Search Engine Optimization – or SEO – is a sought after service with the rise in social media and the value of marketing online. Companies will seek to hire someone to “do SEO” on their website to increase visibility in the major search engines. The realization that you have admitted you need some help with search engine ranking is a great start – however, when I talk to people about what SEO really entails, often times they either don’t understand it, or don’t want to hear it.
The problem with not accepting these two major truths about SEO, is that if you don’t believe them – and then hire someone to “do SEO” for you, you will never be happy and you will feel like you’ve been ripped off. But the reality is that you have to seriously consider Search Engine Optimization as an investment of time and dollars into the success of your online presence.
The two truths about SEO that people seem to ignore are this:
You don’t just “do SEO” once and then Voila!
Search Engine Optimization is a process. Let’s suppose a company comes to you and wants you to “do SEO” on their website. And let’s also suppose that website has about somewhere between 8-10 pages of content. You could just “do SEO” on that website by improving meta titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords. You could also create optimized naming conventions for images and downloadable files, as well as alt-tags. On top of that you could review the site content with a fine-toothed comb and make improvements to the language that are more search-relevent.
So let’s suppose you did these things to your customer’s website and sent them on their way. Technically, yes… that site has been optimized and could potentially improved it’s search rank – but here’s the reality…
Unless that company has such a niche product that no-one else is writing about online, chances are even if they do get rank on the newly optimized website – that rank will probably only last a short time. As the competition continues to blog and post regular content, it provides tremendous value to their search rank, and with each new piece of content published about your product or service (that was not published by your customer because they maintain an 8-10 page static website only), they stand to lose search rank.
Your static website will not hold it’s position. You need to be adding content regularly that is relevant to your business, and meets the needs of your customer and potential buyers. Blogging is an excellent way to do this, and provides you an outlet to open dialogue with customers and prospects – while providing real value beyond a 10 page static website.
The second truth is this…
It’s takes time to gain organic search position…
Assuming you understand the first truth, know this… A solid SEO strategy takes time to implement because it’s about building content on an ongoing basis indefinitely. You cannot expect that you’ve added 5 new pages of content to your website, and Google will automatically crawl your site and decide to throw you up on page one above all those who are publishing content regularly and are doing it well.
It is a process. I tell clients to expect NOT to see any results for MONTHS. This is the reality people, and anyone who tells you differently does not speak honestly with you. This is not to say you need to keep someone in your employ for months on end and spend tons and tons of money. You can hire someone to get you rolling, teach you the ropes and make sure you are equipped with the means to continue publishing content on your own.
When I run search rank reports, I only check them every two months. Search rank fluctuates daily. I focus on long-term growth, not daily position – and you should too.
Monitoring keywords, top content, and referring sites can give you additional knowledge as to which keywords are performing best, and which might need some love in the way of additional content.
So.. if you are seeking an SEO professional – don’t focus on big magical promises. Work with someone who will really provide long-term strategy for content development. Hire someone who will not talk in buzz words but will take the time to really help you understand the types of content you should develop and the best way to go about it.
You’ll be much happier in the long-run, if you can be patient and trust the process.
