Ask any company what they want from their content marketing or SEO strategy, and they’ll tell you that their goal is to be on the first page of Google, ideally the first one or two listed in the Google search algorithm. It’s an obvious goal – the further you’re listed from the front page, the less likely you’re attracting hits. Few people click forward to the second or third pages these days, and if you’re on page 29 or 30 you may get as few as two or three hits a year.
But the question you need to ask yourself is: is that enough?
Conversions and Quality Writing
Recently I was searching for a service I needed for the home. I put in the search term, got my results, and opened the first two businesses in a new tab.
The first company had a relevant landing page and content that was directly marketed towards my needs. Every page was uniquely written and provided insight into the service. I filled out an estimate and I’m currently waiting for a response.
The second company, on the other hand, had none of that. They had multiple landing pages that were clearly written by someone that spun content with a content spinner. They were keyword stuffed, provided little to no insight, and if I clicked on any other page on the website I came across an identical page with a different keyword stuffed location. The site provided no value.
This company managed to be first in Google for their search term, but at what cost? Their website was spammy, with poor quality writing and no content to generate even the slightest bit of interest. For obvious reasons, I didn’t fill out the form for a quote.
Now What?
I can commend the second company for putting in enough work to be on the first page of Google (although this service has very little competition). But they’re losing out on thousands of dollars in business by treating that like the only goal. Every company has a responsibility to themselves to improve conversions and show that they’re really the best in the industry. While ranking first in Google is valuable, it should never be your only goal.