Search Engine Rankings – Checking Is Easy, But Proper Analysis Is Tough Work

I get annoyed every time some online marketing maven suggests that website search engine rankings don’t matter.

Of course they do.

And they don’t.

If you’re an executive and you just only look at your rankings because you think it’s  fun to be high, then your approach is a bit short-sighted. So what if you rank well? Does it mean the keyword is the right one, that it drives traffic and converts?

By themselves, rankings don’t say a lot. But they’re a critical part of any SEO strategy and the multiple factors you need to consider in your analysis.

Check out my new piece on ranking analysis at SiteProNews:

Poor SEO Assumptions Haunt Executives

Too often, business executives these words: “I thought the SEO was included in the web design.”

Sorry guys and gals. You assumed wrong.

And the decision obviously is causing pain – knowledge that your SEO efforts are running behind schedule – if they existed at all.

Website designers don’t even cheat clients (in all cases). They don’t necessarily promise SEO. Companies just learn from friends and other sources about the power of SEO, and in a flash executives decide SEO must have been in the contract all along.

Wrong.

Sure, sometimes website developers will say they have SEO covered. We’ll get into false promises another day.

The key here is to understand SEO implications and know for sure whether SEO was really covered or overlooked all along.

It’s unfortunate that businesses continue to miss out on SEO. I’ll mention this until the day I die: It’s not a one-time exercise. You just have to know whether it started in the first place.

SEO and Usability – Friends, Not Foes

Complaints about SEO being opposed to good web design will never cease. Paul Boag of Boagworld – who speaks a great deal on web design – reveals his heart in a new piece, “Why I Don’t Get SEO.” He runs through the usual concerns about SEO ruining the user experience and how it’s a marketing exercise with no guarantees.

SEO works because people still use search engines to find info. Once they get to a website – if it wasn’t poorly designed in the first place – they can become propsects. SEO has challenging aspects, but the idea is pretty simple. SEO as a marketing specialty connects sellers with buyers.

Long ago I figured SEO would be an old practice once people learned about websites from their friends. And, while there are many ways people can find websites, SEO is here to stay as long as people continue to search for information. Judging by the lack of SEO I encounter, it looks like SEO has a bright future.

Web Site Management Primer: Google on URL Removal

Looks like Google has some good basics and more in depth insights about effectively managing content and technical aspects of a website.

The first major posting covers considerable ground about URL removal and more.

See Google Webmaster Central’s info.