It was a rainy Friday afternoon, I’m sitting at my computer getting my SEO on when an e-mail comes in. The e-mail reads “I need emergency SEO quick! Call me on xxx-xxx-xxxx”. When I first started out optimizing website over 10 years ago I would get this all the time. I have become so used to it that it no longer phases me. It’s like an accountant getting a customer’s pleas to help them from going bankrupt. I can’t help ponder… what went wrong. Who are these people that suddenly come to the realisation that SEO is their lifeline.
The main piece of advice I can offer is to make sure you do things right from the beginning. No company should ever be in the position of implementing good SEO to save their business from going under. Future proof your business online to stop yourself from being one of those people.
Top 5 things to avoid SEO failure:
1.) SEO needs to be considered before the website is even developed. Get in touch with someone that knows their SEO and ask them what they think. Make sure your web developer and designer are in good communication with every step of the development process.
2.) Don’t cut corners. I’m talking about paying someone from India to write low quality articles, spinning your content, and even spamming the web. Google eventually finds you and sends you packing for the hills. Don’t look for short term impact, think long term. If one of your competitors is buying links and outranking you for everything, don’t copy. Believe that one day they will be docked for doing this. Don’t pollute the Internet.
3.) Don’t go cheap on SEO. Take the time to become friends with an SEO consultant and get them working for you. Pay them well, reward them, treat them like gold and they in turn will want to do whatever it takes to retain your services. Be sure to challenge them along the way. Know that SEO is the most important thing you can do for your website. Don’t complain to me when you feel ripped off that the SEO consultant you were paying $30 a month is uncontactable. Understand that these things take time. If you are paying someone $30 a month and expect them to move heaven and earth to rank your site, you’re dreaming. Be scared that the person you are paying is probably going to look for SEO shortcuts to get big returns for as little work as possible.
4.) Learn! Become a student of the game and don’t be afraid to make decisions that will benefit your company in the long term. Know what is happening with your website and never take your finger off the pulse. What are people saying about your website? I wrote a blog on this a while back about how to use social media to see what people are saying.
5.) WRITE! Hire a quality writer or get to love writing yourself. Don’t complain that nobody is visitng your website when it hasn’t been updated for 2 years as this is the single most common thing I see when someone claims they need emergency SEO (which doesn’t exist by the way). The first thing I do is check to see when the last time they updated the site with a somewhat bulky article, images, videos or ANYTHING! You have to be proactive; don’t expect customers to just come strolling through the door. Pay for some ads, don’t be scared to try new things and engage with your audience. Please, whatever you do, don’t duplicate content. An SEO consultant doesn’t aim to game the system, we aim to get your great work recognised. If it’s no good then there isn’t anything we can do for you.