Think of SEO as Free Advertising
One comparison that is so obvious but often needs to be explained is that SEO can be thought of as free advertising.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which for those who don’t know means that you use techniques to optimize your website and the links coming in to rocket yourself to the top of search engines. The main one used to model techniques after is Google. Get to the top of search results and traffic comes.
Now if you have all the money in the world or connections to some of the top blogs, then who cares about SEO. You have other means to get your traffic to your blog. You can pay to advertise on the big blogs or you can get your buddy to help you out by mentioning your site once or twice a week.
But if you’re not working with a large budget you can think of SEO as free advertising. You don’t need to go to TLA and buy links. You can hang out in a number of forums, contact site owners, and trade trade trade like crazy as many links as you can muster.
Think of Google as your best friends site but the only way to get to the top is not by walking them home in a drunken stuper, but getting others to link to you, a lot.
Like advertising, your site might not always be at the top of the page in the best spot. But if you keep after your SEO techniques, you’re more likely to get to the top more often. Once you get a few more visitors coming you are more likely to get more links and feel the snowball effect.
SEO should be viewed as the poor mans advertising. If you have the money, spend it on advertising and build content.
The upside to SEO over advertising is that SEO can last a long time where as advertising is only good for that contract period (we’re talking banner space.) You’re SEO campaign could payoff by keeping you at the top of Google for a while. Now if you’re smart you’ll buy a link or banner that also helps you with SEO, but that’s a whole nother post altogether.
Comments
Comment from Erik
Time: April 20, 2007, 11:58 am
Great point Ian! It does take time, a lot of time, to get your website to the top of competitive search engine results.
It’s always a balance webmasters are trying to do. How much time should I invest in SEO, How much should I pay for good SEO tactics, and What’s the payout.
Also good point on the brand awareness. It definitely helps to be at the top, eventually a repeat search will hit up your site. They’ll be too tempted not to.
Aloha,
Erik
Comment from Josh
Time: April 26, 2007, 2:39 am
“can be thought of”? I can’t think anybody who can think logically that would NOT of it as free advertising, it’s technically only a borderline legitimate way to spam, so if you consider spamming ‘free advertising’, the connection comes right out at you!
Comment from Ian Lee
Time: April 20, 2007, 10:55 am
Good thought. I actually have a slightly different take on SEO. Yes, organic listings are free in search engines, but there was definitely resources costs (time and/or money) to producing the great content that got you listed in the first place. So, SEO is not cmopletely free as it does have indirect costs attached
To go even further, I would also say that SEO is also brand marketing. One of the goals of brand marketers is to fight for mind space. When your brand is out there (in the SEO world), it is a constant reminder to others that you exist and you matter.
Thanks for sharing Erik.