Going Google-Eyed: The SEO Disease

I'm beginning to get the feeling that I've been spending too much time online. Just the other day I was leafing through the TV listings only to find myself analysing the keyword density of the film reviews.

I have noticed other strange things going on as well.

Next door to where I live is a church which has a row of small square windows on one side of the building. Every time I see those windows I think they are thumbnail images which I can click to open up larger images.

What on earth is wrong with me?

When I'm driving down the road and I see company adverts on the side of vans and trucks I think to myself: "Well that's not very well optimised for search engine rankings!"

Have I gone mad? Or could there be another explanation?

Every profession has what is commonly referred to as an occupational hazard. Tennis players get tennis elbow, writers get writer's cramp and politicians get liar's teeth.

For web designers and SEO professionals the problem seems to be one of not being able to tell the difference between the Internet and the Outernet (formerly known as the 'real world').

A visit to my local optician confirmed that I had indeed gone Google-eyed. I was advised to seek help and enrol on a 12-step SEO rehabilitation program. Of course initially I denied that I had a problem and tried to claim that I just needed a few more incoming links and all would be fine.

But when the hallway from your bedroom to your bathroom becomes a hypertext link, you know you've got problems. And when you return home one day to find the door to your apartment is locked and a message pops up in your head asking you to enter your username and password, you know it's time to stand up and say: "My name is Rob, I'm an SEO addict and I've been online for too long."

So what are the symptoms of going Google-eyed?

There are a number of tell-tale signs, one of which is an obsession with the length of your little green bar. I am of course referring to your Google Page Rank.

Luckily treatment is available for this condition and it involves a large dose or perspective and reality. So let's get this ailment cleared up straight away: Having a high Google Page Rank does not necessarily mean your site will show up in the top ten search results for your chosen keywords. Page Rank is like your ego: it's great if you want to show off to your mates but it has little value beyond that.

If people can find your site and those people become customers or clients, then it really doesn't matter how big your Page Rank is and you can stop making those secret nocturnal visits to websites offering you backstreet Page Rank enlargement services!

Now that we've cleared that up, let's continue with our treatment.

The second set of symptoms of Google-Eyedness has to do with a phenomenon that I have already discussed, namely, that of confusing the inner and outer worlds.

If you spend so much time online that your food cupboards have become as bare as a newborn baby's behind and when you eventually do venture out for groceries you find yourself wondering why your local supermarket doesn't have a search engine so you can find what you want and leave...

TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER and repeat the following mantra:

There is more to life than Google. There is more to life than Google. There is more to life than Google.

You can have self-esteem without Google Page Rank and if your website is not in Google's top ten, it's not the end of the world!

You see there seems to be this misconception that Google is all-powerful. We all know how much of the market share it controls and we all know how much difference it can make to the income of an online business. But Google is only as important as you think it is and only as powerful as we allow it to be.

It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that you need a higher Page Rank or a higher position in Google's search results when what you may be in need of is a better sales conversion rate. I know people who obsess about Page Rank and getting their website into Google's top ten and yet when I look at their webstats I find that they are getting loads of visitors to their site - but they're not turning those visitors into paying customers.

If your store looks dull and uninspiring and your products are poorly displayed you won't make more money by moving the store to a better location or by herding more people in through the door: you need to address the issue at hand and not get distracted into believing that the problem has anything to do with Google.

So why am I saying all this and why haven't I written one of those 'Top Ten SEO Tips' articles instead? (I know you love reading them just as much as I do.)

Because, as much as we may think it important to gain the approval of Google, if we place too much importance on this and become Google-eyed, we run the risk of losing sight of all the other opportunities available to us on the Internet and of becoming blind to the all the other online marketing strategies at our disposal.

Explaining what those opportunities and strategies are will have to wait for another day. For now I have to continue my rehabilitation by taking a holiday.

The only decision I need to make now is whether to head for the sea and take a vacation in one of those alluring Cancun hotels or whether to chill out completely and opt for a holiday in an Ice Hotel.

Maybe I'll ask Google. Then again, maybe I won't.

About the Author:
Rob Butler runs Wiltshire Web Design company matrix23 which specialises in web design, e-commerce and search engine optimisation.
Submitted: 2006-10-27
Article Source: GoArticles