The answer to this question is NO.

SEO (search engine optimization) is not scam, but there are plenty of scammers out there who claim to be experts. It’s no different than other industries where there is money to be made.

The reality is, there are no SEO standards or professional licenses, so virtually anyone can call themselves an SEO expert.

There is immense value to businesses in ranking high in organic search results, and there are many tactics that have an impact on achieving those positive results. It can be confusing to the average business owner or marketing executive looking to increase organic traffic. As a result, it’s a field day for guru scammers and unethical business owners who tarnish the reputation of the profession in general.

If you understand the value and importance of ranking high in organic search results, then the real question you should be asking yourself is not whether SEO is a scam but whether the SEO firm you are hiring is a scam. There are thousands of SEO gurus but the majority are not trained experts. Be cautious about selecting an SEO company to work with until you have confirmation that they are in fact legit.

Let’s dig deeper.

Search Engine Optimization, SEO for short, is the broad term that encompasses all the services that help websites and brands increase their visibility. More specifically what tends to be overlooked is the strategy that goes into building out the SEO, which can quickly jump off the rails if not fully vetted out beforehand.

Here’s a few benefits to a having not just a focus on SEO, but a solid strategy behind it.

It Builds your target Audience.

A solid SEO Strategy doesn’t focus on SEO, but on what is called SIO, or Search Intent Optimization.

This focuses in on thinking what your target audience is looking for.

All too often product brands focus in on building single focused content to sell their products, but forget that in some cases, the target keywords for your product or brand, might not be what your customer base is looking for on a day-to-day basis.

By planning out your SIO strategy to be what we identify as “brand adjacent” content, you can build trust with your audience, focus on a more diverse range of topics, and start to segment out your audience based on the content pages they come in on, allowing for you to connect more personally with individuals through your marketing efforts.

It Provides Additional Touchpoints.

The content generated with your efforts aren’t just to optimize them for search engines, it provides you a large collection of content tailored towards your audience. This tailored content serves as a repository for you to tap into with email sends or social content, allowing you to engage your customers with content that isn’t only promotional in nature. Long term, email sends like this help to add segmentation to your email sends, allowing you once again to focus in on the user experience by providing them with more relevant information.

SEO Survival Checklist… what you absolutely must know for search engine optimization.

Make sure all your websites and landing pages have the following for SEO:

Step #1: SEO keywords…
These are the words and phrases that help people find your page through an organic search. Your keywords should be highly relevant to your content and optimized for your ideal audience – SIO not general SEO.

Step #2: Title tags…
These are the titles that appear on search engine results pages. Your title tags should be between 55 and 60 characters, and clear and descriptive of what’s on your page. Include your SEO keywords in your title tag. You’ll be shocked by how you’re probably doing that wrong or not at all.

Step #3: Meta descriptions…
Meta descriptions are the brief descriptions shown on search engine results pages. Your meta description should be under 160 characters and include SEO keywords.

Step #4: Alt text…
Use alt text for any graphics you may include on your page. Alt text may not be displayed to the user, but it will improve your SEO. And for some devices that display the graphic area as a blank box, it provides a description.

Step #5: 301 redirects…
If you are creating a new page that will replace an older one, use 301 redirects so that when you remove the old page, the SEO value remains.

If you’re still confused about this or looking for an SEO expert, give us a call at 615-933-4647 or email Craig at [email protected] to discuss how we can help you.