So last night I am getting ready to watch some tv, being fall there is lots of good tv to watch, before I do I hit refresh on Twummize.com and low and behold this is what I see
Now I know what you're thinking give poor SEOChumpion a break, what did he do to anyone. Well it's not really what he did to anyone, it's just what he is doing that made think about how sometimes people get so fixated on rankings and keywords that they start to celebrate the empty victories. Yeah he is ranking #1 and #2 for "SEO Agency Firm" but how many people are actually typing "SEO Agency Firm" into Google or any search engine. Well let's take a look.
Now of course these numbers are kinda meaningless in themselves but when Google doesn't even have enough data to display anything you know for sure it's a keyword that is not really worth spending any time and effort on, much less touting it as a victory. Now here is a snapshot of what might actually be some money keywords when it comes to SEO
I for one though don't think ranking or not ranking for "SEO xxxx" should be a measure of ones success. We get most of our business from word of mouth referrals, and I think that is because so many people have Googled "SEO xxxx" and been lead to a snake oil seo who is using bogus claims like I can guarantee rankings or I rank #1 for this term, so I must be good right? Taking advantage of the fact most people don't understand rankings and keywords. Preying on their vulnerabilities. But I digress. So we know that this keyword has little traffic, wonder what kind of competition it has. Well thanks again to the twitterverse, specifically mvandemar
So zero competition, zero actual searches happening in Google. What the hell is the point? You might as well be ranking for laser kitten vertices. Ok so I am getting a little ranty again oops. I guess my main point is that SEO isn't and shouldn't only be about rankings and keywords. A good SEO should help their clients with a well rounded holistic internet marketing strategy, one that helps impact their ROI. Ranking for silly terms isn't going to do your clients any good, isn't going to bring traffic, isn't going to bring leads and certainly without those things won't result in any sales. I would much rather help a client get a good solid foundation for their website, help them produce good content, provide their users with a good experience and then build on that. The rankings will come with time and patience; but getting people ranking for junk - is only going to frustrate them and continue to tarnish the image of SEOs as a whole. I am sure I could go on and write forever about that; but I thought I would list some examples of pointless keywords that I rank for just for fun :) And please share your examples in the comments :)
Of course I am sure I could go on forever and ever; but I think everyone gets the point! Don't waste your time or clients time talking about empty rankings, and please share your empty rankings - do it for the LULZ :)