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The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz are a metaphor...

So what does “Flying Purple Monkeys Attack OZ” have to do with Organic SEO Marketing?  Quite a bit actually.

Let’s face it.  For most small business owners, diving into the realities of online traffic building including Organic SEO is like being Dorothy taking a step into the land of the OZ.

…The environment is confusing…  

…People say such strange things…

…It’s easy to become lost and disoriented…

…Winged monkeys might come and get you…

The wicked witch is plotting against you

It is certainly true that each industry comes with its own version of “babble”, but SEO-speak seems to be the clear, incoherent winner:

  • NAP = Name, Address, Phone Number
  • ALT Tag = Text description of an image
  • Canonical URL = The main source of content
  • Long Tail Keywords = Low volume, high converting, longer keyword phrases
  • Meta Title = Describes the content of a website page
  • Robots.txt = Tells crawlers to ignore certain content
  • SERP = Search engine results page
  • The list of SEO terms could fill pages

 

 

If you weren’t aware, the original Wizard of Oz was indeed a story within a story.  It was a deep social commentary and allegory: a parable of massive proportions regarding monetary policy.  From winged monkeys and a massively wicked witch to a yellow brick road that leads to a Wizard, each element has been found to have meaning.  And while scholars have debated over the years on exact meanings, L. Frank Baum the author of the story, was content to incorporate explicit political references for his 1901 Broadway production of Oz.  Clearly he intended meaning within meaning.

It’s fitting then that we can re-interpret The Wizard of Oz and create a different meaning out of the classic story…

The wicked witch can be seen as the black hat SEO practitioner who unleashes the flying purple monkeys against Dorothy…The wicked witch could easily represent the worst of the Black Hat SEO practitioners…

…And the winged monkeys could easily represent the enslavement of core SEO principles and their abuse by those same Black Hat SEO practitioners…

…The yellow brick road might represent the path one should take in SEO to become well ranked…

…OZ might be akin to Google itself…

…And the wizard… we’ll get to him in a minute.

So when those black hat practitioners unleash the myriad of confusing information about what’s really involved in SEO, (the winged monkeys) is it any wonder that the small business owner feels overwhelmed?

You can practically feel the winged monkeys approaching with the echo of the wicked witch, “I’ll get you yet my pretty… and your little dog too…”

True success in any online traffic building and conversion effort comes from the disciplined application of core methods and techniques.  By their own, each is simple enough.  You know… follow the yellow brick road.

What’s complicated is that there are so many layers to proper SEO and online targeting.  They take time to take hold.  And they can require an investment.  And it is so easy to get off the yellow brick road and fall into all manner of distraction including making yourself the potential victim of winged monkeys.  From falling prey to less than scrupulous SEO practitioners to having your attention pulled in other directions by what you must accomplish in a day to keep the business running, reasons to step off the yellow brick road abound.  Becoming a potential victim of the “wicked witch” is understandable…

As for the great Wizard of Oz himself, let’s ponder.  Outwardly impressive, we find that once the layers of complexity are stripped away, the wizard is barely more than a simple man who admits to Dorothy that he is in fact a “bad Wizard”.  Clearly he had an impact on Oz, but via his other talents outside of pure magic.

At liftDEMAND, our results may feel like magic but we strive to be transparent in our online marketing efforts.  With integrated reporting and on-page analysis, it is easy to see a good amount of the work we accomplish for our clients to help them achieve success.

We promise to always leverage cutting edge white hat techniques.  And we’ll help keep those winged monkeys of confusion at bay.  Yes it is true that there are some techniques we keep mum on.  It’s because they are proprietary and hard-fought discoveries… methods that work… methods we keep private or they would lose their effectiveness.  But we’ll always seek to help you find long-term success.

If you find the world of on-page and off-page SEO a bit confusing… like Dorothy found OZ… I highly recommend clicking here for more clarity about SEO and online marketing in general.  And as always, we are at your service should you wish to discuss your own online marketing efforts.  Please click here to have a conversation with one of our team members.