DO YOU ALWAYS NEED SEO ?

This is all about Creativity vs SEO

I responded to a Facebook post recently asking: What has been the greatest invention for business?

The author of the post had included an exclusion, (if that’s not a paradox), inferring that the Internet was the greatest invention. I disagreed. There were several responses, all quoting the usual suspects – writing, pens, language etc and of course each of us based our replies on how either we personally perceived history or on what had maybe most affected our own business over time.

Like virtually all businesses these days, I have embraced the Internet, but has it really been the greatest advancement to running a business. I see the reasons for thinking that, but I don’t think it’s always the case that what IT can provide necessarily improves what a business offers, especially when it comes to the customer experience.

A further conversation with a prospective new client looking for fresh website content crystallised for me why it is I’m not always wowed by what the Internet offers….or dictates.

For me, as a creative copywriter, this is especially pertinent in the context of considering the value of Search Engine Optimisation or SEO to my clients. I’m not against SEO, but I’m wary of its gold-medal status when it comes to content writing.

Essentially, so the premise goes, written content on a website or on a blog can and should be constructed to meet various measuring criteria by which search engines, the most important of which is of course Google, assess and rank the value of the content. The measurements or tracking metrics are theoretically applied consistently to everyone's written data. Thus, drafting material that better meets the measuring criteria (Optimisation) should result in your website or blog being listed sooner rather than later when people search the web, looking for stuff in your business area. In the simplest terms, the usual target is to see your business appear on Page 1 of Google listings when a search is conducted online.

I have no issue with that in principle and, because I would accept that most people undertaking online searches don’t go beyond Page 1 of the rankings, SEO is clearly a potentially useful tool that could boost a business’s online visibility. SEO doesn’t preclude you focusing on other valuable components in a marketing strategy, nor does it really delimit how you present your business online. However, for too many I fear and certainly for the prospect with whom I was discussing this recently, it has come to be seen as an absolute priority and is sometimes sold as an absolute necessity.

This I think can sometimes be misleading and I have a number of reservations about the necessity and wider value of adopting this system, specifically in terms of:

1.      Cost

2.      Competition

3.      Window Dressing

4.      Customer Value

Cost

A full SEO package, sold by specialists who sometimes claim to know everything about the way Google measures stuff and who will therefore offer to optimise your content with guarantees of a Page 1 listing, can charge thousands for their work. Some claim it’s worth it. I'm daring to say that it’s maybe not.

The metrics Google applies to determine what’s best or better change regularly, but one of the key algorithms they say they use is a quality control “spider” which, to coin a phrase, crawls over your copy: assessing well over 100 different criteria to determine whether it is good, bad or indifferent…..relative not to other copy per say, but against internal yardsticks. I’m not decrying this, but the fact that there are so many and that the metrics change so often makes a one-off payment for a search engine optimisation a potentially ludicrous waste of money. Doesn’t it?

My advice would be to look for an SEO provider who charges less up front, offers a package that is designed to work for you over a longer period (a minimum of six months is often quoted as necessary to see any tangible results) and who convinces you that they actively stay abreast of changes and will assist in regularly adapting your website or blog output accordingly and beneficially. Are you considering paying a whacking great fee for a one-off piece of SEO work and no further input, perhaps because you’ve been sold the holy grail – don’t do it. You might hit Page 1 for a while, but probably won’t stay there for long.

Competition

The purpose of SEO is to beat the competition in your market place to a higher Google ranking, so that more potential customers see you first. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that in principle, but how long will it last? Moreover, if you are:

1)     a fairly niche business – you ought to be investing in other ways to drum up clientele and are probably seeking long term value rather than short term volume in your customer database,

or

2)  in a highly competitive market, where presumably a decent percentage of your competition is also investing in SEO; well, let’s face it… you can’t all be listed on Page 1.

All I’m saying, as with my comments about cost is; be realistic, plan for the longer term and remember that the competition will ebb and flow. If you are the best or are rising to be the best, SEO becomes less and less important over time. Those that are performing at the top of the game rarely feel the need to chase the numbers when the quality of product or service, word of mouth recommendation and consistent delivery of the goods, (actually and/or metaphorically), are what mark them out.

Window Dressing

If you’ve put more things in your shop window than a similar business elsewhere in town the suggestion is, perhaps, that you have more to offer. People might infer from what they see when looking at your window that you’ve got everything covered and so that’s where they’ll find what they need. That’s exactly what a Page 1 SEO ranking does – it “suggests” that you’ve got more to offer, that you’re the better business; whereas in reality all you’ve done is score more points in a system that has absolutely nothing to say about the quality of your business.

That doesn’t mean that businesses that appear on Page 1 aren’t good, but if you prioritise SEO above all else and lose sight of what will truly matter in the end, then it might be the case that potential customers are misled…and that way lies ruination.

You have to ensure, above all else, that however much you invest in SEO you never lose sight of the much more important aspect of…..

Customer Value

Here I’m going to make a general distinction between businesses.

If you are an Online shop, selling everyday, uncomplicated goods or services directly from the web, with no further interaction with your customer ever necessary or desired, then SEO possibly offers more value to you than it otherwise would. You still need to think carefully about exactly what SEO you are paying for, what the competition really is and how your online presence looks, but your shop window will be potentially more important than what’s inside – which the customer will quite probably never see…at least not until they receive their purchase.

If, however, you are running a business where regular interaction with your clients or customers is the norm or needful then SEO is far, far less important than seeking to ensure that the quality of goods and/or service provided is second to none.

This is where, as a creative copywriter, I believe that the finer nuances of marketing, advertising and promotion online come to the fore. It’s vital to show people that you are approachable, knowledgeable, skilful, patient and diligent and that what you offer has a deep inherent quality and authenticity to it, no matter what your SEO ranking. Finding other ways to best present and promote that sort of a business online is almost certainly going to get you further and ultimately offer more value to your customers than appearing on Page 1 of Google.

If what’s inside the shop is top notch, focus on getting that message out in the way you present online; in websites, blogs and elsewhere. Be consistently pro-active, entertaining and customer focused; promoting your business in as original a fashion as possible. If you’re into all that and are looking for more than a quick fix for big bucks… you don’t need to spend thousands on a system that offers little true value to you or your customers.

To sum up: don’t be fooled by the rhetoric or the idea that maximising the use of Internet tools will increase the value of your business – because it doesn’t always pan out that way. I’m not suggesting eschewing SEO completely; it has its place. I’m saying: think about it a bit more.

Sometimes imagination, artistry, and creativity with, now and then, a little touch of human genius can work far better…and have much longer lasting value.

Robert Lang

Copywriter

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