SEO, Keywords, and Communications: An Article Review

Digital Agency Network. (2019). Why there is much more to SEO that keywords. DAN. Retrieved from

https://digitalagencynetwork.com/why-there-is-much-more-to-seo-than-keywords/

This article discusses how SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is central to content marketing success (SEM, or Search Engine Marketing), but it is much more than keywords. It is a tool that promotes content, so it is more easily accessible on search engines. Using SEO to get a high search ranking is important, considering most people don’t look past the first page of results. While keywords are a big part of SEO/SEM, they are not enough alone. This Digital Agency Network article argues that the problem is that with common keywords and phrases from similar service providers, there are a lot of matching results. When SEO first became popular, keywords were used to boost rankings by using popular keywords that had little to do with the actual topic. Now, however, quality and reliability, length, site security, mobile-friendliness, technical SEO and user experience, age, domain, and authority URL, good backlines, and images are other elements that are factored in when determining a ranking. The importance of SEO/SEM is that it can make or break a company’s best efforts. To show relevance to potential viewers, according to the article, including all the right SEO keywords and maintaining consistent themes is important. Otherwise, their efforts aren’t backed up on the technological side. All in all, SEO is important to show the reader what they’re looking for – but it’s not the only factor to consider.

The author of this article discusses SEO in a critical thinking manner. Being a digital agency professional, they are well acquainted with SEO/SEM, but they also consider that there’s other factors in digital representation that are important for this technique to be successful. This article sets out to make insightful observations and offer an argument that companies much look beyond the surface of SEO in their marketing. For example, the author provides evidence that pictures are a significant element in content ranking. Also, the rule of seven – the concept that a marketer must encounter a message seven times a day before committing to a purchase – applies to content marketing as much as SEO. The author uses their own knowledge and experience to provide information to the reader, and potentially give some unsolicited advice, that SEO alone is not enough.

This information was insightful in that a common misconception is that SEO alone is enough. However, the article also has the tendency to get off topic. When discussing the other important elements in digital marketing beyond SEO, it goes into great detail about how these aspects are used and their problems/benefits. While these elements are necessary to prove the author’s point, the in-depth detail about these takes away from the SEO focus and reduces the flow of the article. This also leave room for a bit of an inconsistency. Seemingly, each section argues that there are more important things to consider to aspects to add to SEO, but the conclusion of the article states a contradictory statement that if SEO isn’t considered, there would be failure. In this, it’s hard to make a clear conclusion about SEO and its success/importance.

Further, much of article reads as an informational how-to, in a sense. Still, there is no clear call to action. The information is given, but there’s no sense of where to go or what to do after receiving this information It’s not obvious what the next steps should be for someone who was reading this article to learn about SEO and how to tackle its essence. Because of this, this article is a good read for someone who knows little about SEO/SEM as is just curious but is likely not particularly helpful for an individual wanting to know how to take their digital marketing to the next step. It provides the information, but not the necessary steps to reach success.

Still, the article provides evidence to support claims, showing credibility and reliability beyond professional experience. The topics are well divided and transitioned so it’s easy to understand. So, overall, this article is deserving of recommendation. Since I am someone with little knowledge about SEO, I felt like I had a better grasp about the important factors in SEO – it’s not as easy as it seems – and how it can be useful it can be in digital communications. Despite the lack of consistency and unclear call to action, there’s still strong evidence and information that provides deeper understanding of SEO, exploring beyond the average informational piece and hence advancing knowledge on the subject for the average reader.