Here’s a question for the new year: Does a Google search ranking on the first page replace the need to continue spending on advertising? After all, if you’ve made it to the top of Google’s search results lists, what else is needed?
Times have certainly changed. Underestimate of the year, right? But it’s true. Having been in the marketing business for over 35 years, I have to marvel at the difference a few decades have made. I remain corrected: what a difference a few years Have made.
Things were going pretty well during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s until the Internet came of age. Until then, we knew what it took to reach our desired markets, and we chose between radio, television and print to do so. As expensive as those options were, at least we had a grip on the world of business marketing.
Enter “big brother”. There is nothing that has had more impact on our world than the arrival of Google and its omnipresent “surveillance” (to put it politely) of every detail in which we humans are involved.
Our homes? Just check Google Maps. From all angles. Satelite. Land. Street. Baby Cart.
Our lives? Just enter your name in the Google search field and cross your fingers.
While some lament the fact that Google has indexed the good, the bad, and the ugly from which there seems to be no escape (if someone comes across a misdemeanor from ten years ago somewhere dark … or not so dark … search results), we at Mid-Hudson Marketing feel quite fortunate that Google has done a lot of work on our behalf.
How have we managed to get to this enviable position? On the one hand, we’ve kept ourselves informed about what’s important in today’s Google-dominated universe. What is that, I beg you, you ask?
Well, it’s a combination of things, to be sure, but it all boils down to the critical need for having a search engine optimized website, better known as the lifeblood of internet SEO.
While you may have heard of this and deemed it superfluous for your daily activities, compared to the air we breathe and the hectic work we do to stay alive, nothing could be further from the truth. SEO it is the air we breathe and without it, you can also start writing your business obituary. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but soon, maybe next year, you will start to realize that if your website (if you have a website at all) does not appear in a significant position in search results, you will have a expensive trip. move toward maintaining any semblance of business success.
Those who have done their SEO due diligence are reaping the benefits in many different ways. On the one hand, having a website or references to your business appear on page one of Google’s search results is synonymous with having a prominent story on the front page of the world’s leading newspapers. It exceeds the power of a full-page ad or infomercial on television because it is something you pay dearly for, compared to the prestige of having editorial endorsement in a medium that is respected worldwide. That’s certainly Google’s stature: global, powerful, and totally unbiased. What does that mean? It means that it is totally believable, something that is overlooked in the skeptical world we live in.
The sheer brilliance of achieving a first page position in the top twenty listings in a search that returns more than two, five, or a hundred million results says a lot about the intelligence behind entities at such a level of achievement! The question is not how is it possible for a small business or individual person to rank at the top of such a competitive index, but how that can happen in today’s world to free !!
Of course, we all know that nothing is totally free. Reaching that position is the result of many expensive years of accumulated investment in time, self-education, effort and risk. Being in business for decades is no small thing in itself. Doing so while keeping pace with explosive technology and all that it demands is even more commendable, especially if the company also maintains financial triumph in the process.
Does this mean that mastering SEO now means a relief from the cost and need for advertising? Can a well-optimized website replace tried and true marketing, networking and merchandising strategies? How far do Google’s search tentacles go?
First, different searches show different results of the same, just as different direct mails made on different dates have different numbers of respondents, if any. We all know that placing an ad in a magazine or newspaper is nonsense for response rate, depending on who is reading the post on that particular date, and if they even noticed the ad, let alone respond to it! Every marketing method is subject to the vagaries of chance, which makes it as risky as investing in the stock market. You pay your debts and hold your breath.
While not everyone on earth can see your Google stellar ranking as a result of a certain combination of search terms, and not everyone is an internet user, the good thing here is that this phenomenon has not involved any cash outlay. It is there to drink. Similar to having a free listing in the yellow pages but with so much more meaning and scope, you can’t even compare the two! And while someone can call you from your free yellow page listing, if you’re lucky, if someone clicks on your web address as a result of your free Google listing, once they arrive, they’ll have a full encyclopedic volume of information about you. and your company carefully crafted to make an impressive presentation, take them to the conclusion you want and ask them to buy your product or service or respond with a positive desire to learn more, all without ever having spoken to anyone in your company!
It’s hard to minimize the benefits of that kind of achievement at any level. Again I ask, does it replace the need to continue to allocate precious marketing dollars to the endless expensive advertising options that include yellow page engagement, traditional print ads, TV and radio spots, billboards on our roads, or website banners? , networking efforts? through industry memberships and / or trade show presentations, direct mail and / or email marketing, guerrilla marketing on community bulletin boards, or direct marketing on shopping carts, mall kiosks, store counters, or food trucks. panels? In a recessionary economy, certainly a lot of this can be put on hold while a more personal effort is put into improving SEO.
So what are the secrets of the SEO domain? Let me count the ways:
First, there is no single most important parameter; rather, it is a combination of things that add up to SEO excellence. Simply put, being in the right place at the right time is important. This means having your business associated with large, powerful and popular websites that will link back to your URL (www.yourwebsite.com) for an extended period of time. Social media sites come to mind immediately because they are steps you can take yourself for free with the potential to generate huge dividends. Having a blog that consistently generates new content attracts Google’s attention, especially if the content is “rich” or valuable in its informational contribution. Fluffy is not allowed here.
This is also true for your website. Think in terms of the assignments you had to complete in advanced college courses for teachers who expected your performance to be nothing less than genius level. Now apply that kind of effort to your web page content, making sure to include marketing and graphic appeal so your visitors stay on your pages and thirst for more. You will have to predict what types of search terms your preferred visitors will use to find and enjoy your site, because these magic words will be the key to your future business. (Hence the term “keywords!”) And you will need to incorporate these gold nuggets into your page flow so that your search and your content are relevant to each other.
You will also need to have active links from your pages to other content within your website that further addresses their search for further elaboration of what they are looking for. Whether your website is simply informative or offers merchandise for sale, your goal is to reward your visitors with complete satisfaction. Remember, every happy customer is a source of future referrals!
While SEO relevance also includes the suitability of your domain name, your page titles, tags, and descriptions, it’s mind-boggling to learn that Google has recently rocked the internet universe by tweaking its search algorithm in some mysterious way. , which makes the job that much more challenging for those of us who study all things Google on a daily basis. Translation: is Never a done deal!
Since we’ve only been in the Google paradigm for a few years, we need to take our time to evaluate and re-evaluate the right plan in the future, especially if your company has a long established history. Deciding to suddenly cut back on spending on marketing and advertising strategies that have put you where you are today may not be the smart thing to do. coup de grace. One last thought: it may be the success of your marketing and advertising over all these years that has contributed to your current stature among SEO experts. There is an old adage in the advertising world paraphrased as follows: If the train is traveling at 90 mph, do not turn off the engine!
