Search is About Basic Blocking and Tackling

In my last few posts, I have started to introduce some of the different areas that my SEMCheck SEO audit tool looks at when assessing the foundational SEO health of a website. This tool is really effective for the SMB site owner who is looking to not get jammed by some search marketer who may prey on their lack of search savvy. This is an important step for ANY business to take before researching providers of search services. Protect yourself!

Enough about that. What I want the SMB (small and medium business) owner or marketer to understand is that search is not a great mystery. It’s not black magic. It’s not voodoo. It actually has a lot more to do with basic business tenets than anything else. Here’s what I mean.

When you talk to a customer do you like a lot of distractions? Do you like to have to deal with interruptions and other things that are not ‘on point’? Well, neither does someone who visits your web site. In other words, keep it simple. Make it look nice but don’t let your visitor get lost in a sea of images and flash components and other distractions that don’t move them toward the conversion point you have established for your site. Keep it simple. Stay with the basic blocking and tackling of business communication.

If you are trying to learn about a potential vendor or service provider do you like a lot of off topic nonsense that may distract you from finding out what you need to know? Of course not, right? Well, neither does Google. In other words, if you want to get found by your potential clients / customers make sure you are clear with your message and you follow the rules of good clean business communication. Google’s algorithm is like you are when it wants to do business; it wants someone who follows the rules and understands that doing the basics is just doing good business.

Don’t over think this internet marketing stuff. If you think you will go from zero to sixty in a month (or several for that matter) you are not attending to the basics.

Looking to cut costs these days? Then look at what you have and determine whether you are doing the basics well. They usually don’t cost a lot to repair, if broken, and they carry the most benefit to your business.

The basics win in most cases. Case in point. I am a New York Giants fan and have been since I could draw air so no bandwagon comments please. Not flashy. In fact, they were a shambles about this time last year. Now they have a Super Bowl win and are considered one of the premier teams in the NFL. Why? Because the coach had an epiphany that he was not attending to the basics of team philosophy; team first, sacrifice etc. Now the Giants block and tackle better than most. They punish opponents because there are few distractions. It’s about blocking and tackling. So is your business. Get back to basics. Get to winning especially in the competitive environment on the horizon.

SMB Takeaway: Search marketing is about basic business communication rules more than anything else. Be direct, be concise and be informative and the Google’s of the world will reward you. Stop thinking and start doing.

Thanks and have a great day!