The SEO Edge

In order to get the maximum benefit from search engine optimization, the content portion of your online material must be as a strong as possible. It’s not just about throwing some key words into the mix, and hoping for a result. The optimization that you do feeds directly into the kind of content that you create, and visa versa. It’s a feed back effect, and one that can yield enormous dividends.

The SEO Edge (a term I’ve just come up, but I think speaks for itself) comes when the mission statement of an organization, the content of it’s online material, and the key word phrases that make up it’s optimization efforts all align. It would certainly be nice if, operationally speaking, great content attracted reams of viewers and new clients. That, as anyone who has spent time working in online marketing will tell you, is simply not the case. The sheer volume of content can drown out even the most compelling appeal. There is simply so much material out there to be sifted through, and that’s where optimization shines. SEO’s strength lies in piercing through the haze of internet cacophony, thus allowing content to speak for itself.

The content itself can be both the appeal (the ‘pitch’, although that’s a somewhat mercenary term for something that can generally apply to a variety of styles) and the attractor. When it is thoughtful, and reflects the internal story of an organization, search engine optimization provides a sharp edge in an arena where any advantage is hugely important.