In the last of our SEO articles for 2008, we’re exploring one of the most enduringly misunderstood and misused terms in the business – “first page results”.

Don’t get us wrong, first page results are absolutely fantastic, they’re the goal of any SEO – but only ever on lead generating keywords. It’s absolutely pointless achieving first page results on keywords that no-one ever searches for.

When you view SEO as an indiscriminate race to get keywords – any keywords – on the first page of Google, it’s quite a simple process. In reality though, it’s a little more involved, especially if you’re looking to achieve the massive business benefits that SEO is capable of delivering.

The tide is slowly turning on this – just last month Google-guru Matt Cutts discussed the likelihood that “ranking was dead” – but some SEO companies are still pedalling it out as an indication of their so-called expertise. Here’s a little insight into why they’re wrong, and how to go about approaching SEO properly.

Lead generating keywords

Accessible through their PPC interfaces, Google, MSN and Yahoo all have accurate systems that show how many searches any given keywords rack up over a monthly period. Once you know the level of searches that a keyword is generating, you’re in a better position to decide on your target list. If a term doesn’t get many searches, then it’s obvious that while it’ll be relatively easy to rank for, it’ll probably not generate any level of interest. It’s always worth running your initial keyword list through one of these systems, you might be surprised at the level of searches they generate.

Unless you’re working in a genuine niche market with a totally unique product or service you’ll be required to compete, and the competition will naturally be fiercer on the lead generating keywords. This tends to be the point at which SEO companies who bleat on about “first page results” make their excuses and disappear. It’s important to formulate your target keyword list around lead generating terms, or else it’s quite a pointless exercise.

Fluidity of results

No matter how successful your SEO results may be at any given time, it needs to be kept in mind that search engines are constantly evolving, and your competitors are likely to be fighting tooth-and-nail on the very same keywords that you’re optimising your site for. Even if you do get a great result there’s no guarantee you’ll be there at the same time the next week, because when you jump up some positions, your competitors notice and react. However, with a well-strategised SEO programme you’re in for the long haul, and you’ll be able to fight back when required with proven techniques.

Return on investment

This is the single most important factor with SEO, and the reason why the vague claim of “first page results” just doesn’t cut it. SEO is no different to any other type of business marketing in as much as it needs to have a positive return on investment (ROI), otherwise it’s a complete waste of time and money. Adopting the “first page for anything” mentality that’s so common in the industry simply doesn’t achieve ROI – if you’re getting results on unpopular terms then how can it?

Tags: Add new tag, search engine optimisation, SEO, seo newcastle

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 5:43 pm and is filed under SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.