3 Things No One Ever Told You About Internet Marketing

So often, many of our clients come to us out of frustration in trying to develop and cultivate their own SEO strategy and internet marketing campaign. In theory, SEO sounds like an amazing concept that many mistakenly assume anyone can do. In error, they think it works like this:

• Create a catchy domain that is easy to remember.
• Have top notch design that looks sleek and bold.
• Throw in some cool stock photos that represent the industry.
• Add some content full of keywords and watch the magic happen.

After they’ve put quite a bit of time into doing all this; and one year later they still are non-existent in Google’s universe— they call the pros at BrandNation.

Reality Check: SEO Strategy Is Brutally Complex

Now, we’re not pros at SEO because we have some special powers or talents that are unattainable by anyone else. We are pros because we have assembled an energetic and eager team of professionals that have put in the hard work of learning this volatile, complex industry for a combined 19 years plus!

SEO is not something you just learn from a book in a week—with over 200 intricate elements to an SEO strategy; it is something you painstakingly learn by extreme dedication. Dedication alone though, won’t carry you, you have to be very analytical and be able to persevere through failures as they are the building blocks that carry you to excellence in this business.

Every single person on this team has experienced their fair share of failures. However, we use failure to gain knowledge and wisdom, otherwise failure is a wasted opportunity for growth. If you are intent on having a successful business, you need to focus on the areas you are strong in and let the marketing pros handle the SEO and internet campaigns. It is what we live and breathe and will ultimately give you a huge return on your investment.

The Puzzling World of Google Rankings

The universe SEO experts live in is owned by Google and that can be a challenging obstacle at times if they decide to change how the SEO universe operates. Search engines can be hit and miss when it comes to moving up the chain on Google search results, known as your ranking.

Google’s search engine configurations often change over the course of a year, and if you aren’t carefully following along; your site can disappear. Yes, even the best SEO strategies that worked wonders in the first quarter can be a death sentence for your site in the third quarter if Google makes drastic changes during the year. This is where a reputable Google Partner certified agency such as BrandNation really earns their pay. When you have an agency that has been handpicked by Google as a certified partner; it means they have a proven track record of success within that Google universe.

It means they have performed well for their clients and stayed on the forefront of Google’s search engine inner workings and are best suited to help clients get the most out of their online presence. When you leave your SEO to the pros, we find all possible ways to build your rankings up and keep our finger on the pulse of Google’s search algorithm changes.

What Affects Rankings?

That question, in and of itself has a complex answer that is constantly changing, even as you are reading this. Generally, there are over 200 complex factors in Google’s ranking algorithm that determine where your site shows up on search engines, if at all— and that is a huge “if.”

The reason it is so hard to get your site ranked anywhere that could count is being in the realm of existence, is the fact that Google requires your site to hit on so many factors before you are even ranked. Those factors can cover many topics such as:

• Domain Name – Choosing the right domain name can be crucial to your sites ranking, especially at inception. Think about it, you are literally dropping a tiny pebble into the wide open ocean of the internet with no land in sight all around you. When you put it in that illustrative perspective, your pebble must be more like a boulder and one of the most effective ways to accomplish that is establishing an effective domain name.
• Website Design – This is also on the big list of important factors that can make or break your chances of a decent Google ranking. Building a website is more than just setting up a free site on a click and build platform. Sure, that may look nice and seemingly easy— but the harsh reality is that it is akin to running an image through a color correcting app on your phone and thinking you know Photoshop. It just doesn’t give you the same optimization, structure and back end organization that a professionally built website can give you. Not only does a website need to be aesthetically pleasing, but there are things behind the scenes in the coding and structure you cannot see that are very technical and complex. The technical and structural codes and standards that Google sets must be met on your site or it likely will rank at the very bottom or may not even rank at all.
• Content – This is probably the largest and most important factor in the Google rankings algorithm. The content you produce for your site—everything from copy to blogs to FAQ’s needs to convey, not only a wealth of knowledge; but also follow SEO guidelines to be recognized by Google. It can literally make or break your ranking if you do not write it in proper form, arrange it in the right way and have specific relevant content that engages your audience.

What Is A Ranking If You Aren’t Converting?

So, you’ve got a decent ranking on Google, you’re getting traffic at a steady click but leads from your website are slim to none. What’s going on? Why is this happening? The whole point of drawing traffic to your site and putting in all this SEO effort was to generate leads, right? The harsh truth is this— you can do SEO perfectly down to the smallest detail but if you’re not converting it’s all for nothing.

What Is Conversion?

Conversion is when you get a visitor to your site to complete a call to action or a task during that visit. That task is typically one that will lead to an open door to sell that visitor your goods or services. A call to action typically is something like:

• Calling Your Sales Line
• Filling Out A Contact Form
• Subscribing To An Email List

Basically, it is anything that converts that visit into a lead that one of your sales reps can attempt to close.

Conversion is a result of combining an authoritative presence, informative and engaging content, detailed and intricate SEO strategy, and creative design of your website. If you are misfiring on any of these elements your conversion could suffer drastically. The other thing to keep in mind with conversion is all of these elements that must come together— must continually evolve and adapt with the world around them. Your content must have relevancy, not only to your industry, but to the world in which your audience lives. This means you must keep the content fresh, the design updated and your SEO strategy up to date. It is a very time-consuming job that is rarely a 9-5 schedule.