With the Euro 2012 tournament kicking off today, we thought we would put an SEO spin on the tournament. SEO is all about getting to number one, winning on the SERPs and becoming the best in your industry.  The similarities with the Euros are uncanny (well not quite!) but we feel SEO and football have a lot to learn from each other.

So what we have done is set out the top seven teams in Europe today (according to UEFA – but we can’t understand why Portugal isn’t in this top seven), and we’ve discovered numerous links between SEO and football nations. So what kind of SEO are you?

France

You will have a sense of arrogance in the way you conduct your SEO. Your strategy will take little notice of what industry thought leaders say, and you still use strategies that were reminiscent of the 2000 glory days when you won the Euros e.g. keyword stuffing and bolding your keywords… Although you get by quite nicely, you will never reach that number one position. Stop looking back and get with the times. You might actually end up seeing results!

Russia

The secretive SEO type, you have a strategy that you share behind your iron curtain of secrecy. You can be partial to dirty tricks like masking and spammy blog commenting (grey hat). You rely heavily on spying on competitors, using competitor link analysis as your main link building technique.

England

You are great at sticking to best practice. Constantly playing it safe with your SEO techniques, but you refuse to think outside of the box. You still produce boring content (and football), which won’t see results. When it comes to link building you are highly successful as you are an expert in outreach (because of your exceptional manners). People aren’t expecting much from England this tournament, but maybe this might work to their advantage.

Italy

You seem to have a bit of a reputation as a cheat and black hat techniques are basically your idea of “effective” SEO. Your technique is not pretty, but it can be effective (as you proved, when you won the World Cup in 2006). The problem with being a black hatter (or cheat), is that cheats always get found out. Panda, Penguin and the increase in video technology (in football) have sussed the cheats, meaning Italy won’t be winning anything this year.

Germany

Your on-page SEO technique is perfect. Your off-page technique is perfect. Every element of your SEO strategy is perfect. There is even a good chance you will reach page one (and win Euro 2012). The only factor letting you down is your social media strategy, not many people “like” you.

Netherlands

You produce great content, your social strategy is effective, you have lots of fans and you focus on quality. (The Netherlands are also firm favourites to win Euro 2012). Simply producing great content and having a social strategy can be enough to see results in today’s SEO. The Netherlands lost the in the World Cup final because of the “boring” football they played. This will have been a learning curve for them. We’re sure the Dutch will produce quality (football) this time round!

Spain

Ah, Spain, you have natural SEO skill and flair! Nobody comes close to your ability. Your link building portfolio is extensive and you have a link building strategy like no other. You produce the best content in the world, you’re consistent and you’re a thought leader in the industry (and the world’s best when it comes to football). You have no problem getting to number one and will have no problem winning Euro 2012. Spain to win.