Using Search Engine Optimization To Obtain A Page One Ranking Is Not The End

A typical search request made with any of the leading search platforms will return hundreds of thousands of entries. It is apparent that only websites referenced on the first few pages of a search results listing will ever be examined, and there are statistics that show that most searchers do not go beyond page two. For any enterprise trying to attract new customers from a search request, it is clear that its pages need to have a high search engine positioning to be seen. This is where the deployment of promotional tools such as search engine optimisation become significant, as a means to elevate the organic search engine positioning of the enterprise’s pages until a page one positioning is attained. However, that must not be the end of search optimization.

It is tempting for a company that has used the services of a specialist search engine optimisation consultancy to terminate any contract when a page one positioning has been attained: after all, the primary intention has been met. However, search engine optimisation is not just about that. Rivals will also be trying for better rankings using the same keywords that have gained the page one positioning, so the work that the search optimization experts have been doing to promote the chosen keywords must be continued to retain the position. It may be possible to lower the level of support for individual keywords but it must not be ended totally. In addition, new keywords can be chosen for promotion, to persuade the search platforms to give additional high rankings for the pages that are now doing well or to take an interest in some of the enterprise’s other pages.

There is an incentive for an optimisation consultancy that has succeeded in attaining page one listings for its client to retain those listings, and that is mostly financial, although professional pride should play its part. In many cases, the optimisation consultancy receives most of its fees from its client based on progress, and that is typically defined in terms of an appearance on page one for a chosen keyword at a a chosen point that can be confirmed by the client, typically an agreed day and time each week. These incremental payments are modest in themselves, but can be easily covered by the additional trade that the client enterprise attracts from the improved positioning. For the optimisation consultancy it is possible that many months of work will be needed before any change in ranking is apparent, let alone climbing to page one, and during that time the consultancy receives no income. Its income arises from each page one listing. The optimisation professional needs to preserve that level without being involved in a battle with rivals for the same keywords. As long as his client is seeing results, so is the optimisation professional, and both gain.

Reaching a page one positioning is important for a company, but it is equally important to retain the page one search engine positioning. The page one positioning alone is no guarantee of additional traffic, but the chances of additional traffic must be better if the page one positioning is maintained. To do so, some search optimization work must continue.