Take (Search) Responsibility Of Your Business

Quick Summary

- What this covers: take-search-responsibility-of-your

- Who it's for: executives, CMOs, and business leaders evaluating SEO investment

- Key takeaway: Read the first section for the core framework, then use the specific tactics that match your situation.

"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.

When SEO Isn't Your Priority

Defer SEO investment if:

• Your product-market fit isn't validated yet. SEO compounds over months. If you're still iterating on what you sell and who you sell it to, those months of SEO work will target the wrong audience. Nail the positioning first.
• You're in a winner-take-all paid acquisition market. Some verticals (insurance, legal, finance) have organic results pushed below the fold by ads. If your competitors all buy their traffic and organic results barely show, paid channels may be the pragmatic choice until you can invest in long-term organic.
• Your sales cycle is shorter than SEO's payback period. If you need revenue in 30 days, SEO won't deliver. Run paid campaigns for immediate pipeline, then layer SEO as a compounding channel once cash flow supports the timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I evaluate whether our SEO investment is working?

Track three metrics quarterly: organic traffic trend (is it growing?), organic revenue attribution (what revenue came from organic search?), and market share of search (what percentage of relevant searches do you appear in vs competitors?). Avoid vanity metrics like keyword count or domain authority — they correlate loosely with business outcomes. A good SEO program shows compounding organic revenue growth over 6-12 month windows.

How long does SEO take to show results?

Technical fixes (crawl errors, speed improvements) can impact rankings within 2-8 weeks. Content investments take 3-6 months to gain traction and 6-12 months to compound. Competitive keywords in established markets may take 12-18 months. The timeline depends on your starting position, competitive landscape, and investment level. Budget for 6 months before expecting material ROI.

Should we hire in-house or use an agency for SEO?

In-house makes sense when SEO is a core growth channel (>20% of revenue), you need daily execution speed, and you have enough work to justify a full-time hire ($80-150K+ fully loaded). Agency makes sense for strategic guidance, specialized audits, or when SEO volume doesn't justify headcount. Many companies benefit from a hybrid: in-house execution with agency-level strategy oversight.