In asking trainers, consultants, and professional coaches what their keyword focus is, the answer is typically something general like “Sales Training”. There are two problems with this general objective. The first is that such a simple term will be very hard to rank highly because the competition will be intense and it will take a lot of time, energy, and/or money to get a meaningful rank. The second problem is that it will attract a general audience, many of which are not a good target for specific products or services. In considering keywords, come up with a valuation and target the ones that give the biggest bang for your buck.

So how does a trainer, consultant, or professional coach find target keywords? There are a ton of tools available. For simplicity sake, I typically recommend Google Keyword planner which is free with an AdWords account. The Google Keyword Planner will show you stats like average monthly searches, competition level (high, medium, or low), and the average cost per click for a pay per click campaign.

These stats can give you insights into the keywords that are most valuable to you. Focus on the terms that accurately describe your business in a fair amount of detail. For example, “Sales Training Programs in PA for Technology Professionals”. This is focusing on the long-tail search terms, or in other words, it’s the most valuable keywords specific to your business that can be ranked well with significantly less effort than general terms.

Often times, general keywords are targeted because the thought is that long-tail keywords don’t net as many people. While it’s true that a general term will outrank a single long-tail term, the inverse is true when looking at them collectively. Typically the aggregate of the long-tail keywords will make up 70% of total searches as compared to 30% of general searches.

The other major advantage to long-tail terms is that it connects with users that are further down the sales funnel. A search for “sales training” does not necessarily mean the searcher is interested in buying a program. They could be looking for a book or articles. “Technology Sales Training Programs in PA”, however, sounds like someone interested in a specific program in a specific area.

Spend some time researching keywords to discover the ones most valuable to you. You’ll find that SEO efforts to rank highly will be more successful and the hits that come from those keywords will convert at a higher rate.

It’s not uncommon for a trainer, consultant, or professional coach to ask for their site to be updated with SEO “tricks”. The problem is that “trick” usually means “shortcut”. SEO is not a one shot project. Good SEO requires ongoing content generation, appropriate on-site structure, and responsible off-site linking and promotion. In short, there’s no simple trick that will reliably improve search engine ranking. However, those tricks can hurt ranking if applied improperly.

Search engines are getting better all the time at understanding what users are looking for and what content they value. Furthermore search engines are getting better at identifying people trying to game the system.

Here’s an example of how the tricks can undo your SEO efforts.

A couple years ago we were engaged with a client that had an aggressive content generation schedule. This content was optimized for identified keywords and was being published out to a few reputable trade publications as well as their social media accounts. Yet after months of pushing for select keywords, rankings did not improve.

We knew the content was generating interest because leads and responses were generated from direct listings but we were stumped as to why there was no movement on the search engine rankings. The client was understandably frustrated because a better ranking was sure to leverage the content to exponentially grow leads.

In an update meeting, the client told me that he was going to push harder on a contractor he had been using for SEO “syndication” for years to really drive SEO results. I was not aware of what the contractor had done to this point and no efforts were synchronized so a joint meeting was set.

In the joint meeting, the consultant kept stating that he would increase “syndication” but I was unclear as to what he was referring to. He went on to explain that he was listing all the content we created in automated batches to a list of hundreds of directories. We reviewed these directories and found that few of them had anything to do with the client’s industry or expertise.

Directory links are an old SEO trick that search engines have been wise to for at least several years. While effort was being put into appropriately promoting the content, the directory listings were throwing red flags to search engines that the content was SPAM.

Have a process for SEO rather than intermittent attempts at tricking search engines. It’s a tough game to short cut the search engines and even if its accomplished it will typically not last long doing more damage in the long run.

Suppose someone asked you to drive from your home to the nearest grocery store. It would be a strange request but easily fulfilled. Now suppose they wanted you to be blindfolded for the trip. That’s an impossible task and the assumption would be that the requester was crazy. Even if the store was close and the route familiar, there is no way that you could get there without seeing your progress. There would also be no accounting for hazards like stopped vehicles or pedestrians. The whole exercise would be a danger to yourself and others. Implementing SEO tactics without analytics is like driving blind.

Years ago we spoke with a potential client who was requesting SEO help. When we asked to see his analytics he did a few searches on Google to show where he ranked. It was a good illustration but we wanted to see the actual analytics.

The consultant said, “I don’t have any tracking set up really, I just type searches in Google to see how I’m doing. I really just need some new ideas to improve. I don’t want all the tracking bells and whistles.”

The problem with what we were being asked to do was that we weren’t sure where we were or where we were going. Not only could we not measure success, but we couldn’t be sure of what affects our efforts were having holistically.

Trainers, consultants, and professional coaches often don’t have time to pour through analytics. That’s not an excuse not to have it available though. Analytics are a necessity for your web marketing and even more so for SEO initiatives. Skipping analytics is like driving blindfolded and it poses a danger to you and your users.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has transitioned from a quick hit process to a more gradual improvement process.  While consistent updates have long been the mantra of good SEO specialists, it’s now become a necessity.  Many of the on page tricks or directory link blitzes of the past for immediate improvement have much less impact than in the past. Gradual updates and content development now serve to dominate rankings.

Everyone knows that page one ranking is critical.  Most searches don’t bother moving on to page two.  Top three ranking is the real goal for key search terms with the coveted top spot as the crown jewel.

I recently had a conversation with a trainer who was ranking in the three spot for his targeted geographic search terms.  As we discussed his rankings I said, “Overall your rankings aren’t bad.  Why are you looking to launch further SEO initiatives?”  The trainer responded, “The number one spot is my direct competition.  I know there are things on my site that can be changed so that I jump to number one. I had this done five years ago.”

The trainer went on to explain how they had hired an SEO specialist who made changes over a three month period and then their ranking jumped about a month after the edits were complete. Unfortunately he had seen his place slide since then.

In reviewing the trainer’s competition’s site we found an in depth SEO strategy.  The competition had a well-established blog generating new content and healthy social media profiles promoting the information.  On top of that, they had had on page elements and key words in place.

After reviewing the competition’s site I said, “Honestly, you are in for a fight to overcome your competition.  They have a two year head start and you have a lot of ground to make up.  We can do it but you should expect at least a year’s process and you’ll need to commit to writing some solid articles.

The trainer scoffed and said, “I don’t have time for that.  Just edit the pages so I jump to number one.”

The type of SEO that the trainer was looking for has been replaced with a more gradual SEO.  His site had fewer than twenty pages and he wanted to outpace a site creating a new content-rich page every week.  The odds are vastly not in his favor.

SEO strategies should be intimately connected to the marketing campaign to provide consistent content that feeds the search engines.  Furthermore, other platforms, like social media, should be leveraged to link to the new content to further establish relevancy.

Where SEO battles used to have blitzkrieg tactics, they have become more of a war of attrition.  As long as established sites keep their processes in place they can often outlast challengers.  Challengers need to be realistic about the competition they face and commit to a long term process.  If that commitment can’t be made then paid advertising is the only fast and reliable way of jumping ahead of the organic results.