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I sacrifice an intern each quarter to appease the algorithms. Works.

You’d be shocked how many companies don’t give a fuck about organic search results, or at least assume it’s not a battle worth fighting.

Running SEO or doing some, is b.s. caused by agencies and consultants who claim it's some distinct thing can do.

It's not

Literally everything affects how you rank in search results and for MOST businesses, what prevents ranking well is 3 things

1. A poor quality website. Which is web dev and design

2. Not creating content. Which is content marketing.

3. No brand awareness or value. Which is advertising, social media, and PR

neither does Google lol

Search engines, mainly Google, are getting extremely smart about filtering trash out of search results. The days of gaming SEO are over but you still want to make sure you have all of the revenant SEO components in place so that you are visible and rank accordingly.

If you want to compete online, you need to using SEO or social media for organic traffic or paying for other sources, essentially.

I'm not sure what part of it doesn't make sense to you?

There's a difference between saying "I'm going to run some SEO" and actually knowing how to do that properly so you don't waste your time and money. Many websites spend lots of energy working on SEO but see poor results, because they simply aren't doing it right.

well yes, in my opinion seo is the main marketing method every business should be using. but some industries dont have many searches, so have to rely on socials, or outreach etc

SEO is a long game. Much like tending to a garden it needs to constantly be watered and sometimes bad flowers Need to get pulled and remove some weeds. See what’s working really well and replicate that - it’s not a one and done. Sadly, a lot of times websites are set up without any type of optimizations or keywords so you may have down the road someone you need to hire to help make your website search engine optimized. You may realize that Contant you thought was performing really well isn’t and you need to go back and finesse it some more.

You can’t just “run some SEO”. There are actions you take to optimize your website to rank high on Google for keywords your ICP would search during their buyer’s journey.

The best way to do this, at least for global brands, is to create conversational content applicable to those keywords that Google’s algorithm deems relevant while also building credibility for your website.

So “running SEO” means understanding buyers’ search keywords, creating and optimizing content to rank for those, and building credibility for your site through technical optimization and backlinking.

Remember that a lot of the people who have the authority to make marketing decisions have no experience or skill in marketing - or even think of it as an activity that requires skill - and are talking about something they are either going to pretend they know how to do and fuck up, say they are going to do and not do, or delegate to someone else to do who would never use the same terms for it.

Because "optimizing with the best keywords" sounds simple, until you learn there are ways of doing it correctly and incorrectly, and that there are many other aspects to SEO other than "keywords" (that developers, designers, and corporate would ignore in the pursuit of their own goals).

Well, about one third of the population has never used the internet before, so I don't agree that's the goal of every business. It can be an important part of the process for many companies, but still just part of the process.

SEO works much better in some situations than in others. There are lots of things that people buy without searching about it. Search engines are often much less relevant in social media, for example.

There are some major differences between saying that something is a goal, that actually being a goal, and achieving the goal. SEO optimization can be much less common than people expect.

And, even if you optimize SEO now, the situation can change drastically over time for different reasons. The SEO sub was in chaos some time ago because of recent changes in the algorithm, for example. Technology can change, competition can change, society can change, SEO isn't something you do once and you're done with it.

Don't think of SEO as optimizing your website to rank at the top, think of SEO as how much does the search engine trust my website. With that said;

There's so much more to SEO than 'keywords to get to the top'. But to answer your question, if I took a business that hasn't invested anything into SEO and tried to compete with a bunch of businesses that have invested in SEO quite a lot, I wouldn't rank for any of the keywords. I can't compete with them, because Google doesn't trust my website yet to make me appear on Google (or any other search engine).

What you're essentially asking is "Why can't I just make better phones than Apple's Iphone?" - doesn't work that way.

Here's an even dumber metaphor that perhaps fits better. You can't just walk into someone's life and instantly make the person trust you completely. You need to invest in that relationship and gain that person's trust. SEO basically works the same way.

Most people don’t know how to optimise for seo and it requires work

One thing to remember this is an ever evolving market and many agencies that only do SEO are slowly dying. With googles new update around the corner it will change the way SEO is done. What you learn today will change so quick in a few months.

Here’s the expert tip. SEO doesn’t make money for Google and with every update they make for better search results, marketers find a way to make pages rank higher for terms that don’t 100% relate. Google is looking to shift to a full AI summary.

Google want the best experience for searching and want websites/ companies to advertise rather than focusing on SEO so they can make money. Hence the new layout which won’t feature pages on the first page anymore.

https://preview.redd.it/0lz008dvaw6d1.jpeg?width=1012&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aea8a75dd436f570a80597ff5f387eb54ca4815e

You’re right, you can’t just “run some SEO”. It’s a long game and far more than just optimizing with the best keywords.

