“Oh, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is”~The Rolling Stones
If only this was true. Time is the one thing none of us seem to have enough of these days. This is especially true when we speak of managing our websites. I recommend to my clients they make a change to their websites at the very least once a month. And that is not really enough. But it is a start, and helps their websites to succeed and flourish. Your search engine rankings won’t improve if your website is stale and static. And why would anyone return if it is always the same content?
People want to save money, which is admirable. So what do we do? We build Content Management Systems so non-technical folks can make changes, add content, etc. But what happens? People get so busy they forget about their website.
So what is the answer? Here are three things you can do.
Welcome to the common sense blog. The basis of our business at RooSites is to create world class websites, that look good, perform well in searches and have quality content. This should be the basis of everyone’s website. Simplistic? Yes, but to me that is what it is all about. If you fulfill the 3 things I mentioned, and you pay a reasonable price, your site should be a success. To me this is common sense, (thus the wonderfully imaginative blog title) but the amount of spam I receive from SEO firms all over the world lead me to believe I am in the minority here….That somehow SEO tricks and the dreaded “We can reverse engineer google” firms know something more than you do.
Let me tell you they can’t reverse engineer Google. Period. No, not a guy in Bangalore, nor a guy in the Ukraine or even a kind of smart guy in Boston can. Unless perhaps you build an army of PHDs you can’t figure out the search algorithm. Ok, I suppose Albert Einstein could have developed the theory of Search rather than relativity had he lived in this point in time. But he didn’t and Dr. Salk ain’t walking through the door to switch to search research either. Please don’t get me wrong, there are legit SEO firms out there, just beware of the firms claiming to make you number one in a short period of time. If they could do it for you, they would do it for themselves. My stock answer when they call is to do a quick google search for phrases “SEO” and “Search Engine Optimization” and let them know they aren’t in the top 50 (usually 100). I ask them what they charge and offer to double their fee. Of course only if they can make themselves number 1 in the period of time they claim to be able to do for me. I have yet to ever have to pay.
So what do you do? Stick to the basics, hire a good firm (like RooSites) and work hard on your site. The main mistake is putting a site up and forgetting about it. I liken it to a store still selling pet rocks, member’s only jackets and ashtrays. Probably go out of business pretty quick. I recommend making (at least) monthly website updates, (more, much more if possible, weekly is ideal) whether it is news, new products, articles, blogging. Whatever. Give your viewers a reason to keep coming back to your website. In this business, stale = fail, so keep your content fresh!
Anyway, that is it for now. I will be writing when the urge hits me about all things web development….and of course taking a common sense approach.
