Business Coaching

SEO rankings can be finicky, unless you are consistent with what you do.

If you have been reading this blog, you know that search engine optimization (SEO) is a key part of business marketing these days. Every business wants to be sure that they can be found when someone uses a search engine to find them.

But sometimes, your SEO ranking can drop because of factors you may not have considered. Among those factors are age of the site, your site’s content, the keyword density of your articles and the links that connect your site to other sites. There are solutions for these problems that can take your SEO back to the top of the search.

If your company’s site is old, that’s a good thing because it should be easy to find and stable. The problem can be if the content on your site is old and static, or never updated. The easiest way to ensure you’ll always have fresh content is by blogging: just write a regular blog an post it on your site.

Another revelation as to why your SEO ranking might be low is a lack of content. Many search engines won’t even list a site unless it has at least 10 pages on it. Keyword density also plays a big role in SEO ranking. Be sure to pepper the key words you believe people will search when looking for your business in articles or blogs throughout your site. The most places you use key words the better. Finally, you always want to have reciprocal links on your site with other businesses so people that view their sites will naturally navigate to yours.

So what can you do to ensure your SEO ranking stays high? First off, if you aren’t computer savvy, hire someone who is. Second, use multiple websites for your business. The more places you can be found on the Internet, the better your chances that customers will be able to find you. Finally, be sure to constantly update your site to be sure you have fresh content and enough pages to be properly searched.

Google used to have just two competitors...that number has grown.

Google reported just two competitors, Yahoo and Microsoft, in their 2008 10-K report. For 2009, however, their number of competitors grew to 10.

Facebook, Twitter and Yelp are listed as Google competitors, as well as specialty search engines like WebMD.

Google probably didn’t anticipate social networking sites or specialty/specific search engines being their competitor, but that’s a fact. As Google stated: “Our filing reflects the reality that we compete against a number of alternatives, including traditional search engines, e-commerce and specialty search sites, social networks, and other forms of online and offline advertising.”

Something like this that’s happening to Google is important to keep in mind for any business. As times change, new competitors in various niches can pop up…and your business should be prepared for anything.

In business coaching, business owners will hear often that they should always be prepared. If the recession didn’t teach it enough, it rings true; more competitors in seemingly different niches can come up, as is the situation for Google, or with technology advancements, what many businesses found during the recession.

To see if your business might benefit from a business coaching session, take our Business Health Check. A healthy business makes for a happier business owner.