SEO Is Like The Premier League
Like many freelancers, I regularly attend local Lancashire networking meetings. The format of these meetings normally include a “60 Seconds” slot for individuals to explain what their business is all about. SEO in 60 Seconds is a bit like War and Peace in a paragraph but generally I speak about the outcomes rather than the process, such as getting more leads for B2B’s and more sales for e-commerce brands. But the recent exciting conclusion to the Premier League season got me thinking about how this could work as an analogy for SEO.
Let me start by asking a question: Last season, who was the best English football team? Surely even the most ardent United or Liverpool fan would find it hard to disagree with the conclusion that it was Manchester City. 100 Points and winning the Premier League with five matches to spare – they were certainly ranked No. 1.
Roll on 12 months and ask the same question again. This time, even the most ardent Man City fan would think a little longer before giving an answer – all because of a team called Liverpool. Sure, City retained the title, won the Carabao Cup and (at the time of writing) are on for the domestic treble. But Liverpool have reached the Champions League Final and only fell short of the title by a point.
So, what’s all this got to do with SEO? Well, the answer is competition. If your website is reasonably optimised for search engines (let’s say you’ve done some basic on-page optimisation and have gained a couple of decent backlinks) but your competitors haven’t done anything, then your website is likely to outrank the competition. But, if like Liverpool, the competition decides to up their game, then that sacred No. 1 spot that your best-converting keyword holds would be under pressure. And we know the effect that losing rankings on important keywords can have on a business.
Google’s SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) is therefore a mini Premier League Table of 10 teams. Websites must do their pre-season training before their busy period – SEO can’t just be turned on and off like a tap. Another team might make a huge investment and gain an advantage – similar to a competitor creating lots of new video content. Keep an eye on your competitors to judge how and why they may be outranking you. And avoid the dreaded relegation, since dropping down to Google’s Championship (Page #2) causes all sorts of issues such as reduced overall impressions and a reduced click-through-rates from 35% down to 1.5% (Advanced Web Ranking, April 2019).
If you want your website to be top of the league rather than languishing mid-table, why not try a free website audit to see how fit and well-trained your website is?
