• Ranked Hard , Wednesday, February 13, 2008 2:45 PM

The Big Oak team takes a lighthearted look at SEO with their new comic blog, Ranked Hard. In this installment, Brad Smart (the search firm's CEO) is chatting with a potential client over the phone who seems amazed that Smart is able to explain the tactics that make SEO effective. "The other company said it was too complicated to explain to mere mortals," the caller says.

The panel cuts to a scene of the other company working their SEO "black magic"--complete with hoods, a pentagram and glowing black eyes. It's a tongue-in-cheek jab not just at black hats, but at any consultant or search firm that continues to further the myth that there's some mysterious, murky art to snagging good rankings.

As writer Shell Harris concludes, "When an SEO company isn't willing to share their methods, it is usually because they have no methods to share or else they are doing things they wish to hide."

Read the whole story at Ranked Hard »