As a Search Engine Optimization consultant (whose job is to optimize a website), you should understand that:
- All search engine results pages start with a searcher looking for the answer to a question. The searcher’s goal is to find the right information quickly.
- Search engine’s goal is to have searchers to always find the answer to their query quickly, and easily so that same searchers will continue to use the search engine for their next query.
As a Search Engine Optimization Specialist, you have to ensure that your ultimate goal is to make searchers who found your website through the search engine happy, because if the searchers are happy, then the search engine will be happy, and the searchers who discovered your website from the search engine would return to the search engine.
The goal of a search engine is to make its users happy by providing the most relevant search results to its users and a great user experience. If the search engine is happy with the content of your web page, then your web page would be ranked higher for the keywords queried by the users of this search engine. Simply put, if the searchers are happy with the content of your website, then the search engine will be happy with your website. Your goals should be the same as search engine’s goals. The goal of a search engine (that is to please its users so that users would return for more queries) should be your number one goal.
The search engine’s goal is to provide the most relevant website to the user’s query at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). If your website does not deserve to be at the top position, then you should never try to manipulate search engine’s algorithm in order to be at the top. If you tried to score against the search engine’s algorithm, then you probably might achieved your goal but only for a while. When the search engines make changes to their ranking algorithm, then your ranking would drop again. The worst thing that could ever happen to your website is getting caught and penalized for cheating. This happened to big websites before and if it could happen to websites that belong to big companies like BMW and JC Penney, then it could happen to you.
If your SEO strategies are based on reverse engineering, then you are optimizing for yesterday’s search algorithm. But if you optimize your website for users, then you are optimizing for tomorrow’s search algorithm. Search success is about giving users what they want.
