Stop using “relevant”

Shoot, instead, for “significant”

I have a good friend who said this to me a long time ago and the idea has stuck with me ever since.

Relevant is something that interests you.

Significant is something you can't succeed without.

Working in copywriting, and brand storytelling, and communications, the topic of SEO comes up often. And there's always a bit of a conflict between the machine quality people and the human quality people.

In the world of SEO, what matters most is how the search engines respond to the information you convey. And a big part of what the search engines…

Ok, let's just cut to the chase here and say Google, because the big G is by far the biggest dog on the block in search engine-ing. There isn’t another really significant challenger at the moment.

A big part of what the way Google measures "quality" is how the keywords are used. There are other components to this like length, frequency of posting, backlinks, traffic and duration of views on a page, but the keywords, historically, have been a massive part of this.

On the other hand, we humans who need to read the content, need to find the information you post informative and useful, too.

Defining “Search”

In the SEO game, they call this "relevance." It's how the machines measure if a page is of sufficient quality and valuable to the person searching for the information. It's how you rise in the rankings to the mystical first three slots.

Humans, on the other hand, measure and react to information differently. We ask a question, then make a judgement as to whether the person we're asking is answering the question we asked. This happens all the time.

"What color is the sky today?"

"Well, it's a beautiful day out there. Clear weather. Moderate temperature. You're dog will love her walk today..."

A lovely conversation, perhaps, but the question didn't get answered. The information is relevant, but not significant.

But on the other hand, the person may have convinced you to get out with the pup for a stroll later that afternoon. It inspired action.

Navigating the publicity world

I have another friend. An excellent communicator and person I lean on for sanity-checks and real insight into what I'm doing and talking about sometimes. He talks to me about a colleague of his he argues with often. They're great friends, but they have significant differences of opinion on what matters in marketing and communication.

She won't spend any time on anything that she can't measure. Analytics is where she lives and breathes. Advertisements and key words, and algorithms, oh my. That's how she makes decisions and doesn't value anything else. She is highly effective at what she does for her clients.

He spends time looking at the way people engage with information. Human people. Psychology. Brand recognition and loyalty. Messaging discipline and resonance. He's of the publicist DNA. What was once news stands and afternoon editions is now newsfeeds, and video segments. And he is exceptionally good and effective in what he does and how he does it.

Which one’s better?

One has regular, measurable, incremental impact. The other takes more time, and effort, but when it's right, delivers exponentially larger value.

Paired together, of course, and in the right balance, they're a tough team to beat.

But this is the difference between relevance and significance.

Relevance may get you to click over to take a second look. Or click "purchase now." Or make a recommendation or even write a review.

Significance will inspire you to take the hill. And not let anyone take it back from you.