In classic books from The Art of War and Wealth of Nations to the financial advisory websites of today, one thing remains clear, the old saying is true “you have to spend money to make money.” In this case, the money is spent on investment and more specifically, search engine optimization (SEO) When it comes to SEO and what you are prepared to risk, you have to consider if it is worth the benefits. Are there risks that you should be willing to take, and some you should avoid? The answer is yes to both questions. Your company inevitably has multiple sales goals and a finite budget from which to draw. How much investment in SEO should your company risk to improve its SEO? Here are a few ideas and their benefits and risks:
Should Your Company Use an SEO Expert?
Despite if you hire an SEO agency or hire an SEO expert, this is an expenditure that is worth the risk. An SEO expert keeps abreast of current trends and the ever-shifting way search engines analyze content and reward or downgrade it. SEO Experts can suggest adjustments or undertake the changes to content when Google or Bing changes their criteria. The drawback of hiring SEO experts is that they may be expensive and not bring more traffic and conversions to your site. Be sure to research the qualifications and customer reviews of an SEO agency you hire. Outsourcing SEO to a subpar agency can bring misspelled words in content, plagiarism, and poor grammar.
Furthermore, carefully interview anyone you are going to put on your payroll to manage your company’s SEO. If an SEO expert your company has hired does not bring results, you will have to pay for things after termination, such as health insurance and unemployment. Something else to consider is that marketing can use a large part of your company’s overall budget on SEO, and if the wrong person is chosen to manage it, you will see little to no ROI. Out of all the risks with SEO, who handles it is the most significant risk, but it also can bring the biggest rewards with the correct SEO expert.
Trying Out Various Keywords
If you don’t have enough traffic to your website, it may be due to the keywords that you select. Your SERP (search engine results page) can even get high rankings, but few clicks. The way to change these results is through testing keywords. You will have to test and track multiple keywords to determine which ones bring the best results. Once you have discovered the right combination of keywords, you should increase your website traffic and conversions. The obvious risk in experimenting with keywords is lower SERP rankings. Testing different combinations could lead to decreased traffic. Fewer visitors could prove disastrous for a company that is based on e-commerce. Search engines could also penalize you if your testing of keywords is seen as keyword packing. The act of keyword packing will put you on a blacklist, and it will take time to regain your standing with search engines.
Backlinks
Backlinks have historically improved SEO when another company features your site in a backlink, search engines notice. The greater the backlinks you have, the higher your site’s SERP rankings. Sharing links is an economical way to better your SEO results at once, but there is something else to consider. Companies that feature your backlinks will expect quid pro quo and seek their backlinks to be featured on your site. This practice is acceptable if the site you are dealing with is legitimate and doesn’t delve into unseemly practices.
If the Website is a bit on the shady side, your association with them could have a detrimental impact on your entire brand. And if the links are spammy, malicious, or lower quality sites, you will be punished by the search engines. Even if the website you exchange links with is trustworthy, you risk a customer going to their site and not returning to your site.
Taking these risks in improving your SEO, if done correctly, can bring improved traffic and, ultimately, sales. If done incorrectly, can set your SEO efforts back.
For more information on how Incend Media can help you contact us today.