Science of SEO

I’ve decided to write this blog in response to one of the most well researched and detailed SEO blog posts I have read in a long time (if not ever!).  I would wholeheartedly recommend reading this post if you have an interest in SEO as it’s rare to see such valuable data showcased for free, if showcased at all.

The findings from this post may not appear to be ground breaking in as much as it reveals any great seo secret, the big difference here is the approach taken to investigate whether what we all take for granted is still doing the job we all think it is.  The scientific approach of taking a theory, running with it, collecting data as you go and then thoroughly analysing the data to prove or disprove the original theory seems pretty scientific to me and the best way to move SEO forward.

I’m not saying its time all SEO’s start wearing white lab coats and I am aware not all SEO’s have the resources available to build an index of the web to run countless experiments on, but it’s worth noting the importance of data analysis and testing to everything we now do as SEO’s.  SEO does have a relationship with information retrieval and there are other SEO’s who do share the more technical aspects of SEO but to see real hard data to prove and disprove theories is still a rare treat to find.

I for one have been inspired by this post and do intend to carry out my own experiments of which I will publish the results (if they are worthwhile )

Do you agree that SEO is now more scientific than it ever has been, are we at a point where data analysis is as, if not more important than searching out links or producing that killer piece of link-bait?   I’ve always been a bit of a data fiend myself, but I’d be interested to hear your opinions.