Web-Marketing – it’s a term that most would consider familiar and intelligible. Ask someone to define the term and you will likely get a response along the lines of, “It’s just online advertising.” Some responses will have a bit more depth and breadth to them, but, for the most part, the responses would be fairly accurate and on target. But despite it being an almost universally comprehensible concept, Web-Marketing still is quite a complex and difficult discipline. There is a science to this discipline, and a logical methodology must be employed if one wants his or her website and name to get out to as many folks as possible. Search engine indexing is just one example of a subsidiary discipline that ought to be understood by anyone wanting to make the slightest ripple in the Web-Marketing world; high impact messaging, the art of getting across a message in an accurate, articulate, and concise manner, is another.
By now, I’m sure you are thinking, “But how do I get my website listed on the first page of Google?” Or perhaps, you decided to read this article with the intent of getting that very question answered – having it in mind all along. The answer: Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, is the reason why I stated that Web-Marketing is more complex than it appears to be on the surface; it is an incredibly powerful tool, but only if you know how to use it. You may have already given it a try, but have yet to see any valuable results. You may have given up on SEO for this reason. Before calling it quits, read further, as we will be covering what may be the cause of your lack of SEO success. Below, we have listed a number of basic reasons why your SEO strategy may not be where you would have hoped:
1. Patience? What is that?
If you were once a kid, and, I don’t think it much of a stretch to take it that you were indeed once a kid, then chances are that you received that annoying “patience is a virtue” lecture from mommy or daddy. It’s one of those cliches that we hear over and over again – so many times that it has almost lost its meaning. I know it has become a platitude, and I know that platitudes have no meaning, but I have to say it anyway: “patience is a virtue!” Without being conscious of this, your SEO strategy will never reach the level of success that you would have hoped for. You are competing against billions of other pages. With so much competition, it takes a good 6 months for you to even see the slightest bit of progress; and, even then, there is no guarantee that you will see any progress at all. This process takes a very long time, and it is those who are in it for the long run – aware that it’s a marathon and not a sprint – who will finish first or close to first.
2. Wait, the words I choose have to be relevant?
The words you choose have to be relevant! Relevant to what and to whom? Well, first off, to the product or service that you have to offer. And, after that, you must think like the customer. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Pretend that you are someone in need of the product or service that you provide. What would you type into the search engine to get what you want? Answering the above question is a must – it is a must if you want to improve your ranking – so do not let it go unanswered. Otherwise, you might as well be playing darts blindfolded – relying on chance instead of the logical methodology and process required if success is of any interest to you.
3. Do I look the part? And is my web content clear, accurate, and relevant?
Okay, so you are getting clicks. People are seeing your website. Now what? Well, if your website doesn’t look good, if what your website has to offer isn’t relevant to what your viewer wants, if the web content isn’t accurate, or clear, then clicks onto your site will do nothing for you. Hits are absolutely useless if every single person that views your site leaves without taking any of your listed desirable actions – whatever that may be, from signing up for a newsletter to purchasing a product, etc.
What is your customer’s experience of your website? What is your experience of your website? If it is not pleasant, then it is time to start sweating bullets.
Remember, the purpose of SEO is to make your site visible to more people; and the reason why that is important is so that you can get more potential customers and thus increase sales; and the reason why that is important is so that you can make more money, the ultimate metric for business success. Keep this grab bag set of thoughts in mind before you take SEO to be some fruitless domain to focus on.