SEO. Science or Art?

As you get to know more about myself through this blog, you will see that I like to debate. Not argue, but discuss a topic with someone of a different opinion, exploring their reasons behind their thoughts. One of my favorite debates is the idea of SEO being more art than science. I'm of the art opinion, but one of my superiors is of the science crowd. I asked him (Scott Ross) to write his thoughts so that we may learn a bit more about his reasoning. So, without further ado, I introduce to you Scott Ross. With his fancy Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Science, he is currently the Director of Search Marketing for Vizergy (Hmmm...fancy title too)



SEO. Science or Art?
by Scott P. Ross

Some say that the world of SEO/SEM is a Science while others say it is an Art. During the debate of Science vs. Art there have been many arguments for one or the other. I have been asked about my stance on the subject, and after 5 years of working in the industry, I lean towards the Science side of the conversation. I look at it this way, Google employs thousands of individuals to help run its company. And looking into their job postings from time to time (only from a research stand point, of course), I find them looking to employ individuals with Neural Network and Expert Systems experience. These two fields in the computing industry require a level of intelligence far above that of a typical employee, and I can’t help but wonder: why would they hire an individual if they don’t plan on taking advantage of that talent and expertise? Of course, any good business wouldn’t. This is where my journey into the Science behind SEO will begin.

The world of search as we currently know it is powered by Algorithms. Those algorithms are no more than a mathematical equation- albeit a highly sophisticated one- they may even be an expert system. An algorithm has variables that need to be met for certain conditions to match. The more matches that occur, the more precise the solution that is presented to the algorithm. So for SEO/SEM purposes, the more matches the higher our pages rank in the SERPs. With the variable matching left up to an SEO expert, this is where experimentation comes in to play. Google, Yahoo, and MSN are not going to give us the search algorithm they use for their engines, so we must manipulate HTML on a site and deploy link building techniques to improve a site’s positioning in the SERPs.

Experimenting is a scientific process that includes many steps. Even though I may not be a traditional Scientist, I still can use the Scientific Method of experimentation to help improve a site’s keyword ranking. First a hypothesis is formed. If I modify my title tag in a certain way it will produce a certain outcome, however if I modify my content in another way it will produce a different outcome, etc. (I know those are poor examples but a hypothesis does not need to be fancy). Second, we must make a modification to our site to back our hypothesis. We then record any reaction that may occur (observing how our rankings changed). Finally, we come up with a conclusion that either the changes we made had a positive or negative effect on our rankings. We then get to repeat this process for every phrase we want to improve in the SERPs. Anyone who tells me that making these types of changes on a site and then waiting around to see how the rankings were affected would only be kidding themselves if they argue this is not experimenting.

Now with that said, here is where I start to ride the fence. There are many of us out there that have a strong background in HTML or any one of a number of computer languages but struggle when it comes to creativity. As a Search Engine Marketer we will need to make visible content changes to help support a phrase. Without a certain level of creative juices flowing, any changes we make to page content may become written in a way that sounds robotic. There have been numerous articles written about writing your content for your visitor and not for a search engine. Well to do this correctly, a specific skill set must be used to write effective website content for both entities. Because if we don't show up well in the SERPs then a site will not receive as many visitors and no matter how eloquent our site copy may be, no one has the opportunity to read it.

To finalize my thoughts, SEO/SEM must combine both Science and Art to truly be effective in the world of Search Engine Marketing. Because without experimentation we will never find new techniques to use to combat understand the minds at Google, MSN and Yahoo and without creativity our site content will be written strictly to help out with search and not getting the consumer to the site.