You’re certainly not alone! With increase in population, need for searching, websites and content, the total number search engine searches are growing by 15% every year. Given all of this, your organic search results (search engine optimisation or SEO) should be increasing at a minimum of 20% year on year just by getting the fundamentals right – and that’s at a minimum.
If you’re not growing, you’re dying.
If you’re not growing, you’re not doing the work well or you’re doing the wrong work. If you’re not growing Google isn’t liking what you are doing, so you are shrinking. Think of it in terms of inflation. $100 ten years ago was worth more than $100 today.
The three reasons you’re not growing.
While there are lots of intricacies with the world of organic search and SEO, the realities are that there are three reasons you aren’t getting the SEO results you want – or deserve.
It all comes down to your:
- Website
- Content
- Authority
Stop being bamboozled by BS.
Unfortunately, SEO experts and agencies have done a great job of muddying the waters and making SEO as complex as possible in the hope that you’ll keep forking over $2,000+ per month for ‘SEO Services’. But the truth is, SEO is both simple and elegant. Google rewards great businesses doing great marketing. So, it’s time to cut the crap and discover what it takes to really get the SEO results you want.
You need to understand Google.
Google’s mission is to organise and categorise the world’s information. So, when you type into the search box, Google displays the most relevant, authoritative, and instructive information first, and so on down the list. For your website to rank first, you need Google to view your website as having the most relevant, authoritative, and instructive information on said search topics.
With this in mind, SEO, like most things in life and business, is a competition. You need to outperform your competition to win. It’s this ‘outperforming’ that Google’s algorithm is judging, determining how much better you are over your competitors.
Why your SEO is performing a substandard level.
To help you turn your SEO results around, let’s explore the three reasons you’re SEO is currently performing at a substandard level.
1. Your competitors have a better website
One of the core components of SEO today is that you need to have a great website. It’s the simplest and most effective way to booster all of your digital marketing results. Google loves and rewards good websites, so if your competitor’s website is better than your website, then best believe Google will see them as more credible than you.
So, what makes a great website?
- It looks good and is easy to navigate.
- It takes visitors on a clear user journey.
- It has lots of high-quality, insightful content.
- It tells your story and sets you apart from your competitors.
- It has lots of social proof that proves you are this good
- Video, video and more video
- And its technically well built (it loads quickly, everything is labelled correctly, not broken links etc)
Rule #1 to SEO Success: Design and develop a great website.
2. Your competitors have better content
As we said, Google’s purpose is to organise and categorise the world’s information. So, it makes sense to have a substantial amount of content on your site – and for it to be better than the content your competitors are supplying.
So, what makes great content?
- It has great foundational content; this includes information on:
- You, your team, and your business
- Detailed information on the products and services you provide
- FAQs
- It is relevant and keyword rich, so it contains everything your target audience is searching for.
- It answers the questions you’re asked. Write down all of the questions your salespeople are asked and answer it through your content.
- It’s topical and trending. This is how you become a thought leader in your industry.
- It has authority! Pick a battle (something controversial, something you’re passionate about or something that isn’t right in your industry) and go to war on it. Being well-informed, smart, and opinionated helps you to become an authority in your industry.
Quick note: When it comes to content it’s always quality over quantity. It’s about sharing your craft and expertise with the world (it’s not about creating content for the sake of creating content).
Rule #2 to SEO Success: Aim to build the complete encyclopedia on your industry, products, and services. That way every bit of information your customer could possibly need and want to access is available on your website.
3. Your competitors have a higher domain authority than you
Google is constantly evaluating your authority or in other words, ranking how important you are in your industry and the world more broadly. It does this this by checking how frequently you appear through the internet. But you don’t just want your name mentioned anywhere. You want high quality, relevant and authoritative websites, linking back to you.
So, how do you build authority?
- Have a great listing on all the major business directories and citation sources.
- Be actively involved in your industry (associations, groups, trade publications, etc.)
- Be actively involved in your community (sponsorships, charities, chamber of commerce, events etc.)
- Run a good business (recruiting, marketing, training, etc.)
- Do Digital PR, now that you’re producing content, share it with the world through other websites and publications.
Rule #3 to SEO Success: Build your authority continuously!
There you have it! It’s simple, just not easy. Great SEO – and great SEO results – takes time to build. It will take time, resources, and money, but you will get there. When you don’t try to shortcut the process, you build sustainable riches for the long-term.
