Finding the good keywords

[Former Member 1]

Originally Posted by RedEvo

Going back to Scott's excellent posts and analogies if, in days gone by, you created your own rubbishy flyer using clipart and stuck it next to someone else's glossy, professionally designed flyer the chances are people would think you were cheap and they were the real deal - probably. It's about quality control.

Ok Dave, so SEO is about quality control...

Again I stress I

[Former Member 1]

Originally Posted by barryhynd

Matt,

When you talk about offline marketing in the shape of direct mail etc I would assume that you structure the direct mail in such a way to try and get a response. There are accepted layouts etc that people will use to try an communicate their message.

I kind of see the basic seo pretty much the same as the layout of a direct mail piece (not sure here if the seo guys will agree). Like any form of marketing this all needs measured to make sure you get a return on your investment. I would agree though if you've tried it and it's not giving you a return then you're right to move on and get something that does provide a better return. I dont want to be ramming seo down your throat because I know it's not for everybody

Well that's a sound balanced view. And, as I've said, I'm not really Anti-SEO. But I do think, at the moment, it's a bit of a bandwagon that people have jumped on which hasn't necessarily to the benefit of anyone.

Anecdotally it would appear NOT to be working for many people. But It's difficult to prove a negative with the sort of statistical analysis SEO Proponents cite; indeed that's not the purpose of such statistics. And , to be honest I think there's something of a 'monkey tree' element to the pursuit of SEO stats... As there is with the focused chasing of any kind of stats....

[barryhynd]

Matt,

When you talk about chasing stats I wholeheartedly agree. Visits, Impressions, search engine position, they dont matter a jot if they dont convert into sales, anything else is just vanity. Whether you've got 200 hits or 2millions it's ultimately sales that count.

I dont tend to get bogged down in those types of stats but I really think it's essential to measure you're seo just like any other form of marketing, surely thats a fundamental?

[Former Member 1]

Originally Posted by barryhynd

Matt,

When you talk about chasing stats I wholeheartedly agree. Visits, Impressions, search engine position, they dont matter a jot if they dont convert into sales, anything else is just vanity. Whether you've got 200 hits or 2millions it's ultimately sales that count.

I dont tend to get bogged down in those types of stats but I really think it's essential to measure you're seo just like any other form of marketing, surely thats a fundamental?

Absolutely... And even the most 'distorted' of stats will have useful information in them. My point is I think instinct has to play a part here too. For instance how many times have you heard of investors walking away from an 'opportunity' because is just 'felt wrong' ...or for that matter investing BECAUSE it 'seemed right'...

I don't really believe business is a science; it's more of an art. Not only will the search engines evolve as their owners react to black hat activity but user behaviour will change as people are frustrated by the same thing....

Now; ultimately, most 'art' can be analysed, statisticalised... Human behaviour can be broken down; the indefinable can be defined. And as soon as it it is changes! It's rather like those sub-atomic particles that disappear as soon as they're 'looked' at...

Unscientific and irrational as it may seem, to some extent I think instinct might be as useful a tool as many in attempting to find the 'good' keywords...