What Cats Can Teach us About SEO

I think it’s no secret for anyone now that cats rule the internet, and, in a more conspiratorial note, maybe the world. If a couple of years ago we found it hilarious that in Ancient Egypt cats were worshiped and considered gifts from the Gods, nowadays the fluffy felines are back in power. When Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, was asked at the celebration of the 25th birthday of the web what was the most surprising thing about his invention, he reacted promptly: “Cats! I didn’t expect so many cats.” Indeed, the web changed dramatically in the past quarter of century but would you have thought that all these years of evolution lead to transforming the internet in a giant cat playground?

Every day, millions of cats wait patiently for us on Facebook or YouTube just to remind us that they own the place.

The Likes are now counted in meows and the link juice is actually measured in cat fur.

Yet, this big cat propaganda machine taught us quite a lesson when it comes to digital marketing and SEO. You spend hours creating quality content and you frantically struggle for a couple of shares when a video with a cat staring at a window instantly gains popularity and thousands of views. It seems unfair, right? But rather than bothering to solve the cat fame mystery, we’d better learn some of their tricks. Now, I know you are angry with cats but let’s see what are the most important lessons cats can teach us in terms of SEO.

Cats are Easy to Like. Your Content Should be Too!

Did you ever wonder why cats are so popular on the internet and not dogs? I mean, dogs are pretty too, they are fluffy and can be very silly sometimes. Yet, dogs are trying too hard. Dogs seem like everything they are doing is to impress you . Cats, on the other hand, do things that seem natural, the right thing to do at that time. This is how your content should look also: interesting, effortless and in timely. You need to create content because it is meaningful and you really have something to say. You should look cool and devoid of any concern about what people might think about you but actually be deeply in control of the whole situation and well thought out. Have you seen cats happily greeting their owner as they come home or wagging their tails with joy as they see their masters? Their infamous independence and controlled indifference are some of their weapons in creating viral content.

Creating good content is one of the most challenging things in SEO nowadays. And as useful as your content might be, if it’s not likeable, people will probably not read it, nor recommend it to others.

It’s natural to want to focus on creating high-quality content, full of great information, but that’s just half of the job. You need to make your content friendly, readable, easy to share and comment. You need to learn the art that cats seem to master extraordinary: saying important things with conviction and convey much in just a few words… or meows.

Also, it is not only about the content but also about the creator of the content. People follow Grumpy Cat with great interest not only for the content it generates but for the cat itself. They read the content because they like the cat. Similarly, if your readers will like you and they can relate to you, they will be more likely to follow and share your content.

Cats Appeal to Emotions. Your Content Should Too!

They make you laugh, smile, they make you say “awww…” in unison with two other friends or even bring a tear to your eyes. The important thing is that cats make you feel something. Cats always appeal to emotions. Always! And maybe you should start doing the same. Cats are very well focused when it comes to delivering emotions. They create specific content for each emotion they want to snatch from you.

Cats offer you cuteness overdose, extra vanity or adorable confusion as they know their behavior will somehow impress you.

It could be a good idea to think at the reaction you want to receive from your audience before starting to create your content. You don’t want to generate something that will leave people indifferent. You want your audience to react somehow after they read your content: you want them to take action, to reconsider their business, to find new strategies for their campaigns, to feel proud about themselves or even angry. No matter what, you want a reaction from your audience. You want the people to feel intrigued enough to share your content with others and to come back to your website. The stronger the emotions, the higher the number of likes and shares. Eventually, people will forget what you said or did but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Cats are Great Hunters! You Should be a Great Idea Hunter!

It might have reached your ears that a well-fed cat will stop killing birds. Well, that’s not true. Cats hunt for the sake of hunting not just for feeding themselves. What can we learn from this? No, not to hunt for our food, but to avoid being self-sufficient. Even if you are on the right track, you shouldn’t stop looking forward for new ideas and fresh strategies. Once you’ve reached the top of the mountain, take a look at the view and keep on climbing.

Cats might seem to purr and sleep all day long but what they actually do is preparing to engage in significant spurts of physical activity.The biggest amounts of energy are not spent on catching the target but on stalking, pouncing and wrestling their prey into submission.

Similar to cats, we should learn that new ideas are built on old buildings.

That means that most of the times good ideas don’t just come out of the blue but they have a strong research behind. For a good prey, a cat can spend even 8 hours a day on a hunt. We should learn how to hunt good ideas and always keep an eye open for a “good prey”.

Cats Can See in the Dark! You Should Stay Alert 24/7 with Critical SEO E-mail Alerts!

