It’s all about the content
Tuesday, 15th September , 2009
Recently I came across a great article on Search Insider on why your website doesn’t deserve to be #1 in organic search results. The premise is simple – before taking on a new client, ask them to tell you why their website deserves to be #1 in search results.
The answer can be quite telling. Maybe this client has an amazing product that is better than anything else on the market. Or, maybe they produce content that is 10 times better than any of their competitors. Or maybe, just maybe, their website is exactly like their competitors.
If a clients website doesn’t deserve to be #1, what do you do?
RUN! Okay maybe you don’t run but you definitely need to have a candid conversation with the prospective client in which you make it clear in no uncertain terms that their website needs additional content and value to be competitive in search.
I know what your thinking as the client will often say, “Yes, we know that but we don’t have the budget or resources to put toward that right now.”
This statement is far too common and frankly very unsettling. Besides not being 100% true (I’m sure there are resources – otherwise, we wouldn’t be talking about SEO) it’s very unfortunate to see someone not value an investment in their website.
Why spend a ton of money driving visitors to your website if there is no reason for them to be there.
How do search engines rank websites?
Currently, search algorithms are based on the number and authority of inbound links pointing to your website. (Note: This is an overly simple explanation of search engine ranking factors. For a more detailed analysis, check out SEOMoz’s search engine ranking factors). So what do good SEO professionals do? They create a bunch of high authority inbound links to your website. And over time, your website should see an appreciable improvement in search rankings.
What will happen when you stop paying for link building services?
Since your website never really deserved to be on the first page of search results and you were essentially buying your way there, once you stop paying for links your organic rankings will suffer. Because you decided not to invest in the creation of engaging content or add value to your website, there is no reason for a regular user to promote or link to your website.
Maybe we should look at SEO differently.
…people can think hard about whether they’re optimizing for users or whether they’re optimizing primarily for search engines…social media optimization, link bait, things that are interesting to people and attract word of mouth and buzz, those sorts of sites naturally attract visitors, attract repeat visitors, attract back links, attract lots of discussion. Those sorts of sites are going to benefit as the world goes forward. – Matt Cutts on personalization and the future of SEO.
Instead of trying to fool the search engines into thinking that your website is more popular that it is, invest money to genuinely make your website more popular. Great content is much easier to promote and you’ll spend less (or get a better return) on your SEO investment. Search marketing shouldn’t be a stand alone marketing tactic or an after thought to website design. It needs to be included in everything you do and viewed as a piece of your overall internet marketing strategy.
What you should do.
1. Develop solid on-page SEO.
This means a well-coded website, properly optimized title tags and really, really good content. You want to make a website that is useful to your visitors and gives them a reason to come back. Encourage visitors of the website to promote and link to your website, either through incentives or by offering something they can’t get anywhere else.
2. Promote your content on the web.
Once you’ve given users a reason to visit your website, utilize the expertise of an SEO agency to help promote your content and earn some well-deserved high quality links. While a great website should naturally create some links as word of mouth spreads, a qualified SEO consultant will be able to seed the process and get links to your website much sooner than natural efforts.
What are you waiting for? Get out there and start building content!
About the Author
Rich is the president and founder of Radium, an enterprise digital marketing agency specializing in search and social media. He is a Google AdWords qualified professional and splits his time between Austin Texas & Charlotte NC. Follow Rich on twitter.
Ace SEO & Web Design
September 15th, 2009
Ace SEO & Web Design said:
Excellent article Rich! I couldn’t agree with you more. It always amazes me that clients think that they can just have a bunch of people show up at their site and buy something. I constantly have to ask them, “If you showed up at your site, would you buy from you?” Of course, about 99% respond that they wouldn’t. So, we set out to create content that builds trust with the visitors before trying sell to them. Our newest client sells insurance and has had dramatically more targeted traffic that picks up the phone and calls him to sign up as a client. Trust is paramount!
Matt Dunlap
September 15th, 2009
Matt Dunlap said:
what do you think about paid content vs. paid links? Both have pros and cons, and both can’t be stopped without slipping in the rankings. But paid content can be spread around more…
Rich Angstadt
September 15th, 2009
Rich Angstadt said:
Matt, you’d be hard pressed to find a website that’s ranking well in a competitive market without some sort of paid links thrown in the mix. Even though paid links that pass PageRank are against Google’s webmaster guidelines, many SEO’s still employ them and many are hard to detect.
Paid content on the other hand can take many forms and normally isn’t considered black hat. Although, you could argue that paying a website to blog about your company is the same as paying for a link on that same site.
As you point out, paid content is much easier to promote and spread around, which should give you a better return. I also believe that if companies are upfront and honest about their content development practices they don’t have to worry about being considered black hat or hiding the truth from consumers.
Jamie Harris
October 1st, 2009
Jamie Harris said:
Love the website design. Best thing I’ve seen on the web.