Yes! SEO is all about timing. But, most importantly, your timing and your time management. When doing SEO to your fullest potential, you have to pay attention to all of your SEO clocks, at the same time, and manage them equally.
There are a total of four SEO clocks you have to manage. In this installment of Simon Says, we will talk about the first two clocks you have to manage to have a sound SEO strategy for your web presence.
This seems anti-climatic, doesn’t it? But, I assure you there is always a general SEO clock that ticks off time on you. It’s all related to one thing: your time management.
If you have a website and you want it’s wealth of information and resources to be found, you have to do SEO. You have to jump into search engine optimization with both feet. The reason is because search engines are such a part of digital life at this point we don’t even call it searching anymore, we refer to it as Googling, mainly because that is the most popular search engine at the moment. However, if one of the other search engines that exist happened to take the forefront, we might be Binging or Yahooing.
The point is none of the search engines are going to take the time to “discover who you are.” You have the task of telling search engines who you are and if you don’t have your site structured to do that very thing the search engines are not going to bother showing your site in search results.
But, Simon, aren’t search engines smart enough to look through my stuff and sort all that out?
Yes, they are, but they won’t. Sites – like, say, your competitor’s – doing the search engine optimization work will get the push to the top. When the algorithm of a search engine crawls, or “looks through a website’s stuff,” and has little work to do, they give your site a fist bump and deem you relevant. If you put up unclear and muddy information for the algorithm, or the search engine’s eyes looking through your stuff, to sort out, it will try. But, it is still not a human and if it can’t draw conclusions, it won’t show you as a relevant result.
So, when I say the clock is ticking it’s not all negative. Your website is waiting for you to put the information it needs in it so the great and powerful Google can move it up in the ranks. Whenever you start the process, your website will be better for it.
Still not sure what exactly to do with all this? Don’t worry, we can help you get your direction.
Did you know Google has a clock you have to watch?
It’s called Dwell Time. Now, Dwell Time has been a mystery for a while, because people that do SEO believe that the formula for it changes just about every time Google improves its algorithm. It’s also never really listed in any analytic data you will ever see. However, we do know that it has an impact on your rank and it’s an important factor.
Dwell Time is the amount of time someone spends on your page reading your information before returning to the search results that got them there.
Just a quick note: do you see how Clock 1 relates to Clock 2? Let me emphasize: Dwell Time is the amount of time someone spends on your page reading your information before returning to the search results that got them there.
Now that we’re clear on that, here’s what that means in a nutshell, brace yourself: if you don’t write engaging, entertaining, relevant, readable, usable, useful, powerful,
There are many strategies to employ that will encourage people to stay on your site. You’re reading a blog; that’s one way. You highlight employees that work for you or volunteers who help your non-profit thrive. You can write articles about how your business contributes to the community and makes it a better place. You can highlight aspects of your services so your potential customers understand them better. If you structure them correctly, you can build a home page that will point anyone – and the almighty Google – exactly where they need to go to find out exactly who you are.
This maximizes your site. You get a fist bump from Google and you get one from your website user.
Don’t miss it! Also, if you’re interested in getting your questions answered regarding your SEO strategy, join us for our next Facebook Live Event: Webbin’ It Wisdom, on January 3.
