{"id":7799,"date":"2014-03-06T17:32:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T23:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drumbeatmarketing.net\/?p=7799"},"modified":"2022-04-22T14:43:06","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T19:43:06","slug":"seo-as-told-by-a-foodie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clients.geminoscreative.com\/marketing-blog\/seo-as-told-by-a-foodie","title":{"rendered":"Why SEO Is A Lot Like Cooking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
For those of us who work in SEO, it can be really difficult to explain it in a way that\u2019s simple enough to make sense to the average person. I\u2019ve struggled with this countless times trying to explain to friends and family members what I do. I\u2019ve heard every SEO misconception under the sun, from people thinking I work for Google to people asking me how I \u201cmanipulate algorithms\u201d to get webpages to rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since most of my analogies always seem to go back to food, I\u2019ve come up with yet another food-related comparison to help explain how SEO works and how different elements of a website work together to help a webpage rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SEO is like cooking. I know, it seems weird, but bear with me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If SEO is like cooking, trying to rank for Google is like participating in a cooking competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In most cooking shows, you\u2019re given a set challenge like \u201ccreate a breakfast dish.\u201d That challenge is equivalent to the topic of your page. Your dish is like your webpage, and your rivals\u2019 dishes are like the pages trying to rank for the same topic as you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if the goal is to win first place in the competition, or rank on the first page of a Google search, the judges represent the Google algorithm and the audience of the competition represents the website visitors. To win the competition, you must create the best dish to win over both the judges AND the audience. To rank first on Google, you must create the best page that pleases the algorithm and the website visitors. Still with me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you create the best \u201cdish\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, you want to make sure your recipe is relevant to the given challenge but still unique. So, going back to the example of creating a breakfast dish, making a basic dish of fried bacon and eggs won\u2019t put you in first place unless you give it a new spin and bring something new to the table, literally. On the other hand, you don\u2019t want to go so out of the box that it no longer fits the challenge. In the same way, webpage content should be relevant enough to fit the topic, but original enough so that it doesn\u2019t blend into content already on the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As professional food critics, the judges will have specific guidelines set for how a dish should look and taste. However, in this particular competition, the majority of the judge\u2019s scores will come from how the audience votes. You want the meal to please the judges by following their guidelines (Google\u2019s algorithm), but the best way to do so is to focus on pleasing the average food lover in the audience. So, a vote from the audience is a lot like receiving links or shares from your website visitors \u2013 the more you receive, the more likely it is that your page will rank because people are finding intelligent information that they want to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n