SEO Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Search engine optimization is like running on a treadmill. You have to stay constantly on the move to keep from going backwards. It is not a task for a lazy person.

That's my problem. I want to do something once and have it done. I don't want to keep doing the same thing over and over again. That seems like a waste of time. Of course, you could say the same thing about eating, sleeping, or bathing. The author of Ecclesiastes said it well when he proclaimed, "All is vanity."

Their are several reasons search engine optimization is a constant battle. For one, there are always new websites being added to the mix. They never stop coming. Those websites have to be crawled and examined by the search engines and then positioned according to the rules. That means your website may have a lower placement tomorrow simply because of a new website that came on the scene today.

Another reason search engine optimization is a constant process is because people keep changing their websites. They don't stay the same. Search engines like fresh content and give websites with the newest content more favorable placement. Well, with content for websites always changing, the search engines are always rearranging the order they place sites in.

Since everybody wants to be placed near the top of the search engines, there is lots of competition. You are competing with people all over the world for a good position in Google, Yahoo, or whatever. Until your competition sleeps, you do so at your peril.

There is no one magic bullet that will propel you to the top of the search engines and keep you there. If there were, it would not last, because the search engines keep changing their own rules and criteria for evaluating websites. There is an entire industry just devoted to keeping up with search engine optimization rule changes.

It used to be that you could do a search on something and find several sites that came up were no longer in operation. That is hardly true anymore unless your search is on a really obscure subject. The competition for top spots will drive the dead listings so far down in the pack, practically no one will ever find them. That is a good thing.

No, search engine optimization is not for the faint of heart. Ironically, some people will pay good money to this or that SEO service to get their websites in the upper rankings and then they will let those services go. They totally ignore the law of gravity. It takes effort to sustain the lofty position. If someone is not going to keep up the effort, one should not bother employing the service.

That's my two cents.

Wade Houston
October 13, 2007