SEO is not About You!

Have you been trying to get ranked higher on search engines such as Google with no success? Maybe you have tried too hard. You have been pushing the envelope, going after directories, blogs, forums, and social networking sites. But are still not making any major progress. It’s not the fate that is holding you back. You are probably not going about optimizing your pages the right way. Search engine optimization has gotten the reputation of a magic pill. Many top executives assume that there is this switch that you can turn on, and the traffic floodgates will open. In reality, getting ranked high for keywords that matter takes time and effort. It’s not just about ranking high, it’s about having the right keywords.

You can get ranked for a two-word phrase that nobody searches for. That may give you confidence in your SEO abilities, but in reality you have wasted your time on a term that will probably never matter to you or your business. The industry has changed a lot in the past few years. A few years ago, we didn’t have all the information sources that we do now. Nowadays, you have Google Trends, Google Insights for Search, and Keyword Spy. So there is no excuse for not doing your homework before coming up with your killer keyword list. In early days of SEO, you could write up content and rank much better for those competitive terms. But these days, you can’t afford to play that game. Not if you don’t have enough budget to throw killer link building and viral campaigns. If you happen to be a blogger with a limited amount of budget, you are better off focusing on terms that you can rank for and topics that people are talking about. That’s why Google Trends and Insights should be a big part of your keyword research process.

Many assume that SEO is about helping others find you. That can’t be further from the truth. Your goal should be to find your audience by targeting them with the right keywords and content. Those who wait to be found usually end up bankrupt and out of business. Besides, once you target your ideal audience, any additional amount of traffic that you get will be a nice bonus. So the next time you right a blog post, don’t hope and pray for search engines to find you. Having a passive approach won’t pay off in today’s competitive. Know your audience, use your tools to dig up the right keywords, and take into account the latest trends in your industry. Remember, SEO is not about what you think is important. It’s about what others find important.