SEO is possibly one of the most confusing aspects of web development.
It’s a jargon-filled minefield for the website owner with an unforgiving risk of doing the opposite of what you set out to do – improve your search engine position.
And if you take a look around at the plethora of businesses specialising in search engine optimisation, you’ll see their sites are mostly littered with technical terms about the backlinks, niche longtail phrases, keyword density and stuff like that. Doesn’t really get the juices flowing does it?
And it’s a case of a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
But a bunch of SEO experts in Aberdeen have come up with a light-hearted way to explain the basics.
Red Evolution have enlisted the help of a superhero to explain all about search engine optimisation. They also agree SEO continues to confuse and perplex people and are hoping this novel approach will leave even the most reluctant website owners in no doubt about what SEO is and why it can make the difference between on-line success and on-line failure.
SEO consultant at Red Evolution, Dave Robinson, said “SEO Man is one of our collection of super heroes, characters we’ve created to help communicate complex theories in simple plain English. We’re quite proud of SEO Man’s first comic strip and feel sure it will help people grasp the basics of search engine optimisation.”
You can check out the SEO Man comic strip and see how he helps a confused website owner get to grips with the basic SEO function.
Red Evolution provide SEO services to organisations throughout the UK and specialise in helping businesses get more from their websites by identifying their markets, understanding their competition and creating best-in-class websites.
Marc,
Thanks for positive piece on our SEO super hero!
s
No problem Dave, it’s a good approach.
‘Kid nobody’, I disagree, I’m tempted not to reply to (or even publish) comments from ‘disguised’ posters, but I will for clarity.
SEO, like web design, is a name that has stuck with a process that has evolved out of it its technical description – SEO is a lot less about optimisation than it used to be, Web design is not just about design, but those are the terms we are stuck with.
Largely, reputable SEO specialists today have also evolved and content is indeed their primary focus. We get a lot of custom from people who think they require SEO, but actually need only content management as you point out. They still call it SEO, and to reach this audience, content strategists will use this term to reach and educate this audience appropriately.
That’s not to say there is still a lot of trickery going on. There is, and we don’t like it either.
We are unfortunately not yet at the stage where search engines will replicate human behaviour and there is business out there for companies who can deliver the right approach for clients who need a better search engine presence.
Red Evo are ‘a good web design agency’, and SEO Man is just one of several superheroes that they employ to market their services.
Kid Nobody has got this wrong in my opinion. We are a web company with a good reputation, just like Canary Dwarf.
Most of the SEO work we do is in fact us picking up the pieces left by clueless web design companies. As for tricking the search engines this is utter nonsense. SEO companies help businesses create better websites, conmen try to trick search engines.
d
No, the comic does actually make some relevant points about SEO that customers generally misinterpret.
We get requests for keyword stuffing, cloak pages, hidden text etc. I’m sure Red Evo do too. Customers have got lost in the confustion.
What you say about good content appealing to human readers is absolutely right and SEO Man, in pointing out what’s good for search engines and is actually pointing out what’s good for humans because that’s what search engines try and mimic.
We’re not talking about manipulating here, we’re talking about optimising.
Keyword research is no more trickery than an old-fashioned customer survey, it’s just easier, and more reliable. Finding out what your customers are searching for is not just SEO, it’s good business practice.
Likewise, putting keywords in the right place isn’t misleading. either. It happens in print marketing all the time.
I appreciate you’re trying to rally against the black hat conmen, but that’s really not the issue here, the issue is putting a confusing subject into simple format that customers can take in and digest.
Have to agree with Marc. On page SEO is little more than web page quality control, using page elements for the purposes they were designed for.
We are all sick of the SEO conmen, they make our job so much harder but having a pop at the good guys isn’t the answer. Read my blog if you need further confirmation that our approach is in line with best practice and not search engine manipulation.
d