When it comes to SEO, sometimes there is a fine line between too much structure and too much experimentation, between too rigid of a strategy and a strategy that bounces around like a pinball.
To strike the right balance, keep in mind:
- SEO is a long-term proposition. It can take Google months to pay heed to your optimization work and reward it.
- Because SEO is long-term, being too quick to make changes can be self-defeating. Your strategy may be correct but hasn’t had enough time to bear fruit.
- SEO campaigns are never perfect right out of the gate — there are simply too many variables to create the perfect campaign on a blank canvas. Furthermore, circumstances beyond your control — such as SEO maneuvers by competitors — mean your SEO landscape will always be changing.
- Because SEO is a game of continuous improvement, holding off on content creation until keyword research is “perfect,” holding off on keyword research until marketing strategy is “perfect,” or holding off on all SEO activities until competitive research is “perfect” only results in your website losing SEO ground to competitors.
Far more important than striving for perfection is making data tracking, collection and review a priority, and then using data to continually test new SEO tactics.
If you track data properly, you will know which search engines, keywords and website pages are generating the most leads and the best leads.
If you collect data properly, you will isolate actual SEO-generated sales leads from non-leads such as spam and customer service inquiries.
If you review properly collected, complete data, you have the means to refine keyword emphasis, content, offers and other SEO campaign elements that contribute to lead generation.
In short, by focusing on improvement rather than perfection, you will see the lead generation effectiveness of your SEO campaign increase over time. This is the mindset of every company that knocks the SEO ball out of the park.