When your SEO rankings suddenly jumped last month, did you drink a small decaf and have a sausage breakfast burrito?

(And you’ve had the same breakfast every morning since?)

When you got your first ecommerce sale, did you drive a certain way to your office?

(And you’ve come that way every day since?)

That Tuesday when you landed that first big client off a website lead, did you wear an ugly tie?

(And you’ve worn that same tie every Tuesday since?)

Superstition.  The lucky charm…

Despite all the planning, data, action items, and modifications we do with modern digital marketing, it’s remarkably easy to fall back on the crutch of superstition.   Despite our modern tools, we’re still wired to be superstitious.

In digital marketing, one area is the worst.  Call it Superstition Engine Optimization.  In a constant effort to understand what Google and Bing are doing with their search algorithms, SEOs secretly hold seances, carry rabbits feet. We build altars with keyword lists, Ethernet cables pointing up to Heaven, and pictures of Larry Page (along with Voodoo dolls of Matt Cutts).

Why?  Because SEO often feels out of our control.  To a certain extent, it is.  We don’t really control where Google ranks pages.  We use content to influence our rankings, but that’s the best that can be done. And we have no control over how Google decides to rank a competitor’s website.

But the reality is that the ugly tie and same breakfast are a crutch.  They make us feel more in control.

When you hire an SEO, a little superstition isn’t a bad thing.  It shows they really care.

But in the end, a seance is no substitute for understanding what’s actually happening.  The weather report may not always be exact, but if you’re planting a garden you’d rather have the Doppler radar explained than have someone do a rain-dance.