As you look at the results from your existing SEO campaign, you may have a feeling that things aren’t going particularly well. It may be that you’re not seeing the desired results and that you’re worried that you’re on the wrong track.
In order to understand what’s happening, it’s necessary to take a closer look at the activity that you’ve been undertaking and the results that have been produced. Are things quite as bad as you fear?
Realistic expectations
One point to consider is that, contrary to the impression given by some so-called experts, SEO does not produce overnight results. In fact, you’ll rarely see a massive boost in visitor numbers within the first few weeks, or even months.
This can feel somewhat frustrating, but the search engines simply don’t react all that quickly, particularly if you’re site has a low profile at the outset. If your SEO campaign has only been running for a short amount of time, then the best advice may be to give it a few more weeks. It may simply be too early to be expecting results.
A low level of sales
What happens in the case of a site that has gained rankings, but is not producing an increase in income? This is actually a relatively common problem and you’ll need to diagnose exactly what the problem is.
In general terms, you need to work out whether the issue is caused by a lack of visitors, or by a failure to convert those visitors into customers.
A lack of visitors may well indicate that you have gained positioning for low volume keywords. Although this isn’t always a bad thing, it may not lead to a sudden rush of sales.
If you find that you’re in this situation, then you need to consider whether it might be wise to target additional keywords. Such a course of action could allow you to benefit from an increase in visitor numbers.
If you have the visitors, but you simply don’t have the sales, then you’re facing a rather different prospect. In this situation, you need to think about whether you have targeted the right keywords in the first place. Are you aiming for phrases that are closely related to the products and services that you have available on the site? Are you attracting individuals who are in the right phase of the buying process?
It’s also important that you give appropriate consideration to your website and positioning within the broader marketplace. You need to think about the fact that potential customers may be heading elsewhere, even if they do initially arrive on your website.
Such behaviour may reflect the pricing strategy that you have in place, or could actually point to other problems that are associated with your site.
In such circumstances, you need to be aware of the fact that increasing visitor numbers may not produce the required results. You really need to tackle the problems with the site in the first instance.
