When people think "SEO" or search engine optimization, they think about some online marketer writing text for a website and then posting the link to the website all over the internet. The hope being that the more links there are pointing back to the website, the higher the Google or other search ranking will be. In most cases, this is absolutely not true. In actuality, SEO is very difficult to do, and it is even more difficult to find someone to do it for you or staff for an SEO position in your firm. There are several reasons for this.

SEO is a Science:

A science is defined as a systematic study of a set of truths or facts. It is a logical inquiry or physical observations of something that is tied to a set of rules or definitions. These observations and inquiries ultimately lead to some new knowledge or understanding. The difficulty with SEO as a science is that the rules are constantly changing. Gravity, for example, is always gravity. It has specific boundaries and dimensions that are timeless and quantifiable. SEO, at any given point in time, has a set of rules as well. Unfortunately, the technologies that Google and other search engines use is often so rapidly changing that it is very difficult to keep up with the most current guidelines. Additionally, companies like Google rarely reveal how their "rules" work, so you must often guess or use your SEO peers/knowledge sharing as resources.

As a result, experimentation is key in the SEO process. Each website and optimization project can be completely different from the projects you have completed in the past. Try new things use your past experience as a guide, but also resign yourself to the fact that you will have to branch out to really get the results you want.

You can see how hiring for a position like this may be a challenge. Look for someone who has some experience, but also some critical thinking skills and proven ability in the industry. They will be able to use this experience to your advantage in most cases, even if the technology is rapidly changing.

If you are completing an SEO project yourself, rely on your own experiences and instinct, and don't be afraid to branch out and lean on blogs, SEO guides, and website gurus to help give you some tips. Keep in mind, though, that these are most likely just TIPS and not proven FACTS. Hypotheses are rampant in this industry, but facts are hard to come by. Just because it sounds good, doesn't necessarily make it true.

SEO is a Form of Creative Art:

Art is the use of skill and imagination to produce something new and unique. All online marketing firms will tell you that this is especially the case with SEO. It is a rare talent who can take the science of this business and sculpt it into something creative and new. It takes critical thinking, imagination, creativity, and vision to do this, and it is very rare. Getting "creative" with the SEO process involves thinking about how a marketing campaign can incorporate the website with social media, graphic design, content generation, link building, and PR efforts to drive towards one common goal. It is also about reworking a code so that usability and accessibility improve while maintaining a company's brand image and still keeping SEO concepts in mind. It is about using the right mix of keywords to optimize the copy and still keep the reader engaged. How should the text be delivered? Should it be a blog? Should it be a piece of copy in the "About us" section? Should it be a Facebook post? Should it be all these things? Why? These are questions that are answered when you consider the "art" of SEO.

What does this mean to you?
While you may have some skills necessary to increase your search engine rankings, you may want to strongly consider hiring out the SEO process for your company. While you may be able to find local talent to hire, your website will most likely perform much better when you have a team of online marketers all focused on optimizing your site. These marketers will have optimized hundreds of sites before yours, and will know the most cutting-edge technologies. It is their whole world, in many cases. They live and breath SEO. Since it is such a delicate balance of art and science, you will most certainly need experts who have experience creating this balance and making it work to your advantage.