Can you define SEO?

[xan]

I'm stitting between 2 camps here (researchers and SEO), and would like to find out how SEO's define themselves, and how they precieve the other side of the camp. I'll do the same the other way round.

I want to see how deep or shallow the rift is and if it's due to lack of understanding.

Thanks.

[shor]

As a former Information Science major that is currently working in the search engine marketing industry I guess I have a fairly rounded (if young) view of both 'camps'.

Firstly I don't think a SEO or researcher has any problems with reaching a common definition for SEO. As you said, the problem is with perception.

SEO is Search Engine Optimization. A SEO is a Search Engine Optimizer. He/she optimizes a website to maximise their position on a search engine results page (SERP) for the designated SE(s).

In the early days of SEO, a high proportion of those tasked with SEO would have been webmasters, website designers, developers and online sales/marketing. To varying degrees many of these SE 'optimizers' would not possess a strong background in information retrieval (IR). They would have been given very general goals, had no mentors or experience to fall back on and definitely different priorities. Hence much of the early SEO was done on fairly crude and basic principles. Simple trial-and-error, speculative inferred theories and poor qualitative/quantative testing were hallmarks of early SEO. Viral distribution of working techniques was another facet of early SEO. To those scientifically grounded in IR, such SEO was amateurish and the crude reverse-engineering of SE algorithms disdainful. To those performing SEO why it worked and how they got there did not matter insomuch as the end result of achieving top SERP results. Why would a designer who works with HTML and PHP all day care about a SE's IR capabilities? Would a sales manager take the time to learn about basic IR principles when their KPIs are measured in revenue and units sold?

Today, SEO is slightly more formally structured and there are indeed IR experts working in the field of SEO. There is also a fairly clear distinction between those who market their website on or for search engines (with the ultimate goal of maximising 'events' such as sales, subscriptions) and those who optimise their website for search engines (with the ultimate goal of maximising their SERP rank)...

I was going to add more but lunch calls! ;)

[Anthony Parsons]

SEO / SEM (one in the same) really falls under an umbrella with many consequential driftings. For example;

# SEO Copywriting
# Link Building
# PPC
# Code Analysis, Identification and Corrections
# etc etc etc

These all individually, and/or combined are SEO. So whether you research keywords or implement them within PPC or write / rewrite webpages, its all SEO / SEM.

What you find on many of the forums, some moderators even, are not directly SEO's as they do not actually perform the work, they simply provide a journalistic view to it (report search engine industry trends). Many of these people exist, even though they call themselves SEO's / SEM's for the ease of naming, they are more in actual fact, SEO journalists.

[dannysullivan]

To me, SEO is definitely NOT the same as SEM.

SEM is the combination of SEO and search advertising. In the real world, this would be PR + advertising.

Search advertising -- you buy ads, you get placement.

SEO: you do work to get traffic from search engines for free. Within this work, you get various types of activities.

Some do "on page" optimization of copy that already exists on a web site, trying to tune or optimize the page to make it friendlier to search engines.

Some create entirely new pages -- which can range from low quality doorway page fodder to good content with a mind for search traffic from the very beginning.

As Anthony points out, SEO can encompass copywriting, coding and other skills or activities. But it all falls under the umbrella of getting traffic from search engines for free.

Link Building isn't specifically an SEO activity, because it has long existed as a web marketing activity independent of search engines. However, these days it is so closely tied to helping sites rank well that it is an SEO component.

Link building can range from trying to get links from good content sites for free, to purchasing links from good content sites, to purchasing links through networks of all types, to simply spamming open points that allow links to be generated.

Ironically, while some links are purchased, I wouldn't count them as an advertising activity in that for the minds of many, they are buying links in hopes of getting "free" traffic from search engine. That underscores that this free traffic isn't so much free -- but the link purchases, if they get good rankings, may be a much cheaper investment than simply buying search ads directly.

Anthony kind of touches on SEO not as an activity but also as a profession. There are many who will use the term SEO to describe that they do some type of search marketing -- even if it encompasses advertising. It rolls off the tongue better than SEM. But you more and more hear people say they are "search marketers."

If someone says they are an SEO, as Anthony points out, what exactly they do could be a variety of things. They might do on page optimization. They might consult. They might do paid.

[St0n3y]

SEO / SEM (one in the same)

Definately not the same thing. SEO is a subset of SEM. I would also say Link Building is a subset of SEM and a component of SEO.

