SEO's Use BOTH Sides of Their Brain

I recently viewed a photo on Facebook published by the Missouri Institute of Natural Science showing how the different hemispheres of the brain influence different personality traits.

The text for the left brain reads:

“I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.”

And for the right brain:

“I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.”

As an Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), I have often told people I use both sides of my brain on the job.  The technical analysis needed for keyword modeling, HTML coding, taxonomy and usage tracking utilize the left hemisphere where logic and reason reside. The creativity, interest level, usability, common sense and visual flow of a site kick the right hemisphere into gear.

It's a fine thing to realize that this industry has so many facets that require so many different skills and offer an endless variety of specialization: cross-channel optimization, keyword research, link building, web development, reporting analysis, usability coordination, social media, video, mobile, etc.  How exciting to live, work, and breathe this dynamic industry and be rewarded not just for thinking clearly, but for emotional impact and influence, as well.

This photo lead me to want to test my skills and natural inclinations to find out which hemisphere of my brain is most dominant.  I Googled "brain hemisphere dominance test" and came up with the following test: http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm.  This turned out to be a ridiculous test that always told me I was left brain dominant no matter how I changed the answers.  I'm guessing just by taking the test and answering all the questions, it could be assumed I am left brain dominant.  

I wanted a more serious evaluation and kept searching and was satisfied when I came across this test published by the International PcE Netword, Biofeedback Training Made Simple:  Brain Dominance Test.  This test gave a more thorough explanation, grading each answer as to which hemisphere related and giving me an overall evaluation that was much more plausible.

Regardless which side of the brain is dominant, it's exciting to find an industry that engages both hemispheres of communication, logic, reason, creativity, and emotional response.  Cheers to all the SEO's out there thinking and feeling and making better digital communication experiences for all.

Link Building: The Red String of Fate

Link Building is such an intricate part of SEO.  The more people that link into your site, the more popular your page is, and the better search results you'll see.  It's a very democratic process to measure buzz on the internet.  Search engines use page authority and popularity as a major part of their search algorithms affecting page rank in search results. The search engines are teaching web developers to have better connections online by weighting the value of inbound links.


But link building is more of a natural communication process than it may appear in the world of internet marketing, paid search, or site optimization.  We build links everyday with people all around us, even when we are unaware of it.  The driver who cut you off on the morning commute can put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day; the woman in the mall who looked at you and laughed can make you feel self-conscious about your appearance; saying "thank you" to the McDonald's drive through employee can put a smile on his face; a hug from a loved one can make any situation bearable.  The connections we make in our lives, both great and small, have power and authority to affect other people's lives in ways that we may never know. 

Touch

I recently watched the pilot for the FOX TV show "Touch"  that intros with the Chinese legend of The Red String of Fate.  The legend says that the Gods have tied a red thread to every one of our ankles and attached it to all the people whose lives we're destined to touch.  This string may stretch, tangle, but it will never break.  


One story featuring the red string of fate involves a young boy. Walking home one night, a young boy sees an old man standing beneath the moonlight (Yue Xia Lao). The man explains to the boy that he is attached to his destined wife by a red thread. Yue Xia Lao shows the boy the young girl who is destined to be his wife. Being young and having no interest in having a wife, the young boy picks up a rock and throws it at the girl, running away. Many years later, when the boy has grown into a young man, his parents arrange a wedding for him. On the night of his wedding, his wife waits for him in their bedroom, with the traditional veil covering her face. Raising it, the man is delighted to find that his wife is one of the great beauties of his village. However, she wears an adornment on her eyebrow. He asks her why she wears it and she responds that when she was a young girl, a boy threw a rock at her that struck her, leaving a scar on her eyebrow. She self-consciously wears the adornment to cover it up. The woman is, in fact, the same young girl connected to the man by the red thread shown to him by Yue Xia Lao back in his childhood, showing that they were connected by the red string of fate. 


The basic theory of Cause and Effect proves true throughout the physical universe.  Why wouldn't we think it proves true in our daily lives, as well?  In Physics class I learned that this rule, "For each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."  Look around the world today and you can see this played out in politics, wars, financial disasters, environmental concerns.  When I look around my personal relationships, I can also see this played out - how I react to others if often caused by what I'm feeling internally.  If I stop to take a breath and adjust my attitude, the world can change for the better in that instant. 


I vow to remember this lesson of Cause and Effect and how our lives are all connected in every way, online and off.  This is a lesson that could change not just my world, but all of ours.