How to Navigate Through the SEO Sales Noise
We have several clients who have been bombarded by a barrage of companies promising instant search engine ranking results with top placement for their business. These clients typically already rank great, but ask us for our advice on dealing with these calls. With the recent overhaul of Google’s ranking algorithm, here are my top 5 tips on how you can rank in Google organically (for free!) and help you navigate through the sales noise.
1) Website content is king – your best chance of ranking well is to have focused, easy to read content on your website that gives value to your visitors, clearly describes your service/product and is localized to the area you serve.
2) Social media is critical – your website should be the center of a “spider web” surrounded by social media activity on several platforms. Building fans/followers and posting interactive content will be noticed and rewarded by Google.
3) Understand what your customer is searching for – Keywords are not as important to Google as they used to be (they did away with their research keyword tool, too). Understand what your customers’ needs are and design your content around those needs.
4) Connect your online marketing efforts – Google does look at the number of people coming to your website as a factor when ranking it, so utilize all avenues of marketing and advertising to focus potential customers on your website and social channels.
5) Avoid templated website solutions – Templated sites can be more difficult for Google to rank well. One size does not fit all and template websites often do not have the flexibility for great rankings. They may be proprietary with a proprietary content management system - you may not be able to move the site if a change is needed. Worse yet, you may not actually OWN the site, even if you paid for it.
If you are approached by a company that guarantees top results in Google, consider asking 2 questions:
1) What is my money being used for? If the answer revolves around Google AdWords or other paid ads, find out what % of the funds goes towards your ad versus the percentage going to the agency. You can setup Google AdWords yourself for free, so 100% of your funds go to your ad.
2) You promise a #1 ranking – organic or paid? How are you going to specifically make this happen? No one can guarantee and organic #1 ranking. Ask to be shown examples of other companies they have achieved this for (and not searching for the business name only).
The proof is in the pudding. Many companies will attempt to generate fear about your current website ranking and are cold calls/ spam emails. Check your own results for your website. Example - if you are a local roofing company and someone is searching for your service, they may search “best roofing company at lake of the ozarks” - check it out for yourself! How do you rank?
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1) Website content is king – your best chance of ranking well is to have focused, easy to read content on your website that gives value to your visitors, clearly describes your service/product and is localized to the area you serve.
2) Social media is critical – your website should be the center of a “spider web” surrounded by social media activity on several platforms. Building fans/followers and posting interactive content will be noticed and rewarded by Google.
3) Understand what your customer is searching for – Keywords are not as important to Google as they used to be (they did away with their research keyword tool, too). Understand what your customers’ needs are and design your content around those needs.
4) Connect your online marketing efforts – Google does look at the number of people coming to your website as a factor when ranking it, so utilize all avenues of marketing and advertising to focus potential customers on your website and social channels.
5) Avoid templated website solutions – Templated sites can be more difficult for Google to rank well. One size does not fit all and template websites often do not have the flexibility for great rankings. They may be proprietary with a proprietary content management system - you may not be able to move the site if a change is needed. Worse yet, you may not actually OWN the site, even if you paid for it.
If you are approached by a company that guarantees top results in Google, consider asking 2 questions:
1) What is my money being used for? If the answer revolves around Google AdWords or other paid ads, find out what % of the funds goes towards your ad versus the percentage going to the agency. You can setup Google AdWords yourself for free, so 100% of your funds go to your ad.
2) You promise a #1 ranking – organic or paid? How are you going to specifically make this happen? No one can guarantee and organic #1 ranking. Ask to be shown examples of other companies they have achieved this for (and not searching for the business name only).
Stop the noise!
The proof is in the pudding. Many companies will attempt to generate fear about your current website ranking and are cold calls/ spam emails. Check your own results for your website. Example - if you are a local roofing company and someone is searching for your service, they may search “best roofing company at lake of the ozarks” - check it out for yourself! How do you rank?
Follow MSW Interactive Designs
Twitter: @PutTheWebToWork
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/putthewebtowork
Blog: http://put-the-web-to-work.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/putthewebtowork
Blog: http://put-the-web-to-work.blogspot.com
Mike Waggett, MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!
573-552-8403
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