19 replies to this topic

[domokun]

when people hear what I do for a living (SEO) they ask me

"how do you get a page to number one then?"

i pause for a second, weighing up what to say, then usually opt for

"have you heard of meta tags? no? well these are tags which sit in the code and hold information especially for the search engines, so i put keywords in there. i also ensure that keywords are used in the content of the page. i then make sure that the content is formatted correctly using header tags, strong tags, emphasis tags etc. i theme the site using a logical, yet keyword rich folder structure, i ensure that links pointing to the site use my keywords and that the links are located on good PR pages .."

their eyes glaze over after the second sentence and they grin and nod.

im tired of boring people silly, so i need an everyday analogy that non SEOs and web geeks can understand. please help. im driving away my friends and family!

[mcanerin]

How about:

"I push a little magic button"

Almost anything else makes people's eyes glaze over, as you have noticed. Another highly simplified description would be:

"I figure out what the people who are currently in the top positions did to get there, then I do more of it"

Which is pretty darn vague, but most people understand it. (of course, if they take that advice to heart without further knowledge, you may have just created a spammer )

Ian

[OldWelshGuy]

Morning Chris, this is something that I posted a little while ago here.

When you go for a job interview (anyone remember them) you put on your best shirt, tie the perfect knot in your tie, press your suit, shine your shoes, and bone up on industry knowledge.

WHY?

Because you want to present yourself in your best light, to those who will decide your placement within the company, or not as the case may be.

If you get given the job and you are crap, they sack you , oops Murcans don't sack they 'let go' sorry lol. Anyhow your out on your butt, as you were not what you said you were. Meanwhile, the other side of the coin is the guy who can do the job inside out blidfold, and with one hand behind his back. He can't however as he turns up at the interview looking like crap, and says all the wrong things, because of this he never gets offered the job.

That is how I look at SEO, You take a good site, and present it in the best light, you take the scruffy but capable guy website, you just polish the shoes, tie that knot, press the suit, and tell it what to say at interview. It is still the same product, you have just laid it out a little differently. And, most importantly, when the visitors get to meet him, they like him as well, as he does the job he said he would at interview.

I normally say though " I make sure that the websites I work on make money for their owners" When asked 'how' I say ' I could tell you, but I would either bore you stupid, or you might understand, in which case I am going to have to kill you, and I dont really want to do that'

[lisa]

One of my coworkers likened SEO to "Twister with words".

That's not going to help you explain it to others, but I thought it was an interesting analogy.

[OldWelshGuy]

Sometimes it is like playing Neked twister while covered in cooking oil, on board a ship in a force 9 gale.

GREAT FUN

[Googlewhacked]

When I am asked this kind of question, I almost always start singing my SEO theme song:

"I'm not aware of too many things. I know what I know, if you know what I mean. Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock. Religion is a smile on a dog."

Edie Brickell must have been hanging out with Al Gore & saw this coming...

- Phil

[Scottie]

Sometimes it is like playing Neked twister while covered in cooking oil, on board a ship in a force 9 gale.

Hmnn.. the London conference should be an interesting one...

Chris, I answered you in another forum, but I'll repeat it here...

Lean in and say in a conspiratorial voice, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you..."

Then point 'em to my SEO Analogy article for a general idea that they can understand.

[Jill]

SEO is like chocolate...

That's all I got...

[Minerva]

It's kind of like building a house. You've got to start with a foundation, add framing, walls, roof, plumbing, etc. A website without optimization will work as well as a house without a roof. Not getting in-bound links is like skipping the plumbing. Omitting the key phrase-rich copy is like not putting in any floors. All the pieces work together to make the whole thing work. People may claim one element is the only thing that's important, but in the end, you don't want to live there if you don't have all the pieces in place.

[Paul J]

I'm with ya' Domokun. If someone has trouble sleeping, they should hire me to explain what I do. "I usually start out with keyword research and really getting into your potential customer's head. What are they searchi...zzzzzzzzzz". I think I'm on to something.

One thing that has helped (although not much) is instead of SEO, I usually just say Internet or web marketing... but now I think I might use Ian's "little magic button" analogy.

[Scottie]

Seriously, I've used the analogy of a building before too.

I used to say the SEO was in charge of signage- putting up billboards, making sure people could find the building from the street, could tell where to park and which door to come in and go straight to the item they needed. They might even announce it to the press and other local businesses and see if anyone would allow them to put flyers in their business.

Nowadays, you need a general contractor. Someone to watch over the electricians and drywallers and interior decorators and make sure that everyone is working together with the same blueprints in hand. In some cases, that is an SEO.

There is a real growing need for consultants who understand all the aspects of creating a website and marketing strategy but don't neccessarily implement it; they get specialists to do the work. I think that is more efficient and effective in the long run; the specialists typically do what they do better than any generalist can but often don't see the big picture and the work can conflict unless someone guides it.

[mcanerin]

I couldn't agree more with the General Contractor analogy. It's the position I prefer to be in, if possible.

Of course, I don't mind being a member of a team under someone else, but it's always best to run the show if you can

Ian

[torka]

It's good to be the king, eh, Ian?

--Torka

[magician]

P.100 of Robert G. Allen's - Multiple streams of internet income.

" ...having your own Web page is just the beginning. It's like having a billboard in the middle of the Nevada desert...if nobody sees it, it's as if it doesn't even exist. It's worthless."

You are the ONE placing the billboard on Broadway ave in NY City.

[Ledfish]

OWG, you make me laugh, you must be alot of fun in a group of people.

I mostly do e-commerce work, not really SEO. I use to explain to people that I was involved in web design, often people thought that was undercover speak for adult webmaster. So then I went to web marketer, people thought that was undercover speak for one who pushed affiliate programs. So then I went to web marketing consultant, then everyone thought I was the guy who designed adult internet membership sites.........arrrrrgh, people, get your mind out of the gutters!

Now I go buy e-commerce implementation consultant. ....They just give me that same look as the dog does when I start talk to him about why he should not stick his nose in peoples crotches.


Personally, I don't like think comparing an SEO to the contractor analogy, SEO is just another piece of the puzzle, like the plumber and the electrician.

Basically the way I view it is that the web developer is the architect. He then oversees the project manager (contractor, knows just enough to be dangerous) who manages the various trades involved in the build, like the programmer, the SEO expert and the graphic artist. Depending on the sites focus, you may also have some other specialists involved, like the e-commerce specialist, the copywrite specialist, etc, etc.

Basically, the programmer could care less about whether the site is appealing to the SE's, all they care about is that the site functions as intended, the Graphic Artist only cares that the site is visually stimulating. But the SEO expert would never allow the graphic artist to put a thorny rose bush in a tight, small bathroom or for the electrician to run his wiring down in front of the grand windows that give your a majestic view of the ocean.