Important Lesson About South of Boston Local Search Placement
Back in September I posted an article about how we got to # 2 on Google in 30 days. The article focused on two search phrases, “South of Boston Web Design” and “South of Boston Marketing.” After I posted the article, I neglected posting new content to our South of Boston Web Design and Marketing Blog. Our listing dropped to #27 and #12 on Google.
It’s amazing how quickly search engines respond to new content. A few years ago it would take months to get listed anywhere. I remember submitting my site to Yahoo! and it took 3+ months to see the site anywhere. Also, changes to the site would take weeks to get re-cataloged. Technology has come a long way in a very short period of time. The algorithms used by search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are incredibly sophisticated these days.
In fact, it’s my understanding that part of the reason Google is digitizing so many classic books is so they have a massive sample of quality content on which to test algorithms in order to identify strong content. As these search engine algorithms become more sophisticated it will be far more difficult to “trick” them into getting web sites listed higher. For example, when the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry began you could put hundreds of your key words at the bottom of each page and make them the same color as the background – they would not be seen by visitors, but search engine spiders would catalog them and your ranking would skyrocket.
Those days are long gone – thank goodness! Try that “trick” today and you’ll quickly be banned and penalized and your ranking will drop. Now, it’s more about being a good Internet citizen as I recently discussed in a post.
Back to the reason I posted these comments: the speed and dynamic nature of local search placement. After I realized we dropped in our Google ranking, I decided to do some more research and post more content. Here’s the amazing part of the story – within 20 minutes Google already cataloged the page and the new post was listed in the Search results. Our ranking for ”South of Boston Web Design” jumped to #11, and we were back to #2 for “South of Boston Marketing.” I find it breathtaking how far search technology has come in such a short period of time.
My recommendation to any company South of Boston is to find a way to add valuable content to your web site (perhaps use a blog like we have done here), partner with other businesses (cross link between web sites as much as possible), and don’t let your web site become static. If it does, you’ll drop in the search rankings, but more importantly, you’ll become less relevant to those visiting your web site. The Internet is dynamic and alive, so use your web site as a tool, not a brochure.