SEO is a high-stakes game. An effective SEO strategy can yield millions or billions of dollars in revenue at the enterprise level. Smaller businesses often face even higher stakes: pure survival and the ability to keep the “lights” on or not.
Given the stakes, many people would say yes to a magical solution. So it’s no wonder that mystery, intrigue, and distrust swirl around SEO.
- Most people know they need SEO, but they can’t explain it. Except that if it’s done right…money happens?
- Many more have tried SEO on their own or with an agency and have been burned with a lack of results (or worse) for a hefty fee.
Jokes about the dark arts of SEO abound, some based on fear, some in jealousy, but those with experience have been known to toss salt over their shoulders before opening GA4. It’s natural for the mysterious to inspire anxiety or confusion, but have no fear. Let’s shine a spotlight on SEO, look at the science behind showing up on SERPs in front of your perfect audience, and how to avoid the dark wizards.
Is SEO a Dark Art?
No. …However, like any skill or tool, how it is applied is up to the person or agency in question. You can use a hammer to build a home or tear it down. And while many people use their SEO skills responsibly, some don’t, often with truly awful consequences, like site penalties, for their unfortunate clients.
This is a large part of SEO’s dark mystique. It only takes a bad apple or 7 to spoil the barrel. A few SEO “practitioners” practice the darker arts of SEO through “black hat seo” tactics. These practices skirt the “rules,” try to game the system, and essentially cheat at SEO. (But, that’s true about every industry because of people.)
What People Think SEO Is:
- Black Hat SEO: Envision a mustache-twirling villain and a sun-starved computer nerd taking clients for all they’re worth. This term encompasses a plethora of evolving tactics used to boost traffic and rankings that go against search engine guidelines.
- Default Website Capabilities: Is SEO something that lives on a website? Maybe it’s on my computer.
- SEO Plugins: A plugin for SEO! That’s it, no more work is needed. Maybe I’ll update it too.
- A Relic: AI, etc, will make SEO obsolete! It’s the end of an era.
SEO doesn’t seem to be going away, but what is it? And is there a spell to cast for position 1? (I am asking for a friend.)
The Real Magic and Secrets of SEO: (What SEO actually Is)
Here is the darkest truth about SEO: It requires consistent effort, common sense, and patience… but it usually works.
So, of course, some people want the dark magic option instead. (Work? Wait? UG.)
If you knew nothing about gardening or how food grows, a basket of fresh yellow squash would be magical, even sorcerous.
But every gardener knows it takes skill, consistency, patience, and adjusting tactics to every circumstance to help the magic of growth. (Examples include sun shades in the summer, the right fungicide, companion planting, etc.)
There is much, much less magic in practice, but that’s okay because the magic is in the results.
SEO is High-Quality Content
Content is King. Search engines prioritize well-written and useful content. Your visitors interact primarily with your content. Good content written with SEO and your organization’s goals in mind shows up better on the SERPs.
- Well-researched blogs
Why should anyone care about your content? Make your content authoritative with expert sources.
- Content Clustering
A larger, longer, more detailed article targeting primary keywords is supported with shorter pieces of content targeting supporting keywords.
- Content refreshes
Blogs are similar to gardens or dogs; both require pruning or grooming. Regularly reviewing your content and “pruning” it as needed keeps it relevant. (And from dragging down your site.)
- E-E-A-T
If you don’t know what E-E-A-T is, you need SEO. This is Google’s summary of its Grimoire guidelines for how it ranks (or doesn’t) websites. It’s more complicated than this, but whatever your industry or size, your position depends on the level of Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness your site offers visitors.
SEO is Always Adapting
- The March 2024 Google Updates and AI Overviews optimization are just a few changes to the SERP landscape. Part of SEO is paying attention to changes in the digital marketing industry so they can help their clients adapt and prevent or minimize any disruption in performance.
- Reputation management and Digital PR are intertwined with SEO. When accidents or, worse, strike, knowing how to work with search engines is essential for an informed narrative.
SEO is About Finding the Right Customers
- Deep customer research is a vital part of effective SEO. Although customer research is nothing new to the business world, it is one of the most magical SEO tools: translating what a company thinks it offers into what its perfect customers are searching for.
…And Then Treating Them Right
- Does your site work? If it doesn’t, ranking in your desired fashion will be much more difficult. And, like gardening, keeping a site technically healthy is a regular, consistent practice.
- Great copywriting on your site is essential for showing up on SERPs. Clear, informative, and engaging copy shows respect and care for your visitors and earns you points with search engines, but it also encourages your visitors to stay and engage.
SEO Supports Your Goals
- Your goals are any good SEO agency’s goals. Do you want online purchases or leads for your sales department? Good SEO helps you achieve whatever you want from your website.
SEO is About Connections
- Backlinks are the currency of the internet; cultivating a solid backlink profile takes time and skill.
- Internal linking on your website is also important for ranking; it shows search engines how your site is connected and allows you to clearly communicate your message to visitors and search engines.
SEO Considers Your Competitors
- Considering one’s competitors is business 101 and remains essential in the digital landscape. Knowing what your competitors are doing provides vital information for any SEO campaign.
SEO is Knowledge
- What if you could see exactly what people do on your site, down to the mouse stroke? What if you could see how many people filled out a contact form last week and compare that to the same week last year? Information like this is part of SEO’s dark mystique because knowledge is power.
…And Helps You Plan for the Future
- With the power of knowledge and testing, planning out marketing strategies and new products and offerings becomes more accessible and more secure. SEO takes a lot of the guesswork out of decisions, large and small. It isn’t magic, but it’s close.
Demystify SEO with Cadence
When you need specialized skills for something as important as your business, turn to experts. Whether it’s accounting, human resources, plumbing, or SEO strategy, partnering with people with experience doing what you need frees up your resources for doing what you do best.
With decades of combined experience, the team at Cadence is dedicated to shining the light on position one rankings. We offer zero-risk contracts, complete transparency, and quick communication. When you need specialized skills in an industry as mysterious and fraught as SEO, turn to CadenceSEO.
