Many people get tunnel vision when running an SEO campaign. The ears are pinned back and the focus on reaching the coveted front page of Google for a desired keyword is all that is often thought about. But what happens when you are lucky enough to land that prime real estate on the first page of Google?
Don’t Stop
Many companies find a keyword that they believe their business MUST rank for. They do a little research and hire an SEO company to help them get their website featured on the first page of Google search results for that keyword. Their main goal then becomes “how fast can we get to the first page of Google.” The SEO company works their tail off and gets the website to first page.
Now the client is happy and receiving additional traffic and leads. Everything is just peachy. Then a month or so goes by and the client thinks “well, I’m on first page, guess I don’t need to pay for SEO anymore.” They let the SEO company go.
A few months go by and they’re rocking and rolling. Then business slows down. They check Google and notice they have fallen to page 2 or 3 for their main keyword. Crap, what happened!!!???
What happened is they stopped. SEO is not a one time “campaign.” It should be an ongoing process. Always working to gain and keep momentum. Think about it. The company wanted to get to first page. They hired an SEO firm to do that. Now, what do you think their competitors are doing?
The point of all this is to not make your SEO a one off. Make it ongoing. It takes a lot of work to reach optimal rankings, it takes more work to keep those rankings. The moment you stop, you give your competition an open lane to pass you by.
Extend Your Focus
Not only do you want to keep you efforts up for “maintenance mode,” but you want to extend your focus as well. Ever heard “don’t put your eggs in one basket?” This too applies to SEO. Don’t just pick one popular keyword and stop there.
Find a dozen or more keywords that are relevant to your website and business and optimize for those too. Always research to find new online opportunities whether it be additional keywords, social media avenues, press releases, video and even email marketing.
True success in the online space comes from constant efforts to improve search engine visibility.
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Not only should you extend your SEO efforts to other pages after a front page ranking, but continuing your SEO efforts for the front page URL using modified keywords. Then as you increase link building for new pages/keywords, you should internally link to the pages already ranking on page one to anchor their position.
Great post.
Fantastic post. Too many people fixate on one sole term to the exclusion of all others, and then lose interest once it’s on page one.
This is even worse when the phrase they demand (against all your recommendations) is a vanity term that doesn’t drum up any business.
I always think this is due to a lack of SEOs actually informing and educating clients. It’s something the industry as a whole needs to do better.
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Also keep in mind that once you’ve reached first page, you’re now a target for everyone else who wants to be on the first page for that keyword so keep up with your competition and make sure you’re always staying a step ahead of them.
[...] What to do Once You Make Front Page – RhinoSEO [...]
I’ve done lots of SEO work personally and for friends that required no ongoing effort after the startup. For ultra competitive keyword phrases I agree you have to constantly be adding links and new content, but for the other 95% of all SEO that is total over kill. Especially for local search terms which tend to convert much better than generic high competition short tail phrases.
This is right, linkbuilding must never stop should it be natural or not. I also think it’s nice to change the seo company you’re working with once in a while, to benefit from different linkbuilding strategies.
What to do Once You Make Front Page | How to Stay on First Page Google | RhinoSEO Blog…
What happens when you are lucky enough to land that prime real estate on the first page of Google?…