The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process can help your website rank highly in search engine results. Unfortunately, it is not a one-and-done process that will lead to ongoing ranking success. When your website is built with SEO in mind, you may indeed see a boost in your rankings – at first. But, without an ongoing SEO strategy and process in place to respond to marketplace changes, you won’t be able to sustain those initial high rankings.

If you want your business to survive in the treacherous waters of the online marketplace, you need to maintain a continuous and regularly-maintained SEO campaigns. Here’s why:

Because Your Competitors Perform Continuous SEO Too

Millions of websites vie for placement within the first few pages of a search engine query. More importantly, it’s likely that at least a dozen businesses in your local market are targeting the same visitors and promoting their similar services within the same geographic area. In the digital marketing age, it’s wise to assume that your competitors are using their own SEO tools and services to bolster their own search engine engine optimization process, and act accordingly.

Because Search Engines Continuously Change Algorithms

Search engines like Google and Bing are constantly evolving and constantly updating how they evaluate and rank websites for their search results. With an influx of websites wanting to be competitive by using SEO strategies, website owners are always looking for a way to find an advantage over competitive sites employing similar tactics. Due to this, search engines battle deceptive or “black hat” SEO practices by continuously changing and improving their search algorithms. Updates like Google’s Panda, Penguin, and the recent Google Mobile update have affected most websites across the online stratosphere.

When these updates hit, they can hit hard and may affect your already established search ranking. Because of this, it is vital to have a continuous SEO campaigns that focus on constantly updating your strategies based on these changes. This will keep your websites as search-engine-friendly as possible.

Because Continuous SEO Maintains Your Page Rankings

Your website’s ability to garner a high ranking within search engine results depends largely on how you conduct SEO activities. An SEO ranking study of businesses who discontinued their ongoing SEO campaigns found page rankings drop for these businesses by as much as 30%. On the other hand, businesses who continued with their SEO campaigns were rewarded with an 18% increase in their top page rankings.

Because the Online Marketplace is Continuously Evolving

The online marketplace is continuously evolving. Technology is churning out new gadgets, products, programs, and services, all of which prompt online users to search for them using new sets of keywords, or variations of existing ones. The set of keywords you targeted at launch may have produced good SEO results then, but may not have the same kind of impact now, given the changes in online markets.

Because of this, SEO should be a constant and continuous process of research, re-evaluation, and re-optimization, particularly with regard to the keywords you are targeting in your campaigns. This research will ultimately yield insight as to which keywords and phrases are relevant, and which are not. With that information, your team can re-optimize your site for the ongoing results you are aiming for.

Because of Changes in Search User Behavior

Just like the products, websites, and content found online, search engine users are also evolving and adjusting their search behavior. A particular keyword or keyword phrase that has been popular in the past may not have the same effectiveness today. You may lose out to competitors who are now targeting a new sets of keywords while you continue to stick with your less-effective keyword set. Staying current requires re-validating the efficacy of your keywords through the latest keyword research. That’s why SEO is a constantly changing and evolving entity – which should be matched by your SEO strategy.

Ultimately, an SEO strategy that is constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing demands of the online marketplace really is a business owner’s best friend. If you’re feeling a bit adrift in the sea of online algorithms, or have any other questions regarding your practice’s search engine optimization (or need for one), please don’t hesitate to contact us.