Edicts of Search Engine Marketing - WebMama Learnings

There are some things that are always constant in the world of search engine optimization and marketing. My team and I remind ourselves of these edicts when we are approached by a potential client. If the potential client does not accept these truths, we don't work with them.

Business Expectations:

1. Search Engines change their algorithms all the time.
2. A business CANNOT survive by relying solely on Google to rank them highest in organic results (see #1).
3. It is about Conversion not ranking (see #2).

SEO Tactics:

4. The fundamentals of SEO never change, they just adapt to new media.
5. Never leave it up to a search engine to decide what is important on your site, tell them through internal linking, tags and content.
6. Do NOT expect anything to happen overnight even if you use sitemaps.

Paid Search Tactics:

7. If you need to own a category then bid higher (#3 may need to be ignored).
8. Control your affiliates with changes to their written contracts, not just threats.
9. Automated bid management systems are not the best way to manage #7.

A final thought, encourage your clients to educate themselves on the world of search marketing through courses, respected blogs and conferences, not forums.