Does First Place Matter?
By Nathan Lyle (Web Maestro) - March 3rd, 2010
Now that most businesses have accepted the need to have a website, it's become a common obsession to get that website listed on Google's first page of search results. While this is a goal that can be worked on, and most often achieved, the real question is, "does it matter?"
What many people don't realize is that every visitor to your website adds to the resources (primarily bandwidth) that you have to pay for to keep your website active. At first glance it seems like a great idea to get as many visitors as possible. The real question, however, is what are those visitors going to do at your website? Are they going to buy your product? If not, you might be throwing money away.
It pays for you to know what your goal is with your website, so you can measure and evaluate. A smaller number of visitors is better if it means a higher percentage is converting into sales. Higher numbers of visits don't necessarily translate into sales automatically. People may click on your website's address in their search results for a variety of reasons, having nothing to do with whether you make money or not.
That coveted first page of results in Google also is highly circumstantial. You might hold a good position for a search on "cube shaped chocolate" but be nowhere to be found on a search for "chocolate." Unless you know what your target market is typing when they do a search, it's very likely you're not getting the results you think you are. This doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't target specific keywords when optimizing your website, but keyword research should be a part of that.
When thinking about searches, think about the situation where people are likely to search for you. Worry about those people you're seeking to make a connection with rather than the random stranger. This means that aside from search engines, it would be wise to seek to get links to your website on other websites where your target market is visiting. These types of links also help to filter out some of the noise, so that the visitors you get are more likely to be the ones you want.
Real-world visibility also seems to get forgotten in the mad rush for Google's prime real estate. It never ceases to amaze me how many businesses go to the trouble of getting a website put together, and then don't put their website address on their business cards, brochures, and media advertisements. Advertise the dickens out of your website. Everywhere that you're promoting your business, you should be promoting your website.
To sum things up, while being competitive in business can be crucial to success, competing for first place in Google (and other search engines) doesn't necessarily pay off. Spend your online marketing efforts in areas that improve what you offer, show a return on investment, or build on your customer relationships.
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