Because most practitioners use artificial means to accomplish that goal, results are focused on those metrics alone, and not on actual engagement and conversion. What SEO practitioners are missing is the fact that a highly-ranking search result that does not engage offers no value. Because the focus is on numbers, SEO practitioners, before deploying any given tactic, will ask first, “Will this increase my rank in the SERPs?” And if the answer appears to be yes, then the tactic is executed. Those tactics often fall short of actual engagement, and as a result, even if SERP position is increased, no additional sales will result. The flaw in that thinking is that those articles -- and the sites on which they are published -- are created for search engine algorithms, not for real people. In fact, it may lead to the opposite, since the poor quality of the article may harm your brand rather than help it. Does this mean that SEO practitioners and marketers should stop using SEO? SEO that works will have to shift away from mechanical tactics and numbers-driven strategies that ignore quality and rely on thin content created by non-professionals who are more concerned with keywords than value. Brands with a strong SEO strategy are already replacing SEO managers who understand metrics and tactics with managing editors who have journalism experience and understand quality and thought leadership. A new shift in SEO strategy, and a redefinition of its goals, will ultimately result in a stronger campaign that can withstand the changes in search algorithms.
The goals that are typically established for an SEO campaign are often aligned with a numbers-driven strategy and closely tied to the vagaries and constantly changing rules of the Google algorithm. Those goals are fundamentally flawed.
The primary goals of most SEO practitioners are to increase rank in the SERP and drive traffic, but they are not going far enough. Because most practitioners use artificial means to accomplish that goal, results are focused on those metrics alone, and not on actual engagement and conversion.
The true goal of SEO should be to engage customers and deliver conversions, and that cannot be accomplished with the artificial tactics used in traditional SEO campaigns. What SEO practitioners are missing is the fact that a highly-ranking search result that does not engage offers no value.
When SEO doesn’t engage.
Because the focus is on numbers, SEO practitioners, before deploying any given tactic, will ask first, “Will this increase my rank in the SERPs?” And if the answer appears to be yes, then the tactic is executed. The flaw with that methodology is that Google ranking is transitory. The algorithm changes constantly. Also, this overlooks the fact that position is not only dependent on your own SEO work, but on the work done by your competitors, which you cannot control.
Those tactics often fall short of actual engagement, and as a result, even if SERP position is increased, no additional sales will result.
Let’s take a common tactic — content marketing. SEO specialists believe strongly in the value of backlinks, hyperlinks on third party sites that point back…
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