Any time I even breathe the phrase “SEO,” (search engine optimization) I have to follow it up with two important facts.
- I am so not an expert in SEO
- There’s a lot more to getting your content discovered than SEO
You can think of your content platform as a little spaceship. You get to fly it where you want to go. Your ship, your rules.
Search traffic is one kind of fuel for your spaceship, but it’s not the only one you have access to.
Sean Jackson wrote a post for Copyblogger some years ago titled SEO is Dead, Long Live OC/DC.
At the time he got a fair amount of pushback on the acronym, but I still remember it six years later, and I think it works.
It stands for Optimizing Content for Discovery and Conversion.
In other words, get yourself seen, then convert that traffic to your project goals (for sales or some other action).
You know how some books should have been blog posts? This was one of those blog posts that should have been a book. There’s a lot to dig in with this, but here are a few takeaways that I found particularly valuable.
Insight #1: Smart SEO is driven by larger goals
I mean, it’s natural to assume that “search engine optimization” is mostly about getting yourself ranked in, um, search engines.
But it’s 2021, and search engine bots still don’t have credit cards to buy your stuff.
What we actually want is to optimize our sites to get traffic “organically,” — in other words, without buying ads.
(It is not “free” traffic. The time and expertise it takes to optimize your work are far from free.)
Your business and project goals are the priority. A particular position on a search results page is one possible way to get there. When you think about the goals rather than the page results, you’ll make better decisions and see more options.
Insight #2: Audience is more important than algorithms
If search isn’t the priority, what is?
The audience. Specifically, a group of actual humans who are interested in your work, think you’re good at it, and can help you get what you want. (They can buy from you, they can help you get the word out, etc.)
Now, the algorithms and your audience have a lot in common. They both like sites that are fast, easy to understand, relevant to a topic, and free from malware.
Search engines are written by some of the smartest coders on the planet, and they look for “quality signals” to decide what content to rank.
And in the long term, the most reliable way to generate “quality signals” is to (wait for it) consistently publish high-quality material that people like and find useful.
But if you do ever face a scenario where you have to prioritize one over the other, always pick your audience.
Insight #3: Original research is a beautiful thing
Original research is a great “OC/DC” technique. It makes you visible. It’s incredibly useful for your audience. And it attracts the quality signals that search engines look for today (and any they might come up with tomorrow).
It also helps you find other publishers in your ecosystem. You might even make friends with some of them.
It might seem intimidating, but there are approaches that any of us can take.
Andy Crestodina is one of my favorite content strategists and business humans. He’s both very, very smart about strategy and a very, very nice guy. (I love that combination.)
Orbit are pros at conducting original research, including their annual survey of bloggers. Andy was interviewed here about how (and why) he does it: Podcast: How to Create Compelling Research-Based Content
An old blog post that’s still the right way to think about Google
I wrote a post in 2014 called The Right Way to Think About Google. It was all about how to manage Google-induced stress and minimize its ability to screw up your business and your ability to sleep at night.
We republished it in 2015. And I could republish it today without making any significant edits.
Individual tactics change quite a bit. Because search engines are ultra complicated bits of code. But optimization and conversion strategy can be much more enduring.
You don’t have to declare total independence from search. It’s worth learning how to give yourself a good shot at ranking on a search page. As long as you keep search in perspective, you’ll find it gives you a lot less heartburn.
That’s The Fierce for this week! We’ve been having a lot of fun with our #SummerOfStrategy daily tips and techniques. For those in the U.S., enjoy the Independence Day holiday, and I’ll see you next week …
Sonia Simone
Image courtesy of Giphy
