SEO Doesn’t Stand for Set It and Forget It (Part 1)
Establishing a website is an essential step for any business. Your website is a prime piece of real estate in the digital space. However, building a beautifully designed, user friendly and mobile responsive website is only the first step.
In order for your website to impact your business, potential customers have to be able to find it. This is where a good search engine optimization (SEO) firm can make a huge difference in your marketing strategy. A solid Atlanta SEO company can ensure your website has relevant content that is aligned with what potential customers are searching for on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
However, many businesses think that SEO is just a “set it and forget it” component of a marketing plan. In reality, SEO is just as dynamic as other parts of integrated digital marketing that include paid search and social media.
Here are some reasons why businesses need ongoing SEO for essential technical maintenance.
Google Constantly Changes Its Algorithm
Google’s algorithm determines which websites are relevant to user queries and where they rank on results pages. According to Moz, Google updates its algorithm 500 – 600 times a year. While a few of these changes make headlines (such as April 2015’s “Mobilegeddon” update), most of them go under the radar.
Yet, these algorithm updates have a big impact on search engine results for many businesses. Some see increased visibility for their websites while others see their websites knocked off the first page of search results.
Paying attention to these changes is a key benefit of partnering with an SEO agency. A reputable SEO company will vigilantly monitor updates to Google’s algorithm and adapt its strategy as needed to ensure your website remains competitive in search engine results.
Essential SEO Maintenance
There are other technical aspects of SEO that require ongoing maintenance. If your website is built on WordPress, periodic updates are issued to ensure sites work properly and are protected from security vulnerabilities. Many WordPress sites also make use of plugins that provide additional functionality to the site. However, WordPress plugins break often and need to be monitored for updates.
Similarly, links to landing pages within your website can break for a variety of reasons. When this happens, visitors to your website can’t find the information they are looking for and will see an error message.
Each of these scenarios results in poor user experience and makes it less likely your website will generate leads for your business. Partnering with an SEO firm that includes essential ongoing maintenance ensures visitors to your site won’t have any obstacles to becoming new customers.
In the second part of this post, we’ll take a look at why SEO doesn’t stand for set it and forget from a marketing perspective and how ongoing SEO is critical to reaching your business’ target audience.
Meanwhile, if your considering SEO as part of your marketing strategy, contact us at 770-817-9560 for a consultation.
