Search Engine Optimizaton Opposing Views
Seth Godin's recent post called The Problem with Search Engine Optimization has sparked a small swirl of controversy over the value of using SEO as a marketing strategy.
Seth's argument is substantive. (After all, it is Seth Godin making the argument!). Basically, he asserts that SEO is "not worth the money" for two reasons:
- SEO is "black art." It's hard to know who is good at it and who is not. and
- It's "blind faith." (Read the analogy he uses.)
Search Engine "Optimist" Aaron Wall asserts that Godin is completely wrong. Of course, he makes his living doing SEO and wrote an ebook on the subject.
In his article SEO vs. PPC: Seth is Completely Wrong! Wall states,
"As long as people who know little about SEO continue to mislead people about it then the SEO market will remain cloudy. Many people doing SEO are crooks, but if you find the right person you can achieve solid returns at an exceptionally low cost."The viewpoint that makes the most sense to me comes from ConversionRater.com. His is a middle-of-the-road opinion that assents to Seth's declaration, but at the same time, balances the argument with a testimonial of his own success using SEO.
A fellow with experience always trumps one with an argument. Being the gentleman that he is, Seth even acknowledges this in the comments section of the post.
Now, for my opinion. . .
- I believe having a site that is optimized for the major search engines is a key element in your overall marketing mix. Search engines are woven into the "warf-and-woof" of the Internet. They are it's circulatory system in many respects. Search engines are, in the 21st century, what the Yellow Pages were in the last. There is great likelyhood that most of your traffic will come from search engines. To suggest you don't need to use SEO is sheer arrogance at best, and sheer stupidity at worst.
- You need to use Paid-Per-Click advertising. SEO alone won't cut it, not for small businesses anyway. Google Adwords and Overture have proven themselves as extremely viable marketing venues. My own experience with them has been largely positive, and I recommend their use to all my clients.
- You need to add a blog to your small business website. I've pontificated on here more than once how this little blog has gotten me front page returns on keyword searches that really do have something to do with my business!
If you're a small businessperson who needs help with your online marketing efforts, please feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to discuss the matter with you.
Radiant Marketing Group
in AdWords, Pay Per Click, Search Engine Optimization
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Reader Comments (3)
one particular site has some conversion errors (which could be improved upon) and an extremely competitive marketplace, but with a higher conversion rate I am not certain that he can do well with #2. In his market AdWords is exceptionally competitive. Also right now his business operates near full capacity just using regular SEO - which is way cheaper than PPC if done correctly.
Another problem with AdWords is the lumping of broad match ads with exact match ads. I know some people who have amazing products who can not compete on adwords. One such example would perhaps be someone selling "paper roses."
PPC is useful for many sites, but the thing that builds long term value is creating messages that get people to want to spread your name.
My blog and your blog are both talking about Seth Godin, so he is doing something right. My point is along the lines that you can only perfect the sales message so much. Seth's success is due directly to all the links he gets, not his ads. In the end the guy who wins is the guy who does not need to advertise (see Purple Cow or Free Prize Inside).
At some point the sales message of the product needs to be something that will naturally want to spread. There is a good reason you, Seth, and I all have blogs. :)
I think Seth has a basic point in that many people spend a bunch of time trying to figure out the black arts of the search engines, or they just use dishonest search engine optimization companies. It "can" be much simpler to create a site that converts well and find your profitable price point for PPC ads.
As Aaron adeptly points out, not all products or business models can compete in Adwords profitably, even if your site does convert well.
Plus, while it may be easy and obvious to Seth how to make a site that converts extremely well, that's a terribly difficult thing for most people. That's what my blog focuses on, so I've studied this quite a bit. It can be quite hard to get your site to convert well, so in a sense having all those extra visitors free search can really help out, and allow you to test conversion for FREE instead of paying for your clicks to test.
As the writer of this blog points out, a combination of free search, PPC search, a blog, and a high converting site can really lead to business success. Hey, maybe we need to write a book about it....
Anyway, I've also noticed the blog benefits for search rankings. Not quite as much with ConversionRater.com, but for another blog I have I get great search rankings on the topics just by talking about them and using them in the title of my blog posts.
For example, if you know that your site is making good money from traffic through searches on a specific Adwords term, wouldn't it make sense to make sure you're using that term on your site? And that the site is getting spidered by search engines?
Seth seems to be ignoring the most obvious concept with SEO. Search engines try to provide good content to their visitors, so if you focus on creating good content you should be rewarded for your effort. If you are trying to trick the search engines into ranking your site high because you feel your site simply deserves to be #1, you'll likely end up fighting an uphill battle.