If you want to overcome your phobia of SEO and try to understand it more, you have to keep learning.
You have heard the word “SEO” too many times if you exist in the online space. Therefore, I am going to spare you the boring and painfully detailed exposition about what it is and how it can help your site. For those who have no idea what SEO is, well, here’s a brief description:
SEO (search engine optimisation), is basically anything you can do in order for your site to rank higher on search engines. There are many ethical and unethical methods you can employ (black and white hat tactics) to boost your site’s Google ranking. Tactics like using relevant keywords, getting quality backlinks, on and off-page optimisation etc. You can find more information about them in other articles.
The main purpose of this text is to help you become more familiar with the nuances of SEO and ultimately, be less terrified of it. If you are new to the world of SEO and don’t have a clue where to start and therefore are overwhelmed by the truckload of information on the web, I hope this blog can be of service to you. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get to the meat of the sandwich.
1. “SEO can become overwhelming”
Yeah, I feel you. When I started learning about SEO, I went on a journey of reading tens and hundreds of articles every day and do you want to know the truth? It sucked. Every minute of it. It’s so hard to learn a subject when you have no background knowledge whatsoever. Even if you do have some ideas, being bombarded by information will probably confuse you and you will forget what you knew in the first place. So, what can we do?
Solution: Systematise the information.
I recommend you start reading through the most basic pieces of information and work your way up there. I think it would be a good idea to start here. Then, as time goes by, you can take a look at this and from there, try to read about anything that you haven’t fully understood. For example, if you have a general understanding of SEO but don’t know a lot about keywords, start reading more about keywords but don’t read too much into it too fast.
2. “SEO is too complex”
It really is. No two ways about it. There are just too many factors that go into being one of the first results on a Google search result. Actually, the number is more than 200! Obviously, as a person who just built an e-commerce website and isn’t much of a computer geek, you can’t hope to achieve anything significant by implementing all those factors by yourself because honestly, you can’t. It’s too much work and too little information about how to do it correctly. So, what shall we do?
Solution: Hire professionals!
It’s that simple. If you don’t know how to do something, hire other people to do it (capitalism babiiiiii). It’s ok if you are lost and have no idea what to do to help your site be more visible. You can always look for companies around the world to help you. Choosing the best company might be a difficult matter, especially when you have the matter of your tight wallet in mind. I only have one useful tip for you: don’t go for the cheap ones. It’s almost never worth it.
3. “I am afraid of becoming penalised!”
As you should if you are using black hat tactics! I’m sorry if that sounds harsh but this is the most effective form of tough love Google can show! I swear to God if I count all the websites I’ve come across in these past years that deserve a spot in hell for making the most horrendous user experience on earth, I will probably go insane! There are so many people out there who either have no idea what SEO is or they do and abuse it. Of course, it’s logical for Google to penalize these sites to oblivion. But again, the question still remains: how can you make sure that your website won’t be penalised?
Solution: Always follow Google guidelines.
Google has stated that websites must be built for users, not search engines. Very simple sentence but quite profound. It all comes down to white and black hat SEO tactics. You might be tempted to use as many keywords as you can on a specific page, but it might result in keyword stuffing. You might think that it is a good thing when another website (whatever their nature might be) links back to you, but if there’s no organic traffic through that link, it is (almost) obsolete. Always remember the golden rule of Google: build websites for users, not search engines.
4. “After spending a lot of time and money, I’m not seeing any results.”
This is a tricky one. As mentioned above, there are too many factors that go into having a successful site and for that very reason, it might be almost impossible to identify the cause of your website not ranking as high as it should. Since the Google algorithm is always changing and adapting, many methods of SEO have become obsolete. A while ago, the quality of backlinks didn’t matter to Google and for that reason, many websites would get a good ranking by implementing black hat tactics. Nowadays, you would get a penalty if you do that. With all of that being said, even if your SEO game is on point and every decision is made with an ethical mindset, you still won’t get that far in a short period of time. So,…
Solution: Be patient!
I know it sounds like a cliché thing to say in any circumstance, but you have to fully understand its depth. As is the case with every situation, expecting to get significant results in a short time is irrational. If your website is not suddenly earning tens and hundreds of views every day and that makes you upset, I suggest you start arranging your goals into a more achievable strategy. You shouldn’t expect your domain authority to be 50 after only a year. Try going for 20 or even 15. Set clear and reasonable goals for yourself so that you wouldn’t be disappointed.
That being said, your journey is far from over. If you want to overcome your phobia of SEO and try to understand it more, you have to keep learning. Moreover, you have to realize that SEO isn’t just a phase in the process of website building that can be done and over with. It takes a long time to master and it certainly never ends.
Join the conversation!