My Mantra is “93.4% of potential product purchase research is done online (anonymously). Nearly 2 of 3 buyers begin product research using a search engine. Buyers have little interest in sales calls unless and until they (the buyers) initiate the interaction.”
Google will only look up to you once you have gained everyone’s respect and there is no better way to get respect than through effective communication, useful information and high quality backlinks.
If you write something fantastic that the world should know …Google doesn’t care. No one hears your tree falling. All SEO gives your tree is some volume. Optimizing a website used to involve “editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines” – today you need to have a fast loading, socially connected, keyword optimized (H1′s, titles etc), mobile enabled page which has content that others find compelling. I like the phrase SEO-cial.