How many SEOs are there? The complete guide to mastering SERPs and getting out of limbo
Midway upon my strategy journey, I found myself in a dark SERP, for the right way was lost.
I’m sure that if Dante were a digital marketer, his Divine Comedy would sound something like this.
Since, today more than ever, those who manage an e-commerce or corporate website find themselves navigating a dark forest of constantly changing algorithms, data to interpret, and strategies to master.
This article is the story of that journey through the canticles of SEO, and just like Dante, we will discover how to face obstacles, atone for mistakes, and reach the light of Google’s first page.
The three beasts of SEO: On-page, Off-page, and Technical
“It hindered my path so much that I was ready to turn back several times.”
Dante had to face three terrible beasts: the lion, the wolf, and the lioness. Similarly, those who venture into the world of SEO encounter three “beasts” that embody the first challenges to be overcome.
- On-page SEO, the lion: the most visible and tangible part of the site, consisting of content, titles, meta tags, text structure, and UX. It is the beast that roars the loudest, the one that the user sees and interacts with directly. But like an untamed lion, it can easily become an enemy if you don’t know how to treat it: duplicate content, keyword stuffing, structural errors, or poor optimization can burn your ranking like unquenchable flames.
- Off-page SEO, the loin: an agile and elusive creature, invisible but extremely powerful. We’re talking about link building, online reputation, social signals, and brand mentions. The loin represents everything that happens outside the site but deeply influences its authority in the eyes of Google. Taming it requires patience, strategy, and a maniacal focus on quality, because every fake or spam backlink is a step toward defeat.
- Technical SEO, the she-wolf: silent but ravenous, she is the guardian of the site’s performance and structure. Loading times, indexing, security, mobile-friendliness, structured data, and code cleanliness are her jungle. The she-wolf is unforgiving: a technical error means invisibility, penalties, and loss of traffic. Taming her requires constant attention and specialist expertise.
These three beasts, in Dante’s canticle, block the poet’s path, forcing him to return to the dark forest from which he was trying to escape.
In the same way, optimizing your website through the three SEOs we have just encountered is only the first circle to cross in a continuous and changing journey.
Today, we face new challenges, new rules, and updates that force us to descend once again into the dark forest of positioning.
The circle of the slothful: SEO beliefs to abandon
Like the slothful punished in the Styx swamp, immersed in murky water and forever deprived of speech and sight, there is also a circle for those who remain stuck in their ways and cannot see beyond their own website, believing that SEO is dead because they cannot cope with change.
Here are at least three beliefs to abandon:
- The keyword limbo: the belief that obsessively repeating a keyword is enough. Google today is a semantic intelligence that rewards those who interpret search intent with comprehensive and relevant content, not those who stuff keywords as if it were the past.
- The AI heretics: in a world racing towards automation and personalization, those who neglect AI in SEO risk being crushed by the competition. From predictive analytics to automated content optimization, artificial intelligence is now the indispensable Virgil of every winning strategy.
- Those who attack the brand: those who sacrifice consistency and reputation to climb the SERP with clickbait, misleading content, or black hat practices end up suffering heavy penalties and losing the trust of users. Because in the end, SEO that does not respect the brand is a death sentence.
Black hat SEO and white hat SEO quiz: find out which side you’re on
On the journey through SEO, every marketer must choose their path: the path of light or the path of shadows. On one side, there is White Hat SEO, the virtuous path made up of authentic content, transparent techniques, and compliance with Google’s guidelines. It is the path that leads to stability, organic growth, and lasting public trust.
On the other side lies Black Hat SEO, the dark art that uses tricks, manipulation, and automation to achieve quick but short-lived results. Practices such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, link spam, and duplicate content are the poison that, sooner or later, leads to severe penalties, loss of reputation, and a ruinous fall.
In this sense, SEO is like a moral crossroads: is it better to walk slowly on the right path or run recklessly toward the illusion of easy success? As Dante suggests in the Divine Comedy, true wisdom lies in “following virtue and knowledge,” that is, knowledge and intelligent strategy, not shortcuts.
The heads of Cerberus in SEO: which one to feed?
At this point in the journey, Dante would have fainted 32 times, but you are strong and have persevered. Now that you have chosen which path to take and have completed the first phase of optimizing your website, you ask yourself: will I see Paradise?
Not yet, but almost.
You are in the Purgatory of positioning and you are discovering that SEO is not always the same and adapts to different sectors, platforms, and objectives.
So now, as you recover from your latest fainting spell, let’s understand together how SEO can change.
- SEO for e-commerce, where the priority is to optimize product listings, manage categories and filters, speed up the site, and integrate trust signals (reviews, secure payments). The goal is to guide the user from click to purchase with maximum effectiveness.
- SEO for journalism: in this area, the focus shifts to the authority of content, constant updating, and snippet management for real-time news positioning. Speed and clarity become essential.
- SEO for social media: although not directly at the heart of Google ranking, optimizing content on social media (videos, images, text) increases visibility and brand reputation and indirectly contributes to off-page value through social signals and sharing.
- Local SEO: essential for businesses that focus on a specific area and community, it enhances reviews, Google My Business, and geolocated content.
- Advanced technical SEO: from multilingual site management to SEO for apps and voice search, technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated to respond to new search paradigms.
- SEO for AI: optimization of content generated or co-created with artificial intelligence, management of AI-driven algorithms, automation of SEO processes, and predictive analysis. AI thus becomes not only an ally, but a true dimension of modern SEO, essential for climbing the SERPs in an increasingly competitive landscape.
And so we went out to see the SERPs again
“Hey Beatrice, Google my brand!”
You’re in heaven, your brand is stronger than ever, clear, consistent, and rewarded by search engines.
In heaven, users find exactly what they’re looking for.
We have seen how On-page, Off-page, and Technical SEO are the three challenges to overcome at the beginning of the journey, but the real challenge is to always keep your eyes on the future, ready to venture into the dark forest whenever new rules and trends push positioning towards new areas to explore.
In this scenario, artificial intelligence is no longer an enemy to be feared, but a modern Virgil who guides us through complex data, predictive optimizations, and personalized content. SEO for AI opens a new chapter, where human creativity merges with technological power to conquer increasingly competitive spaces.
Only those who accept this challenge with passion and rigor will be able to emerge from the dark forest and finally “see the stars again.”
