Is SEO a Hack?
Absolutely!
At Less Conference Eoghan McCabe said “SEO is a hack” and he’s absolutely right.
Why do I agree with him even though my agency makes money by optimizing clients’ websites to show up high on Google? Because even though SEO is a hack, it can still be a very effective way to market a company’s products & services, helping people looking for a product or service to find a good option.
While SEO is definitely a hack, many marketing techniques are hacks, meaning the techniques you use are not natural go-with-the-flow ways of doing things.
I hate playing games in areas like this, but the reality is, search as we know it requires us to play the SEO game. Being remarkable alone doesn’t get us found when a customer is searching for our product.
The Google of 2020 may reward remarkability as it should, but in 2009, the SEO hack is still very effective.
Newbie Web Guide: Is it okay to be passive?
Yes it is!
If you’re just getting to the point where you know you’d like to take advantage of the Internet, but aren’t quite sure where to begin, start with an intentional passive approach.
Examples:
Blogs
Sure, you could go start a blog right away, but the better approach might be to take a couple months and get the feel of it from other blogs. See the different writing styles and how the authors manage reader comments. Get the feel of what other blogs are doing, but don’t be afraid to be yourself if/when you decide to start your own.
The next step will be to start engaging with that blog’s author and readers (community) by posting comments on blog posts that interest you.
Here’s a good place to start in finding blogs with a high readership in different areas of interest: technorati.com/blogs/directory
Twitter Search
Even if you already have a Twitter profile, start using the search feature of Twitter to see what other people are saying about your areas of interest - whether it’s your specific brand or industry, you can really take advantage of the information you get on what people are saying. Then after you get comfortable you may decide to start engaging in conversation with the same people talking about your brand or industry.
Start Here: search.twitter.com
Facebook Pages
Again, you probably have a Facebook profile already, but if you’re not already, head over to some pages relating to your industry or customer base. See what the communities on those pages are talking about - and then feel free to engage if you’d like.
The Point
Here’s three - there’s hundreds more. The point is to know it’s okay to start out with a passive approach - learn and get the feel. We’ve all been in a conversation and midway through someone walks in and interject their thoughts, only to find they didn’t really know what was being discussed. It’s worth taking a little time to get the feel.
You’ll also find these passive approaches will be just as important to you after you start taking a more active approach.
Great Design is about Credibility
As a followup to my last post about the importance of the look and feel of your website, I think it all comes down to credibility.
Of course their are circumstances where your website’s effectiveness hinges on how cool the design is, but in general, the reason to have a quality design (look & feel) is that it gives your company instant credibility - something very important when you have only parts of a second to get & keep the user’s attention.
Further thought: Checkout #3 on this usability guide from Smashing Magazine
Effective web design: Look & Feel
Does the Look & Feel really matter?
It’s easy to find beautifully designed websites that are just plain ineffective (a browse through CSS Mania should do the trick). It’s also fairly easy to find a website that has boring design but is effective (Craiglist is world-famous for this).
So what’s an effective design?
The short answer: When it comes to a business website, the short answer is to have a website design’s look & feel be very professional - very excellent. The user should feel that you have your stuff together. Your website should make the user feel they can trust you with their time or money by giving them a professional experience.
It’s the same way with a traditional storefront. If the parking lot is trashy and loaded with potholes, the windows dirty, and the inside doesn’t feel polished, you feel this isn’t a professional store. Whether you know it or not, you’re probably doubting that you can trust them to come through like you want them to.
In the storefront example, a very unusual but beautiful store design may be nice, but most likely it doesn’t make them more effective.
The long answer has to be given for each situation you find yourself in. One recent example is a website we did for Kevin Spencer and Theatre of Illusion. Every detail aside, the user needed to tell as much by the design (look & feel) of the website as they did with the website copy - just having a professional and excellent site design wouldn’t have been as effective.
So what does this all mean?
Takeaway is to focus on what will make your website most effective and not blindly assume that incredibly unique and charming design is going to be your ticket to success.
Learning Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
While I don’t think everyone leveraging the Internet needs to become an expert at Search Engine Optimization (SEO), I do think most need to have at least an understanding of how SEO works.
If you want to learn about SEO, and know more than most, checkout SEOmoz’s Professional Guides. While I use the paid Pro SEOmoz, there are so many free guides on there. If you spend a month reading through the guides, I guarantee you’ll be completely empowered to direct your company’s SEO needs.
