If you are into sports at all, you probably heard the breaking news that LeBron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. If you don’t, now you know. But that isn’t the real story…it’s about SEO, WOM, and Google.
As the story goes, SI.com scooped everyone else and got an exclusive essay from LeBron titled, “I’m Coming Home.” It’s a great piece from a great athlete. But that’s not the story here…I don’t do sports blogging. I talk about how you get found and how you become successful using social media…the right way. This is about the battle that goes on between SEO (search engine optimization) and WOM (word-of-mouth). In this story…like more and more every day…WOM won.
Allow me to share a quote from SI.com that if it doesn’t shock you, should at least wake you up to the fact that you are not in control of SEO but you are in control of WOM…
“Unfortunately for Sports Illustrated, Google News is rewarding other publishers for their own rewrites of the magazine’s scoop, with search results for “LeBron” turning up stories from local news sites, ESPN and even Slate ahead of Sports Illustrated. A search for “Sports Illustrated LeBron” didn’t even turn up the magazine’s essay among the top results.
Mr. Fichtenbaum said this is a point of ongoing frustration. “If you want the only story that matters, you go to SI.com,” he added.
Sports Illustrated attracted nearly 20 million unique visitors to its desktop and mobile sites in May, a 49% boost compared with May 2013, according to ComScore.”
So at the end of the day, someone else had better SEO or was rewarded because they placed more Google ads or something than SI.com. The one with the “exclusive scoop” didn’t rank above others in Google search. But you will notice they had an increase of almost 50% on their mobile sites. How did that happen…not from search most likely…but from people telling others about the story…on their social networks.
Not many of you are SI.com…you are a leader or a business owner. If SI.com can’t capitalize on SEO with their original story why do you think you can with your business? It’s a tough game to spend the time and resources trying to get to the top of page 1 on Google. Maybe it’s time to think about an alternative that is more in your control…your own customers (and others) spreading the word about you to their friends, colleagues, and networks. At least that is in your control…
