Netcraft estimate that there are 644 million active websites on the Internet today. The good news is: yours may be one of them. The bad news is: yours is just one of them.
In our online class, Achieving Top Search Engine Positions, and in our day to day contacts with customers, a common question that we get is “How can I get to the top of Google’s search results?”
The short answer is that you can’t, unless you redefine what “the top” means. Do you want to be the #1 result when people search for “cars”? That’s not going to happen. Do you want to be the #1 result when people search for “buying a volkswagen in California”? That’s much more doable, but still very unlikely. Want to be the #1 result when people search for “Buying a used Jetta in Sacramento”? Now we’re getting into the realm of possible.
SEO is all about focus. The more specific you get with your goals, the more likely you are to be able to rank highly. The flip side is that more specific searches are done much more infrequently than very broad searches.
Even high ranking with specific search terms takes a concerted effort over time, however. It also takes a basic understanding of how the web and search engines work.
If you take away nothing else from this newsletter (and from my online course), remember that search engine optimization is really about optimization for people.
Look at your site today and think about what it is that you want people to be able to accomplish on it. Buy a car? Learn about gardening? Connect with like-minded people?
Now approach your site from the point of view of your dream visitor / customer. Does your site make it easy for them to do what you’re hoping they can do? If not, why not? Is information difficult to find? Is there not enough information?
Search engines are in the business of helping people find what they want. They constantly look at your site from the customer’s point of view and compare it with your competition in order to decide who helps customers better. You should do the same.
Do you need help or a neutral third party to look at your site and give you ideas about what needs improvement? We offer a free website audit service in which we take a close look at your site and recommend improvements and changes that will better serve your customers, and thereby get your higher search engine positions and more traffic.
Find out more and schedule your free website audit today!
Thank you for reading and have a great day!