With the NFL season upon us and me being a big fan, I thought I’d have a little metaphor fun with SEO. I meant to get this out yesterday but it got very busy so I’m still getting it out before all but one games kicks off this weekend. Below are some fun NFL and SEO comparisons for you.  Do you have any of your own?

  • Black Hat SEO Gimmicks = NFL Gimmicks: The run and shoot, wildcat, and other schemes that have come and gone in the NFL, though not technically against the rules, have all been short term gains that got some teams limited and quick success until the NFL defenses (Google algorithm) caught up to them and made them ineffective.  None of these teams won championships, but some made the playoffs and had some brief periods of success.  Much like black hat can get you some quick gains, but once Google catches on, you are in trouble.
  • A Good Line = Good Content: Sometimes the most overlooked but most effective part of an offense it the offensive line.  When they are playing well and giving the offense time and room to execute plays, everything goes so smoothly, but they never seem to get credit.  Good content serves this purpose in SEO.  They say Content is King.  Linemen should be king too.  Creating good and abundant original content can lead to links and create great websites that people are interested in and come back to.  Writing blogs or pages that address actual user issues rather than selling to them will always pay off in the end, just like putting together a great line.
  • Franchise QB = Good Link Generation: A great QB makes the connections (passes) necessary to make the team succeed. With links still being a crucial part of your strength in SEO, a good organic link program will help build your SEO team to championship caliber.  Making those connections within the community (both local and industry) are the key to solid rankings and traffic.  Making the connections to teammates will lead you down the field for a score. However, using the wrong connections (bad links or interceptions) can derail your entire program.
  • Great Coaching = Technically Sound Site: Having a technically sound site that delivers with good speed and clean pages that do not duplicate one another and are easy and not misleading for the search engines or the users is becoming more and more important in SEO. In football it is the coaching staffs job to make the team run smoothly and efficiently. The great coaches like Chuck Noll (my Steelers bias is showing) can make sure everything runs smoothly and limits the problems you can get in to.
  • Fan Support = reviews: Especially in local, but I think a growing factor throughout search, is your reviews.  Great and abundant real reviews will help boost you and get you support in search. Great fans can really help push a team and inspire them to new heights.  And much as we hate the bandwagon jumper or fake fan, the false review is a problem the review sites are still trying to figure out.
  • NAP’s = naps: Consistency of name, address, and phone citations (NAP’s) is critically important for local search. That Sunday nap in your recliner while watching the game can be the best part of your weekend.