Sep 26 2011
There seems to be a misconception about search engine ranking being the best and perhaps only way to get your site any hits, traffic or leads. Unfortunately that's just not entirely true. Of course, decent search engine ranking helps (often, a lot), but it should only be a part of your overall web marketing plan rather than the one tactic you depend on.
Many website owners become so focused (sometimes to the point of obsession) on ranking that they forget something quite obvious: Good ranking doesn't always mean more sales. It might mean more click-throughs and it might mean more visitors, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee more sales. Part of this is that many site owners completely forget the human element in search. That is, it's people who are doing the searching; they're searching for something specific and when they see those initial 10 results they don't just click on them blindly. Instead, they're reading the titles and sometimes even the description below the titles. Based on that, they make a decision on what to click. Otherwise, it's on to page 2 or a new search is started.
If you do get a click-through, there's no promise that they'll become a customer either. To put it bluntly, if your site's content and design aren't compelling enough to establish credibility, authority and most importantly, trust, chances are the visitor will just hit the back button and continue their search for something more credible and professional. But, if your site looks professional, is easy to use and has the right content, your results will be much better. That's called conversion.
Most website owners who do fret and obsess over high search engine ranking are, more often than not, the ones who could probably better spend their time (and money) in getting their site to convert visitors to customers. This is done partly by having a professional look and feel, but also by having well-written copy that informs, persuades and convinces, coupled with solid usability.
Search engine ranking is quite simply, not the end-all, be-all of website marketing. You've heard the phrase, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." It applies to web marketing too. If you're solely dependent on search engine ranking as your only means of traffic, visitors and conversions, you're in for a surprise – and not necessarily a pleasant one.