As an Internet Marketing Professional, I am often asked: Why is my site not being found? Why am I not ranked for my obvious search terms? Why is my site lower than my competitors? I’m going to attempt to answer these questions and more in this article.
What makes a site rank higher than another one
Google uses over 200 metrics to rank your site. They use a combination of your sites authority, links, and several other metrics. For each search term, Google assigns a ranking based on all criteria. If you have a million poor quality links, your site probably won’t be ranked high.
Keywords
Often I get approached by a client that sells watches, for example. Of course, most watch store owners want to rank high for the word “watches”. It is always difficult to explain to the client that their site is simply not going to be #1 for this keyword. It is simply too much time and too much money to go after such a competitive keyword.
It is always much better to target more specific keywords. It may be better to go after the watch maker or even the model #. Indeed, if the client really feels that the keyword watches is the only way to go, this plan will put us on that path. The only difference is we will get quality traffic while we climb the steep hill.
One more quick thought on keyword selection. The keyword difficulty and value are meaningless if people are not searching for the keyword. Also, don’t ever assume you or the customer know what keywords are being searched for. It is not uncommon to find zero searches for any given keyword in Google. When this is the case, being number one will not matter at all!
Some cliens look at the Internet in the wrong way. They try to compare it to traditional marketing methods. People that are really not with it still advertise in the phone book. They still believe that when a guy buys a watch he fires up the 2000 page book and finds a jewelry store. The customer you want is a customer that has already made up his mind on which product to buy. When you stop at the gas station, you get gas. You will always buy, no matter what. The same can be said for a customer that is searching for a very specific product. If a customer does a search for Seiko model #SPC011, he knows exactly what he wants. If he clicks on your link and you have the product, the sale is totally up to your price, terms and delivery options. This man is not shopping for a “watch” he is shopping for SPC011.
