Cycling and SEO have many things in common. They are both competitive sports requiring strategic discipline and perseverance. The athletes are cyclists and SEO consultants. The adrenaline rush of cycling and SEO spurs these athletes to strive for top-place finishes. Experience and speed wins in cycling and in SEO – when it comes to being #1 across the finish line and in the search engine results (SERPs).
Fabian Cancellara is #1
Fabian Cancellara, a pro cyclist, is a trending topic as of April 11, 2010. He won Paris-Roubeax, one of the toughest pro cycling races, aka “Queen of the Classics.”
Fabian Cancellera is a Trending Topic
Why? He’s #1 in the minds of cycling fans and sponsors who are tweeting about him on Twitter. Google determined the query “Fabian Cancellara” deserved real-time search results as shown above.
It’s unlikely that Fabian is aware that he prompted real time search in Google SERPs. A quick look at FabianCancellara.com indicates he or his website developer don’t know much about SEO. He does, however, know what it takes to be #1 in the highly competitive sport of cycling.
Fabian Canellara won Paris-Roubaix this weekend, riding away from the competition. His victory follows his winning the Tour of Flanders the previous weekend. These “Classics” are known as two of the toughest bike races. Both are riddled with sections of cobblestones for approximately 260 kilometers.
Fabian Cancellera Wins Paris Roubaix
How Fabian won this cobblestone trophy is one of the reasons he’s trending, why he’s a winner.
He had his eye on his key competitor, Tom Boonen, and took advantage of a lapse of attention to ride away and crush the field. He rode solo for 48 kilometers. No one was able to catch him.
Experience Wins
Strategic thinking often comes with age and experience. There is no replacement for “time in the saddle” – a term representing hours on the bike. There is no substitute for having ridden various types of terrain and having worked on various types of websites and marketing campaigns.
One must experience multiple conditions and situations to instinctively know how to outwit the competition – on the bike and in the SERPs.
In his post-race interview after winning the Tour of Flanders, Fabian said, he learned from the mistakes he made in other races. His experience helped him win.
Experience is also key in SEO, to know how to implement various tactics, especially in highly competitive markets.
Let’s look at one more parallel between cycling and SEO – speed.
Speed Matters
Bike racing, when you break it down, is about getting yourself to the line in the shortest possible time. Speed matters.
Paris-Roubaix Results - Speed Matters
Fabian won by two minutes over Thor Hushovd in Paris-Roubaix. Other races may be won by only seconds, e.g. Greg Lemond won the Tour de France by 8 seconds in 1989.
It takes speed to win.
Fabian Cancellara rode away from Tom Boonen in the Tour of Flanders. Both were race favorites. Tom Boonen, in pursuit, was going 55 kph, a ferocious place to try to catch his rival. What could he do? Cancellara was in better shape. Simple put – Fabian was faster.
Reduce Weight
Cyclists go to great lengths to reduce weight. Toward the end of the Tour of Flanders, Cancellara threw out a gel pack and all his food in order to lighten his load. Why? He had a 1-minute gap on Tom Boonen.
He later said he had,
“… a lot of things on his mind, all those small details. You never know what is going to happen and … you need to go as fast as you can to the end.”
Small details. How does this apply to SEO?
Website Speed Matters
Speed matters for SEO as well. On April 9, 2010, Google announced, officially, that website speed is a factor in search rankings.
How much does speed matter? If you are closely match to your competitors, you will want to do everything possible to lighten the load, throwing out anything extraneous that could slow you down.
Do minor adjustments to make your site lighter and faster matter?
Speed wins if your competitor is almost as fast as you, and you are both vying for first place!
Audience First
Fabian Cancellera Holds Angel
A real winner thinks about audience first.
Cancellara waved his tiny golden angel trinket to the television camera before crossing the line in the Tour of Flanders.
He held out the same angel as he went around the track at the finish of the Paris-Roubeax.
Why would he carry the extra weight of the angel if he was thinking about small details and throwing out gel packs?
Fabian had his primary audience in mind – his wife and daughter.
Always keep your focus in cycling and in SEO. Remember, audience first!
SEOs can learn a lot by studying winners like Fabian Cancellara. He shows us that experience and speed wins.
What else can SEOs learn from cycling? Share your thoughts. Your insights may be part of an upcoming series.
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