SEO obsession number 1: rank checking

There are a few things SEO companies or individuals deal with on a day to day basis, either from clients or their own inner brain workings. One of the most frustrating is obsessive rank checking.

Sure you want to see your site’s progress, but there are things you need to keep in mind when you check where your site is ranked 30 times a day. The results you see may not be as accurate as you think:

1) Google’s data centres are constantly getting updated so results will differ pretty often

2) Your search results are made more personal to you by giving you results that relate to your most frequently searched terms, so what you see may not be what people searching with your keywords will see

3) Search results depend on location too, so again what you see may not be what your potential customers see

The latest big thing is that Google has just released SearchWiki, and maybe they will start using searcher votes in their algorithm, but those results will still depend on good content. Personalised search gives us the same thing. People only click through to sites they think will serve their search quest.

To the SEO practitioners who panic about rankings and give themselves click-tendonitis because “the world of SEO is changing!!”, I pose this question: with all the changes that do take place in the SEO industry, what is the main thing that remains a prominent factor? Content.

That is the bottom line. Create interesting, keyword rich content. This means your copy as well as other factors on your website like images. Work your way into universal search – include keywords in your image names, or your video names if you have videos, create a business listing on Google maps. Steer your rank obsession to a new direction.

Your content is what sells your services or products. Your content does your marketing. Your users respond to the marketing in place. They bring in the business. Make the users happy first. Know what converting keywords are being used and target them in your content.

There really is no need to panic, the actual ranking (on Google at least) may be becoming less important but you have your whole website to make up for that! Indulge in it. Concentrate more on your users and on your SEO optimisation and content score and less on the time you spend checking your ranking. It’s more fun anyway!

If you need some tips on how to write good copy for SEO, Ian Lurie wrote a great SEO copywriting e-book you should have a look at.

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