IMO one of the most alarming trends in 2005/6 has been, and will be the automation of SEO related tasks. I agree, some tasks like rank checking deserve to be automated but out there are people who seriously combine phrases like "generated content" and "wholly automated website analysis" to their SEO agenda for 2006. The recently launched Google analytics also falls into this category by giving sheer analytical power for free. Times when SEO was a specialty service where one could charge just about anything will be over in short time, because with existing / coming tools the entry and even medium level SEO is at the reach of every business owner and developer. I personally love good handcrafted items whether it is a piece of furniture, a website or service like SEO/SEM. Good handcrafted works carry always a special feeling of uniqueness and quality that makes them stand out. In addition they usually have a long life expectancy with nice aging behaviour. Bulk productions and services are usually…bulk. The problem is however the price – handcrafted work can rarely compete with bulk productions which is why so few create or buy handcraft items.
As most professional SEOs know about 90% of potential customers have a very limited budget and unrealistic expectations. With a dawn of new kind of services and tools available for the art of traditional handcrafted SEO is facing a tough challenge but also a possibility. Challenging part is facing the lowering prices and telling potential customers why handcrafted SEO is something they should pay; alternatively one could simply jump to train passing by and start providing bulk-budget SEO solutions.
Possibilities come from using and adapting the automation with a reason and building handcrafted solutions that match the professional requirements. Log analysis is one of my favourite areas and during years I have developed several features that make my life a bit easier. Currently I use a combination of Analog and an in-house log cruncher. Analog does the "fast & simple job" like most off-the-self automation packages. The in-house solution provides me full access to log files, but it is way more time consuming.
Take for example viewing keyword reports. Normal analysis programs just put everything in one single report; for most uses this is enough and if you get if for free then it is more than fine. With in-house solution I have also possibility to view keywords per search provider and even drill down to specific domain or even site’s internal search; this is vital when doing very targeted SEO with specific goals. A step further feature is possibility to view rankings and competition in various search engines (thanks to APIs available) for those keywords. Another step further is invoking keyword research like KEI analysis directly to log analysis, and so on. So this is a professional tool that requires some manual labour and loads of SEO knowledge to use it precisely.
The big question however remains unanswered – how to sell the benefits of handcrafted SEO to customers when the alternatives rely on free/low-budget automation tools? IMO the bottom line for handcrafted SEO is superior value of service combined to superior return of investment. Is this enough for customer, and how to make it concrete? Or should professional SEOs move on selling SEO knowledge instead of SEO services? During the coming weeks I will discuss this topic in more detail from various views and services related to SEO, and hopefully find an satisfactory answer to my question.
PS. If you are wondering about the image next to blog entry, get used of seeing it in my future posts. Finding topic appropriate imaginary next to posts is a hard task, so I've decided to start using a *customized* logo of our website. It may not be pretty, but it always beats a picture of me smiling ;)
Self Analytical Tools... well those that use them were not likely going to be your prime clients anyway [so I wouldn't believe you lost anything].
In europe traditional marketing agencies control a major volume of high paying customers. For them advanced low-budget and/or highly automized tools are very tempting option compared to outsourcing / partnering with seo companies. After all, it's all about money and control... US situation could tough be different...
Retirement: 10 months from today... island hopping in the Caribbean and taking guests on deep dive tours! :-)
Lucky you.
The problem with automated tools is they are limited by what goes into them...
The problem is that current tools are divided - each does a single task. And in most cases they don't date with other applications and outside information. My bet is this will change in 2006, and we will see at least few SEO related IDE's that automate a lot/most seo related tasks under single hood, and try to make it as easy as possible.
The nature of human beings is the same for over 6,000 years; create something so desirable, use fresh ideas of marketing and sales without changing the wheel, and your site, company, and bank account will grow. I wonder if automated templates or sites fits this term; desirable – unique?
Would it have mattered if someone used Front Page to build a site for a product like the “Rubik’s Cube” of the past? Sometimes, we find ourselves mining our minds for the technical, when in fact we should be probing the creative side for the unknown.
D
Craft, Skill and Everything Else
The problem with automated tools is they are limited by what goes into them. Yesterday I made a post at SC making the point that "garbage in, garbage out" is not the best way to do business.
Just as professional web designers are not threatened by MS FrontPage, professional SEOers should not be threatened by analytic programs, keyword choosers or even content generators.
There's a part the human spirit plays that computers just can't get right - error. This is where humans learn and grow. This is where "happy accidents" make huge returns.
Computers are limited by what goes into them. They can't think beyond those boundries. And as long as that is the case, anything automated can be improved on by one of us.
There will always be the market that chases the new "do-it-yourself-all-in-one-get-rich-quick" trick. These are not our customers anyway. We are looking for people willing to spend money to get more money. People that acknowledge they do not have all the answers and are more commited to their success than their egos. People that realize a team is stronger than an individual.
Put another way, rate shoppers are not the professional's market.
