I’ve been listening to a lot of oxford-style debate thanks to NPR’s new and awesome show, Intelligence Squared. After hours of listening to thoughtful and well-spoken people debate the merits (and problems associated with) teachers’ unions, paying for sex, atheism, etc., it’s hard not to think about subject close to my heart with the same attitude of curiosity and obstinance.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization for those of you who are new to the world of internet marketing) has been the butt of a lot of jokes, insults, and general malaise for at least as long as I can recall. (That’s not to say that even though people hate SEO they don’t invest in it for their own sites behind closed doors, but that’s an entirely distinct issue for another time.)
Before I explain my position, I want to extend an invitation from anyone who wants to add to this debate. This is especially true of people who disagree with me. So leave your notes and messages in the comments below and I’ll be sure to let anything fly. On to the main event…
I’m going to try to convince you of two points I firmly believe, and then follow-up with a note to SEOs at large.
- First point is that SEO works, and that is why there is a market for it.
- Second point I’d like to discuss is that it is the fact that SEO works that makes people hate it and webmasters’ (possibly very reasonable) anger should be pointed at the search ecosystem instead of the SEO’s who help people to do better in that ecosystem. In other words, blame the flawed system, not the best option in that flawed system.
- Finally, I’d like to discuss how the some of the SEO community and some professional SEO’s don’t help the situation by lacking transparency.
Point 1: SEO works, and that is why there is a market for it.
Some people argue against SEO on the basis that it doesn’t work. Empirical evidence shows that well-executed SEO strategies absolutely do work and my own personal experience shows that SEO works. Let’s take this ‘it doesn’t work’ element out of the argument. If it didn’t work, nobody would care about SEO. It’s the fact that it works that makes the discussion relevant. So let’s forget assume SEO does work (because it does…) and move on.
At some point in most webmasters’ lives they realize that certain website structures, certain keywords, certain widget or plugins…. well they seem to improve your traffic. If you noticed this on one of the websites you manage then chances are you are curious about how to do more of the ‘right thing’.
That’s how I got started in SEO. Because I noticed that some of the things I did gave me more traffic and I wanted to know how to replicate those successes. Can anyone raise their virtual hand and explain what is wrong with that?
An SEO (not a bad one, not a spammer calling himself and SEO, and not a comment spammer) is someone who was curious about how to rank better and then delved into the massive amount of literature that’s required reading to even speak intelligently on the subject of SEO. And what’s funny is that many of the same organizations that tell us not to use SEO’s are publishers of manuals on how to improve your rankings. Case and point: Does Google like SEO’s? I would say that they don’t. But at the same time they give a massive amount of information in Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, and in their help documents about ranking better.
These SEO-haters say: “You’d never want to hire an SEO, but three months worth of reading about optimizing your site for search that you are more than welcome to read and make sense of and then implement”. Put another way: “Dentists and the dental profession are a hoax, but here’s a 500 page manual on extracting your own tooth. Would you like to buy some pliers?”
I argue that SEO’s are people who have been around the block a few times and know what works and what doesn’t. They (we, although I do a lot less client work now than ever before) can help a webmaster make sense of what they should be doing to rank better. Knowledge about how to rank better is a marketable asset and an SEO consultant explaining how to rank better is no different than an ad buyer who knows which ads will get more eyeballs.
Now absolutely there are some bad people who call themselves SEOs, but it’s not fair to trash an entire professional for the actions of a minority. And even if you do decide to trash the entire profession of SEO, that isn’t going to help you do better in the rankings. Much in the same way that saying that dentistry is made up doesn’t make your cavities go away, pretending that SEO is made up won’t stop your competitors from hiring SEO’s to get them to outrank you.
Now if you are getting kind of pissed because you see that what I’m saying has some truth… well I don’t blame you. And that brings us to the next point.
Point 2: Hate the ecosystem, not the best option in that ecosystem.
It’s not SEOs’ fault that your site doesn’t rank where you think it should or that your rankings are fickle. That’s the nature of the search engine beast.
None of us are entitled to any certain ranking, but once we get used to being #1 on a search for a while it feels downright like stealing when someone takes that spot from us. I understand that and I get worked up about it too. And if it seems that an SEO helped your competitor to outrank you, then it can feel especially underserved.
But eventually we all have to understand that high rankings are an asset. That traffic turns into dollars. And business will use any consultants, methods, or means to get value (a good ranking). If you want to blame SEO’s, then you have to blame the website owner, the owners of Google, and everyone involved in the dance of selling online. You can’t pull one part out of the whole and say it’s to blame for all the ills of the web.
Finally: A Note to Fellow SEOs.
If you are an SEO or want to be one in the future (not a bad career track actually… despite the distain most webmasters have for SEO’s they are still hiring SEO’s like it’s going out of style. Hmmmm… are there any other careers that are highly disdained but required? Does law ring a bell?) I’d suggest taking an altogether alternate route than most of the current SEO’s in the world have taken. I suggest taking this route because it’s the one I’ve taken (to an extent) and had a lot of luck with.
The route? Be transparent, honest, and avoid the temptation to ‘be the wizard’. What do I mean by ‘be the wizard’?
Well for some reason when an SEO walks into a meeting the default stance toward the SEO is that he or she knows some guarded secret. It feels good to be treated that way. But nobody likes hiring someone with a guarded secret. It feels like blackmail to the client.
That’s why I suggest working your ass off to make it apparent that what you do isn’t mystical at all. It’s all very well documented and follows best practices. It’s not magic, so don’t let yourself even accidentally make it seem that way.
When you follow best practices and don’t rely on ‘being the wizard’ you are a lot more protected, too. Some sites just can’t get that much more traffic and if you happen to have a client like that and you’ve followed best practices and didn’t double their traffic then it’s easier to explain why. And you didn’t sell yourself as magic so you aren’t expected to create a miracle. See what I mean?
Responses?
I’m all ears and I look forward to hearing what all of you have to say about the subject of SEO.
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