Issue #021- Why Paint-by-Numbers SEO Doesn't Work and How SEO is like the WWF

Written by Scottie Claiborne © 2006

Questions like these are posed to the experts on SEO and webmaster forums everyday by disciples seeking the secret formula. There MUST be a secret formula for SEO, right? After all, an algorithm is just a mathematical formula! There's got to be a "best" way to do it that will guarantee a top ranking.

These people are peeved when no one can give them an absolute answer. They want to hear "12%", "3", "20", and "229" so that they can simply follow the formula and reach the top. People who think they've found the answer are dismayed to plug in everything in perfect order… and still rank on page 12 for their favorite keyword.

Painting By the Numbers Isn't Enough

The Mona Lisa has been stripped down to a mathematical formula. I'm not joking. It's been analyzed, digitized, and scrutinized until it can be reproduced with striking accuracy. You can buy a kit online that will allow YOU to paint an exact replica of the Mona Lisa. Sorta.

Paint By Numbers Hand Painting

By doing it yourself, you can save yourself well, millions of dollars (that's if the Mona Lisa were for sale.) It still takes skill and practice and you might not get it right- staying in the lines and blending is kind of tricky. But when you are done, you can have the Mona Lisa hanging in your house. Is it as good as the original? Well, not really. In an art sale, your imitation Mona Lisa isn't likely to bring in a fraction of the cost of the real one.

Similarly, following a "formula" for SEO is likely to bring you reasonably good results… as long as you don't really have any competition to begin with. Compared to the "original", the sites that have been optimized for years, your site is still likely to pale in comparison.

Computerized Reproduction

We all know computers are more consistent than humans. You can buy a digitally-created Mona Lisa that will look just like the real thing. Amazing detail, printed on canvas with brush texture… most of us wouldn't know the difference if you put them side-by-side.

However, when it comes to value, your digital reproduction is likely to have less value even than your hand-painted version, which at least has a smidgen of originality to it.

Likewise, using a computer program to "optimize" your site can create pages that are fine-tuned to the preset formula programmed into the software… just like millions of other pages using that software. Is it really optimized? No, and it's likely you made some changes in order to make the software happy that won't please your visitors.

Where are the Artists?

The inspiration for this article came from my good friend Bill Slawski, who watched a program where an artist was using paint-by-numbers canvases to create derivative works with originality. Instead of following the original slavishly, the artist used bolder colors, more layers, and went outside the lines. The resulting artwork was familiar, yet new, different and exciting.

Similarly, when you know the basics of SEO, you can create an optimization and web marketing plan that has solid roots but isn't restrained by absolutes and numbers. The framework? You need crawlable pages, solid on-page copy, and a strong linking plan. The details are dependant on the needs of the site, the nature of the competition, and as always, the focus on the visitor. If you gain rankings but lose visitors, you are taking a step back.

But There HAS to be a Perfect Formula!

No, really, there isn't. Think about this…which is better, the Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David? We could argue all day about why one is better than the other, but in the end, you can't compare the two. They have different merits and different attributes that make them great.

In SEO, people often say, "If all things were equal"… but they are never equal! The age of the site, the amount of links, the pages those links come from, the on-page copy, the internal links, the age of the links pointing to the site and about a hundred other attributes all contribute to the ranking possibilities for a site. Each site has different challenges, different competition and different needs.

Using another site as your model for perfect SEO will never work-especially not the sites you are directly competing with. The imitation is never as valuable as the original. Will some things help? Sure they will! Just as a painter might learn from Leonardo Da Vinci's use of light, an SEO can definitely learn techniques from forums and analysis of other sites.

But at some point, you have to add some creativity in order to become BETTER instead of just trying to catch up. Test things, try something different, add better content, better marketing, a special tool or resource, SOMETHING that makes your site better than the rest and gives the engines (as well as visitors) a reason to name your site as the best.

Think about it this way… if you were a judge at an art show and you were presented with 20 Mona Lisa's and one Poppies on Blue… which one would you be most likely to notice?

Stand out from the crowd! Create a site that follows the basics of SEO then let your creativity take over. The hardest part of SEO isn't knowing where to put the keywords, it's finding a way to make the site stand out above the rest.

Scottie Claiborne is the Web Marketing Strategist for Right Click Web Consulting and the facilitator of the Successful Sites Newsletter. She is a speaker at the Search Engine Strategies conferences and the High Rankings Seminars as well as the administrator of the High Rankings Forum.

Search Summit Conference- Sydney

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Search Marketing Smackdown

Written by Matt Williams © 2007

Prior to jumping into the relatively young world of search, my career was similar to many of those now in the industry - something else. For me, it was 15 years of media and marketing research, mostly with various Time Warner business units.

