Raiders Of The Lost SEO Art – Science and Art in Harmony?
Is Search Engine Optimization an art? Is it Science? Is it a mix of both? Has SEO as we know it gone the way of the dinosaur? With link farms, citation building software, cheap outsourced labor and an attitude of ‘get rich quick’, many business owners AND agencies have forgotten the simple fundamentals that make SEO, well…SEO.
Depending on who you ask (and the results they’ve been able to achieve) you’ll probably get a mixed bag of answers – Just don’t ask the agencies and businesses that were spamming the living hell out of Google and got their hands slapped with the Google Penguin Update!
The battle has been waged, and has been happening for years. Both sides attempt to achieve the same results, but what is the most effective form of SEO? Let’s take a moment and dissect the 2 most common forms of search engine optimization.
SEO -‘The Art Form’
SEO Artists look at SEO from a different lens, because they trust their intuition. They have the ability and the creative mind to turn generic articles and advertising copy into search engine friendly masterpieces. Does the reader like looking at a geographical specific keyword being thrown in their face? Is their a subtler, more creative way to get your keywords into your content?
It can takes years and years of practice to truly master the SEO art form, but after repetition and perfectionism, it can become automatic. Once an SEO artist gets their claws on the subject matter and breaks content down into its truest, rawest form, they have the ability to create something truly powerful.
**However, perhaps the biggest skill the SEO artists possesses is his or her ability to make optimization invisible to the user – all the while facilitating their online experience**
SEO – ‘The Science’
SEO ‘scientists’ on the other hand, look at Search Engine Marketing from an analytical lens and will typically try and figure out where certain keywords should go, how many keywords to use and the order in with which they should use them.
Many SEO pro’s have formula’s that they’ve concocted and perfected over the years – and with good reason: their formula’s and strategies have a winning recipe for success!
**Using a plethora of formulas and data, SEO scientists can crack into their ‘SEO Diary’ at any time, and choose the strategy that best fits the task at hand.**
SEO Ninjas, Guru’s, Wizardry and… Adster Creative?
You’re probably wondering at this point, “What is the best Strategy?”. With all the information (or misinformation?) available it can be hard for you as a small business owner to determine the best course of action for your businesses SEO strategy.
In our honest experience, we believe that a mix of SEO Art and SEO science yields the best results. At the end of the day, the goal is simple: Create powerful, compelling content and make it easy for your users and Search Engines to find you.
No matter which strategy you employ, remember that it takes time, hard work and creativity to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.