By now, anyone with a web site will have been cold called or emailed by an SEO 'expert' fishing for business, promising to get your site to the first page on Google.
Some of the falsehoods:
"We will get you to the first page on Google"
Getting to the first page depends on how many others are competing on the same terms. For example, if you search for Web Developer, there is so much competition there is nothing you can do to guarantee being on the first page. Don't trust any SEO consultant who claims they can get you to the top of Google on generic terms alone.
On the other hand, if you have a unique kind of business and especially if your customers are location specific, then you may do better because people will include the location in their searches. Even then, it depends very much on how many competing businesses are paying Google for search placing.
"We need to rebuild your web site in Wordpress"
There will always be agencies with vested interests in rebuilding sites in Wordpress. They often bill themselves as SEO ‘experts’, spreading FUD about your current CMS to take more of your money for a rebuild rather than just providing flawed advice on keywords.
Within reason, the CMS used to build a web site is irrelevant to SEO. Once pages render quickly enough, the most important consideration for SEO is writing your content.
In practice
Don't confuse SEO with conversion.
- SEO is about your web site being found.
- Having found your site, conversion is about turning visitors into customers.
Conversion is something you have a lot more control over, but its not the same as SEO.
Apply some common sense
Practical SEO is mostly common sense.
- Make sure your keywords and variations appear high in your text, but not to the extent of getting spammy.
- Have good and relevant links between pages and relevant links to and from other sites.
- Make it render as quick as reasonable.
- Keep it as lean as reasonable.
- Make sure the HTML is not broken.
- Make sure your pages are indexed.
Take advice from the Lighthouse report, but don't take it as 100% gospel.
Think about your marketing strategy
Your web site should be just one component of your marketing, not the only component. Think about the search terms important to your business. SEO begins with working these terms into the page text. Be realistic about your objectives. Is it about enabling people to find you as an a generic business, or to find you specifically?
Going back to our first example, if you search for "John Liddiard" Web Developer the first page will be mostly about me and include a link to this site - or at least it did at the time of writing. If you look for "JohntheFish" Web Developer the results also enable me to be found. If you are more specific and search for JohntheFish ConcreteCMS there are less other 'fish' to dilute the results. If you search for "John Liddiard" underwater photographer you will also find me.
People looking for me can find me. That is my objective. My SEO for that objective is good enough. If my name was John Smith, then perhaps I would be less fortunate.
If you search for the generic term Web Developer, I will be lost in a sea of competition. There is no way I could rely on being found by the term Web Developer alone, no matter how much I invest on SEO.
There is less competition for the generic term underwater photographer. If you search for any old underwater photographer I won't be on the first page, but maybe I could get there if I put some work into it.
Ultimately my marketing strategy is based on reputation and being known, not on rising to the top of the generic.
The bottom line
SEO results are inherently uncertain. SEO hinges on creating appropriate content and praying to the gods of the algorithm. And the algorithm is constantly changing. Some terms are achievable and some terms are a shot in the dark. Be realistic about your objectives and
don't bet your entire business on a promise of first place on Google.
Topics and Tags
Discussion
If you would like to discuss any of these thoughts, please start or continue a thread on the Concrete CMS Forums.