One of those assignments landed me with a job my wife used to say made me the "most popular guy at the party." What possible job in research could turn a discussion of regression analysis into stimulating cocktail banter? Director of Research for WCW - World Championship Wrestling. And just to get it out of the way, here's the answer to "the" question:

But what on earth can search marketing, an industry with sooooooo many smart and talented people, ever learn from another industry? Much less from WRESTLING?!?!? Here are my thoughts on how search can benefit from a few wrestling pointers:

• Access: Your brand needs to be visible anywhere your audience is to be found. Just look around and you'll see wrestling everywhere - broadcast TV, cable TV, pay-per-view, magazines, Internet, arena shows, video games, 900#s, toys and too many licensed product categories to list here. Is your site visible where your audience may be searching - the main search engine index, news engines, directories, local search sites, IYPs and/or verticals?
• Content: Engaging, relevant, but most importantly, unique content. As with everything, the majority of any population is average. Only a few within a population are above average, and fewer still are exceptional. Is your content really unique?
• Conversion: Wrestling is not out to make the world a better place. Its sole purpose is to make money. If you've "stumbled" across a wrestling program, here's why they beat you over the head with pay-per-view promotions - the product is high volume AND high margin. If you don't buy a PPV event, it won't be because they were unclear about what they're selling or that they made it hard for you to purchase. How clear and easy to understand is your value proposition, call to action and conversion process?
• Ethics: Good always beats Evil in the long-term. A wrestler's D-cup companion may be able to gain the attention of the referee (i.e., the search engines), enabling a win by the Heel (i.e., a Black Hat), but even the lamest ref begins to learn after being duped a few times. Once the ref recognizes the "introduction of a foreign object" into the ring, the match is going to end in a DQ (that's disqualification for those of you who have "never" watched wrestling). If you have followed this genre at all, you'll know the classic DQs occurred during the "money" matches where the title belt is at stake. Are you doing anything that will get you banned, and if so, is it worth the price?
• Branding: Be what you say you are and deliver what you say you're going to deliver. If not, you're irrelevant to what your audience is seeking. For years, the tagline for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was "Attitude," highlighted within a logo that looked like it had been hastily drawn by some disenfranchised teenage boy. What did the creative and art direction within their marketing promote? Attitude. What was delivered within every brand touch point (on-air shows, website, magazines, etc.)? Attitude. Say what you will, but WWE continues this excellence in knowing their target audience and then delivering brand experiences in a highly relevant and engaging manner. Do your SERP listings and PPC ads reflect your brand message and promise? More importantly, does your site deliver on your brand attributes?
• Becoming "The Man": For all the search engines striving to knock Google off its perch as #1, I recommend they heed the immortal words of "The Living Legend" Ric Flair: "To be 'The Man,' you gotta beat 'The Man - WHOOOOOOO!'" So who's Ric Flair? This guy is incredible - he's been a wrestler for decades, probably nearing sixty years of age now. But he's still performing, still packing the house as a crowd favorite. He's been World Champ so many times I think everyone's lost count. And during the times we'd do research within the arenas, this guy would have as many, if not more, groupies waiting for him at the hotel after the show as any of the younger stars. Why? Because he continues to adapt to his environment, effectively countering his competition, delivering what the crowd wants. Yahoo, MSN, et al…, until you deliver (or are perceived of delivering) a better experience, you still haven't beaten "The Man."

Take the tips for what they're worth. If you see some benefit, remember, you don't have to let anyone know they're from wrestling. We can agree to keep these between us and in the closet. After all, search is different. Search is special.

And just to bring this full circle, sometimes I can still gain the attention of folks at parties, but it's different now. Saying I had a conversation with a "search rock star" at Search Engine Strategies only seems to impress other search marketers. Not that that's a bad thing. But I long for the day when someone not in the industry will know I'm a search marketer and say to me, "I don't ever really go on the Internet and search, but I happened across Matt Cutts' blog the other day, and it was unreal - he says Google is tweaking its algorithm to devalue purchased links - wow, that was a callout to link brokers if I ever saw one! Boy, that's going to be grudge match!"

Matt Williams of Prominent Placement, Strategic Search Marketing provides a full range of search marketing services, with an emphasis on online marketing techniques. Matt oversees Data Analysis & Reporting, New Services, Operations, and Marketing for Prominent Placement.

High Rankings Seminar- Minneapolis

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Wrap Up

It's Back!

To those of you who are wondering what this is and how you got on this list... the answer is that you signed up for it (and double opted-in) at some point. You may not remember it because it's been a while since I put an issue out! Longer than I care to admit.

The saddest part of that is that this newsletter has been written since May of last year... it just needed the final touches. Talk about your procrastination!

Monthly Issues

I will be putting the newsletter out on a regular schedule again, but it will be monthly instead of bi-weekly. I have ended up with 4 monthly newsletters, so one a week is about the best I can manage.

Upcoming Conferences and Seminars

As thrilled as I was at the thought of finally visiting Australia, I've unfortunately had to back out of Search Summit in Sydney, Australia. I was one of the key organizers at the beginning of the planning but too many time conflicts meant I had to leave the planning to others. But I still had planned to attend and present! Unfortunately, being halfway around the world means a huge travel commitment in time and I just couldn't make it happen. I definitely plan to attend and speak next year, so see you Aussies then!

If you are in or around Sydney, register now to attend Search Summit. Happening on March 1-2 in the very cool Crystal Ballroom at Luna Park amusement park, you'll meet representatives from Google and Yahoo as well as seasoned SEO speakers Chris Sherman, Andy Beal and Detlev Johnson! Don't miss it- they have over 40 speakers from Australia and around the world. Be sure to use code vippass2007 for a $214 discount!

For those of you in the USA, I'll be at two High Rankings Seminars in the spring and summer- March 15-16 in Minneapolis and Denver in June. It also looks like we'll be taking the show on the road to London in early October, so stay tuned for more details.

If you'd like to join us in Minneapolis (and I highly recommend that you do!) you can register here and use the code SUCCESSFULSITES for a 25% discount. The format of the seminar has changed this time- in the past on day 2 you had to choose 3 subjects (and miss the other 3 subjects) but this time everything's going to run consecutively, so you can get in-depth with all the subjects. Here's the registration link: High Rankings Seminar

See you next issue! -Scottie

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