I’ve sat down with many people, whether it was in person, or phone, or over Skype or Hangouts to go over SEO problems with their website. I’ve heard the phrase “I just want it fixed”. I’ve often heard the desperation in their voice. I really do want to help. It’s what I love doing, but often this “I just want it fixed” comes with, “I don’t have much money”, or “How quickly can you get this done.”
Search Engine Optimization is not always an easy fix. It requires digging into what may be happening, providing a solution, and following up with educational information so you can learn.
You, as the individual website owner may not be able to see all these issues. In fact, you may be aware of SEO, and what it basically means, but not how to exercise some of the basics into your website. You may not even have time to learn these things. However, you SHOULD be aware of your website’s health with the search engines. If not, you’ve got yourself a dead ship in the water.
Get your website thoroughly checked out with a website review by someone who knows what to look for. Don’t look for a shortcut when doing it. Cheap isn’t going to fix your website as much as you hope it would. It may even harm your website.
Choosing the shortcut in quick fixes can really be like that saying “Good tattoos aren’t cheap, and cheap tattoos aren’t good.” I don’t know who said it, but it fits for this scenario too. You end up with no engagement, no subscribers, traffic that’s not targeted right, and ultimately, no money coming in.
Good reviews takes keen eye and some time. Most reviews usually go over the problems and give suggestions on how to fix those issues. They are designed to help you been seen better on the search engines, gain more traffic, and get people focused on the areas of your website that matter, whether it is subscribing, buying, sharing, calling, or filling out your lead forms. The website reviewer also will work with you to answer some of those SEO questions that have been on your mind.
The results of the website review leaves the door open for you, as the website owner and buyer, to choose to hire the review or their company to fix those problems, hire someone else to fix them, or fix them on your own.
So, if you ever get frustrated and desperate, and approach a company that your website needs help getting traffic and you need help with finding the problem, set aside the money for a good website review so you can get to the bottom of the problem (or problems), the right way.
Hi Nile,
SEO is something many bloggers and Webmasters get wrong…many imagine that it is something that works with a wave of a magic wand! Often, this causes a ton headaches for anyone offering SEO services, myself inclusive.
When I published ‘SEO 101: Search Engine Optimization For WP Beginners’ (available on Amazon), I was shocked when a reader sent me a private mail querying why I insisted that no matter how well optimized a brand new site may be, the older (and sometimes, badly optimized) site/page may still outrank it.
My answer was simple: ‘who would you accept into your living room: a stranger who professes to be a saint of your kid brother who is a little dubious?’
She never replied 🙂
Patience is key in SEO. Aside this patience, I can attest to the fact that taking a look at some sites may take some (good) time before one can figue out what is wrong with them…it is only fair that good money should be paid in such an instance 🙂
Do make the day great Nile…working in SEO, while fun, is sometimes not the best job out there, especially with brand new Webmasters or supremely impatient ones!
Always,
Akaahan Terungwa
Nice comment Akaahan. Can you imagine that I have a new site of about 2 months old.
The onpage is fully optimized and I’ve been building backlinks to it for over 6 weeks non-stop. And when I try to check my pagerank and backlinks, I see nothing.
It’s sometimes frustrating when you don’t see the effort of what you are doing, but just like you said, it takes patience.
I’m still going to keep building my backlinks and be patient.
I’ve been working diligently on improving my websites SEO. I feel like I’m on the right track, however, it gets frustrating at times because it takes time before you know if what you’re doing will work.
You could spend months working on your SEO only to find out that what you did didn’t work.
Akaahan is right when he says patience is key. So along with working on my SEO, I’m working on practicing patience. 🙂
So often people want valuable services but don’t want to pay what it costs. I can understand that desire. Most of us share that desire. But you have to understand that it isn’t often you can succeed in having that wish granted. A business (even a small, personal one) must decide what is important to get done well and then pay for it to be done by someone who can do it well.
Sadly just paying doesn’t result in success. It is easy to pay someone that won’t give you the results you need.
Nile,
Thanks for this great post! You are 100% right. SEO is not a simple task, takes time, isn’t something that happens overnight, and can be extremely overwhelming for many bloggers and even businesses.
Whether it be on-Page SEO –– where title tags, alt tags, meta descriptions, keyword destiny, keyword usage, etc. all need to be spot on –– or off-Page SEO –– where link building is needed, local business directory citations are a must, and guest posting is crucial –– SEO can be a a serious task not for the faint of heart.
It also doesn’t help that many SEO companies are not getting you the results you deserve and are costing way more than they are worth. As the owner of an online marketing and SEO company I see this all the time.
It’s absolutely crucial for bloggers and businesses to hire a company that is transparent, has great referrals, and can show you with precision that their clients and past clients have ranked highly in Google.
You said it best at the end of your post: “…set aside the money for a good website review so you can get to the bottom of the problem (or problems), the right way.”
Thanks again for writing a phenomenal post!
This is such sound and extremely practical advice Nile!
And believe or not, as a direct response, small business
marketing consultant.
In many ways, potential first time customers, have a very similar mindset!
They expect some type of miracle quick fixes, to really bad internal structural
business problems!
‘
And sometimes, initially, they don’t understand, they’re asking for,
almost demanding band aid type solutions, when clearly, if nothing else,
they definitely need stitches or minor surgery!LOL!
So I can definitely relate to the extremely sound and practical advice you are providing!Thanks!