Back in the 12th century, the siege engine reached its height of sophistication as an effective means of attacking and plundering foes. Large boulders, disease invested animals and flaming debris were hurled from long distances over castle walls by incredible machines.

It was a technology imported from China where it had been invented centuries earlier. Trebuchets, as they are popularly known, replaced catapults, because of their superior performance. This particular siege engine applied such advanced engineering and design elements that they were able to fling objects more than three-times the distance of catapults.

As with any technology, trebuchets began to lose their competitive advantage. Over time, each warring faction began building their own trebuchets and their effectiveness became equalized. It was only when engineers and inventors began tinkering with the technology, that attackers gained an advantage. After considerable experimentation and testing, they changed the configuration of the counterweight system and were able to boost performance of the machine by 10% (and when you’re hurling flaming objects, even a small advantage can be huge).

Our modern technology of search engines could be seen as traveling a similar path. More organizations have access to, and an understanding of the benefits of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). With nearly everyone utilizing the basic tools of SEO, the competitive advantages are minimal. It is only through continual tinkering, testing, adjusting and making refinements, that organizations can realize an advantage over their competition. While some businesses may try to cut corners on making investments in SEO, this activity really requires the services of a professional SEO administrator.

Just as with fine-tuned siege engines, advanced SEO tactics can provide businesses a slight leg-up on their competition, and lead to a distinct advantage in getting noticed. Especially in today’s competitive environment, it can feel like flaming objects are being tossed in our direction. Having a seasoned inventor/engineer at your disposal for SEO, can often provide valuable cover…

 

Image Credit Wikipedia