Reaching Perfection In the SEO World

[Dustybones]

Great Article at Moz By Ian Lurie is CEO at Portent.

Distance from Perfect

In spite of all the advice, the strategic discussions and the conference talks, we Internet marketers are still algorithmic thinkers. That’s obvious when you think of SEO.

Even when we talk about content, we’re algorithmic thinkers. Ask yourself: How many times has a client asked you, “How much content do we need?” How often do you still hear “How unique does this page need to be?”
That’s 100% algorithmic thinking: Produce a certain amount of content, move up a certain number of spaces.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Justin!

I didn't get a chance to skim this til now BUT I just found an incredibly insightful thought in the 1st comment.

Samuel Scott said:

"Ian, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you here (yes, I get the overall point to keep improving everything):

I’m not suggesting you ignore the algorithm. You should definitely chase it.

Each passing month, I think less and less about Google's algorithm directly. Why? Google is an algorithm that wants to think like a human being -- and it's getting better at doing that every day. If you want to rank highly in Google, think more about people and less about the algorithm -- the rankings will come as a by-product.

You want to rank first in Google for "widget software"? Be the first company that people think about when they think of "widget software." And that comes down to the product side -- actually being the best widget software out there. It comes down to doing real marketing and brand building and publicity. It comes down to getting people to talk about you (online) on social media channels and in Gmail and in communities and forums and all of the stuff that Google (usually) reads. It comes down to creating marketing collateral that your audience will love. The rankings will just come as a by-product of doing all that."

Everyone always says write your content for people NOT for Google.

But his point about the Google algo trying to think like a person more and more every day is so right on! And more than ever gives us reason to write for people and try to give reader/prospects/customers what they want!

 

[Dustybones]

I love the way this is written. The subject of "... think more about people and less about the algorithm" has been shoved down our throats for a long time now and I'm amazed how many companies still chase the beast instead of creating a really strong brand message that connects with the people.