An introduction to search engines
High expectations, low investment
Many people are baffled when they discover that their Web site is either not listed on search engines, or is listed nowhere near the top of the search results. They are equally baffled as to why other companies get far better results.
There is a general belief that the process of getting listed on search engines, especially with a high ranking, is a one-off task, an isolated activity. Many people think that it requires the hard-won knowledge of some 'secret tricks' (and, usually, very little investment).
None of these statements is true.
Getting results is not that hard - and involves no secrets!
Why would search engines make it hard for you to get listed or ranked? That just doesn't make sense. Search engines earn their crust by giving results. The better (by which I mean 'more relevant') results they give, the more successful they are. So why would they make it a secret to get good results?
In fact, how you can get your Web site to climb up the search engine rankings is widely published, involves no tricks (whatever many Web positioning companies may tell you) and is not terribly difficult to achieve. But it does involve effort and commitment - and will probably mean you need to make changes (perhaps significant ones) to your Web site. But the results could be well worth the effort.
Get real
We need to take a reality check: your Web site is just one among millions. In your field or industry (whatever it is) it will probably be one among thousands, or tens of thousands. Getting your site ranked highly is a game where the odds are stacked vastly against you from the start, so you have to approach the whole subject realistically. No one can change the scale of the game in your favour.
The good news is that very few sites are properly optimised to get the best search engine results. Most site owners simply add a few hidden keywords to their home page and hope for the best. Yet, investing time, being open to change and measuring results can pay you back enormously.
Changes beyond the search engine strategy
Your search engine is a route to market. But that's all it is. Those hits have to be converted into meaningful actions. If your product is the highest priced, and your Web pages make it hard to buy, or they don't communicate clearly, then you can be top of every search engine list in the world, get millions of hits - and it will all count for nothing.
One of the great things about investing time in a search engine strategy is that you can measure the result, allowing you to tune your Web marketing approach to get continually better results. It's a mechanism worth taking advantage of.
Are you serious about getting results from search engines?
Of course you are! Isn't everyone? Actually, you're only really serious about getting results from search engines if you're prepared to:
- invest time and money.
- learn how search engines work - for example, what they like and what they hate.
- (potentially) change your Web site structure, design and content.
- (potentially) pay for a professional Web copywriter and invest time in providing him/her with a keywords-focused brief.
- be methodical about measuring results and making changes.
- be open-minded about why your site isn't getting good results.
- abandon easy tricks in favour of a good solid strategy.
- pay to get listed on search engines, or pay for clicks.
If you're after a few easy tricks to get you to the top of every search engine, we can't help you - in fact, no one can. But if you're prepared to learn, invest some effort and cash, then there's no real reason why you would not get good results from search engines. And our Briefings will help.
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