Back in my dog-breeding and showing days, we called it “kennel-blindness”. Some exhibitors just couldn’t see why their dog (out of condition, horrible conformation) didn’t win the blue ribbon. Conspiracy theories abounded.

Some Web site owners are like dog show exhibitors. They can’t see why their Web site isn’t competitive with other (bigger, older, more authoritative) sites in their niche.

Very apropos posting on SEO Scoop: SEO rant–

C’mon, we don’t have a copy of the any of the search engine algorithms, but we have a darn good idea of what aspects are valued most highly by search engines.

You have 5 backlinks, you say? And each of the top 10 has hundreds of thousands? Hmmm…

Your site has 50 pages of content? And each of the top 10 again has hundreds of thousands of pages of content?

Sometimes your site just isn’t competitive because IT NEEDS WORK. Lots and lots of work. The same amount of work that went into the sites which are top-ranked in your niche.

While some SEO (search engine optimization) can help any site, it’s not the ultimate solution. Forget keyword density and cramming keywords into your Alt tags. Focus on getting quality content, building your links, and doing some good, old-fashioned marketing for your site.

And stop looking at me like I kicked your pet dog. I didn’t say there was no hope for the mutt. Feed it up, brush it down, train it — and who knows, this time next year the blue ribbon could be yours.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Related Posts