In the year 2022 you’re well aware that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important, but where do you start? With an ever-changing playbook from Google and limited time, you may be throwing your hands up in frustration because you feel you aren’t getting anywhere.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick fix for great SEO. It requires playing the long game and a good strategy is one that continues to produce results over time. We hope you’ve spent time on creating a well-designed website (if not, I can recommend a great agency for you). However, routine optimization is required to ensure that your audience actually finds your website. If you’re playing the long game, keep it up! We know from our experience working with industry leaders across the US, that consistent work pays off. If you’re not convinced, keep reading. Here are one too many analogies and the top reasons SEO requires you to play the long game:
1. Content development doesn’t happen overnight
Google has outlasted all other search providers because they determined the best method for deciding what websites are both popular and authoritative. You can compare each website to a library. You wouldn’t go to a library that only has one book because you won’t be able to find enough information. However, you also wouldn’t visit a library that is full of books that aren’t very good. Your website needs to be full of content but it must be quality content. The only way to write 100 blog posts this week is to farm out your content. If you did, you may have created a lot of content quickly, but it’s likely it won’t be well-researched content and will be information that can be found on several other sites in addition to your own. Google is looking for new content on your site, but it’s important that it’s content worth visiting.
2. Your SEO success builds on itself
Let’s pretend it’s day one of starting your own business. It’s just you and your website against the world. You don’t have an office, employees, customers, or anything really. Over time, you’ll grow your marketing efforts, hire people, and hopefully get a nice office set up. However, all of this takes time as you build a foundation of success. SEO is the same way. As your web traffic grows, you won’t automatically rank better. What does happen as your traffic grows is that more people begin linking to your site and leaving you reviews, and that does have an impact on your ranking. This snowball effect will be seen in both your business and your SEO over time.
3. Constant changes require consistent optimization
Over time you’ll optimize your site by identifying what your website is naturally ranking well for and learn how to improve rankings in areas you’ve identified you’d like to grow in. Because Google is always changing the algorithm, the way you optimize your site will always change as well. There are a few things to keep in mind when watching the algorithm:
- You’ll only get penalized if you are trying an SEO hack/quick fix. They won’t ever work. Though Google makes changes often, as long as you’re looking for ways you can be agile, these changes shouldn’t cause your ranking to take a major hit.
- Keep an eye on new features. If you’re one of the first to the party you may be afforded a big head start. For example, last year Google made changes to schema markup. Those that quickly adapted their strategy to utilize schema markup saw major returns.
- Don't buy into these SEO myths.
4. Your competitors are playing too
As you learn your industry and competitors over time this knowledge will help you adjust. By watching your competitors closely you aren’t necessarily looking to imitate their strategy—but their activity does matter to you. By looking at your competitors and analyzing your own analytics, you can maintain a strategy that moves you towards your goals. With short-term strategies, you may win a click over your competitors, but it’s the long-term strategies that will allow your organization to continue winning clicks and convert. If you’re only playing the short game and your competitors are playing the long game, it’s clear who will win.
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If you know that you need to up your SEO game but you aren’t quite sure where to start, we can help. Maybe you know where to start but playing the long game isn’t something you have time for? We’ve got SEO experts on our team who can’t wait to execute your long-term strategy.
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