There are a lot of cliches in SEO. And while most people exert a lot of effort to do research and publish new articles everyday because Google says we must create a lot of new content. So while searching for some topics to right about, why not ponder on the thought of SEO and internet marketing as a sub-culture already.
If indeed it is a subculture, how can we view SEO.
What is a subculture?
It basically means a culture of its own other than the mainstream culture. It is a marketing method in one way or another that moves away from the standard marketing practices. Thus, resulting in innovation and use of new methods in order to meet the market’s and client’s expectations.
How do others see SEOs?
Most of the time the identity of a subculture is not just defined from within a site but also from how others view the group concerned. So in this article I will break down some of common notions of what SEOs do and what are they (the people practicing this trade)?
There are several aspects of a subculture, which includes norms, language, etc. Of course, these mostly follow the same pattern as that of the mainstream culture. Being in a subculture does not necessarily mean that you’re in a generally different world as compared to the others – maybe the deviant ones. There are just some aspects that make you different.
In the first few weeks that I was doing SEO for the first time, I developed these ideas and created an image of what SEO is. Further on, it changed when I was already practicing some SEO-related practices for quite some time already.
I hope some newbies can relate to what I had observed.
They love jargons
This is one aspect of SEO that I had a hard time adjusting to. It’s the same as saying that they always address SEO practitioners in a manner that everybody is like a colleague or co-equal. It’s good but newbies need to catch up a lot in terms of basic definitions of words used in SEO/ technical definitions.
The first assignments that I got were mostly writing tasks. I need to research and read a lot of materials from the leading SEO sites. And most of these contain words that I don’t understand – the first sign that this industry is becoming more of a subculture.
Language is one of the indications of a new group or subculture, in the larger scale. Of course we can just call this normal
Most SEOs are not geeks
They know a lot of workaround Google’s system(s). They can create “damage” at will. And many more good things about them. Later on I realized that most of us really do not know the actual effects of our efforts. In short, it’s not a pure science.
This is a problem for some but I saw it as an opportunity to be innovative and creative in reaching our targets. It was the first important point that struck me as a newbie in SEO.
They love to test the waters, always
“Live Curious” – one famous magazine brand says.
One thing that I really like in this industry is the amount of data being tested each day by SEO practitioners. Of course the results of these “experiments” are immediately shared and posted – and scrutinized. These experiments are also done not just for the sake of having some numbers or to create a buzz.
The constant algorithm updates by Google were the main reasons why we experiments on data before, during, and after updates.
Ideas and techniques are shared
it’s much more different in the academic and scientific world wherein people keep their important ideas and techniques for themselves. Often locking them in vaults rather than sharing them for greater good. But here the culture is different to the point that some SEO experts share their trade secrets.
You can get a lot of insights from the experts through their blogs. An article in edgyseo.com, lists some tips on how to maximize SEO this year. Also, an article entitled 30 SEO Experts Share the Most Compelling Content that Influenced Their Works, listed down the experts with some of the best content that made them SEO greats.
The flow of ideas is really open here. You can have a lot of channels to share your opinion – forums, blog comments, email, Twitter (and other social media), etc.
Closing thoughts
Now back to its being a subculture, SEO and SEM people are really creative in the sense that they always collect data, test them, and make sure that they are still in Google’s game.
Subcultures exist in most societies. SEO is in fact a subculture because of the practices that can only be understood by those who practice it. Ric, a link builder of AOV, provides a list of some of characteristics of SEO subculture.