25 March 2009 | Author: M. Thomson SEO & Affiliate Consultant

Qualitative vs. quantitative research in SEO

Search engine optimisation and research make ideal partners in business; when combined, they help create a commercially viable enterprise of input and output. This makes perfect sense to bigmouthmedia as an agency, and we understand the necessity of transparent results. However, when it comes to search engine optimisation, not every action or undertaking can be assigned a definite statistic.

Here's a common scenario for a Search Marketing Specialist: a website has their brand name first within their title tag and, as an agency or in-house SEO, you recommend that this is altered and moved to the end.

Now, like many other recommendations in search engine optimisation, while there may be no quantitative research that shows this change is beneficial, there may be many instances where qualitative research comes up trumps. This makes perfect sense as there is no Holy Grail of SEO.

Now, the key difference between quantitative and qualitative research is that quantitative makes use of statistics, while qualitative is more insights-driven.

In SEO, usually the overall goal of research is to create a quantitative result. You can then take your statistic and manipulate it at your will to develop a business model. This is how businesses frequently work. However, with SEO, there is rarely a quantitative result. Why? Well, search engines like Google frequently dictate the metrics used via their algorithm, which makes statistics skewed and constantly evolving. Google stated that in 2002 it changed its algorithm more than 200 times.

Additionally, notice the difference between Google's transparency paid vs organic search; paid search investments are much higher than organic. Why? The 'type' of result produced is often a quantitative result making it more appealing and transparent to businesses.

Is this why Google is more inclined to define the exact percentage of factors that make up the AdWords ranking algorithm? The qualitative business case is certainly there!

One of the toughest responsibilities facing an SEO (bigmouthmedia loves a challenge), whether as an employee or agency, is demonstrating whether their input correlated directly with the output. This is because there is not always a quantitative result. Over time, there may be, but as history and legacy often play a big part in a search engine's ranking algorithm, immediate statistics may not be available.

This is where the true skill of an SEO comes into play and they will often be required to educate their employer on these facts. In the current economic climate, without these skills and in-house knowledge, the industry may see job losses.

Overall, within search engine optimisation or digital marketing in general, it's always nice to have tangible statistics with which to build a business model. Businesses have long become reliant upon the availability of such facts and figures through traditional marketing channels. Digital marketing, however, is a whole new ball game, and getting the statistics you require for a business plan is not always going to be possible due to the mercurial and evolutionary nature of digital marketing; in fact, by the time you have red this article, the goal posts may have already been shifted.

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