I would define SEO (the service, not the person) as this:

The act of manipulating a web site in order that search engines consider such web site to be more relevant for specified keyword phrases than other web sites.

[David Wallace]

SEO / SEM (one in the same)
Not really. As others have said, SEO is a subset of SEM. It is simply one aspect of search engine marketing. I define SEO as:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of enhancing your web site with the goal of increasing your visibility in the top search engines and directories when specific keywords and phrases are searched for. That process should include keyword analysis/selection, web site optimization for optimal search engine positioning and ensuring search engine crawler inclusion.

Other aspects of the larger SEM would include Directory Submissions, Link Popularity Building, Pay For Inclusion (Overture Site Match), Pay Per Click (AdWords, Overture, etc.), Press Release Optimization/Submission and Vertical Marketing.

[xan]

I have posted an article on :

Search-Science (http://spaces.msn.com/members/search-science/)

I hope I have been accurate, if not please let me know. I am sure some reactions will emerge!

[St0n3y]

I think you need to define what "dishonest" means.

[Anthony Parsons]

I have a very different opinion on SEO & SEM nowadays, that they are actually one in the same, where previous they may have been substantially different.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - What is it? It is optimizing a webpage for the search engines! Easy enough.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - What is it? It is marketing a webpage for the search engines! Hang on, marketing FOR the search engines? Why would we market for the search engines? We don't, we market for ourselves or optimize for the search engines.

The terminology does not, nor has ever fit the actual solution IMO. Ok, that is getting picky. But wait, there's more. (Tim Shaw...)

Ok, lets agree that the term SEM is used for what we know it as, and that is marketing a website online. What defines marketing a website online?

What do we use to market online?

# PPC
# Buying text links
# Buying banner space
# Writing articles
# Press Release
# etc etc

Now, forget PPC for a second, all of the others are actually more so related to optimizing for the free rankings nowadays than marketing. Why? Because we optimize our text links so they are static and count within the search engines. We use alt text and link titles within our images to describe to the search engines what we are linking to, so again the link counts towards free rankings. We write optimized articles and include anchored / links upon them to optimize for free rankings. We optimize a press release to rank highly within the search engines and include static links upon them to provide a ranking benefit to the site being linked. The list goes on.

Even though these above mentioned means are classed as marketing, they are actually for optimization of another form, being a website. These are simply tactics used to now achieve high rankings within the search engines, thus which technically makes them SEO related techniques.

The clause. If text links are purchased and linked through unfriendly means, purely for a marketing prospective and visitor figures, then that would then determine and make that a marketing related purchase; but when the link is purchased for PageRank, anchor text and search engine friendliness, it makes it an optimization purchase IMO.

Maybe the terminology for SEM should actually be changed when talking about marketing a website, to reflect the true essence of the meaning. Something more along the lines off, Web Page Marketing (WPM) or Web Site Marketing (WSM) simply Online Marketing (OM)?

Sounds silly, but the true meaning behind the current terminolgy SEM does not reflect what people are actually taking its meaning for nowadays.

Now being really silly - maybe it should be called Search Engine Optimization Marketing (SEOM)? :)

[Chris_D]

I think many people actually use SEM to refer to Search engine PPC

I prefer to call PPC Search Engine ADVERTISING. Because thats what it is. SEA

[dannysullivan]

I should add that I'm beginning to just say search marketing, rather than search engine marketing, these days. We had this come up at one of our open forums, and lots of people seemed to like dropping the "engine" part. But I still prefer to say SEM rather than SM. Sounds nicer.

[St0n3y]

Like Anthony above, I'm most partial to "web site marketing". We use that on all our business cards, signage, etc. I think this is the single most accurate phrase that combines SEO/SEM/SEA/OM/PPC, writing articles, etc. It makes sense to "dummies" who don't know what what search engine optimization or search engine marketing actually means. Everybody understands "web site marketing" even if they don't know the fine details.

Most of what SEMs do goes far beyond just trying to get better search rankings, anyway. PPC is, with contextual ad placement, is no longer just about getting ads on search engines, same with writing articles and press releases. Sure search engines are PART of the reasoning for doing everything, but if articles bring traffic without ever getting counted as a "Link" we'd still do them. Same with press releases.

Of course, many in the industry are too tied to "search engines" to allow for an easy change in what us web site marketers are called.