phpBB - Webmaster Forum

Joker · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: Defining SEO

Defining SEO

First, let's get one thing out of the way. Search engine optimization is not synonymous with Internet marketing.

SEO Isn't The End All, Be All Of Internet Marketing. Perfectly profitable business models exist without even a whiff of SEO.

Search engine optimization is an activity that concerns itself solely with achieving higher rankings for specific keywords on search engines such as Google. Search engine optimization is not building brands. Search engine optimization is not marketing, nor is it advertising.

An Internet marketing scheme may employ search engine optimization as one of its tactics, but it is just that - one tactic available in an Internet marketing campaign. Many other tactics of equal or more value are also available. Creating a strong brand which consumers are able to emotionally connect with is probably one of the more important activities of an Internet marketer, and something that has nothing to do with search engine rankings.

Conversational marketing, buzz marketing, viral marketing campaigns and good old fashioned advertising are also great ways of promoting a web site. And let's not forget the single most effective way of promoting a web site; becoming the market leader. When you become the market leader, folks no longer search for "carbonated soft drink" (generic) but instead search for "Pepsi" & "Coke" (brands).

All of these other marketing techniques are just as effective or more effective for promoting your web site and should not be overlooked in favor of search engine optimization. I tend to be anti-SEO at times, but that's just a knee-jerk reaction to the common practice of ignoring more effective marketing techniques in favor of blindly chasing after search engine rankings.

Having said that, search engine optimization can make or break a business. More than a few businesses have been made and lost fortunes based on their search engine rankings.
_________________
Free Chatroom | VP-Bulletin Board | Webmaster Blog