Thoughts for the Day: Top Search Engine Positioning

Thoughts on a foggy, overcast day in Gloucester...

Catching up is always more difficult.

Ask Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods is certainly the best golfer of my generation. He would probably tell you it's better to stay in the top three than fall behind and have to play catch-up. Once you're six or seven strokes behind it gets pretty difficult to walk away with a win.

The same applies to search engine optimization and keeping your website top ranked.

(1) It's really hard to get top search engine positioning these days. At least for any competitive keywords/keyword phrases. There are probably 40 to 50 people fighting for the top ten positions in any city/category. And your competition isn't always LOCAL. Target, JC Penny, eBay... and a host of other brands are now competing for words like: Chicago Wedding Bands

(2) It probably will take six to twelve months - if not longer - to get a website into the top ten if it's not already there.

(3) And that's if you do EVERYTHING right and...

(4) Someone who is already in the top ten FALLS OUT.

(5) It could be longer.

(6) Why would someone fall out? There are a lot of reasons:

(7) Websites that appear stale and out-of-date.

(8) Design changes (example: moving to a FLASH website).

(9) A competing site that has developed more inbound links.

If you fall out of a top position it will probably be harder to get back where you are, if you don't act fast.

The best strategy is to proactively manage your search engine optimization strategy, combine it with an effectively managed pay-per-click strategy, and stay in the game.

A few ideas:

(1) Keep your home page fresh with new content posted at least monthly.

(2) Watch your web analytics and make sure the traffic you are getting from search engines isn't slipping.

(3) Get as many inbound links as you can, but remember, it's the QUALITY of those links pointing to your website more than the quantity. Your inbound link text should also match the keyword/phrase you are targeting like: Wedding Planning Advice

(4) Stay on top of your online marketing - having the right information and keeping up on the latest trends and changes in online marketing will help you get the best results from your website, get more inquiries, and book more weddings.

For more ideas and help marketing to brides visit my Book More Weddings website at http://www.bookmoreweddings.com.

Catching up... is always more difficult.