Our ‘SEO is like…’ competition finished on Friday and we had some great comments. The winners have all been notified and their Top SEO Trumps packs are on their way! As so many entries had us chuckling in the office we thought we should share our favourites!
Somewhat surprising was the negative mood running through the entries. While meant to be taken with a pinch of salt (they’re jokes after all!) some of the comments are very dismaying coming from those within the industry. Others suggest that SEO means treading a fine line between great success and doomed failure.
We like to dispel this myth that SEO is frustrating and cause as much pain as gain. Our SEO course will show you that you don’t have to try to trick the engines, bang your head against a brick wall in pursuit of higher rankings or pay out thousands without knowing what you’re paying for. In one day you’ll learn SEO from the start – from technical optimisation to those White Hat techniques that Google loves. We do cover the latest tips and tricks and emphasise the importance of social media and content, but we also advise that any ‘quick gain’ approach is likely to have consequences!
If you find yourself agreeing with a lot of the comments below then take a look at our comprehensive guide to SEO for Start-Ups and Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing. Both resources should help you focus your SEO campaigns, but if you’re looking to really expand your knowledge you should come down to Brighton for our SEO and Social Media courses – we have some great packages on offer!
Read on to hear what our readers think ‘SEO is like…’ and what we think you can learn from the comments…
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Martin Evans: SEO is like… a static but ever changing acronym, once you work out what those three little letters mean, they go and change again!! Should be ECSMT – ever changing search manipulation test.
I prefer ‘optimisation’ – it suggests you’re making your site and content better - something the engines love! Manipulation suggests making your site worse just to gain rankings – something the engines hate! Does anybody have any other suggestions for new acronyms?
Lizzi Mills: SEO is like… first-time sex – everyone talks about doing it, but no-one really has a clue!
SEO training will give you all the clues to solve the puzzle!
William Rock: SEO is like… a deck of cards you never know what card Google will put down next for its algo.
Very true, but I think we can predict that all algo changes will at least attempt to value high quality over low quality (sites, pages, links, social shares etc.)
Craig: SEO is like… so last year and stuff, we’re all about content optimisation now, d’you dig?
Yes we dig. SEO is more about optimising content for search engines than ever before.
Analyn: SEO is like… BUBBLEGUM that keeps you feeling comfortable when it’s sweet but grasps you in hell when Google updates!!
Possibly the first analogy to contain bubblegum and hell, congrats Analyn! It can be really frustrating to feel like the target of a Google update so I feel your pain, just try to make your site as natural as possible and the updates shouldn’t impact you so much.
SEO is like… bubblegum
Mikeski: SEO is like… sex. At the beginning you will love it but in the end you will hate it.
Not sure what to say about this one! I find the more I get involved in SEO the more I like it – especially when you stumble across something that works really well.
Knick: SEO is like… a MOUNTAIN. It is so hard to climb up but when you reached the top, it is too easy to climb down.
I like to think that the harder the climb the better you feel at the top. Putting hard work into your SEO campaigns should pay off, it’s usually the ‘instant success’ solutions that lead to an uncomfortably quick descent.
Alex: SEO is like… a puzzle. You start by building a frame around the edges, then you work on small chunks at a time. Eventually, it all fits together and creates a nice picture. But sometimes, there’s a piece that fell under the coach, and the puzzle never quite looks right – no matter how much time you spend on it.
There’s a lot of wisdom in this – a great way to sum up a search campaign thought out properly.
There are always going to be things you miss or do well, but if you build everything together like a puzzle, rather than sticking it all together with super glue, you’ll end up with lasting results. Every now and then an algorithm update will come along and dislodge the pieces, but each time you put it back together the picture will look a little better.
SEO is like… a puzzle
Naomi K: SEO is like… sticking a £1 coin to the ground – everyone that passes will see it and try to get it.
Not sure I fully understand this one but I like it anyway. Maybe because it implies that a lot of people are trying and failing to grab at money? Or that when one person stumbles upon a new SEO trick everyone else tries it out, leading to algorithm updates to punish the trick!
Alan: SEO is like… battleships because the battlefield is invisible. You have to analyse results and take educated guesses.
Spot on! We will never know exactly how the search engines rank pages. We just have to try new things and repeat what works. Analytics are essential to any good SEO campaign.
Meredith: SEO is like… running in a circle. Forever.
While this is a bleak way to phrase it, SEO is an ongoing process. As with any marketing strategy you can’t let it fester and have to keep moving forward, although you should try and aim in a straight line rather than a circle!
Chris S: SEO is like a finely tuned chicken that set off across the road of life. SPLAT !!
This is the exact feeling after a well thought out SEO campaign falls flat on its face. It’s known to happen but isn’t just a concern for SEO. Any advertising or marketing campaign has the potential to fail, you just have to keep at it and come up with even better ideas and strategies.
Guy: SEO is like a new drug – you try it at your own risk without knowing if the effects will be positive or negative.
We don’t advocate trying drugs… we do encourage trying SEO! As long as you stick to the recommended methods (by Google, not by Black Hat forums) the effects will be positive – you will see increased rankings which lead to more conversions!
Gary Andrew Lacanilao: SEO is like… Government Politics. Initially, you would need votes. Then, you have to gain trust. After that, you have to build your name. Lastly, you have to be ethical.
This is a great piece of advice, although you should be ethical from the beginning! PR, social media and traditional advertising are having an increasing impact on SEO. Engines value trustworthy, authoritative and liked content.
Keith: SEO is like a minefield, one wrong step and boom! All those steps you took before can all be forgot about if you do not follow the ambiguous Google guidelines to find the right path.
So true. Don’t spend years building an impressive site and a lot of authority and ruin it all by falling for a black hat technique like paid link building or cloaking, your hard work could be wiped out for good!
SEO is like… a minefield
Alfredos: SEO is like… a rat race. Just when you thought you’ve found the best SEO technique that will bring you more $$$, then BOOM! Your rank and traffic drops and your back in the race!
For those of you who feel like this I have a piece of advice – don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Ranking highly in Google for search terms doesn’t mean you make more money. Think of Google as a way to get people to your site, and concentrate on making your site as good as possible for customers. Don’t build a business model that relies on another company to make money and think of other ways to market to potential customers.
Russell Deasley: SEO is like… trying to detect pregnancy in cows. Unless you know what you are doing you will cover everything is s**t. (including yourself)
Thought I would save the best for last, I love this comment from Russell and it aptly demonstrates a problem with SEO. Search engines try to rank the ‘best answer’ content but in doing so end up penalising other sites. Unfortunately this leaves a lot of small businesses at risk of following bad advice on the internet and suffering because of it. It’s often too easy to hear someone say ‘do this it works’ and go with it, without considering their expertise or experience – especially when money comes into it!
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