There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding the ideological “battle” between SEO vs straightforward internet marketing. There are half-truths and misunderstandings on both sides, whether you are an SEO purist or a new-school let-your-marketing-do-the-work type of person. The truth lies, as most things tend to, somewhere in the middle. If you are new to the world of internet marketing, you may be wondering, “What the bleep is this guy talking about?”. So let’s define the terms.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization goes back to the early days of the internet. Back before Google was even the big name, people started trying to figure out how to get their websites on page 1 of various search engines to drive traffic to their website and increase exposure, sales and business. Those who discovered these techniques early on reaped some major benefits, and thus SEO was born. Strategies categorized as SEO generally include on-page optimization (h1 tags, titles tags, meta descriptions, keyword density), link-building, business listings, and blogging to name a few. Though some might say those last two could fall under either category. Which brings us to our next term.
Internet Marketing
This term sometimes includes SEO under it’s umbrella, but some believe that SEO is dying and general internet marketing is taking it’s place. Internet marketing basically encompasses any strategy used to market and brand yourself on the internet. Internet marketing includes social media, content marketing (blogging), newsletters, reviews/reputation management, website design, ads, video creation and more.
In this humble writer’s opinion, in this new era of continual Google updates, SEO is far from dead, but has transitioned into more of a mindset than an self-contained arena. Some say, including Google, that if your overall web presence is strong and follows their guidelines, your site will rank. There is some truth to that, but if you have the “SEO mindset” your content creation, blogging, and website can do a lot more for you. You can create a video every week but if you don’t know what search terms people are looking for or how to optimize the description, they may never get found. You can make the most beautiful website in the world but if you don’t have a strategy in place for what keywords to optimize for you may lose out on business. Just being aware of the SEO implications for everything you do can and will push your content above and beyond just taking a shot in the dark.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (5/20/2016) plantronicsgermany (Flickr)