SEO-lala-land vs SEO in the Real World (Part 2 of 2)

This post is a continuation of our previous post which covered points 1-5 of our list of 10 factors which identify what SEO should be versus what SEO in many cases is perceived to be in terms of deliverables and achievement goals. All in our humble opinion of course 

6. SEO is not rocket science.

No, it’s not rocket science. That doesn’t mean it’s easy either. Effective keyword research, local placements, SMM assimilation, IA, copy, design , effective SEO development with CMS, effective backlinking… and more take a lot of time, effort, measurement and refinement.

SEO is not just about the keywords you think your business should rank on. It’s about a whole lot more. Todd Friesen wrote a great article published over at Search Engine Land last year that speaks to a few points.

My point is that what a business feels it should rank on may not be what users would type to search for their business online. It’s a big point and we’ll be covering it at the SEM Canada conference.

7. SEO is not a short-term strategy.

Effective on-page SEO can take effect from day one of a site going live if it is immediately crawled and indexed. If the SEO changes are a new addition to an existing site, the on-page changes will be picked up and reflected in the SERPs as soon as the altered page is re-crawled and indexed. This can be within a few days or a few weeks.

On-page SEO is by no means the defining factor of search engine optimization and SERP ranking.

Effective page optimization requires that human users find your page interesting and link to it. Effective SEO means that you have a responsibility to get your page listed in relevant directories, blogs and press releases which will be of interest to your online market. We’re talking backlinks, the biggest element of off-page SEO.

Effective optimization also means effective web analytics measurement and reporting. If a page is targeting the wrong terms, it needs to be refine and re-optimized. If market conditions change, the site will need to be reworked to reflect those changes. Optimizing a page with keywords once and thinking ‘this is it!’ is both dangerous and a waste of time and money. Effective SEO is simply one of many ongoing, tactical online marketing placement strategies.

8. SEO will not get a site banned in the SERPs

Effectively optimizing your page via acceptable (or ‘white-hat’) techniques will boost a site’s online exposure and SERP rankings. However, if the business chooses to embrace and practice what is called ‘black-hat’ techniques, they’re playing with a different little ball of high explosive.

Black-hat refers to the ‘dark side’ of SEO tactics and includes keyword stuffing of META data and content, hiding multiple repetitions of keywords in the same color font as the background, bad use of doorway pages, Google bombing, and numerous other dodgy methods to manipulate the search engines into ranking your page where it does not deserve to be ranked, whether in the short term or the long term.

Effective, ‘white-hat’ SEO is not about manipulation. Effective white-hat SEO is about online placement management in the real world for real terms for which real people are interested, and for which a page really offers something of interest.

9. SEO is not about conversions

People continually ask me to quantify why they should ‘optimize’. For me that’s a daft question. SEO is an effective and strategic online marketing placement strategy when correctly implemented. Does SEO convert people? No. Do banner ads convert people? No. Does TV convert people? No.

TV, banner ads, and SEO are all simply channels. Each drives people to a web page, or a store or a ‘something’. It is the job of the web page, the store or the ‘something’ to close the deal and convert the visitor.

If an SEO professional or company is sharp, is involved from the beginning of a campaign, and is integrated in the IA, copy, design and development of a site, then they have more accountability for sure. In the end, SEO is not about post-click marketing. SEO is about increasing your online exposure (relevantly) and driving traffic.

If a web site sucks – that’s not SEO’s problem. An advertiser is unlikely to turn around to TVTropolis and tell them their channel stinks because their new retro clothes ad didn’t end up sending them 10,000 extra customers after their new ad aired during the ‘That 70’s Show’ slot. Why blame SEO for driving traffic that doesn’t convert if it’s driving traffic that is relevant to your site?

SEO should be able to tell you that they anticipate an increase in new visitors to your site by a certain percentage. They should be able to say that they will drive new visitors through an increased number of relevant keywords, and that they will increase your online exposure via ranking more of the pages on your site in the SERPs. But SEO is NOT about telling a client that they will ‘convert’ visitors into buyers.

You can hope they will, and can measure increases in visitors to increases in conversions. A wise online marketer will ask SEO what they think they need to do to increase conversions via the implementation of landing pages specific to SEO objectives. Most don’t, and many SEOs are not equipped with this level of online marketing knowledge. It’s not their job. It is an added bonus.

10. SEO is not enough

SEO is not the beginning of an online web project, nor is it the end. SEO is an integral part of IA, design, development and web analytics.

Optimization should complement and support other offline and online advertising campaigns; that’s where the ROI, real exposure and real brand management comes into play.

SEO is great for listing a page to answer specific query intent, and yes lots of people ‘search’. And then again, lots don’t. Or at least they don’t as far as your product or service might be concerned. Apply measurable analytics programs to all your media, especially online, and see what drives traffic to your site. If SEO provides 15-20% of your non-branded traffic, they’re doing a damn fine job.