These Common Search Engine Marketing Misconceptions are Holding Your Business Back

When I meet with clients for the first time, it’s always interesting to hear what it is that they think they should or should not be doing to rank well and succeed online. Often, what these business owners think is important to search marketing and their online presence is based on such outdated information that they’d never get anywhere if they were to put it into practise or continue to use these strategies.

It makes sense that few business owners would be at all up to speed on the latest trends and best practises for web marketing. They’re busy enough trying to keep up with what’s changing in their own industries, it would be impossible to stay on top of Google’s daily rule-changing. This is precisely why it’s imperative for business owners to hire professionals to manage their search marketing.

Especially among local business owners, there are a series of common search engine marketing misconceptions floating about. Unless these misconceptions are identified and the search marketing practises that are based on these myths are discarded, organisations risk missing out on valuable business.

The following is just a handful of the many search engine marketing misconceptions you yourself may still believe to be relevant:

1) All I need is a ‘quick fix’ of SEO

Whether it’s the owner of a long-standing business who has just decided to do something about their search rankings, or someone launching a new company, I hear this one all the time: “I just want to do search marketing for a couple of months, until I get some rankings, and then I’m going to stop.” Let me put it to you this way, the terms ‘search engine marketing’ and ‘short-term’ are like oil and water; they just don’t mix.

Because Google changes the game each and every single day, the rankings you achieve in just a couple of months from doing search marketing will never last. You could rank on page one for a couple of terms one day and then not rank in the top 10 pages of search rankings the next. Plus, if you consider the level of competition in your market, or if you’re a newcomer to the industry, it becomes even more evident that you need long-term web marketing to give you a solid leg-up in the rankings.

2) Mobile-friendliness isn’t necessary for search engine marketing because my target customer doesn’t use a smart phone

I don’t care if you sell a solution for cleaning dentures, your site has to be mobile-friendly if you want to compete on the web today. The number of smart phone users in the world grows every day. Heck, grey-haired grannies are face timing with their grandkids via their iPhones, right now. Search engine marketing without a plan to optimise for mobile is just plain stupid. Google knows it too, and in an effort to provide their customers (search users) with the best possible experience, the search engine now penalises those who aren’t mobile-friendly by burying their sites in the search rankings.

3) Social isn’t a must for search marketing

Just like the old ‘my clients don’t search from smart phones’ excuse, business owners often claim they don’t need to do social because their customers aren’t in Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Even if you’re partly right, social media is a necessary component of every web marketing campaign today. Here’s why: whenever you share content with your followers or connections, comment on someone else’s work, or network, you’re building the authority you need to show Google you and your business are major players in your industry. Social benefits your search engine marketing efforts because every little bit you do contributes to the good impression you need to make on Google in order to get ranked, but it also benefits conversions, by demonstrating to potential customers that you know you’re stuff, inside and out.

4) A bad review will affect my rankings!

Just because someone didn’t like the burrito you served them doesn’t mean you’re going to see a downward shift in your search rankings. In fact, even a bad review can benefit your business because it demonstrates to those who read it that you are, in fact, a real company. Business owners often panic when they read a negative review, and instead should consider the criticism as a clue for how to improve their offering. Many have gone to the extent of posting fake perfect reviews, which is a major no-no and could get you penalised if you’re found out.

Instead, encourage people to review or rate your business online. The more reviews you have that are positive, the less likely one or two negative reviews is going to make an impression on prospective customers.

Maybe you, too, are still using some of the above misconceptions or myths as an excuse to drag your heels on getting serious about search engine marketing. Putting your trust in a team of search marketing experts who eat, sleep and breathe SEO is the best way to guarantee your success online.

Get in the game and we’ll bring you and your site up to speed and in-line with what works online today. call The SEO Company on 1300 885 557 or email us here.