The other problem I think is that SEO is harder to define in some ways than most other marketing concepts, from a “what do I get for” point of view. A TV advertisement or a full page spread in a newspaper may not actually sell anything, BUT you can see it – it’s there! With SEO, the time and money expense is less tangible and definitely not immediate – there is a degree of “trust me while I’m working on it” type thing unfortunately, and this I think is what many traditional business people find most difficult.

Matt

Even if that expert was right at the time, the advice is way out of date. Immediately. So even if they’re not ready to take SEO seriously as a part of the marketing piece, I still try to centre them on the old ‘find out what people want and give it to them’ mantra.

My favourite is when keen CEO comes with the latest idea-from-the-airline-magazine-article and says ‘we just gotta have that’ – more of this is around SEO. Or worse, a big misunderstanding of adwords or Facebook advertising. But that’s another story.

Keep up the great thought-provoking writing, Rishil. It may inspire me yet into getting more writing done!

The brand police blocking SEOs from targeted high-conversion keywords – man, that hit home. But perhaps that demonstrates a lack of understanding from us SEOs toward the “opinion-mindset”. You know, those people at the top of some organizations or departments who base their activity and the activities of their subordinates on personal, subjective criteria? Perhaps all us SEOs require study of snake-oil selling and manipulation instead of marketing to the demand of the audience? You know, it may be a cultural thing among certain decision-makers to get what they want (ranking for “telephone”) rather than get what benefits their company most (”local phone service”). Maybe we SEOs are at fault for not meeting the client demand – but forecasting and delivering what would best serve their customer instead?

Of course, I’m being facetious – but there’s some truth in there…. I just don’t get where some of these old school marketing types come from. Perhaps it’s the availability of real-time analytics to prove the worth (or lack of it) of a campaign in today’s SEO world — compared to the sheer lack of analytics or real-time market research from the environment where these people matured.