June 21st, 2010 by Susie

Search engine optimization is a complicated business. No client should expect instant results if they want the positive outcomes of the campaign to be sustainable in the long run. However, sometimes even patience lets a client down because their site continues to languish in the less useful parts of the search engine results pages. In those circumstances, dialogue between the client and the SEO company is essential. Although the experts should be able to diagnose what has been going wrong, it is helpful to consider whether there may have been failings in the following three areas.

Inappropriate techniques

Were the correct techniques applied to the site in the first place? Were the techniques used ethical or did they diverge from this ideal? It is important for clients to know the distinctions between black hat, white hat and grey hat techniques. It could be the case that inappropriate activity has led to the site incurring a search engine penalty. Alternatively, the techniques used may have been ethical, but they may have not fitted well with the needs of the site. Perhaps the specific techniques used were inappropriate for an ecommerce site, for example.

Appropriate techniques, ineffective implementation

Sometimes a SEO firm has contrived to work out appropriate techniques for a specific site, but the implementation stage has proven tricky. Link building strategies can be awkward because Google frowns upon paid links, and the natural acquisition of links can sometimes be problematic. Links may have been acquired naturally, but they may have been low on link juice because they were from sites with little credibility, for instance. In other circumstances, the reason for inappropriate techniques is harder to pin down, because it is related to the specific requirements of the site concerned.

Imagine a site offering concrete floor polishing services, which has been having regular content added to it frequently. It may be suffering in terms of conversions because the right tone has not been sustained, or because users have found the lack of variety in its industry news to be unimpressive. If there are implementation issues, they should be jointly researched by the client and the SEO firm.

Failing to keep up with innovation

Innovation does not slow down in the sphere of search. Nor do the algorithms of the major search engines remain the same for long. In addition to these two pivotal factors, the speed of change in the social media sector is also quite frightening. For example, changes in market share and changes in social media marketing strategies means that an online firm, and its partners, must keep up-to-date for their sector. Any lapses in etiquette may be harshly punished. For example, using Facebook and Twitter to promote the brand involves a considerable amount of planning if it is to be successful.

Sometimes the reasons for disappointing performance fall outside the categories listed above. It is worth remembering that a site is involved in a competitive struggle for visibility and conversions. Whatever the precise difficulties, close collaboration with an effective SEO firm will produce results.

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