, mask a lack of substance or talent. Heidi’s celebrity status clearly supports this assertion. Fortunately for us, a pretty face can only take you so far. If we look at other celebrities who have ridden their looks to the top – Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson come to mind – we notice that their time at the top was relatively short-lived. Once another pretty face comes along, we will grow tired of Heidi’s, unless she can develop some sort of talent to capture our attention. While Britney and Jessica may still be considered celebrities, the general public has by-and-large grown tired of them, and it is doubtful their careers will ever return to the levels of their peak years. The main attribute separating also-rans such as Britney, Jessica, and Heidi from a legitimate celebrity powerhouse such as Madonna is substance. Whether you like her music or find it putrid, it is undeniable that Madonna possesses substance. Very few pop icons have had a 20+ year run at the top the way she has.

SEO lesson: This lesson is more of a caveat. DO NOT overlook the importance of having substance. Good design can lend credibility to your website, but to truly engage the consumer over the long-run, your content must have substance. Otherwise, people will eventually dismiss it.

Lesson 5: The Paps are your Friends

Of course, “the paps” refers to the paparazzi. The public likes pictures. Heidi clearly understands this concept, and she has adeptly manipulated the paparazzi to further her public image, ultimately increasing her celebrity status. Every time her photograph makes it onto the cover of a magazine, she is solidifying her stranglehold on the public consciousness.

SEO lesson: Good pictures can be an effective tool to help you achieve good search engine results. However, you need to manipulate them properly in order to use them to your advantage. Your pictures, and your content, should be both timely and engaging.

Lesson 6: Tell your Story

You can call Heidi a lot of things, but shy is not one of them. This woman clearly thinks she has a story to tell, and she jumps on every opportunity to tell it. Of course, I would argue that she has no story to tell and she is simply torturing us with incessant verbal diarrhea. However, one point seems fairly obvious to me. The day she stops telling her “story” is the day we all start forgetting about her. Please, let that day come soon.

SEO lesson: Relate to your consumer through blogs, “about us” pages, and press releases that make you more personable. Your website should be selling you, and an effective way to sell yourself is through compelling narrative. The importance of press releases cannot be overstated here. Anytime you do something noteworthy, you should put out a press release. Use them often and effectively to tell the world what you are up to.

Lesson 7: Couple Power!

Simply put – you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Heidi and her husband Spencer would not be nearly the media force separately that they are together. They both star in a reality TV series together, they have written a book together, and they constantly appear in public together. In fact, the media has developed a “two-headed monster” persona to refer to the celebrity couple: Speidi (yes, the webbed superhero is currently rolling over in his grave).

SEO lesson: Utilize reciprocal linking and work with other companies in related industries to help each other achieve results. If you are a personal injury law firm and have an association with a local chiropractor, then you can both benefit by linking to each other on your respective websites. If your business is actively involved with a local charity, you can both benefit by linking to each other’s websites. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

We can interpret this lesson in a different way as well. You can optimize both design and content for a greater effect than if you only optimize for one or the other. Of course, for this to be effective, both design and content must be of high quality. Bad design OR bad content can tank a site, but when both are strong, you will have a quality site with a lot of optimization opportunities.

Becky’s note: Just remember that not all reciprocal links are created equal. Pair Heidi with some homely, uninteresting dude no one has ever heard of and the partnership isn’t all that effective since he has nothing helpful to offer. Likewise, reciprocal link farm-style directories aren’t going to help you much. If the search engines think they’re spammy, you may be branded as well – guilt by association.

Stay tuned for the stunning conclusion of 11 SEO Lessons You Can Learn From Heidi Montag!

Tags: heidi montag, SEO

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