OLA!
Ever go to the doctor for a checkup or to look at 1 thing and turns out, you’ve got a few other things they want to get checked out?
What about the mechanic? Pretty sure we’ve all gone in for a regular service or to deal with 1 niggly issue, only to be told we’ve got a few other problems that need sorting out.
I know there’s a few cowboy mechanics out there looking to make a quick buck (everything needs fixing now!) but for the most part, good mechanics will prioritise what needs fixing and give it to you straight.
Sometimes you’ll just tell them to take care of it now and spare you the hassle later.
Sometimes you’ll take your chances.
Whatever it is you choose to do, it’s a bit like how SEO works.
My friend and their non-HTTPS site
I was helping a friend out with the website for their business and this was before the HTTPS hysteria.
Think back to when HTTPS was only just becoming a thing with every website.
I advised them to take care of it now, because it’s a “set and forget” kinda thing.
I also advised them of the benefits of doing so.
They opted to take care of it later on because “if it’s not immediately important, why bother?”
Fast forward to August 2019 and the site still isn’t secure.
Rankings have dipped a little and traffic hasn’t exactly gone up.
Business seems to be doing alright but I know it’s tough times.
But it bugs me that this doesn’t bug him.
HTTPS isn’t his biggest issue.
His disregard for the bigger picture is. And it could become an even bigger problem down the line.
The other day I saw a Twitter thread by an up and coming SEO gun by the name of Keval and he was talking about SEO issues with Shopify.
Long story short: he talked about how Shopify is bad for SEO and how its structure means a lot of pages on your site will never make it to Google’s index (which means no one will find it in Google).
He used Google Search Console to identify the problem and rectified it by requesting indexing of each and every URL. And it was a boat load of them.
For small sites this is quick enough. But larger e-comm sites are going to need to spend a lot of time doing this.
The downside to ignoring this is you’ll miss out on rankings, traffic and sales (NO BIGGIE).
The upside is you will enjoy rankings, traffic and sales (YAY).
You can read the thread here for more context: https://twitter.com/SEOKeval/status/1155638893783527424
Now if Keval didn’t find out about this issue, his client wouldn’t be any wiser.
They came to him for 1 particular issue (either get better rankings or more traffic but ultimately, more sales) and he dug deeper to figure out what’s up.
So he took care of it. No need to ask a client for permission (hey is it ok if I make you more money?!)
No doubt he took care of the basics. But his work doesn’t end there.
It’s about regular maintenance and getting all forensic.
This is precisely what you pay for each month.
You pay for your SEO consultant, agency or internal team to investigate and figure out how to get even better.
You don’t just go to a doctor to get cholesterol meds. You also go to him for advice on how to keep your cholesterol in check.
You don’t just go to a mechanic to get your squeaky brakes fixed. You also go to him for advice on what else you can do to avoid wearing your brakes out so fast.
Sometimes there’s 1 underlying problem that is the cause of all your woes.
Sometimes it’s a lot of smaller different things.
But the TL;DR is: prevention is better than cure.
SEO is a long game. It has moments of quick wins and plenty of moments where you have to watch paint dry.
But it’s worth every penny.
When the going is good, keep going.
Because when things go bad and you’re up the creek without a paddle, SEO will become a lot more costlier.
Save yourself the pain.
Invest in a good SEO strategy today.
Talk to me – fill out the Website Audit form and let Dubai’s SEO expert show you the way to big profits.
