If an SEO Guy (search engine optimizer) guarantees you ranking on page one in the search engines, run the other way because they are either just saying it to get your money or they are terribly misinformed.
Don’t get us wrong,
SEO (search engine optimization) is very important to have done for any website and if done
correctly your website will have an excellent chance of ending up on page one in a search. But there are many factors that go into having this happen and NO ONE has all the exact answers when it comes to what search engines are looking for.
There are many strategic and important steps that need to be done for a successful
SEO campaign, but in the end there is still a lot of trial and error that takes place. It takes time, testing, consistency, and more importantly experience to get it right. It also takes a good basic understanding of how to build good on-page and off-page SEO. But in the end, if Google decides to change its algorithms as to what they want to see in searches (as they did recently) you may find yourself going from page 1 to page 20 overnight, as just happened recently to some; then the game starts all over again. If you follow Google’s guidelines you have nothing to fear. Google won’t penalize anyone who doesn’t deserve it.
The whole purpose of search engines, as Google and the other search engines view it, is to provide customer satisfaction to their clients – the searchers – by providing valuable content in response to what they are searching for. So, if you’re looking for an article on skin care, you don’t find a bunch of pages trying to sell you skin care products or spamming you with other content.
So What is Google and the Others Looking for in Your Website?
- Valuable, unique and relevant content
- New content being added regularly
- Customer interaction (comments, videos, etc)
- One-way links pointing to your website from other high ranking, relevant sites
- Easy to read, valid HTML and CSS codes
- and more…
The nice thing about the way the system works is that the door is open for the small independent mom and pop shop to compete equally in the web-o-sphere with large corporations to reach page one in the search engines. The playing field is fairly level if you do the work properly. Here are some things to remember:
- A pretty website isn’t enough. You need to have it search engine optimized.
- SEO never ends! It’s an ongoing process and should be considered a marketing investment to keep you in front of your prospects.
- SEO is all about driving quality traffic that converts. NOT just getting on page one.
- SEO should be combined with a well developed website that’s easy to add content to and is SEO “friendly” with clean codes like the WordPress platform.
- On-page SEO is NOT enough, your SEO specialist should have a good “off-page” link building strategy as well.
- To effectively drive new business, SEO should be combined with a good PPC (pay-per-click) and/or social media ad campaign, and also target off line advertising like direct mail postcard, radio, etc.
There is so much to this subject that it’s impossible to discuss all the issues in one article; volumes have been written. Suffice to say you need to look at an SEO’s credentials… client testimonials… make sure they don’t just “guarantee” you page one rank but can deliver. Over time, drip, drip, drip fills the tub; consistency will pay off and you’ll achieve your goals and find new businesses flocking to your door.
Tags: Digital Marketing • Google • Search Engine Optimization
