In the SEO world we use our heads a lot. Do we think (x) is affecting our ability to drive traffic via search? Let’s test it! Is Google rewarding (tactic 1) and no longer as impressed with (tactic 2)? Show me the data!
Don’t get me wrong – I love this. It frustrates me when people make blanket assertions and don’t back them up with data. But marketing isn’t a wholly quantitative discipline – there’s always that “X factor” that separates the truly successful from the also-rans. In my world, we tend to call that X factor “trusting our gut”.
I can’t always blog about what my gut tells me is true. Sometimes, I just don’t have the data. Sometimes I’m just feeling too philosophical – and SEO blogs tend to love actionable, tactics-driven posts (and rightly so). Sometimes the things I feel in my gut are just too emotion-driven to have a place anywhere but my own, personal blog. So voila: my own personal blog.