SEO rankings are important for your business as they show how you stand in relation to your competitors. Well, that is the way things used to be. Over the past few years, Google has made so many changes to the way they calculate rankings that the once "gold standard" they monopolized is all but worthless at this point. Heck, they’ve made so many changes withinthe past few months! Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all these algorithm updates, so we don’t blame you for not being able to stay on top of Google’s mood swings. In short, maybe it's time you put all the buzz about Google rankings behind you and focus on what you can do to make your website the best it can be.
Here are the reasons why you should stop relying on Google Rankings as a way to measure your business’s success online.
1. The algorithms are constantly changing. Rankings provide a snapshot at any given moment of your business' online reach. This number fluctuates every day, and the algorithms used to calculate it can change daily as well. Some years, they have adjusted these algorithms over 500 times.
2. It is risky to invest all of your focus solely on rankings. Diversifying your online marketing strategy is a wiser investments than focusing solely on your ranking. Instead of building a reputation solely on your rank, it's wiser to focus on developing content, building a social media presence, create relevant blogs, and integrating long-tail search terms into your site. These are the strongest hedge against ranking fluctuations.
3. Personalization is more important. It is more critical for your clients to find exactly what they are looking for. The algorithms factor users' history, location, and preferences into their searches. When it comes to generic and broad search terms, Google will display local listings and companies higher in their search results for this reason. This makes your overall ranking useless when trying to attract client's who live outside the local area.
4. The penalties for getting it wrong can't be ignored. In a cruel twist, focusing on your ranking can lead you afoul of the algorithm Google uses on any particular day. This can lead to penalties and lower rankings.
5. Google Rankings is distracting. Quality, interesting content - which can come from blogs - that includes basic SEO is more important than solely focusing on ranking. It's a big oversight that could be costing your business revenue in the long-run. Understand how on-page and off-page SEO is vital for your website though.
6. Focusing on ranking is short sighted. Ranking is a short-term goal, while solid content and web presence are long-term goals. Ranking leads to flash in the pan sales, where presence leads to long-term business growth.
7. Rankings races lead to scams. It's tempting to fall for unethical sales pitches from companies who promise higher rankings through fancy SEO practices. Remember, they can't control the rankings; they can only affect them a little bit.
At ROI Online, we are constantly following news regarding Google, and we share our findings with our clients so they can stay in the know, too. We understand how to navigate the often choppy waters of the world wide web and we'd be happy to help chart a course for your business. The best thing to do is follow Google’s guidelines for getting found and rewarded.
One of the top rules of thumb is to not deceive your web visitors and to make your pages primarily for users, not search engines. Last but not least, make your website unique so it stands out, but do this honestly - no gimmicks and scams.
Questions and Final Thoughts
Have you found it difficult to keep up with Google, or have you found a way to stay on top of all these changes?
