SEO: Think more traffic, conversions

We've always believed SEO is a marketing function and less of a technical function and that's how we have approached SEO projects. With the evolution of search engines, particularly Google, into much smarter, all-knowing beasts, it becomes even more imperative for SEO practitioners to think beyond top keywords and achieving top rankings for those. Certainly, trying to obtain higher search rankings for relevant, high-demand keywords will continue to be among the key milestones to be passed for a SEO, but it can't and won't be the be-all and end-all.

More experts are increasingly echoing the same sentiments at various public platforms. In fact, Bruce Clay, President of well-known SEO firm Bruce Clay, Inc. , recently went so far as to say that "rankings are dead". The reasons for that: universal search, personalized search and intent-based search. SEO experts now have to be understand the implications of how search engines use the above three and be prepared with appropriate responses if they have to succeed, he says.

Matt Cutts of Google says something similar in an interview he gave to WebProNews.com. Here's an excerpt from the interview:
"Universal is really useful and I think it will continue to expand and what that means in 2009 you can't just think of yourself as an SEO. SEOs are starting to embrace the fact that they are marketers. It's a broader spectrum. You have to think about how you build buzz, how do you get loyal customers, how do you optimize your ROI. All those different things and that can include how do I make good videos, do I have a book, things like that."

Optimization for the Search User (OSU)

Bryan Eisenberg in a recent ClickZ column talks of the new SEO: End Searcher Optimization. I am fully in sync with the End Searcher Optimization bit, but I am not quite sure if the concept is indeed that new.

I used the term OSU (optimization for the search user) about two years ago [not that it is the most popular acronym on earth!]; there was another term that did the rounds about a year ago-- I think it was called VEO [visitor enhanced optimization], and now this one, ESO. I suppose they all mean pretty much the same: focus optimization objectives on the end user; understand the searcher and try to provide the searcher with what they need and what they expect.

In the ideal scenario, there would be a total convergence of what one provides one's target visitors with and how the search engines see the utility of what you provide to your target visitors.

All this again comes down to understanding that SEO is really about marketing---the medium is a search engine, that's all. By all means, SEOs have to understand the medium that we are using to market and have to do everything necessary to ensure that we are getting the most out of that medium, but problem is when the entire focus is on the medium and the market itself is forgotten. It's a disconnect that happens far too often.

Measures for SEO success

SearchEngineWatch columnist Mark Jackson in his article, Defining SEO success, writes about a common problem that some of us encounter quite frequently: convincing clients of the true measure of succcess of a SEO campaign. There are some who simply refuse to accept that it is not just about getting ranked at the top for ANY keyword THEY are OBSESSED with, but about trying to drive relevant traffic.

Surprisingly, it is sometimes people at the very top who have these weird obsessions-- even if they would not be too well-versed with search engine optimization/ search engine marketing, one would expect these senior managers to have a good understanding of their company's marketing objectives and what they are trying to achieve. Somehow, when it comes to SEO, they seem to forget/ ignore marketing basics.

I guess that's the problem--- even while more people are beginning to "get" SEO, they haven't been able to completely relate it to marketing. These seem to be seen as two different activities.

So, I have to write this again (and I don't get bored of saying it time and again): (i) SEO has to be seen in the context of one's marketing objectives and (ii) SEO is only a means to an end-- it is NOT the end in itself.