Poor Rankings? Think About This…

Last week I covered the reality of how Search Engines work with my updated posted on the Ten Commandments of Search Engines. This post has been “out there” for over a decade and I make a point of updating it annually.

Funny, though… not so much has changed over this time period. Quality, unique, fresh content will always rule the day.

But what if you haven’t understood ranking and popularity issues up until now or plain old were in denial hoping to avoid the hard work that produces the results you so desire?

Here are some things for you to ponder and process:

• Check your stats! Get intimate with your Web sites’ statistical data. Review them minimally at the end of each month because by not doing so you simply do not have the information you need to make those productive and all so important decisions moving forward. Do you see traffic coming from the big name Search Engines/Services? If not, get to work!

  Your stats show exactly what phrases you are being found by and from what service so that you can accurately track and build upon what is working! They show top entry and exit pages and so much more. Without your site’s statistical data there is no way you can get the full picture of what is happening on your site now to know what your next move should be.

• When was the last time work was done on your site? Those files are dated and Search Engines can come by and eventually ignore you if they don’t find anything new. Fresh, growing, content rich sites garner better rankings and backlinks. Stale, outdated, static sites are not very interesting now are they?

  Don’t fall into a false sense of security that modifying your site by moving or changing keywords or head tags is the shortcut or solution. Never rely on those control panel hosting tools, that purport that all you have to do is click here and check that and shazzam — optimization is complete!

  Changes must be complimented by having a strategy, marketing efforts, then more strategy tweaking, then ongoing content additions, then more marketing efforts, then….

• If you have not reviewed your site specifically for optimum Search Engine rankings either by boning up on the topic yourself or with an experienced consultant the specializes in doing so, know you are most likely not using the strategies and variables both visibly and in your code to boost your rankings. Be warned though, this is just part of your effort to gain organic/natural listings and needs to be combined with other proactive activities to gain rankings that produce ROI.
• How many links do you have to your site? There are numerous free tools for you to data mine your backlinks.

  Links to your site boost your “popularity levels” with some of the crawlers – but only when done correctly and with diligence. Keep in mind that all links are not considered equal! Free for All (FFA) or cooperative link exchange pages can actually cause your rankings to suffer. Quality sites linking to you that are complementary in topic work best.

  Popularity levels are also tracked by how visitors behave when presented with your site. This is where quality design and laser targeted titles and descriptions backed with quality content keep visitors on your site and stop those dreaded bounce backs you may have heard about.

  Bounce back is the term that describes site visitors who “bounced back” by hitting the back button. Why would someone hit the back button after arriving at your site? This can be an indication that the site is either misleading in content or not of adequate quality to keep the visitor there. If they click in and click right back – that is not a good sign and you could loose positioning. It is sort of a catch 22 in that if your site isn’t ranked in the first place you cannot even begin to build a popularity ranking.

• You have to participate! Visit sites, forums and Blogs that relate to the topic of your site or where your site visitors may hang out and participate. Participation in of itself, if anything, is the magic bullet so many are looking for. Participating is what builds awareness of your site and awareness breeds links to your site. Don’t want to participate? Then you have no choice but to lower your expectations accordingly.
• What are your traffic levels? If you have low traffic, your listings are lean and you need to get a plan! If you have high traffic but are not getting the inquiries or orders you desire the question then becomes why aren’t visitors contacting you — why aren’t they converting? From bad copy to poor quality graphics or even lack of certain info necessary to build confidence, the answers to that question are unique to each site and market.
• Never go to Search Engines and type in any phrase you “think” you “want” to pull by. Remember, you should have advised your developer specific phrases for this purpose during the creation of your site and those are the terms you should search for.

  If you didn’t have this discussion with your developer, know most likely that your site simply isn’t optimized. SEO requires a strategy that includes keyword research which is then backed by the creation of specific and deliberate content.

  Every Search Engine will list your site differently for the very same keyword phrases based on their own unique set of criteria that is constantly changing. This is called an algorithm and each search site’s algo is different. That is why competitors within the very same industry will pull quite differently based on how they are structured, what keyword phrases were targeted and how, when the site was developed and by who, actual content, popularity and link ratios — and, most importantly, how aggressive they are with their ongoing marketing efforts.

What’s the bottom line? Primarily there is nothing passive about this issue. No serious site owner should sit back and rely on free Search Engine listings or Google alone when there are so many other things they can be doing to gain additional exposure by being involved and participating. Search Engines should only be considered a part of your online marketing program – not the sole focus or end-all-be-all.

If disappointment is yours, it is because you have not used technology to it’s fullest by being involved, embracing its reality or making the commitment to ensuring results based on information provided. Both of which can be changed from this moment forward!

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