Why SEO Should Be Left to the Professionals

Search engines, like the stock market, are constantly changing because their algorithms are directly influenced by the people who use them. And as long as The Times Keep On A-Changin’, so will the Internet search game. For example, Google handles approximately 100 billion searches every month. Those searches (among other things) are analyzed, interpreted, and the data is then used to implement algorithmic changes that make it easier to find what you’re looking for on Google. Of course, if you want to benefit as a website owner (receiving what is essentially “free” advertising) in the midst of this process, you have to do your part. Here are three of the most common reasons businesses that don’t keep up get left behind:

1. What you’re Serving isn’t Fresh

Google, Bing, Yahoo! and just about every other search engine employs what are known as “crawlers.” Essentially, these are programs that methodically browse the Internet and index its pages. When these crawlers, also known as spiders or bots, come across a website that is consistently refreshing its content – whether it is via blog entries or new web pages – they gradually give them better rankings. So if you’ve been letting your website sit dormant, your rankings are undoubtedly suffering. When it comes to search, content is king – be good to your majesty and he shall return the favor.

2. Your Links won’t Last Forever

Links are one of the main ways search engines locate and rank websites. There are two types of links: internal and external. Both are searched for by crawlers that use them to find your site and determine its relevance to highly searched keywords. To cast a stronger, wider net that search engines can use to find your website more frequently, you must correctly and ethically build links over time. You must also consistently refresh your links – remember, always give the bots something new to look at.

**3. Google, Bing & Yahoo! are… Complicated**

Here are the latest updates Google made to its algorithm. Over two months, 65 changes were made, and although most of them were finite and granular updates that only SEO professionals could understand, they still affect your overall strategy. Search engine marketing is a relatively new, yet extremely in-depth topic that so many business owners rely on and, at the same time, know so little about. With the help of a search engine professional, your Internet marketing results are guaranteed - taking all the guess work out of your SEO equation.