It’s rare that I re-post content from other blogs, but I liked Joe Hall‘s post on Marketing Pilgrim about Hippies being the future of Internet marketing because it completely jives with my Integrated SEO approach. He calls it “holistic” SEO, but we are talking about the same thing. Go read it if you have a minute.

In a nutshell, SEO is just one component of Internet marketing, which is but one piece of an overall marketing strategy. Additionally, SEO has many smaller components that form the whole such as link building, content creation, and site architecture. When properly synced, all of these layers work together to create a holistic, integrated marketing platform.

For the visually oriented, I submit exhibit A:

Integrated SEO

It’s not the prettiest diagram, but it illustrates that SEO is just a subset of other strategic disciplines. Each strata have their own strategies and tactics but it all rolls up to support the larger marketing initiative.

Is this how you think about SEO? Is this how your in-house SEO or consultant thinks about it? The sooner you realize that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, the sooner you will achieve a higher level of understanding which will lead to greater success. If achieving a greater sense of understanding is your goal, I guess it is kind of a hippie thing after all. Peace.