"Organic Optimization" - What Is it?
Simply stated, Organic Search Optimization is setting up a site to comply with, and communicate effectively with, the major search engines - showing up favorably in the non-paid section of search results.
Organic optimization is "All Natural" and content based - like granola or yogurt. No artificial additives like
Pay Per Click,
black hat programmer tricks or
link farming!
All Search Optimization is initially intended to be "Organic."
It is only when "Organic" fails that less natural methods need to be brought into play. Failure is usually, but not always, due to lack of skill on the part of the designer or SEO tech. All SEO requires strategy - always huddle before you punt.
Organic Optimization is just a buzz word. All it means is - search optimization that actually works - on its own! Anybody can buy their way to page one, if they outbid everybody else - but that just puts you in the paid ads section.
One could assume then, that "Organic Optimization" refers more to the end result rather than a particular SEO method. If the SEO effort positions you well in the non-paid results section, it's "Organic", otherwise - it's "Ineffective".
If you show up page one, organic position four, and somebody else, who pays $800 a month for PPC, shows up above you in the Pay Per Click section (
Google AdWords, etc) - you win!
People will see you too - but for free! If your web site is more impressive - you get the sale, he gets the bill.
Am I making sense here?
What Does ORGANIC OPTIMIZATION Mean?
The organic appellation is an analogy to organic gardening or organic farming = no artificial additives. Chemical fertilizers = Pay Per Click, or non-natural growth stimulants.
Organic Search Results vs PPC = Rental vs. Ownership & Equity
Spending large amounts of money on Pay Per Click, year after year, builds no equity in your online business. You are, in essence "renting" performance. You may have been under-performing because your site is too small and/or too new to compete, ill conceived, or poorly built. Pay Per Click will artificially improve results as long as you keep the money flowing. When you stop paying for results, you will drop like a rock.
On the other hand, assigning that same amount, year after year, to organically building your site into a larger, more formidable force has a lasting effect. When building slows down - you now have a large competitive site that performs organically on it's own, and is a lasting asset. Time online builds equity.
When Does It Make Sense To Use Pay Per Click?
There are David & Goliath type situations where no matter how well constructed your small business site is, you are up against seemingly unbeatable odds with a much larger site.
Your competitor's site may be just as well constructed, better funded, larger and with much more tenure online. Search engines favor sites with tenure. Just like David, you will need to use EVERYTHING you can muster to compete with a Goliath.
Organic Optimization doesn't involve "tricks" or "hacks"!
Then what is so cryptic about it?.....Nothing!
Presupposing you have some decent content to optimize,
organic optimization is a totally logical process that starts with removing the obstacles to your page being read (parsed), like bad layout code, etc. Pages should load quickly, especially now, in the age of
mobile devices with slower connections.
Then you organize the page formatting
so the content can be easily identified and read by the search engines. To understand how to optimize, you first need to know why you need to optimize. There are over 150 million web sites online now, most with multiple pages. It is easy to imagine what you would have to do to compete - a fast loading page that cuts to the chase!
The base goal/concept of organic optimization is simple - that is why so many miss it. Knowing how to produce those results, however, takes a lot of background information and trial and error.
Non-Organic Search Marketing is often referred to as SEM, or Search Engine Marketing. SEM usually involves Pay Per Click ads.
When it is wise to use SEM & PPC:
- On a brand new site that is experiencing the Google Sand Box Effect
- Google has a system for protecting serious players from fly by night newcomers. it is known as the
Sandbox Effect, wherein many new web sites, competing on a popular topic are held back from deserved placement for a number of months. For more details follow the link.
I know from experience this is not always the case, so it is wise to wait and see before abandoning organic optimization methods and spending your money hastily.
- Competing with heavily saturated keywords and/or against large, powerful, heavily funded franchises
- In some businesses like Real Estate and Business Brokering, there may be many dogs grappling for the same bone.
If you are coming in new and competing, on the same terms, as more well established, well funded and larger sites you may be well advised to be realistic and take any advantage you can muster - in addition to organic optimization methods.
- Trying to bolster up a site that has under-performed year after year
- You may find, after some analysis, that the site has under-performed for a number of valid reasons. Among these may be:
- Poor Optimization
- Poor Web Design
- Bad choice of domain name
- Used Wordpress, Drupal, or other blog tech for a website
- A bad overall concept
- Etc., etc.
If the reason is anything but the first, organic optimization alone is not enough. Your best option then, is to start over with a better concept. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - no matter how much money you throw at it.
- Saving a site that has been heavily penalized or delisted
- The prognosis here is dismal. If you have engaged in shady practices in such a consistent manner as to get delisted or a
brand/rank suppression penalty you may as well shut down the site, get a new
ISP and start over with a new name.
Since
page rank is involved, even in PPC placement, your money will be wasted trying to resuscitate a penalized web site with SEM. If the penalty is the death sentence (delisting) nothing will work - you are just outsky!
