In a previous post I wrote about the importance of a good link strategy as part of an effective SEO program; I was pretty down on ‘link farming’, especially for bigger brands. In this post, I’d like to address the issue from the standpoint of search engines, namely Google.

I can still remember in the late 90’s (a century ago by Internet time) when there was lot of talk about the demise of the search engine, only a short time before I heard Larry Page make his not-so-famous Confederate General speech in Boston. The Trec conferences (trec.nist.gov) were revealing declining satisfaction among search engine users, and the industry was living off of borrowed money. Back then, search results pages looked terrible, a jumbled mess of partial sentences dictated by ever-changing so-called algorithms. AltaVista tried to sell cameras on its homepage and would tell you when their blimp was passing over your head with a text file link from the homepage. No wonder user approval was declining!

Today we have a slightly more mature search industry, and while the financial side has reaped benefits, the constant set of shifting business sands could spell trouble for Google and its investors. ‘Could’ being the operative word. Google has done an excellent job of sustaining and growing their market share in the face of competition and numerous upstarts. They rely on the quality of search results to attract and keep visitors. But what if Google’s free search results were those of AltaVista in 1997? Would we still visit Google, or would engines like the new Bing pose a serious threat?

Which brings me to my point about linking: pervasive link-farming methods have the effect of turning search engine results into less user-friendly listings. When search results become less useful, people will stop visiting and start looking elsewhere.

Recently, I have noticed how far the fine art and science of link building has progressed. I have always enjoyed link building, but my focus was on high quality links, not the volume game practiced by and for the search service business – the SEO firms. I would personally rather see a company achieve success via a few high quality, hard-coded, negotiated links from strategic places, than have them ‘modeled’ out by machine and mass networks, created by companies for the sole purpose of emulating web content.

In case this last practice is new to some, let me explain: some very interesting business models exist that charge companies for links. The charges vary but basically make SEO act, economically, like SEM, with a cost per click fee structure. This model creates cost where before there was none (or was minimal or fee-based). This link strategy proposes that if you build thousands of links, you will minimize the need for ‘on page’ work that uses valuable resources. This method has advantages for both the client and firm selling the service, but not for the search engine and its brand equity.

I am finding all too often that my searches result in pages that are nothing more than links; these are the sites created by the SEO firms. These sites are fairly useless to users but because they speak directly to search engines’ “link density beast,” Google and others eat them up. However, the bottom line is that if Google’s natural search results suffer from a growing click bounce rate, then so will its market cap and market share. The door will then open for one of the many competitors chomping at the bit.

For the next few years, we will likely see more of these pages and more of this type of link strategy as a business offering, but if search engines know what’s good for them, they will counter with stricter requirements and new non-link density metrics.

Can a business still count on search engine optimization (SEO) to provide real value? I frequently postulate that all statements pertaining to the Internet have a qualifying ‘but,’ and the answer to this question is no exception. Therefore, yes, SEO can provide value for many businesses. But, there are several factors that must be considered when deciding on an SEO strategy:

First: is the business offering one that is likely to be searched for? This question pertains to the customer journey, and how the question is answered depends upon an understanding of the associations customers have developed with the brand. Sometimes the answer isn’t obvious — are you selling a vacation package, or happiness?

Second: what search terms are in the keyword universe, and how do they affect the economics of an SEO campaign? I would say most SEO agencies completely miss this target by not focusing on growing brand demand through early-phase efforts. Instead, in order to create short-term success stories, they focus on limited and obvious brand keywords that target later stages of the customer journey. Building out a relevant keyword universe according to a cost-benefit model that integrates with other online efforts can help create and grow sustainable brand equity. With an economic framework in place, I have seen SEO efforts yield 30% – 60% of total mature traffic volumes. Failure to develop such a framework is a loss for the SEO firm in terms of billing and success, for the client in terms of online reach and sales, and for the SEO ‘industry’ as a whole, which fails to grow.

Third: with increased attention and proposed value from SEO comes increased monetization. Should we succumb to agencies selling SEO as SEM? Perhaps. I don’t think SEO can be considered in the same category as other media; rather, it seeks to optimize what would naturally happen – the results cannot be ‘bought’ as with other media, although I have seen examples of hybrid media-purchasing SEO strategies that have met with some short-term success. That said, with regards to white hat tactics, no one can guarantee that Google, Yahoo, Bing, and others will display the sought-after search results no matter what stratagems are employed; there is still an element of ‘magic’ in the algorithms with which to contend. If a company wishes to avoid the transformation of SEO into another media-purchasing channel, a payment model based on a flat fee with built-in performance incentives might properly motivate the agency, while offering the greatest return for the client.

Regardless of the fee structure, if SEO is part of online marketing efforts, the cost and expected outcome need to be carefully examined. A good SEO firm should know how to balance value, risk and cost estimates. A really good firm will know how to integrate SEO within the business environment to produce optimal value.