You’ve started a new exercise routine, and you’re so excited to commit yourself and watch the transformation begin. You put so much effort into it, and then you take a mirror selfie or step on the scale to find that nothing has changed! Even worse—you have a wonderful week of exercise, eating healthy foods, and sticking to the plan only to find the number on the scale has gone up. Hey, muscle weighs more than fat. The worst thing you can do is check these numbers every day, and the same goes for Googling yourself.
The odds are that checking yourself every day will cause knee-jerk reactions and stress and cause you to deviate from the SEO plan you have for your business.
SEO is a long-haul game.
John Mueller from Google said in 2020 that your search engine rankings could fluctuate for up to a year when you launch a new website.
“I think if your website is just, let’s say, a couple of months old, maybe eight months, maybe a year, then that’s still very fresh with regards to the rest of the internet. So that’s kind of a time where our algorithms are still trying to figure out how and where we should show your website in the search results overall.
So that’s something where it would be normal to see some kind of fluctuations around how it’s being shown in search. Sometimes things go up for a while, sometimes they go down for a while. And then, I’d say over the course of a year, things settle down in kind of a stable state.
So that’s something where I wouldn’t necessarily worry too much about this particular situation. I’d continue working on your website, and over time that’s something that should be reflected in search overall.”
The point is, it’s a process that takes time and effort from you and your website provider.
There will always be competition.
You went out and got the best veterinary website on Earth, provided content, and made some upgrades to your hospital—shouldn’t you run the world?! Google crawls the internet 24/7 for content and looks at other web metrics to figure out what is the most relevant to its users. You could have a fantastic website, but it’s also about creating content that your users will find interesting. What do you think, we’re writing this blog for the fun of it?! NO! We want users like you to come to our website, read our blog, and stick around to get to know us. We do the same for our clients with custom blogs, social media, and other interactive pages that keep people on their website to let Google know it’s valuable.
The point is the hospital down the street is working hard to grow their business just like you, so it’s essential to do all of the things that make your users (and Google) happy. This includes keeping your website updated, adding new and exciting content, and making changes often.
And remember, your rankings will still fluctuate as you grow your brand online. Keeping up with your original SEO plan is the right call, as starting over causes you to start over with Google, too.
Not all search results are the same!
The Google search results that you see and the results someone else sees are different. Ads, map results, and the order of search results are influenced by your online tendencies and search history. When you Google yourself, just remember that the odds that you are searching for the exact phrase, at the precise time, with the exact search history of your ideal user is slim to none, and the results will be different.
This is why WhiskerCloud believes so profoundly in data. Your goal should be to measure your website’s success from users that find you from organic search and not how many times you find yourself at the top of Google. When you visit your website a million times a month and Google your business multiple times a day, guess what Google will show you? Of course, we’re not trying to get you as a client; we’re trying to get pet owners in the area to find you.
In 2020, 87% of consumers said they read online reviews for a local business. It’s essential to get five-star reviews but also to get reviews often. Besides adding new and exciting content to your website for an on-page SEO strategy, it’s vital to focus on an off-page SEO strategy that includes link-building through social media and reviews.
Final thought. You will never be able to pay your bills with a printout of being at the top of Google for a single keyword, but you can focus on targeted keywords that bring the right people to your website that will convert into customers. Focus on the data, and the rest will come.
WhiskerCloud websites are fully loaded with everything you need to grow.
We offer cloud hosting, SEO, real-time website tracking, reputation management, social media management, and advertising — and all of it comes with unlimited support from our team.
