SEO frequently-asked questions
Why doesn't my site rank well in Google and Bing?
A: Having your website rank high in the search engines is a science and the many ranking signals (rules) for search engine optimization (SEO) are always changing. Here are some reasons why you may be having poor ranking:
- Few relevant, quality links from other websites to your website.
- Your website is new and in a competitive, entrenched industry.
- Competitors who are doing SEO for their sites better and/or longer than you.
- Little quality, unique, fresh content on your site.
- Too many occurences of the same keyword used in a page or site (spamming).
- Broken links, slow-loading pages, Flash-only sites that cannot be indexed correctly.
- Incorrect usage of, or missing, TITLE tags, H1 tags and other on-site semantic elements.
How long does it take for SEO results to kick in?
A: The amount of time required to see results of search engine optimization all over the board - from 30 days for existing sites in local or niche markets to 24 months for new websites in a competitive of national/global market. For this reason, you should always augment with a pay-per-click campaign.
What is my site ranking dependent on?
A: Site rankings tend to be "cumulative" and is dependent on the following factors:
- The specific keyword phrases (search terms) that have been targeted
- The overall competitiveness of your industry - how many players are there
- Whether you are targeting a regional, national, or international market
- The quality and diversity of your linking-building campaign
- Number of competitor sites achieving new ranking themselves
- Number of social signals - Facebook likes and Google+ adds
- How fast your page loads and if all pages are up and functioning
- How much relevant, unique, timely content your site has
- How old your site is (older is better)
- If your domain name contains your main keyword being optimized for
- The bounce rate of your site
- About 300 other factors
Does every page of my site need to be optimized?
A: In a word - yes. Every page of a website can be a potential entry point for visitors. You can't predict which page or pages will be ranked the best for specific keywords. As such, each page must be individually optimized to for optimal ranking. Collectively, all pages of your website reinforce the common "theme" of the site, which also can help boost ranking. Also, don't assume that your home page is the most important page on your site for every visitor.
Why is SEO so expensive?
A: SEO is a specialized, always-changing craft requiring much research, forethought, skill and can be very time-consuming to implement correctly. And Google and Bing change their ranking algorithims all the time. What used to work 3 months ago but not work today. SEO practioners are always in training and testing mode, to stay abreast. However, compared to offline and print advertising, SEO is quite cheap. The cost of having your website SEO-optimized is by far the best advertising dollars spent and the return on your investment (ROI) can be very great.
