How Search Engines Work

Before you get too deep into learning how to do SEO for your site effectively, it is important that you have a base understanding of how search engines work.

A mentor once explained to me that you must first understand the rules and workings of a thing before you contemplate bending or breaking those rules to achieve your goal. This is especially true for SEO. If you understand how the search engines work, you will better understand what to give the search engines to get higher rankings and more traffic.

How Search Works

There are 2 main things that Google, Bing and All Search Engines are focused on:

#1 – To provide the most relevant search results

#2 – To provide those results FAST

Search engines are here to help folks find relevant answers to their questions, and to do so quicky!

This is the reason Google will prioritize faster results.

Knowing this makes it easy to understand why you must take care of the 3 core fundamentals our SEO Tactics are built on:

Technical SEO
High Quality Content
High Quality Backlinks

Once you wrap your head around this you’ll understand why our blitzes are structured the way they are.

Focus on The Core Fundamentals

You will struggle to rank if any one of those 3 core fundamentals are lacking.

If your content does not match the search intent with the best information, you will struggle to rank.

If your site loads slow, you will struggle to rank.

If you do not have relevant, high quality backlinks, you will struggle to rank.

Remember: Google wants to give their users the best experience. They are only focused on their users.

Keep this in mind as you work on your SEO.

Don’t Obsess Over Google Updates

As we explained about there are really 3 main things Google is focused on – Technical SEO (site speed, coding, UX), Content (relevant content) and Backlinks (showing your trust and popularity). When you shift your focus to these you will find your site is not affected by all the algorithm updates.

Let us explain these updates a bit more. Since the early 2000s, the internet has exploded at at an exponential rate. Now Google has always said from the very beginning, you need to have a good website with good content. That has never changed.

Google alogrithm updates are typically Google catching up to loopholes it left open, that were exploided by SEOs.

Over the years MANY different tactics that were not in line with Google’s guidelines have been exploited to rank websites regardless of their relevence of quality. Everything from the early days of cloaking text, keyword stuffing and link farms, to more recent things like PBNs and linkjacking.

But eventually Google gets to catching up and sqaushing those black hat methods of SEO. We always tell clients not to mess with those tempting shortcuts as it will always bite you in the backside once Google catches on. And trust, they ALWAYS catch on! Then you get dropped in a deep hole that will be a nightmare to dig out of.

Just focus on the core fundamentals and then you don’t need to obsess over updates. You won’t be affected.

Google does roughly several minor updates every day. On any given day they also constantly run hundreds of experiments to test performance enhancements. Then to top it off, they launch several major updates throughout the year.

So if you think you can use a strategy that tries to game this trillion-dollar corporation that updates its algorithm constantly is just NOT a good idea.

Just focus on delivering great content to your site visitors and aquiring quality backlinks.

Google Factors That Matter To Rank

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of ranking factors in Google’s algorithm. But really, you only need to focus on three things: Technical SEO, Quality Content, and Backlinks.

These are the ranking factors that matter most:

• Technical SEO: No one wants to wait for content to load. Your website should be fast and easy to navigate to provide an optimal user experience.
• High Quality Content: Make sure your content is the best out there. If you satisfy searcher intent, you’ll ber the last click. That matters.
• Quality Backlinks That Are Relevant: Quality links are needed to transfer authority and to refer traffic to your site, helping your site stand out in the SERPs.

Search Engines (Google, Bing, and other search engines) are all corporations with shareholders.

They can gernerate more revenue from ad spend if more people use their platform. This is part of the revenue model. (Google generated over $191 Billion in 2022 from ad revenue on Google and YouTube.)

So they have a vested interest in providing quality results that are relevant, current, accurate, and from trusted sources.

They also need those results to load fast. Like instantanly.

So if your content isn’t up to snuff, they will not share it with their users.

Now, we can hear you now saying…”but I’ve landed on some pretty crappy sites that ranked”. And you are right. Google doesn’t catch them all right away. But they do catch them eventually.

And in the meantime, there is the opportunity for you to create better content that give good and complete information. A relevant result for someone looking for that information. Sooner or later the cream rises to the top. You want that to be YOUR site!

Just focus on making sure your site loads fast and doesn’t have any issues or errors that would make for a poor user experience. Be sure you are creating high quality content that is better than your competitors. And finally, build relevant backlinks from reputable sites, as those act as “votes” that you are a good site with good information.

Once you have done that you should focus on keeping your content current and continuing to grow your backlink profile to stay ahead of the competiton. There are only those few spot at the top of Google and the top of Google maps…and everyone is competing for the same positions!

You must be vigilant and keep on top of what is going on in search. Adjust and pivot your strategy as needed to keep the edge.

Anyone trying the sell you a quick and cheap solution for this is not going to be effective. Because this is not easy and it takes tremendous time and effort to achieve.

SEO is an investment. You need a competent and focused team member or partner who can stay on top of all this and manage it properly.

As an SEO Agency, we have created a streamlined process to get our clients results. We leverage these processes along with the right tools and automation to build strategies that help your site get more traffic.

Why You Should Care About SEO

SEO is ten times more effective at converting traffic into customers. Folks who click on an ad know that it is an ad, and they don’t trust it as much. In fact, there have been several studies that show only 20% of all search traffic on Google will click on the ads at all. The other 80% of traffic goes to the organic results.

So right out of the gate, the traffic that gets to your site organically has more trust in you. Making them a warmer audience to the sales message on your site. Which if written well, should speak directly to the pain point that lead them to search for your service in the first place.

And if you address the customer’s pain point with the solution you offer, and you show that your expertise, experince and the solution you offer is the best, they are likely to become a customer.

This is why you should care about search.

