Real talk here. We need to have a chat about "I want to rank #1 for all my keywords." Truth be told, in 2015 this is an impossible goal. That should help you weed out any SEO company that solicits your business by promising you a #1 ranking for all your keywords. It can't be done. You might be thinking, "But you're supposed to be the experts! It's your job to make my website rank #1 on Google. If you can't do that, why are you even here?!" Sorry if we just put words in your mouth. You totally might not have been thinking that at all. But if it was the job of an SEO expert to make anyone's website rank #1 on Google, we would all be out of a job. Google cares about the user. People will use Google to find something on the Internet as long as Google continues to be the best at showing them the results they are looking for. The more people use Google, the more websites want to advertise with Google, which means Google makes more money. However, if a website isn't playing by Google's rules and proving that it really deserves to be the top answer to a search, Google won't risk the success of its empire in promoting that website. Google now caters to the user, changing its results constantly depending on each individual's location, search query, website history, and even search patterns. Happy Google users = more people use Google = more advertisers use Google = Google makes more money   Because of this, you can't consistently achieve a #1 ranking on Google. The amount of things that Google considers when planning its search results in order to cater to the user is astounding. Having good search queries in your website's SEO is only your ticket into the game. Now more than ever, you have to also be actively competing for a spot on Google's page 1. Google doesn't tell anyone specifically how or what it is calculating about your online presence to determine where you rank in any given search, but we do know that part of the process goes a little something like this:

Google: Okay, this person is looking for home builders in Kansas City, and here are all these websites that are using the keyword "home builders in Kansas City." Which do I show them? I see tons of people are going to this site, but most of them are leaving without clicking around. That must mean it's not very user-friendly, let's not show that one. Here's one that people really seem to like. Whenever someone comes here, they view a lot of pages and spend a few minutes on the site. I also see they have lots of fans on Facebook, and other good websites I trust are linking to them. They even have directory listings and all of their information matches, so it looks like they are who they say they are. Definitely want to show them in this search.

Despite that being our dramatization of what Google sounds like, Google really has become that smart and will only continue to get smarter. Because it's likely that whoever does rank #1 for a search query is not ranking #1 every day and to every user who conducts that search, the #1 ranking position has become too nebulous to build your goals around. Instead, we need to focus on overall visibility, both on Google's page 1 and elsewhere on the Internet. When we install basic SEO on your site, we're entering you into the ranking game. From there, we expect you'll be implementing different strategies to actually play the game. Strategies like being active and sharing your content on social media, having citations on the right directory sites that all match up with the business information on your website, earning links from other high-quality sites related to the homebuilding industry or where you're located, and claiming your Google map pin. As the experts, our goal is no longer to get you a #1 ranking, but to help your website get enough credit from Google that you'll show up somewhere on page 1 for your most important keywords. That, for now, is still achievable through a very hands-on, qualitative approach to SEO. If you're in need of advice or assistance in furthering your SEO beyond keyword installation, we're always happy to help! Give us a call at 913-393-3367 or email abby@builderdesigns.com with your questions.