SEO is a favourite topic of mine. If you don’t engage in SEO, you may have to pay for Google Ads. Google has a captive market now and for the foreseeable future. Google controls search results through their (secret) algorithm, and also via Google Ads. You see, all other forms of advertising are now deprecated to the searches performed online. Especially now with the world wide lockdown due to COVID-19.

In April 2020, people are in their homes, not looking at business signage, billboards or vehicle signage. Advertising messages on television, have lost their coverage with the likes of Netflix and recordings that skip the ads.

Google has a stranglehold on searches performed (90%+) and dictates who is in the top 10 searches for a set of search terms.

Many of our clients have agreed to Google Ads to remain visible in online searches. Their investment ranges from $500 to $5,000 a month, just to attract eyeballs to their website or special offers. Imagine if every business globally agreed to pay for visibility on Google’s advertising platform. That would be the biggest business in the world. Hang on, that’s what they are already… right?

So what’s the alternative? SEO, or search engine optimisation attempts to get better visibility in searches, without paying for Google Ads. Sometimes it works, but it’s a slow old process. You see, Google has a goal for the ideal search result to be everything the searching public wants- authority, novelty, credibility and popularity. If your website had more hits, more visits, with people staying longer- then it would rank higher due to popularity. If your website had 3,000+ word articles that were scholarly and cited references and research- it would be more credible and authoritative. If your website structure features Questions and Answers- it may be ranked higher especially for current popular topics, like COVID-19, coronavirus or pandemic.