SEO : What You Really Need To Be #1

Written By Thomas Jelneck

STOP OBSESSING ABOUT GOOGLE RANKINGS AND CREATE AMAZING CONTENT.

““Google simply doesn’t want the entire web inundated with junk that’s solely created to artifically game the rankings; they want to index amazing ‘stuff’ that will be worthwhile on the web.””
— Tom Jelneck

I've been in the digital marketing space for more years than I care to admit now. I've grown gray hairs, seen fads come and go, seen major search engines come and go, and I've spoken to hundreds of eager business owners and marketing managers who are literally obsessed with one thing and one thing only - SEO Rankings. They have to be number one on Google. They have to be number one on Bing (even though no one is there looking for them on Bing). They even want to be number one on the SINA.com website (which is both Chinese end English). They've all be programmed to think that being number one in a search engine or directory will yield them all the of the business in the universe and then some. This simply is not true.

Yes, being on the top in a major search engine under the right keyword that makes sense AND that is popular, can provide your website with some visibility. Yes, people do begin their quest online through Google and other popular search engines. BUT, here's the truth. These search engines can change the way that they rank and prioritize websites whenever they damn well please and guess what? They do it a lot.

Since I've been in the SEO business, one thing has remained constant regarding how Google and other search engines rank websites. It's all about the "stuff" or content on the website. It's all about your influence and not based solely on your website. It's all about where you are placing the "stuff" that you're creating around the web and how it leads prospects back to your website. Simply put, Google wants you to create something amazing and share it with the world. With this being said, Google ranks websites accordingly.

If your website sits dormant while waiting for hungry prospects to pounce on your site and buy stuff from you, you're going to be frustrated with the results. But, if your amazing marketing team starts creating amazing "stuff" and promoting that "stuff" across the Internet, not only will your hungry prospects notice and digest your goodness, but Google will as well. Google simply doesn't want the entire web inundated with junk that's solely created to artificially game the search rankings; they want to index amazing "stuff" that will be worthwhile on the web.

HERE ARE A FEW TIPS TO HELP GET YOUR CONTENT MACHINE CHURNING:

CREATE SOMETHING UNIQUE
Think outside of the box, but stay true to your brand's personality. Consider creating a series about the lifecycle of your product, or a video that can be easily shared online that educates your prospects about a new process that you may have created.

CREATE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR
Create a calendar based on your sales cycle and generate topics that will be interesting to your prospects. For example, if you're a pest control company, you know that termites start to swarm and build up in February. Create content bullet points about all things termites and start getting that content out in January to build momentum. Once the termite season has subsided, move on the next pest on the list and create more amazing content.

CREATE CONTENT IN MULTIPLE FORMATS
Blogs are great for content, webpage copy is great, but your prospects want to see something visual, something creative, something different from time to time. While blog copy and webpage content help Google grab onto some copy to get your site ranked better, unique content like videos and infographics can be easily shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.. Find a great balance and create out-of-the-box unique, and vibrant stuff.

GET EYEBALLS ON IT
I think the biggest mistake I see companies make with their digital marketing is that they publish the content and forget it. You can't simply drop your wittiest blog and your website and expect it to attract droves of people. Creating the content is only the tip of the iceberg; getting it seen is another story. Get to know where you prospects hang out, and be sure to create a content marketing plan.

MEASURE IT
This step is critical. A wise friend once told me, "Tom, you can't expect what you don't inspect." How true is that? You can't expect your content to kill it if you don't measure how successful it was. How many people shared it? How much traffic did it generate back to your website? How many people liked it via social media or engaged with your business as a result? These factors, and more, are all signs of how your content is working for you. If you aren't paying attention, you won't be to switch up your content marketing game / strategy based on any real data.

Content truly makes the digital planet go round and that is exactly why your prospects are using a search engine to begin with. Create content with gusto and watch Google and your prospects do the rest. Thanks for reading!

NOW, GO FORTH AND CREATE AMAZING CONTENT! (Or hire my company to create it for you!) Visit http://thecontentinators.com.

Follow Me On Twitter For More Expert SEO Insight.

Tom Jelneck is an Orlando SEO Expert and owns On Target Web Solutions, an Orlando digital marketing agency and the Contentinators®, A Content Marketing Agency also located in Orlando.

Thomas Jelneck
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