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Approaching SEO Like the Dating Game

Approaching SEO Like the Dating Game

The objective of search engine optimization is simple: get atop search rankings for your target keywords. However, as with all simple things, the process of ranking on the first page of search results is quite complicated.

By observing on- and off-page optimization practices over a period of time and implementing different SEO campaigns, you’ll eventually reach the first page of search results.

For those new to the SEO game, you will need to learn the technical aspects involved in applying the best practices and campaigns . This can be achieved much quicker if you can associate the process of SEO to a common activity that you have found yourself doing over and over.

If you have experience in the dating game, then SEO is definitely right up your alley.

Using the analogy of dating with SEO, you will understand the foundations that make for an effective SEO practice and campaign.

Relationship = link profile

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In dating: You are defined by the relationships you hold with other people, whether it’s your family, friends, and past lovers. Their insights on you make up for how you are perceived by others. If they think you’re a bad person, then you most likely are a bad person.

This spills over with the person you’re currently seeing. Even if you try to cover your past tracks by showing your good side all the time, he or she will eventually catch once he or she hears about your past exploits. Corollary, if you have good terms with all the people who have gotten to know you, even your exes, then it will be easier for the person you’re dating to trust you.

This does not mean that your life will ultimately be determined by how other people see you. What this shows is that their insight into your life and their experiences with you can influence the decision of the person you’re dating  on whether or not she takes the next step with you.

In SEO: The websites where you have inbound links to your own informs search engines the kind of website you’re running. Backlinks work like testimonials to your website – if bloggers or webmasters love your site or blog, then there’s a great chance they will link to one of your pages. However, you also have to consider the kind of websites linking back to you.

If you have lots of backlinks found in content farms or other low-quality sites, then Google will consider your site untrustworthy and will even take your site out of the search results. On the other hand, those with backlinks from established sites like Mashable, Busines Insider, and Forbes can expect to climb up the search results for their target keyword.

Appearance = web design

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In dating: Your appearance, while arguably not the most important factor in the dating game, is crucial in attracting the people you want to date in the first place. Appearance here is not limited to you looking like Brandon Cooper or Jennifer Lawrence – it has more to do with your non-physical features: confidence, clothing, demeanor, and even hygiene, among many other things.

In SEO: In order to reach your SEO goals, you need to engage your website visitors. This can be done by choosing the most appropriate design or theme for your website. How your website is designed and how fast it loads determine what visitors  will do next after clicking your site. Referring to this awesome post at Hubspot about web design statistics, websites that load longer than three seconds and do not have a responsive or mobile-friendly design are at a serious disadvantage.

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Conversations = content

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In dating: Now that you have compelled your date to go out with you, it’s now at the hands of the conversations you will be having with this person. The kind of things you will be talking about on your first date will determine whether or not you’ll go out a second time.

You can refer to ways on how to make the best out of your conversations with your date, but if ultimately falls down on who you are as a person – your interests, hobbies, work, and outlook in life. These things will seep into your discussions and will indicate the kind of person you are, as well as the person you’re dating.

In SEO: Once your target audience visits your website, the goal now is to turn them into leads or customers. This can be done by developing actionable content that will encourage visitors to commit to what your site is offering. By swooning them with content that they want to read, there’s a great chance that your visitors will give you their sweet and resounding “yes” into becoming your customers.

Final thoughts

Looking at how dating a person is one approach to making SEO much easier to understand in layman’s terms. There are other common activities to demystify SEO as this technical online practice, and the post above should be effective enough to help you figure out how SEO works at its basest level.

At the same time, you need to up your game by using tools to help you get the job done better and faster. Checking this CognitiveSEO review will give you an idea on what features you need to look for in an SEO tool so you have make your website more attractive to your visitors.

More on SEO:

Local SEO 101 For Law Firms [Infographic]

The Best WordPress Plugins for SEO, Social And CRO in 2015

View Comments (3)
  • That was a really great analogy! This is a helpful way to describe how SEO works to someone completely unfamiliar with it, or with a misunderstanding. A very easy read that I’ll happily share to introduce folks to the subject.

  • Exceptional!! You rightly compared SEO techniques with dating and this will certainly help newbies to understand SEO related concepts very well. Personally, I love your idea of relating link profile to relationship. Good way to teach dummies.

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