Another part of this equasion is the foundation of learning that automation skips. Returning to the example of amature FrontPage designers versus pros, there is an obvious difference in the quality of the work that is produced. The amature sites look like templets. If anything is custom on them it is usually the logo and color scheme. The rest looks just like a thousand other sites on the web. Beyond that, there are design elements that amatures just don't understand and it shows. The *flow* of the page is usualy off. The page doesn't *balance*. There are basic concepts and principles that the amature just doesn't know and it shows.
The same is true for SEO. If you don't know the concepts, terminology, and a bit of history, your are building your efforts on sand instead of rock.
IMO the "hand" and "brain" work will be bringing symphony to keywords, content, competition, product, and conversion for a specific level of website power. These will decide who earns money. Lots of "art" here that might not yield a competetive advantage if done by automatic methods.
Then having some content that EARNS links - the most effective things here are unique creations. These will decide who dominates the web. This will defeat automatic SEO and even hand-crafted SEO over time.
Thanks for comments rodney. They are very valuable. I raised purposely a lot of (IMO obvious, and even dump) questions because I want people to think about their SEO business basics, and bring out various views to discussions. The changes of automation are something we can't or shouldn't attempt to stop, but how they affect on SEO business/industry is largely dependant on implied business models. Your comments brings out neatly a very different business model compared to mine; I currently sell full service, you sell knowledge & experience.
1. Sell to the right market
I agree with this one. It is pretty obvious that small business is not, or ever has been the right market for indepth seo services... Time management savings is a clever selling point for consulting...
2. Sell knowledge, skill & experience rather the labor
Like you said, if you get paid but don't need to do the *hard* labour, would you ...? Consulting has always been a large part of SEO industry, and IMO it will most likely triumph even further in the near future.
The question is, can selling service/labour survive? And in what format..?
3. Dump the "fluff" so you are more productive.
This can be a bit two-edged, because in some cases the "fluff" is the reason for success....
If you can actually do what you imply; provide an enhancement to cash flow and sales conversions then the client has everything they need to prove 'cost effectiveness'."
The problem is selling enhancement in advance to customer....
If you were in a situation where a customer is making a choice between your service (consulting, knowledge & experience) and an Google analytics account, which words would You use to win him?
Google analytics sells itself with phrase:
"You'll be able to focus your marketing resources on campaigns and initiatives that deliver ROI, and improve your site to convert more visitors. "... for free
This is pretty tough to compete unless you plea to time management savings and expert knowledge provided (in other words, you would become Google analytics professional... just waiting for G to notify on such a program available for all marketing specialists...). And even still, many business owners feel more than tempted to attempt marketing by themselves because it is free/low budget.
pretty reports automated or not are less effective than asking clients for their conversion trend reports?
With this I agree 110%. Nothing is more important than tracking conversion; after all enhanced conversion is the reason we all deliver seo/sem solutions. Our methods may be different, but the goal is the same.
The industry isn't even close to maturity and saturation lags well behind that. I don't believe Google will make a 'huge' difference one way or the other.
Google is a search engine with about 40% market share.
Adwords are [estimated] used by about 5-10% of commercial companies.
AdSense likely less.
Self Analytical Tools... well those that use them were not likely going to be your prime clients anyway [so I wouldn't believe you lost anything].
I would guess [and only a guess]... 50% of all reasonably successful enterprises are that because they focus on their core business. Hiring in marketing professionals is a costly option and "doing it themselves" take their attention away from the core components that initiated that success.
Google getting into this [in my view] is no different than SEOChat or any other community that aggregates knowledge, skills, experiences, and tools in one place... in fact I would suggest Google will help define SEO clients - if you don't have the time or not your forte - the tools will only hurt you "not help".
As for services... full services as well - training is my opt out strategy... replicate myself in as many industries as I can.
Retirement: 10 months from today... island hopping in the Caribbean and taking guests on deep dive tours! :-)
"The big question however remains unanswered – how to sell the benefits of handcrafted SEO to customers when the alternatives rely on free/low-budget automation tools?"
1. Sell to the right market,
2. Sell knowledge, skill & experience rather the labor, and/or
3. Dump the "fluff" so you are more productive.
Each of these points are related to the others.
Point #1. Anyone can learn SEO, anyone can do SEO and anyone can get rather good at it [we are all examples of this fact... since none of us were 'formally' educated in the field]
The object therefore is seek out those clients that value "time management savings" as oppose to "marketing expense savings".
In other words selling ice to an eskimo is a bit flawed... selling to people in a heat wave and no air conditioning is a tad more profitable.
Point #2. While anyone can learn SEO - honestly though, a cursory understanding will have "most" do-it-yourselfers seeking qualified insider guidance.
If you don't need to do the labor - but still get paid... would you?
Point #3. The resulting end to the SEO to client relationship is "positive cash flow" and "sales conversions".
You imply this with kei reports, other analysis reports, ranking reports, visitation reports, etc. - to what end?
If you can actually do what you imply; provide an enhancement to cash flow and sales conversions then the client has everything they need to prove 'cost effectiveness'. Whether you commit to that level of services is not the point - pretty reports automated or not are less effective than asking clients for their conversion trend reports?
For me... I don't do any reports period, but provide a Hitslinks or OneStat account with conversion tracking tools and PPC has the same conversion tools... saving tons of time.