Many people assume that after they launch their fully search engine optimized, mobile responsive new website their search rankings will skyrocket to the top and remain there indefinitely. Unfortunately in the SEO world, it’s more complicated than that. Those who cheat the system to get to the top quickly end up being penalized in some form or other for shady, Black Hat SEO tactics.
Instead, it’s the good SEO tactics that will land you at the top — but this takes time.
Search engine optimization is full of many moving parts and sometimes even the best SEO companies don’t know what strategy is the best strategy. Search engines such as Google area constantly changing what they deem as an important ranking factor. However, we do know that it’s important to continually add fresh content to your website, include internal links throughout each page, have clean URLs, make sure your site is secure with an SSL certificate, and a fast page and site load time. These are just a few of Google’s 200+ ranking factors, and many of them require ongoing work.
It isn’t enough to simply launch a website, submit a sitemap and decrease load times. What keeps users coming back will instead be the regular posting of blogs or the addition of a new service page, a portfolio of past projects or even up-to-date reviews grabbed from the web.
Launching a website and doing nothing but hoping the search engine gods put you on the first page is also not a good tactic either. You need to be aware of that your competitors are also vying for the top spot and their tactics could be enough to nudge you down the totem pole. You wouldn’t plant a seed, water and care for it and then leave it once it’s fully grown, so why build and launch a website just to let it wither? SEO and ranking on the first page takes time, but the results of doing things the right way are worth it.
If you aren’t sure where to start or what the best tactics are, it’s important to contact a full service SEO company such as Boston Web Marketing so you can get on the right track.