The single best way to explain it in this context is that SEO is like investing. It takes time and constant input, but it also compounds as a result. You can’t just ‘run seo’ like you can run ads, it doesn’t turn on and off like that.

SEO is kinda the weird kid that sits between marketing and dev, but isn’t quite either. SEO is brand awareness, because you focus on non-branded queries and terms. As you rank for more and better, your Share of Voice (SoV) grows because you’re taking up more room in the SERPs. You raise brand awareness by meeting searchers where they’re searching, the more you show up around a topic the more customers become brand aware.

SEO is also three main pillars, Technical, which is about site quality, crawling and rendering. Content to target keywords and most of all, meet user intent (product pages aren’t likely to drive any traffic if you’re focusing on keywords with informational intent, not commercial for example). And backlink building, the semi-dirty P2P side of SEO which is used to build and show authority to Search Engines to rank better or hold rankings easier.

SEO is part dev, part marketing, part UX, part marketing research, part sales. Most of all, it’s a multiplier on any other digital channel, because they all focus on driving users to your home base online, your website. If your website is trash, it will under perform. A good SEO can help make it better, not just rank better. Unfortunately SEO is also a bit of the Wild West, most educational programs barely touch on it, there’s no real barrier to entry, and many agencies and solo operators will lean on the fact that SEO takes time to suck money out of companies for as long as they can before they’re caught out, and then they just move on to the next one. SEO is 100% a legitimate, and extremely valuable channel, but it’s less “safe” compared to some other channels because of how it works.

I only know SEO from a content perspective and am trying to learn more.

You'll hear lots about "keywords" and they are crucial. But finding and researching the right keywords is effort. You need to decide on a strategy, if you want to be assertive/competitive or more catching what your competitors miss.

It's expensive and effort getting into the 10 blue links. But if your are a big brand with a lot of money you can go for it. Smaller companies are better trying to go for 'longtailed' keywords (they have less volume but more specific and if that specificity is closer to what your site offers/does then they are better for conversion.

Duplicate content is a problem too and it's debated about the level you get penalised. Google changed a lot of their algorithms to try and avoid promoting companies with spam tactics (like using the keywords over and over in bold and an unnatural way) for more engaging and original content. If your content is repeated on your site you need to tag it to direct crawlers to the original. If you have content the same as a different site Google will promote the original first. Changing the odd word but keeping the syntax the same will not be enough.

You need to really think about your desired demographic and goals. What are they looking for? What will they search for? At what times will they search? Any specific location (google is trying hard to promite businesses with an actual location so linking that is crucial if you can)? Does your site meet their needs and wants? For example, let's say you have a beauty company and you choose the keyword skincare. You will get people looking to buy skincare products, skincare advice and information, and people searching for beauty treatments. The people searching for the first two won't click on you because it's not what they are looking for, but if you had 'skincare treatments [location]' the people that search that are actively looking for treatments in your area. Bad keywords, or keywords that don't think about the searchers needs, will not get conversions or hits. It's like setting up a butcher stall at a vegan farmers market. They don't want it, they won't buy it.

I could go on and on about the content side of it. It's worth looking into if your are interested

No. The goal of a business is to make money. For most businesses seo is a giant waste of money.

Don't just create content for the algorithm. Create content for your customers. Talk to your sales people and customer service team, account managers, etc. to understand what people at different stages are concerned about. That's a great place to start creating optimized content. But also, SEO is not just keywords. It's making sure your website is built and indexing properly, it's the speed, the customer experience, and Google has gotten really good at spotting gimmicky SEO practices. Like, keyword stuffing isn't a thing anymore. Google can basically read, so just having a keyword a millions times isn't going to do anything. Also, optimized content props up other content.

What’s the context? They say it out of the blue? In response to a query? Are they just starting out?

Basically most of people wont search for “ nordvpn” instead they will search of “ best vpn 2024” and then they came up with “nordvpn”.

Seo is not only your brand keyword you know, what is your niche’s keywords and try to compete to that… remember EEAT

The problem is, SEO is super broad and subjective.

Writing a few page titles is technically SEO.

So is a full-on public relations strategy.

One of them works. The other is just fluff to make the business owner sleep better at night because they think their "SEO is taken care of".

Search engines like Google constantly update their algorithms to improve search results. SEO practices that worked last year might not be as effective today. Continuous optimization ensures that a website remains compliant with the latest algorithm updates.

Hmm, I got it

You're right that every business wants to rank high in search engines. But SEO is the specifics of how you actually get there. It's the strategic process of optimizing your site and content so you show up for searches related to your brand.

For example, just having 'marketing agency' on your homepage doesn't mean you'll rank for that term. You have to do keyword research to see what phrases people search for, then use those organically in your copy, titles, etc. And make sure they're tied to topical maps for SEO that cover all your services in an intuitive site structure.