Search Engine Optimization: The Legacy of Pizza SEO

Search engine optimization (or SEO) is one of the most misunderstood practices in the technology industry today. It’s misunderstood by business managers. It’s misunderstood by technology people. And many times, it's misunderstood by the very people that presume to be experts in it.

Looking at the services section of our web site - under SEO – you'll read the following passage:

With the hush-hush nature of the search engines' "secret" search algorithms, not many technology jobs are more mystifying than search engine optimization (SEO). Unfortunately, the mystique of this field of study has also left the business world with countless "black hat" SEO patrons looking to take advantage of your business.

I've spent over tens years in the technology industry and I’ve been on the Internet since nearly the advent of it. I’ve been developing web sites since the dawn of HTML and had to deal with questions of driving traffic since putting the very first site live. I’ve dealt with countless “experts” in the field of SEO and web site marketing, and I’ve only ever considered one of these experts to be legit: ONE.

The mystique surround search engine algorithms is necessary in order for search engines to fairly index web pages, while avoiding black hat operatives who would take advantage of the system with quick fix scams in order to ensure top placement. Unfortunately, this mystique has led these self-same people to reside one onion skin away from the algorithm itself, and instead prey on the marketing area of SEO. The mystery surrounding SEO is deep enough that so-called experts can present themselves as priests of this divine mystery capable of laying out a planned path to the Promised Land. All these “experts” need to do to keep their large paychecks coming is provide a few quick fix tricks to boost rankings "for the time being."

Now before I move on, let me state that I'm not against SEO, nor do I believe that all SEO people are black hat. SEO is a real discipline that can greatly enhance a company’s presence and value, and provide significant ROI. Unfortunately I find that many SEO companies are simply interested in collecting their consulting fees for cheap tricks rather than building a viable business from proven solutions and hard work. I'm sure there are great companies out there. The trick is finding them. The example being presented below is purely from an objective viewpoint. The company in question – Pizza SEO – is a company I know nothing about beyond their web site. I'm merely using the so-called "Pizza SEO Wars" as an objective example of SEO techniques.

What are the "Pizza SEO Wars" and what exactly is the Pizza SEO Project? Pizza SEO Project founder Justin Boland explains on his Pizza SEO Squidoo link site :

I used a free blogger page to take the name "Pizza SEO" from an actual company named Pizza SEO. I did this for several reasons, and here's the shortest version:

1. Proof of Concept. Real Search Engine Optimization is based in good content -- not keywords and coding tricks. I wanted to prove that by offering something unique and valuable, I could beat the professionals at their own game.

2. Challenge of Skills. Pizza SEO is a real company with a 2 year head start, a paid staff, and a .com domain name. Despite that, the Slovak Usurpers were unable to hold their position and I took their name in just over a month.

Mr. Boland’s web site (http://pizzaseo.blogspot.com) is nothing more than a Blogger blog with a bend towards SEO and marketing with specific plugs towards the Pizza SEO name. Yet in just a couple of months he was able to usurp the top ranked position in Google from an "expert" SEO company with over two years in the industry.

Granted "Pizza SEO" is not a hotly searched term, and therefore really means nothing when it comes to search engine positioning. The Pizza SEO company probably spends more time optimizing their site for heavily keyword-searched SEO terms. But the fact remains that a company purporting to be an “expert” in search engine optimization ought to “own” their own company name in the rankings. And when you turn your SEO over to a consulting company, you do not just trust them with your optimization goals, but you also trust them with your company name, branding and recognition – and that’s important.

Mr. Boland’s point was to emphasize the importance of quality content relevant to keywords in search rankings. Quality content will always win out over cheap tricks long after supposed SEO experts have left your company while pocketing your cash. Real SEO requires this quality content, along with hard work, research into search trends, and constant, consistent and precise tweaks. It also requires an understanding of emerging technologies and how these can help your marketing needs. I cringe every time I hear of a company that has fallen victim to an Internet or SEO scam.

Determining your technology needs to hard enough without having to worry about scammers attempting to take advantage of you. SEO can propel your business to the next level of ROI, but only if you deal with the right people and hang the "black hats" out to dry.