SEO: Search Engine Optimization. You know you need it. You know you want to have it. You know it’s still the Wild West when it comes to the way your pages are displayed when someone searches for them.
Thankfully, while we still don’t know the exact algorithms – and likely never will – for the web’s leading search providers, things are much clearer than they were three to five years ago. However, there’s still a great deal of confusion in this practice and its results. Here are a few of my “favorite” SEO misunderstandings and myths compiled from my experience over the years.
- “I need to be #1 in the search results!”
Nope. You don’t.
You do need to be on the first page, if you’d like to have any relevancy, particularly if you have a decent amount of competition, and are not in a niche market. But don’t spend the time, energy, and cash to sit at number 1. It’s half the cost to sit at number 2, and only 5-10% loss in effectiveness.
Now – there’s a caveat here. You may be in one of those markets / industries where it IS worth it to be at the top. We’ll work with you, and provide you with relevant data that will help you to make an informed, educated, valid decision. - “I was promised by [Unethical Firm] that I would be on the first page next week!”
They’re lying to you.
Now… if you don’t have a ton of competition, and if you are in a young industry, and if you are completely redoing your website with best SEO practices, and if you are willing to shell out a ton of cash, it’s possible. Yes.
But that’s a lot of “ifs”, my friend. Google, Bing and Yahoo! are like battleships. They take a large amount of time to turn around and get full steam ahead. The best way to get to the front of the list is through methodical content creation, smart practices, and a long-term approach to your business growth.
Yes, you can kick-start your growth with Google AdWords, but that can get really expensive really fast. So have a back-up plan in place. - “I’ll just put in keywords. That’s all it takes – keywords, right?”
Groan.
This one is a direct descendant of my favorite one that I don’t hear as much anymore: “I put in the Meta Description, so I should be good.”
Search Engine Optimization is a multi-headed Hydra. Many facets have to be in place, all working in conjunction with each other for the most effective results to be possible. Back in the early 2000’s, you could set your Meta Description and put in a few keywords, and your site would grow in Google, Lycos, DogPile, and others.
But with hundreds of thousands of new sites hitting the web every month, it’s not that simple.
We’d love it if it was all simple – that means your business would grow very easily, and we’d celebrate your growth with you, without either of us having to lift more than a finger at a time.
But the online SEO world is more complicated than ever. We’ll help you to make sense of it all.