SEO vs REO (no speedwagon required)

I’ve been working my way though my Google Reader the past few nights, trying hopelessly, to get caught up on blog going on’s.

Through this reading I came across quite a large number of articles on search engine optimization. Specifically a good number of posts geared toward helping people author content specifically designed for good Google rankings.

There are many “rules” that apply to increased ranking, from titles like “The top 12 ways to blah” or “Effective ways to blah with your bleh” to how frequently key (read “buzz”) words are used within the content. As an example, my opening sentence for this post, with a non-related sentence, is bad form for SEO because it wouldn’t show well in the Google search results.

These techniques are all fine and dandy but I think it really leads to some shoddy and non-informative content. This could be due to the frequency people are trying to produce content thus not allowing them adequate time to research and develop compelling thoughts, or it could just be pigeonholing people into short form, non-amazing buzzword driven writing.

I think it’s fair that people want to create content that get’s listed and ranked by Google and all it’s search engine friends, but I’m looking forward to a time where people return their focus on REO (referral engine optimization). A time where people create content that’s so amazing and insightful that we can’t help but tell our friends and coworkers that something is a “must read”…

Maybe that time already exists….we just call it “books”?