There are two ways to optimize a website – view the search engines as adversaries to be conquered at any cost or regard search engines as partners in our online marketing efforts.
The “Your Are My Enemy” Search Engine Optimization Approach
Search Engine Optimizers that look at the search engines as their enemy will tell you that the formula of a search engine optimization strategy is much like a high-stakes poker game. It is a “us vs. them”, “winner take all”, and “every man for himself” mentality. It is also largely rooted in the technology that they use, success is defined as unraveling the latest search engine algorithm to find new optimization methods and exploring its technical aspects for immediate benefit.
The idea is to trick the search engines into showing a website predominantly in the search results, even if the site is not offering anything the search engines consider viable.
The primary benefit of this approach is that it does not require much work on the part of the client and the results can be realized more rapidly. These qualities both stem from the fact that there is not a large amount of additional content needed, nor are there many changes to make to the website.
I do not recommend this approach, in most cases it is short lived rankings.
Seeing The Search Engines As A Partner
Those who see the search engines as partners have a very different search engine optimization strategy. These service providers embrace the idea that looking at the ranking factors and using them to improve the website will in turn give a website higher ranking in the search engines. And at the end of the day the website becomes more viable to website visitors and potential customers.
This makes sense. Every search engine needs return results that the user finds relevant and useful. The search engines understand that they need to return the best website possible when someone searches their search engine.
This means that each of the major search engines spend research dollars to determine exactly what it is that the search engine user finds valuable, and each has a high stake in the results of the research.
No search engine marketing or web design firm has the resources or motivation to conduct studies of this magnitude. It is therefore highly useful to use their findings, to improve your search engine optimization strategy and your website.
Most websites that constantly rank high in the results use optimization methods that offers something of value to the people who enter their website.
I constantly talk to people who tell me that their website is better that another site that is currently outranking them in the results. People do not understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
By looking at the search engines as a partner you are able to use their data and their information to improve your website. Rather than chase the ever-changing technology that can get you short-term results at best.
You do not have to watch your ranking swing widely based upon new spam filters and algorithm shifts. You no longer are forced to readdress your sites search engine optimization methods, you have more time to focus on the marketing areas that need attention, such as the website conversion rates.
It is a fact that websites rise and fall in the rankings. The only websites that seem to always rank in the top are the ones that offer something relevant and important to the searchers.
While it may take a little work, I believe the relationship with the search engines should be a partnership.
Related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.