Is SEO A Zero Sum Game?
A zero sum game is one in which a gain for one person means an equal loss to another. That is, if you win the other person loses, and vice-versa One example of a zero sum game is in professional football. Two teams match up and at the end of the game there emerges a clear winner. The team that wins gets a 1 in the left column and the team that loses gets a 1 in the right column. The fact that one team won means the other team lost. That’s a zero sum game.
Search engine optimization or SEO isn’t played like that. It’s not zero sum. There are no clear winners and losers since there are a large number of variables that affect search engine rankings from one minute to the next.
Among some of the factors include:
- A specific keyword
- Age of a domain
- Number and quality of inbound links
- Strength of competitors’ SEO relative to your own
- Authority of your own internal and outbound links
- How well you optimize your images
I could go on and on. Since each factor the search engines consider on any given day of the week carries a certain amount of weight with regard to search engine optimization factors, those factors all mean different things to different websites and webmasters. This actually makes it easier to win at SEO because there are a handful of winners on any given day of the week for every single key phrase available. Pick one and target it. Drive at it until you win.
4 Responses to “Is SEO A Zero Sum Game?”
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Journal is Written by SEO Expert:
Nick Stamoulis
Tel - 781-999-1222
nick@brickmarketing.com
Brick Marketing - SEO Company
I agree, Search Engine Optimisation is if you like an on going game – there is never an end. You can be winning or loosing, but never defined as a looser or winner. Scores can change all the time. It is all about staying ahead of the game, planning – the five P’s – planning prevents p*** poor performance
. Hard work, graft and sweat will not only be needed to get you on the winning side, but it is also needed to stay there.
@ Claire – Thanks for the comment…I agree with you! SEO is more than a game but a building process that does truly never end but does evolve over time! My motto is and always will be: Do it right or Don’t do it at all!
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I think many see it as zero sum, because when they add new, powerful incoming links they still may sink. I see it happen for the term social marketing.
It usually just means the others are able to pull even better links, hence there is going to be a loser. In the end the links you pull from other sites are often more important than Google rankings.
JVs, affiliates, future business deals and good friends many times all start from a link on another site.
@Chris Lang – Good point Chris, we all just take our SEO efforts one link activity at a time