Unpopular opinion alert!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a popular topic in my inbox and dms. I often receive questions about SEO on social media or from potential clients:

– How do I implement SEO on my website?
– Is it important for me to blog for SEO?
– How do I improve my Google ranking?

These are good questions if you want to boost SEO. But are they the right questions to be asking at all?

You’ve probably heard about SEO on all the business podcasts and blogs… supposedly, it’s something “need” to do for your business. But maybe you still feel a little bit mystified by it. Maybe you’re not sure how to implement a solid SEO strategy on your website.

I’ve spent a lot of time learning about SEO. At my first job, SEO for our website design clients was part of my weekly tasklist. I’ve optimized hundreds of website pages… written hundreds of optimized blog posts. And it absolutely can work.

I’m not denying the potential power of SEO—done in the right way, for the right businesses.

But here’s my unpopular opinion: SEO isn’t as important as you think it is. 🙊

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Why? Because SEO is a long-term game. It’s probably not worth your time investment.

There is no “quick fix” SEO strategy that will skyrocket your website from the 12th page of Google to the very first ranking.

Yes, you can optimize pages and blog posts with keywords, metadata, and alt descriptions. Yes, you can build a network of backlinks. But those things take time.

Honestly, they take a lot of time—especially if it’s not something that’s already in your wheelhouse. If you have to take the time to learn and implement SEO strategies, that’s a lot of hours. They add up.

For small service-based businesses, SEO doesn’t always make sense. In fact, I believe it’s often quite overrated. Here’s why:

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Reasons you should invest your valuable time in something other than SEO:

• People > Algorithms. ✨ For the amount of time you would spend writing and optimizing blog posts, you could take a fellow creative or vendor out to coffee and establish an in-person relationship that will result in far more inquiries than bumping yourself up one notch on Google.
  
  That’s what I’m really getting at here. SEO can work, but it takes time, training, and effort to implement it. What’s the value of your time? What is the best investment of your hard-earned hours? I believe people are a much smarter investment.
  
  Plus, algorithms change… but relationships last. What if Google decides tomorrow that they no longer value any of the SEO strategy you’ve implemented?
  
  Wouldn’t you rather invest in people than in an algorithm? Wouldn’t you rather invest in real community over rank competition?

• You can’t compete with the big fish. ✨ SEO is kind of like a points system. Google assigns a value to your page based on how relevant the algorithm decides your content is.
  
  There are things that you can do to increase your value (like posting a blog with 300+ words, or adding relevant backlinks throughout your site). There are also things that can decrease your value (like slow loading time or poor mobile responsivity)
  
  Here’s the thing: you will never have the time or resources to earn more points than the bigger companies out there. For example, if you are in the wedding industry… you’ll never climb higher on Google than the Knot, Brides of North Texas, etc. They will always have more content, more backlinks, and better rankings—because generating content is what they do. They have full teams devoted to this every day!

• It’s hard to compete with the little fish too. ✨ Think about it. SEO is all relative: positioning yourself in the rankings against your competitors. Everyone in the creative industry is receiving the same SEO advice as everyone else… which means NOBODY is actually getting ahead by comparison.
  
  If you read the same blog posts, listen to the same podcasts, and read the same basic resources that everyone else does… at best, you’re just evening the playing field.
  
  If we all do the same thing, we all get the same number of points: it’s still a tie. Your ranking stays where it is.
  
  You might learn how to optimize a page for the keywords “Dallas Wedding Photographer.” But there are a hundred other “Dallas Wedding Photographers” who are doing the exact same thing… probably implementing the exact same strategy you are.
  
  Can you find success reaching your market with targeted SEO? Yes! 100%. Absolutely. It’s an incredible tool. But unless you know how to target very specific markets and implement strategies beyond the basics, it’s going to be tough to get ahead.
  
  Unless you invest the time and resources to go above and beyond the basic strategies that your local competitors are also implementing… nobody wins.

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The bottom line is this: SEO is only one tool in your marketing kit… And there are other tools with a higher expected return on your time investment.

Prioritize your in-person connections and client experience to increase word-of-mouth referrals. Those will always be your highest-quality leads.

Then work on your social media accounts: Instagram is a great place to establish your aesthetic and personality, giving your audience an opportunity to connect with you and learn to trust you.

Pinterest can also be an incredible source of quality traffic! It’s a narrower search engine where users are searching for visually engaging content; if you are a creative business, that makes Pinterest an ideal place to be found!

SEO can be a helpful tool—but it’s just that: one tool. Make smart investments with your time and money.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with a million things you “need” to do as a creative entrepreneur… give yourself permission to let this one go!

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