Of SEO and Whiskey

After tasting a single malt whiskey from Rhode Island’s Sons of Liberty distillery, I have developed an appreciation for the subtleties that quality ingredients and time make in crafting a top-shelf Whiskey.

Perhaps it was the aftereffects of the elixir, but it occurred to me at some point, that search engine optimization shares a lot in common with whiskey making.

For instance – the search for the finest of ingredients for whiskey making, is akin to the arduous selection process for picking out the best key-words for your internet marketing strategy.  Both are foundational elements that ultimately determine the end-result of your efforts.  Screw this up, and everything goes down the drain.

As a distillery will rely on its vendor-partners in providing their ingredients in exacting and predictable quality, so too does SEO rely on consistent authority ranking and link-attribution through its linkbuilding partners.

Whiskey makers create a mash by mixing their ingredients, this starts the fermentation process in preparation for the next step of aging.  Similarly, search marketing integration interconnects a business’ website (on-page) and off-page digital assets (backlinks, social media, blogging), which strengthen a brand’s overall internet marketing authority and ranking for building long-term internet marketing sustainability and relevance.

SEOer’s are guided by a complex set of largely unpublished rules and standards that are learned in time – through failure, success, and experimentation.  Just like making whiskey!

And then there’s time.  The most important element to both SEO and whiskey making, for without time, a master whiskey distiller’s only product is beer (not the good drinking kind), and with a SEOer, rhetoric (not the good reading kind).

Be it whiskey or SEO, it is the element of Time that provides the maturity that results in controlled and expected results.  Successful outcomes are only realized when ingredients and time are not compromised . . .

And there you have it, a story of SEO and Whiskey, along with a list of ingredients for successful search engine marketing.

Keyword Research | Website Optimization | Linkbuilding

So go ahead, take a shot at each – allow 9-12 months to ferment, and you’ll soon be tasting the sweet rewards of your efforts.

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