Many business owners I have spoken to have had great expectations about search engine optimization, pay per click, and social media. With this in mind…I wanted to address the reality of what search can do for your business and how you should REALLY prepare. Here is a quick list of Top Ten Search Engine Marketing Expectations Busted by Searchology 101.
1. No one can get you to the top of Google for your top keywords overnight. Search engine optimization takes time…and it can take months to gain higher raking on important keywords.
2. Search engine optimization professionals don’t know the “Google Code” to get you to the top of the Google search results. The Google algorithms are a mystery to all but Google. Most SEO professionals know a great deal to get you better natural search results but can’t promise top listings for high search terms.
3. The social media craze is not the new search. Yes, social media is very cool and it makes it very easy to stay in touch…but it is not a tool to drive sales. It should be used to build your brand, build brand awarness, offer consideration for purchase…if you intend to use it to build sales…think again.
4. Pay per click advertising is not “wizzbangery” – there is no little man behind the green curtain. It takes time to get keywords and ad copy to work together. Time to let the search engines assess the work and for the paid search professional to do their job.
5. Google is not the only search engine out there. Yahoo has over 420 million searches every day…and Bing is close behind. There are many more search engines which deliver good results as well.
6. You should always advertise under your brand name. You competitors will do it if they can and you need to take full ownership of your message, product, service, and good name.
7. Google analytics isn’t always right. Looks like there may be a pretty big issue with Java and Google analytics.
8. Know your market and know your audience. If you don’t have a good idea about the profiles of people and visitors you would like to attract to your website…how can you write content for them?
9. Google recently had a 10 year anniversery [this year] so when you hear “professionals” say they’ve been in the Internet marketing industry for 20 years. Yahoo was founded in 1995…Google Ad Words launched in October 2000.
10. Advertising using your competitors brand terms is okay…just be prepared for retaliation.