Several of my clients have been getting emails and brochures from a company which is offering to write them a website, linked into our software or other point of sale software and claiming that they will get them a top spot on google (SEO). I actually know the company, and I am sure that if you ring up and speak to their CEO, she will give you a great speech about their experience and then offer you a free e-commerce demonstration about how they will move some of your business from bricks and mortar shop to the Internet and gain you many new clients on the net. Despite what she says they have little experience in SEO, although they do have I experience in web design, mainly internal from what I have read what they are trying to do is move you onto some standard web e-commerce solution.
Firstly, let me say that the Internet is now an established business. When selling online started is a subject of is much debate, the first transaction is said to be in 1971 or 72 interestingly enough with a purchase of a bag of marijuana. Large companies moved in 1994, with Pizza Hut, a bit later Amazon and Ebay a bit later again. Today these are some of the largest companies in the world. They know what they are doing, and they are spending billions to stay on top.
Here are a few reasons why you should be wary of promises to immediately get your website to the top rank on Google.
There is no top rank as such.
How google ranks its search on is a secret, but we do know that there are 100s of factors involved.
When you search with keywords, e.g. say I want pet food for my dog, so I go to google and say, "pet food {my suburb}." If this search for dog food is highly marketable hey, everyone serving my area that sells dog food wants to be at the top spot for that search too. Now they all cannot be top on those words on Google, can they?
No one can guarantee SEO.
SEO is an extremely complex field and requires professional people. One large company that we deal with has two of the most brilliant search engine optimisation professional whom I know doing nothing else but SEO work full-time and, even they often fail.
Anyone who guarantees they can get you the top spot on Google is flat out lying. I would love to be able to promise my clients' top spot in Google with just a few days work. If I could do it, it would make me look great. I would be going to some of the largest companies and governments in world and be charging billions of dollars. I would not be trying to get a few thousand dollars from a small business.
SEO is not set and forget.
These factors keep changing without warning, what works today will not work tomorrow.
These factors depend upon many things that have nothing to do with you. If say a famous film star, promotes a particular pet food, then the rankings will change even if the factors do not, simply because of the power of their SEO. Here is some current Facebook likes.
Shakira (81 million likes) ...
Vin Diesel (64 million likes) ...
Lady Gaga (62 million likes) ...
Will Smith (59 million likes) ...
Bruno Mars (46 million likes) ...
Pitbull (43 million likes) ...
Miley Cyrus (42 million likes)
If say Lady Gaga (62 million likes) wrote a song about a dog food, then that dog food rankings in google would change.
If you do not consistently work on your website, your SEO will drop, Google likes above all new content.
Do you really believe that your competitors are going to stand around and see you on top spot without doing something? Say they see you doing something right. What do you think they will do? You can do everything right, but they do something better in the 100s of factors then you can lose number one.
If Google finds out that you are doing something naughty they will drop you in the ranking fast. We had one client go from page 1 to page 13 in less than a week for being too clever.
If someone promises you number one immediately your bullocks alarm should go off.
Conclusion
Having said this there is a major industry in SEO. If you do want to boost your search engine ranking, it can be done. I think it's crucial for your business’ health, but it will need time, money and resources plus above all honesty.
If you want a reputable company to find out more, and you are in Sydney on the 13 July, please click here for a free class. I think it will be worthwhile and cost you nothing.
