As evidenced by the thousands of dollars small businesses across the country pay every year on search engine optimization, search engine rankings –particularly those by Google -are essential. Businesses jump through all kinds of hoops and perform all kinds of practices looking to rank on the first page of Google, preferably in the top spot. But, a series of recent updates by the company threatens to rewrite everything currently known about SEO.
Search engine optimization is the process of creating content and designing web pages such that optimal search engine rankings should result. Over the years small businesses and marketers have employed various techniques and tactics to increase web pages’ SEO rankings. These tactics included key word stuffing, link wheels, optimized URLs, and other SEO related practices. But search engines are becoming more sophisticated and are increasingly able to separate truly informative content from content which was produced specifically with ranking in mind.
In many ways small businesses which focus on providing outstanding products and services, by means of a superior customer experience, should not have any issues with SEO updates. If such companies carry their business philosophes over into the creation and management of their web profiles, they will naturally create informative content which should be acceptable to search engines. But when their approach to the web does not match their overall approach to business, when they try to get by with less than superior content, it will be only a matter of time before any positive ranking results disappear.
As a rule, businesses should consistently blog or add new articles to their websites. These articles should be informative, original, and natural in tone and wording. Small businesses simply do not have the time or money to experiment with large numbers of spun, copied, or poorly written articles. Furthermore, customers expect better.
In order to create valuable content, put yourself in the perspective customer’s shoes. Ask yourself what kinds of questions they will likely have about your product or service, or the industry in which your business works. Use blogs and articles to answer these questions and explain interesting concepts to the perspective customer. Additionally, your original writing can be used as a base for disseminating information and opinions to, and soliciting commentary from, those who work in your industry.
If you choose to hire a company to do your content production for you, ensure that it understands your business and your industry. It is a good idea to closely review the first several pieces of writing in order to gauge whether or not the content is up to par. By ensuring that your content is high quality and original, you can help to ensure that your business’ rankings will survive when your competitors’ rankings fail.
