Should I Rank? (SEO Magic, part 2) Why can't I rank #1, or on the first page for "keyword x"? An excellent question. The answer is - you probably can if you throw enough time and money at it. But that amount may be far more than you should be willing to spend.

A place to start is to objectively analyze the content of your site, compared with the top ranked sites.

• Is your site as comprehensive, helpful, and valuable to the searcher as those other sites?
• If not, why do you think you deserve to be a top ranked site?

Google and the other search engines have clearly stated their goals are to provide a quality search experience for it's users. Searches are questions - your site should provide the answers.

Of course, this system is far from perfect. We all know that there are many sites with top rankings that are not good sites. They are spammy, scammy, and content free. Some people can game the system get traffic and rankings for those sites. (Many people mistakenly believe this is what SEO is). However,

1. that person isn't you, and;
2. if you are running a real business, that shouldn't be your goal.

In most cases, getting a crappy site ranked for good phrases, and getting lots of traffic is, at best, a short term proposition. If you can pull off the slash and burn, and make money at it, then best of luck to you.

But for almost everyone reading this site, that isn't a realistic proposition, and shouldn't be your objective.

If you are running a real business, and plan to be around for a while, your goal should be to build quality, sustainable, defensible site for the long term. Your web site is your front door, and the first impression for many of your future customers.

I Do Have a Quality Site. Now What?

If you have a great site that is a great resource for searchers, with quality content and useful information, then the good news is that a) getting rankings and traffic is much easier, and b) you are hopefully in a position to take advantage of that traffic and convert it into business. Employing SEO/SEM, link building, and blogging will help you get the traffic and business you deserve. 

posted by Dave Matson at 4:44 PM