There are billions of customers out there, and nearly as many ways to get them interested.
Our nascent fascination with search stems back to the internet’s earliest days when algorithms didn’t reign supreme. Back then, it was far simpler to be found on the web. It didn’t require all of the technical know-how, breadth and awareness of hundreds of ranking factors in order to be discovered relevantly in an online search.
No, back then it was far simpler.
However, today, with the evolution of Google’s core search algorithms, and in the wake of major adjustments that have gone by names like Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird, being found on the web has become likened to obtaining a doctoral degree in physics or mathematics.
As entrepreneurs, we all know that the best way to market any business online is to be found organically through a search at the top of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). It’s free and offers near-limitless traffic to those who can master this highly-convoluted field of online search. But doing that has also become a monumental undertaking.
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On the other end of the spectrum, many of us are online-searching sleuths. We’re professionals, able to gracefully surf the world’s annals of information effortlessly and with ease. We can tap into the vast knowledge available at a moment’s notice from powerful, blazing-fast pocket computers, on cue and at any time. Yes, we most certainly know how to conduct a search.
However, as a business owner or professional, you know quite well that this isn’t the case for being found. Appearing relevantly for highly-competitive keywords has become an ever-increasingly difficult task. But how else are we supposed to market our businesses online if we can’t appear competitively on Google’s SERPs? And how is that some people seem to dominate Google’s searches while others seem to falter and fail?
Clearly, it’s not easy. That might also be the reason why the world’s foremost SEO specialists can command thousands of dollars per hour to analyze, tweak and optimize sites for specific keywords. Surely, this is no small feat. What people don’t realize is that there are fundamentals building blocks in place that make it difficult to make considerable traction over a period of weeks or even months.
Translation? Anyone who’s interested in dominating search must know that it takes years and years to build up the type of link profile, authority and content to rank almost effortlessly for specific keywords. The truth of the matter? You need to do the most amount of work for the least initial return if you’re serious about gaining any traction with organic marketing online.
The problem? We’re the product of an instant-gratification society. We want things, and we want them now. This is partially born from our genetic makeup, but further fostered by media and societal norms that highlight the hedonistic pleasures associated with enjoying life’s most primal urges to eat, earn and procreate.
Yet, in order to succeed in business or in life, you need to do the most amount of work for the least initial return, not the other way around. You need to endure the pain if you want to experience the pleasure. And when it comes down to marketing your business, you’ll most certainly experience tremendous amounts of pain if you don’t know what you’re doing.
