SEO vs HCO (Human Contact Optimization)

The Elephant in the Room

Quick sidebar before I jump into this post. Yes. We use AI for our post images. AND yes, that is a hand with 6 fingers. I even refined the image with “5 fingers” in the prompt to generate it. For all the power and amazing things AI can do, apparently it struggles with rendering hands. Please just focus on the lonely and empty feeling portrayed in this post’s image. That’s what we will be talking about.

And on to the Post Part of this Post… SEO

Search engine optimization is a crucial part of every business today. Sure. Great. You type some words into your ad account, pay some money, people find your website because of those words, and BOOM, your business flourishes. It’s a proven model and intuitive to everyone that’s ever looked at a computer screen.

I might pay $10,000 for 10,000 people to see my website in search results, of which 500 people might actually click through to the site, of which 15 people might be converted. This assumes a search term that costs $1, click through rate of 5%, and a conversion of 3%. Average numbers that equate to a customer acquisition cost of $666. I’m not going to throw out Iron Maiden lyrics… but I’m thinking them. All of this and you never spoke to a person, shook a hand, or made a human connection. That’s the cold, cold world of paid SEO.

HCO (Human Contact Optimization)

That’s not really a term we’re trying to make happen, but it sits nicely next to SEO for the purpose of this post. I recently sat down for coffee with a reputable public relations expert. It was great. No screen time, at restaurant I’d never been to, and we spent an hour sharing client stories. At the end of the meeting we each had two client projects to work on together. The coffee was $25 with tip (I had an omelet too) and two new clients came of it. That’s a customer acquisition cost of $12.50!

Of course this isn’t a scalable solution. HCO is meant to be a reminder that some of our best business motions aren’t in front of a screen though. Networking with people in complimentary fields is quintessential to business growth. It’s something that is often overlooked in businesses that don’t already have in-house employees to cover all facets of their needs.

HCO is meant to be a reminder that some of our best business motions aren’t in front of a screen.

The Familiar Rainbow Grid of Our Calendars

So next time you are looking at that overly crowded, and hopefully not overlapping, calendar of yours, I encourage you to make time to go sit down with, do yoga with, grab a cocktail with a fellow human. It’s far too easy to have all of our transactions be on a screen or phone. All the promises of AI will never compare to a shared laugh with a like minded peer.

Stay optimized, my friends.

Thanks for reading,
Morgan

Please email me at OceanAndCakeCreative@gmail.com with any comments, questions, or criticisms.