Take (Search) Responsibility Of Your Business

"My business website works well for me on my iPhone Pro Max 14 and our clients use desktop anyway!"

This was the response I heard last week from a CEO who didn't understand that Google has been shifting underneath his business for the last decade — changes like Core Web Vitals and Mobile-First Indexing were baffling to him.

He had no idea what a cache is, how a website is populated within a browser, or the fact that he was trying to argue against Google through me.

"If I pull up my website it loads just fine!"

Yes, because you're an American with a 5G+ data connection and a flagship phone. The problem is Google isn't testing your site based on these standards.

It's using a simulated 4G data connection (with medium level reception) & a Moto X from 2013 to test your Core Web Vitals.

To all executives: your experience with your website is irrelevant.

Google is the arbiter of truth on the internet. It has millions of users, billions of searches, and connects to millions of websites, with thousands of them competing for the top spot.

It's a landscape that is ever-shifting. A tug-of-war between Google and the SEOs that write for the internet.

The number one issue I run into with business owners is the idea that they don't have an obligation to their customers by performing to Google's standards for search.

If a website works well enough for them & their current clientele, that seems to be enough.

It's not.

There are a myriad of reasons why a business should be keeping their website in line with Core Web Vitals and Helpful Content.

The first being: your competition landscape is changing.

No longer do you have to worry about the competition that has been in your field for the last two decades.

You've got newcomers in your field that are not as worried about customer support and are more concerned with the 'churn-and-burn' of new organic traffic.

This new generation of competition focuses on appealing to GOOGLE, while you are busy calling clients over the phone.

The same responsibility you feel when serving your sales cycle, needs to be the same attention you put to your website and organic search.

Google is the ultimate decision making factor for your ability to be discovered on organic search.

You can attempt to argue with me about this, but you cannot argue a 92% market share for all search engines globally.

There are hundreds or thousands of people that are searching for the products and services you're offering.

And many of these people (if they don't already do business with you) have no idea you exist — because on the SERPs, you're don't.

It's the new "if a tree falls in the forest" riddle:

If a business has a website, but it's not on Google, will people find it?

The next-generation of business is aware that websites are the first storefront they have.

The first impression onto a potential client.

The website loads fast, is clear in intent, and has content that is helpful for their search.

That's the second reason: if your website was built between 2005 - 2015, chances are you are not keeping up.

I congratulate you on being early to the game & showing up prepared. But that is no longer enough.

You're not keeping up with the rules, you don't condition in your free time, and the referees are starting to notice you're getting too old to keep up with the "young bucks".

Your website will continue to be strangled in organic reach, you will pay more for advertising to no avail, because treating symptoms doesn't treat the disease.

You paid for advertising, and someone clicked.

The obligation for PPC has been fulfilled and now you are charged for the service.

But it takes 5 seconds for your website to load in, and now your potential lead has moved on, never to return.

Do better for your clients.

Do better for your business.

Do better for Google.

—

Vic.