Derek Powazek on SEO Practices
Earlier this week Derek Powazek lashed out at the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) industry and I have to admit that he’s not wrong. Of course, in certain esoteric circumstances, there might be some bit of knowledge in there – but the vast majority of it is either obvious (and worthless) or dark hat (and you won’t win in the end).
What frustrates me about the SEO industry is it seems to be based on the idea that some business-nerd in a suit is able to somehow make your site more relevant to customers, more valuable to the construct of the Web, or more salient to your audience. But that’s only bullshitting yourself and everybody else out there. If you create something noteworthy, with passion and conviction, that is valuable to an audience – your chances of success are vastly improved. It’s no use creating rubbish, hiring the SEO magician and hoping somehow your improved ranking on Google is going to make your business boom. In fact, your visitors will go there and exit in seconds. Ciao, baby.
So what should you do to make your business successful? As Derek pointed out – good content, valuable content, word of mouth, organic marketing. No it doesn’t guarantee success, but nothing does. Not even hiring a bullshitter.
I guess you have to make up your mind whether your product is flailing because it’s just not that great (try again) or because you haven’t got the lowdown on a magic keyword in Google (call the SEO magician again). As Derek put it, write for your audience not Google. Be relevant. Or, as Seth Godin puts it, be remarkable (read Purple Cow or visit the Wikipedia page for Purple Cow: Transform you Business by Being Remarkable).
