Is The Process Of Search Engine Optimization An Art Or Science
There is no disagreement that the most cost effective way to maximise an Internet organisation is to have a Page one Google search engine listing for the most utilized keywords that are relevant to the items or service being sold. There are tried and tested techniques adopted by the Online Marketing fraternity, supported by Google’s own advice, that will lead to higher Search Engine Placement and logic would dictate that an eventual page 1 ranking will be inevitable. Or maybe not.
An knowledgable and honest Search engine optimization company will confirm to you that it is not always the case and the reasons for lower than anticipated Search Engine Placement are not always straightforward to identify or indeed sort out.
The basic ethics of Online Marketing are well known (although not necessarily well practiced) in that there are quite a lot of on page and off page criteria that the Google robots are programmed to respond to; but if it were simply as easy as that then a industrious website optimization company would simply have to follow the received wisdom as far as page design and keyword placement was concerned, and bingo, all clients could expect their website to be on Page one.
Where this falls down is that although the website creation and off-page content will take only you so far (there is no doubt that, as a minimum a successful website should be fully optimized in this respect); it is the natural development of the site that makes sure the progression of the site through the Google pages towards the ideal page 1 listing.
Natural development depends on a number of criteria, firstly, understanding buyer actions and there the most effective keywords used when potential customers are searching for your items or service. Secondly, creating content that accurately and effectively supports that keyword, thirdly providing that content throughout the Internet via the most efficient delivery method (whether that be a third party content site or directly onto sites and blogs rated highly by Google).
The fourth and arguably the most crucial criteria is that the quality and delivery of that content, is better than your competitors especially if you are a Search engine optimization company seeking to market your services for example, where obviously the competition for the Page 1 status should be the most fierce.
How though, do you make sure that the content is 100% effective? It has to be pertinent, original and of value to a particular site and also it has to be delivered in enough quantity for it to make an impression amongst the millions of Gigabytes of content available on the web.
Google however doesn’t give all it’s secrets away. There are a number of questions that I have yet to see any definitive answers to, for example, what level of activity and content production provides a place on Page one and what definition of quality does Google apply to it algorithms.
The reality of course is that it is a changing question and the answers rely on the quality and activity of the competition – which is impossible to estimate.
