Many of the business owners and executives we meet with have strong opinions about search engine optimization (SEO). They’ve read up on various tools and tricks meant to grab traffic from Google’s algorithm, and are eager to try the latest gimmicks designed to attract Google’s search spiders. But even though they’ve paid attention to the latest trends and fads, their websites are buried deep within the search results.

Years of experience have taught us that these men and women are often good at thinking conceptually, but not as strong when it comes to execution. In other words, they can talk a good game but don’t know how to follow through.

If you have the sense that all of your big SEO ideas haven’t come to anything special or substantial yet, you are probably missing two important ingredients in your search visibility campaigns. They aren’t talked about much, but they do tend to be massively important.

So what are these magic bullets that make search engine optimization work? Focus and consistency. To help you understand why they are so crucial, let’s look at them one at a time…

Successful SEO Always Comes from a Place of Focus
The internet is a big place. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be such a huge need for search engines like Google to begin with. Because there are so many websites, and new content additions coming at us all the time, we need tools to help us find what’s new, relevant, and insightful.

Just as searchers are looking for a perfect result that yields the product, service, or insight they need, you as a marketer should be zeroed in on a particular type of searcher. You might be looking for someone who has a specific need, fits a certain demographic profile, or is ready to take immediate action. You should know exactly what they are hoping to find and how you can help them while at the same time advancing your own business goals.

If you aren’t focused in your approach to SEO you probably aren’t going to get anywhere. Far too many business owners and executives look for “keywords with high-traffic,” often ignoring the intention behind certain search phrases. A Google user who types a generic string into the search engine may or may not have any interest in your offerings. Except in rare cases you won’t have enough information to go on.

Take our business for example. Someone who enters “web design” into Google’s search box might be a good prospect for us, but they can also be interested in learning web design skills (as an example). Someone who searches “web design company” is likely to be a better match, and a search for “New York Web Design Company” is probably a strong prospect.

A lot of marketers are afraid to go narrow with their search engine optimization focus, but that’s often where the biggest profits are. For one thing, roughly half of all search queries are four words or longer. Searchers don’t want generic answers any more than you want generic searchers. And for another thing, it’s a lot easier to produce sustainable SEO campaigns when you are zeroed in on a specific type of buyer or influencer.

If that doesn’t persuade you, think about things from the other side of the coin. When your SEO campaigns are too wide than the competition for top spots can be overwhelming. It becomes nearly impossible to make progress. For the good of your own sanity, not to mention your bottom line, narrow your campaigns so they become actionable and realistic.

Consistency is the Key to Lasting SEO Profitability
It’s ironic that just as many marketers have a tendency to target too wide of an audience when getting started with search engine optimization, most will also give up too soon. They want their websites to be seen by everyone, but quit producing content and making updates long before they see real results.

There is an element of human nature involved that almost guarantees many business owners and executives will give up too soon. They are busy and overwhelmed people who don’t have extra time and money to throw around. So, after the first few weeks or months investing in SEO without tangible results they (understandably) decide to direct their time and attention elsewhere. This is especially likely to happen if they started the project with a big flurry of blog posts, hosting improvements, and other small changes that they hoped would make an immediate impact.

For the reasons of competition we’ve already outlined, most companies aren’t going to be able to dominate their local or specific search market after a short period of effort. In many cases it’s going to take months, or potentially even years, before the campaigns pay off in a big way.

It’s important to note here that we aren’t saying SEO shouldn’t produce returns for a long time. What we are pointing out is that many of the measurable improvements that come are going to be incremental at first, and that you’re going to have to study analytics, audits, and reports with your web design team to see them before your phone will start ringing off the hook.

Likewise, we aren’t advocating that any company stick with a losing strategy. If your online marketing team has promised you quick fix results based on some sort of gimmick, don’t keep throwing money at them and hoping for better results. That’s not how good marketing works in any context.

Instead, the reality we want you to understand is that the best search engine optimization campaigns are built on consistent effort over time. Stay focused on your market, produce high-quality content, audit your site regularly, and study your analytics. If you can keep that up for long enough you’re going to see results. If you get discouraged in the short term, though, you could give up just before you are due to hit a tipping point in terms of search visibility and lead generation.

At Maxburst We Don’t Just Build Websites
Looking for a web design company in New York? We know you have lots of choices. Many of our colleagues will help you find a nice layout and put a professional-looking website online. But how many of them are committed to generating real-world results for your business?

At Maxburst, we’ve built an award-winning creative agency by putting our clients’ business growth first. So, if you want to move beyond simple web designs, and break into the realm of extraordinary gains in sales and efficiency, reach out to us anytime and schedule a friendly consultation!