SEO is Both Science and Art - Mark Jackson

For many people who aren’t involved in search engine optimization (SEO) on a regular basis, it’s easy (or so they think). You simply create a website, write some content, and then get links from as many sources as you can.

Perhaps that works. Sometimes.

More often than not, the craft of SEO is truly a unique practice. It’s is often misunderstood and can be painfully difficult to staff for. Here’s why.

SEO is Science

By definition, “Science” is:

• a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.
• systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
•  any of the branches of natural or physical science.
• systematized knowledge in general.
• knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.

SEO is Also Art

By definition, art is:

the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects

I've worked with and befriended many incredibly bright SEOs in my years in this business. It is those who manage to blend the scientific skills with the creative thoughts on how to experiment/improve programs are the gems.
Getting creative with SEO is thinking of how a marketing program can encompass social, graphic design, link building, content generation, and PR to drive toward a common goal.
Getting creative with SEO is also about reworking a website’s design/code so that usability and accessibility improve, while maintaining brand guidelines and keeping with “look and feel” requirements, yet improving SEO.

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