Where Do SEOs Get Their Information

We have already dicussed how guarded Google is about their algorithm. And how they need to protect it from spammers that would make the internet a worse place. But there is a consequence to their usual silence.

While Google does confirm and deny some details of search, they do not always give full answers.

This make the internet rife for confusing misinformation and conflicting information about how SEO works.

Many SEO Agencies or consultants attempt to interpret what Google says along with their own experience and knowledge in an attempt to give their clients a better chance to rank.

But still many other SEOs may be relying on dated information they picked up from blogs or forums years ago and they just cling to those outdated tactics. These are the worst of the SEOs as they can easily confuse their clients and make it seem like they have no choice but to outsource their SEO to someone else.

This second type of SEO is the one that pisses clients off because they do not get them results using outdated tactics and they just give the entire industry a black eye.

But again…we have laid out the only 3 things you need to focus on. And you can do those thing in-house or you can partner with an ageny like Local Juggernaut^TM to provide additional guidance and handle the workload for you.

You can either follow this guide or hire an SEO agency to handle the workload and provide additional guidance or support.

SEO Takes Time

The question we get more than any other is, “How long does it take to rank our content?”. And we hate the answer as much as you…but…It Depends.

They are so many factors:
Your website performance, the age of your site, what you have done to this point, your existing site content, your existing backlink profile, what your competitors are doing, how long they’ve been doing it for…etc. And all these can have an influence on how fast any new efforts start to kick in.

Remember the search engines are trying to serve the best results to their users, so they are constantly filtering out crappy or spammy websites.

But if you are following best practices focusing on those 3 core items you should see results faster. If it is slow going, do not get discouraged just keep bashing at it with great content and high quality backlinks to your optimized website and you wil get those results at some point.

SEO is an investment and also a journey!

This is exactly why having an SEO strategy is crucial.

At Local Juggernaut^TM, we say get more quality content out as soon as you have it ready! There is no need to wait.

Retainer based SEO will encourage you to trickle out content and site updates a little at a time, so they can throttle the work and justify their monthly retainer.

If SEO takes time, shouldn’t you do everything you can to get changes in place as quickly as possible?

We don’t do that. Local Juggernaut^TM is NOT retainer based for that very reason. Retainers do not serve our clients!

Instead, we use Blitz SEO to get that quality content quickly. To load it quickly so the search engines can index it faster.

SEO still takes time. But with our SEO Blitzes, there’s no monthly retainer or long termcommitment.

You simply batch out a blitz of content and publish right away. Then measure how it performs. When you see the results you can order another blitz.

This is why our Blitz SEO is better.

Should You Invest in SEO, Maybe Not

We are here to tell you that SEO isn’t right for all businesses. If any of these situations applies to your business, then SEO is not really going to be a good fit for you:

• You have a limited marketing budget: Look, the truth is that geting your site fully optimized, creating high quality, useful content, and obtaining the right backlinks is not easy, it’s a lot of work. That means that it is not cheap. Anyone selling you cheap SEO is going to provide just what you pay for. Low quality links and content that are just a waste.
• You product or service is not clearly defined: SEO cannot define your business. You need to have a clearly defined service or product in order to effectively promote it.
• Your target audience is very small: If your addressable market is very small, SEO is not going to be a good choice. For very small audiences a hyper-focused PPC campaign or cold calling/email strategy might be a better use of your marketing efforts.

If your business or service is new, this doesn’t mean you should shy away from SEO…unless one of the above three scenarios applies to you.

If not, SEO is worth a further look.

Not sure if SEO is right for your company?

SEO Misconceptions

• SEO is easy: The framework you need to follow for SEO is straightforward. But, it requires a lot of time, resources, and the ability to drive results.
• SEO is fast: To succeed, you must spend time researching strategies, creating content, testing, and then reflecting on the results. New content also takes time to rank.
• SEO never changes: Google updates its algorithm six times a day. Customer demands, your competitors, the way your business functions, and how people use search all change constantly, too. You need to be prepared to adjust your strategies.
• You need to be on a retainer: SEO Agencies use retainers to secure their bottom line, not yours. That puts the risk on you. And it leads to shady agency practices that ruin trust.
• SEO is just traffic: Increasing revenue is the main goal of SEO. You can do this by spreading brand awareness, establishing trust, nurturing prospects, and upselling.
• All businesses need SEO: SEO isn’t for every business. (Our traffic projection tool below will show you if SEO is a good fit.)
• Everything can be outsourced: The most best SEO campaigns are collaborative. Your industry expertise is key for creating unique, meaningful content.

Why SEO Is Important for Local Service Providers:

SEO is crucial for local service providers. Here’s how it benefits your business:

• Stop Relying on referrals: Organic traffic is a reliable and scable source of leads, unlike referrals which can be sporadic.
• Improve Vendor Relations: If you use high quality vendors, highlighting that can build trust for you and more awareness for them, and keep you on their mind for future referrals.
• Stand Out Against Competitors: Outrank your competition on high-value keywords, driving more prospects to your website.
• Establish Trust and Expertise: High-quality, relevant thought-leadership pieces show prospects you know your industry and can solve their problems.
• More Affordable Marketing: Bidding on certain relevant keywords can be extremely expensive. SEO can help you rank for those keywords without spending money on ads.
• Support Sales Cycle: Effective SEO creates assets your sales team can lean on during the sales cycle to help convert leads.
• Better Insights: Working with sales, SEO can help paint a better picture of your prospects’ needs and how your business can provide support using the insights your team gains from researching and creating content for your audience.
• Save Money: Ads are expensive. In July 2021, the cost per impression (CPM) on Facebook and Instagram rose 89%. Youtube increased 108%. It’s also harder to target specific audiences with relevant ads due to increased regulation and limitations.