Is SEO Real, or Simply a Figment of Big G’s Imagination?

Firstly I should point out that I am a proud “SEO’er”, spending 7 days a week (or more!) on Google. It is in this schedule I have had several years, which I have begun to question Google’s need, priorities and underlying meaning.

Before I start on my thoughts, I want you all to question what SEO really is. It’s said search engine optimisation is simply “the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site or a web page (such as a blog) from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results, as opposed to other forms of search engine marketing (“SEM”) which may deal with paid inclusion”.

In my opinion, SEO is “identifying, researching and implementing whatever is needed, in order to gain the rankings your site/blog or company needs to deliver its online sales plan.”

So here’s My Angle…

The search engines themselves, ultimately decided SEO would be the description of gaining rankings through strategic changes to a website, in order to ultimately affect the way in which the site is viewed by the search engine. This leads me onto my first gripe…

Why would a search engine want to dictate the overall strategy behind manipulating its own algorithm?

You are Mr. Yahoo or Mr. Google and you want to display in your SERPs, the best results for each individual search, you judge this by using hundreds of algorithmic specifications that deem whether a website is worthy for each search. But, and it’s a big but, you have hundreds of thousands of people around the globe who’s prerogative it is to understand, interact and manipulate your specifications, in order to gain an advantage over their competition. What do you do? You can’t beat them, it’s a fact.

No matter how much Google changes its algorithm, its people or its process, people like you and me will always be able to gain some advantage by understanding how it works. It’s the same as a million other things in this world, you can’t cook Spaghetti Bolognese, so you watch Jamie Oliver cook up a storm, you read a recipe book and look online. Now you know how to cook spag bol, or at least you have a better understanding of how to do it.

This would be the same as telling a child they are not allowed to play computer games and giving them an Xbox.

Here’s why, in several of Google’s guidelines, you will see SEO good practice, good practice for page title tags, how to make best use of the “description” Meta tag. These go on and on, surely this is messed up? Google’s objective is to:

A. Make money by making it harder to rank naturally and so switching people onto AdWords.

B. Make AdWords more “clickable”, as we have seen by recent size, position and some colour changes.

C. And thirdly to deliver the best results possible for a single search by a single searcher.

Google’s Hidden Agenda

Fair play to Google, they are very clever, they have the market cornered and short of a huge push by Microsoft’s Bing, they will continue to the market leader for years to come.

But really, do you think all the “carrot dangling” is for our benefit? No. Big G has basically told us they will penalise anyone’s site that tries to optimise too much, this is stupid in the real world. It is common sense that people are going to try as hard as they can. Will people who try their best in the World Cup be substituted?

Unless your site is dabbling in the dark art of SEO you will be fine, though please do not try too hard, whatever too hard is!

Let’s look at the real point behind this.

G has us by the balls! With billions of searches every day worldwide and even more billions of results, I would guess 98% of these have been manipulated in some way by an SEO guy. We all use Google, we all search and most of us have Analytics, AdWords accounts, web master tools and Gmail. All of which, in my opinion, are Google’s armoury, a defence and a pro active means of understanding people who manipulate its SERPs. Who better is there? Google can make all the tweaks they like but in the end we will find a way, we are the real meaning of SEO, SEM or whatever it is called these days

So what should you think?

You should think whatever you like, after all this is only my opinion. But in my eyes Google has 2 options, stay exactly the same, but spend more time concentrating on the websites that show a blatant disregard to the visitor or are ultimately being naughty in SEO terms rather than penalising lots of sites on a daily basis simply because they change their title tag.

The second option would be to stop telling us how we should do SEO and then judge us when people try too hard; obviously I am only talking in an innocent manner.

Anything else?

Luckily for you guys I am not going to refer you to my SEO site for more information, I don’t even have a site, I don’t believe in wasting my time promoting how good I am at SEO and trying to rank for “SEO”. I believe in doing the best for my clients, spending all my time on their gains and preaching my opinions on SEO. But what I will do is leave you with a couple of links that you can use to find me if needed for any reason. Thanks.

dannychapmanseo@googlemail.com

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Original article: SEO Tactics