Google, the Online Mafia

Andrew Raynor Dover NH - Here ye, Here ye behold the grave of businesses gone SEO mad.

In the race to the top of google, there is only one winner - Google, they will actively prevent your business from controlling its own destiny on their property. Many of my clients are horrified when I tell them then, then they doubt what I told them. They tell me, Google is our friend we need to work with Google.

Truth be told, Google is opposed to organic search. Think about it, Google makes their money via paid search or pay per click (ppc). This is essentially how Google pays the bills, why then would they allow businesses to easily rank for keywords that Google could otherwise be charging you for.

So then, what is a business to do? There is one thing you definitely don't want to do that is challenge the Google algorithm with gray or black hat techniques and get your expensive corporate website banned by search engines. Instead consider a few Google safe alternatives for your business:

◾Use social media the right way. Optimize your social media accounts and update them frequently. Engage with your audience and grow your natural social profile. Don't just push blog updates or re-tweet relevant industry facts. Make your own content.

◾Create your own backlinks - you may have a firm "handling" your SEO efforts, but that really amounts to on-page SEO. Remember, if you are running a company then in all likelihood you are an authority on relevant subject matter. Create accounts on industry specific blogs with high value to Google like Moz, Quora and others and post on topics you know about. These sites will let you put a website backlink that points to your site, increasing your search numbers.

◾Check your hosting, a little known metric is webpage speed. Some of this is dealt with via page optimization - but website speed is also governed by your host. If your host performs poorly, your site will be slow.

Depending on your industry, a Google PPC campaign can cost between .50 cents and 10+ dollars per click. With these numbers it is easy to see just how quickly your advertising budget can be exhausted. With organic search the costs are initially much higher, however they pay for themselves over time. A well orchestrated SEO campaign over 12 months can establish a first page ranking for important keywords, then its really just maintenance costs.

So don't abide by Google at all times, your business is successful because you think outside of the box. The same applies to your online marketing.

Andrew Raynor Dover New Hampshire