What Every Business Owner Should Know About SEO

There is usually a bit of anxiety whenever a business owner hires a search engine optimizer to improve their ranking position. There have been countless misconceptions and false promises thrown around, and it’s easy for the business owner to be skeptical of the methods that the SEO is going to take.

And in some cases, these business owners have the right to be skeptical. Too many have been lied to. SEOs have promised these business owners the world and more, and have not fulfilled these empty promises. When expectations are this high, and they go unfulfilled, there is bound to be a crash.

In other cases, business owners are simply uninformed. They heard inaccurate information about SEO and have misunderstood or underestimated its value.

Whatever the case may be, there are some misconceptions about SEO that need to be conquered. There are certain things that business owners need to understand about SEO.

SEO success is not instantaneous

For whatever reason, business owners get anxious when they don’t see results immediately. Perhaps the person that they hired made some absurd promises that he couldn’t live up to; maybe the business owner was under the impression that he should get an instant boost in rankings.

SEO takes time. Of course, you can improve your rankings in a few days, or in a few weeks, but don’t expect to see a dramatic difference in that timeframe. If you’re only a few months into it, that should be a cause for concern, but if it has only been a few days, sit back and wait.

If you are looking for near-instantaneous results, try pay-per-click advertising. Both SEO and PPC have their merits.

Your ROI is how you measure success  

If you would ask someone what would be the best metric to measure success with SEO, they say “an increase in rankings”. Obviously, that’s important, but the best way to measure success is through your ROI. The only way to know if the optimization is worth the time and resources is to see a trackable increase of revenue.

There are some businesses that move from the fifth page to the second page, and they’ll see minimal increase in revenue. There are businesses that’ll move from the fifth spot on the first page to the second that will see an insane increase in revenue. The results of both those situations could be reversed—the only thing that matters, at the end of the day, is an increase in revenue.

Everyone is on the hunt for the ever-elusive number one spot, and that’s fine. Just don’t get too fixated on that chase. If you’re paying someone to handle your SEO, think about your ROI. It’s the ultimate metric for success.

Don’t listen to everyone about your SEO

Business owners are being absolutely bombarded with SEO pitches daily. And since nearly all of the SEO pitches seem to promise the same thing, it’s hard to know which ones are legit. In general, if someone promises you the first spot in a certain (often short) timeframe, then you should be cautious. When someone makes a guarantee like that, you are bound for disappointment and frustration.

Besides that, even when you hire someone to take care of your SEO, you will still hear noise. Other SEOs will try to badmouth your current rankings and will point out your weaknesses, hoping that you will sign up with them.

Other people will tell you that SEO is a total waste of time and you should be focused on other marketing avenues.

But before you jump ship, give it some time. Do your own research. See if the optimization is actually working for your business (i.e. using ROI as the measuring stick). Be wary of listening to everybody about your SEO, because they might have an agenda.

Don’t panic after every Google algorithm update

If you’re confident that you’ve hired a capable search engine expert, then do not panic after every Google algorithm update. Whenever a Google update occurs there is a mass hysteria that clouds the entire industry. But this is unnecessary. Like a change in the weather, there will always be updates.

Your rankings will fluctuate eventually. This is inevitable. If you had a great ranking and lost it, then that’s why you hired your search expert—to handle these types of setbacks.

In some cases, it will be nearly impossible for you to regain your old rankings. In other instances, you’ll climb right back up. It’s part of the game, and almost everyone is vulnerable.

Should you hire an SEO expert?

You should take all of the points in this blog post into consideration before you hire someone to manage your SEO. Take it slow, do your research and have realistic expectations, and you may be satisfied by the results. But if not, feel free to contact Zen Agency! 😉