We’ll start off by saying that we truly love our jobs. There’s nothing more thrilling than seeing our clients go from being non-existent in Google to being found on the first page for their keywords. At CDM, we’ve had a lot of different types of clients. We’ve had clients who have said, “Here, take my website – do whatever you need to do!” And we’ve had others who have said, “Why do you need access to my website? You tell me what needs to be done and I’ll make the changes.” And then we’ve had some in-between who want us to make changes and then they go in and delete our work or change it. Makes things interesting!
Clients will be the first to tell you what they like or don’t like about what you’re doing with their SEO, be it the keyword that fits them best or the way it looks on their website. But we get it. That’s why to explain it better, we’ve come up with an analogy for your SEO services.
The Storefront Without a Name
A good way to think of your website is like a brick and mortar company or a storefront.
Think of this scenario: You just opened up a new shop on the main street of your town. You’re excited and you want to help everyone! You start noticing that people are walking past your store, maybe just glancing in, but never stopping in to buy anything. You decide to get some help so people will notice you.
Once you hire someone to handle the marketing of your new store, they start by putting your business name, telephone number, and hours of operation on the front so people can (1) find you and (2) see if it’s someone they want to work with.
They then add an A-Frame Sign by the sidewalk that says what you do so that when anyone walks by, they’re more inclined to stop in. No guess work (which people don’t usually enjoy!).
But then, you realize something. When you pictured your business, you never pictured your business information right out front for everyone to see. It messes up the pretty lawn outside and hides your lovely building. So, you throw it all away because it just doesn’t match what you had in mind. When people walk by, they now think you’re closed because there is no identity – they have no idea who you are.
Then you realize just how unappealing the A-Frame Sign looks. It doesn’t even match your building! So, you remove it. Now, where are you? Right back from the beginning – no one knows who you are or what you do. They don’t know when you’re open, what you do, or how to reach you. You may have noticed more traffic in your store when you had your business name/address showing or the A-Frame Sign for the sidewalk, but now it’s gone. You’re back to the beginning.
Can you imagine going downtown and not seeing a single sign showing you who these businesses are or what they do? Similarly, when you Google a local business, you want to go to their business location, but they have no name or address on their door, so you end up leaving because you couldn’t find what you were looking for. What if there was only one store with a business name/address sign? They would be winning, right?? Finally! A store telling us who they are and what they are selling! Let’s go there!
The Reality of SEO and Your Website
As silly as it sounds (since most all businesses promote their storefront with signs), SEO on your website isn’t short from that reality. It’s different because we don’t correlate our websites with an actual brick and mortar store. We don’t know exactly what exactly to do with our websites, so we base them on how they look on the outside – a site that looks nice with lots of images and fancy fonts.
The idea of having a site with actual content and keywords (it messes with my website aesthetics!) and just plain common sense (but I want to rank for the whole world, so I should make my keyword “Whole World” right????). Unfortunately, SEO isn’t as much common sense as putting your business name on your storefront. Or as easy. But it’s the same goal — to get people to find you and know who you are.
Businesses all over the world are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars on SEO each year JUST so they can be at the top of Google for their niche. And you know what? It works. People start to learn who they are. People start to tell their friends about them. And before they know it, they are at the top. Overnight? We wish. Over the course of 3 months? Again…I wish. Over the course of 6 months? If you’re lucky. Over the course of 9 months to a year? Now you’re talking.
Our Fast-Paced World
Your SEO is an investment. In a world filled with fast food, grocery pick-ups, and instant messaging, we forget that some things just take more time than others. After all, a baby isn’t born after just one month — it has to develop, grow, and prepare itself to enter this world. We didn’t plan on making SEO related to a baby’s development… but in a way, it is. It, too, has to grow and develop, which takes time (no matter how excited or ready you are! I think this baby and SEO comparison could be developed more…).
So, the next time your SEO expert adds a keyword to your website that you think is “ugly,” focus on making it work with your site first. And if you don’t understand, just trust your SEO company. If you see they’ve helped other people and they have good reviews, you can probably trust them. If everything made sense to everyone, there would be a lot of people out of business.
Invest in Your Business
At Capstone Digital Marketing, we want to see you and your business succeed! We’ve helped clients all over receive amazing results, so feel free to fill out our contact form and we’ll get back with you!