Besides being great hunters, cats can also be the prey. Although their online infinite success shows something else, cats are mortal. Yet, they have a set of advantages that keep them away from “the light” as long as possible. For instance, cats can see in the dark.

Humans cannot see in the dark with the “naked” eye but a cautious webmaster can ensure supervision for his website 24/7.

Whether you are using the email notification system from Google Webmaster Tool or you use various e-mail alerts to monitor your site and competitors you must always be in touch with your site’s “health”, with your competitors’ strategies and be warned about important issues that might appear. Cats have acute sight, hearing and smell that allow them to hunt effectively in dim light or at night. In order to be a proficient SEO you need to stay up-to-date 24/7, always be a step ahead of your competitors and a top player in your niche.

Cats have 9 Lives! Your Site Can Always Reborn from the Ashes!

The proverbial curiosity doesn’t usually kill cats… or it does, after the 9th time. Well, cats don’t really have several lives but they leave the impression of immortality. They seem to “return to life” after sustaining fatal accidents. They fall from high places and are trapped in the claws of killing predators but they still seem to make it through the day gracefully. Yet, how do they do it and what can we learn from this behavior? The cats’ ability to survive to all these dangerous situations that would kill humans, is not due to multiple lives, but to several advantages they possess and know how to manage properly. For instance, cats have a great sense of balance we should learn from. This sense of balance allows a cat falling upside down to readjust itself by rapidly determining its position, repositioning itself and making any adjustments necessary to ensure that it lands on all four paws.

Failure is, at some point, inevitable and you might confront yourself with the situation of your website being in a free fall from rankings. The idea is to heed the lessons of failure and find the right balance for your website. Be prepared to always land on your feet and if not possible, to ensure minimal injuries when your fall. This way, your website, no matter how hard has been struck, will be able to resurrect and stay strong in the face of any difficulty. Cats don’t master some secret tricks to keep them alive so you shouldn’t be looking for a magical solution to keep your site always on the good track. What cats have is an inbuilt instinct for physics, for correctly calculating each step in order to take the decisions that would keep them alive or help them resurrect easily each time.

Cats Sleep a Lot! Ignore This Behavior! They’re Only Trying to Trick You!

Cats and sleep is as common a match as peanut butter and jelly. Cats spend at least two-thirds of their lives asleep. Why do they sleep so much? Well, because they can. Because when they are “asleep” they are not asleep in the same way humans are. For them, being asleep doesn’t mean being off the clock. They are pretty much alert, meaning that if something happens in the middle of their beauty sleep, they can instantly wake up and be fully operational. That means that they are kind of tricking us with their sleep, making us believe that they are vulnerable, when in reality, they can transform into ninjas in a few seconds. If as a SEO expert or a webmaster you are doing a great job and you can afford spending 18 hour a day sleeping, there is no problem in that.

The trick is to sleep with one eye open and be fully prepared for action in no time.

Communicate like a Cat! We Call it CATMunication!

It’s arguable whether cats are or not a man’s best companion but they are for sure Internet’s best friend. It doesn’t matter if cats appear in a cutesy video, a funny depiction on Facebook’s walls or in an academic article. Every time it’s with the same results: a long line of shares, views and likes. If we want the same result, it’s important to learn how to approach our audience like the furry felines do. We need to learn how to CATmunicate if we want to improve our chances of achieving the coveted viral content. CATmunication implies ways of expression, body language and posture. Not only a meow or the sound of purring can generate enormous buzz but also a cat’s posture, the ear position or the way it keeps its tail. Nothing is random and each gesture has a specific meaning and communicates something about that cat. Similarly, your content shouldn’t be a result of an editorial agenda but it should really have a meaning and transmit something unique and valuable.

If you ever pet a cat you know that the furry felines actually communicate with you. The look of anger when you’re sitting on their favorite place on the sofa, the cold indifference when they try to suggest you to stop petting them or their excitement when they play with a fuzz on the carpet. Every single time, even when they’re sleeping, they communicate something about themselves and their needs. When it comes to content, communication with your audience is the key while indifference or the lack of response are your biggest enemies.

With the rise of cat-centric social platforms such as Catster or Catmoji, I think it’s high time to admit that cats dominate the digital world. The good thing is that there are a lot of things we can learn from their internet-conquering strategy. Their success is the living proof that Internet audience is hungry for content and is willing to share it in all shapes, sizes, colors and temperaments. We may rule the offline world but the cyberspace belongs to the cats. Meow.