What are the stages of website optimization?
Some clients often come to our office with the desire to build their site, which, incidentally, “must, by all means, rank well in Google”. They even emphasize their requirement for a high ranking in Google even before they say what kind of site they are intending to build.
Others expect us to tell them how much it will cost to optimize their site before they’ve even told us which site it is and what it is all about. They also expect that the optimization will take a few hours and it will be done once and forever.
So, let us, first of all, clarify what the optimization for a good ranking in Google consists of, how it is done, and what it depends on. We hope this will clear up some confusion and misconceptions about this process.
What is website optimization?
We have dedicated a separate article on our site related to the essence of website optimization, so here we will describe things very briefly:
Optimizing a site for good Google rankings is not a one-time act, but an ongoing process of improving a site’s search rankings. It involves closely and continuously monitoring the competition, analyzing Google search statistics, and almost constantly making changes to the site’s code and texts.
The longer the optimization is carried out, the more persistent its results are. Usually, the minimum period for achieving good and relatively long-term results is at least three months.
It is important to emphasize here that Google is an extremely inert system. A change to your site today will likely affect your Google rankings in a few weeks or even months. A brand new site usually reaches its normal Google ranking no less than six to eight months after its launch!
Therefore, here is the right place to dispel the second fallacy: besides not being a one-time act, optimization is also a slow process that requires patience and depends on the overall competition that exists for a given site in the Internet space.
Ranking on Google is like a competition that starts every time someone searches for something on the search engine. In this competition, no one can be a permanent winner if they are not constantly improving and developing.
Optimization, moreover, is an activity requiring extreme responsibility and requiring full dedication from the people who work on it. It is usually associated with significant changes both in the structure of the content and in the content of the site itself. That is why you must give your optimizers the right to make ANY changes to your site, including adding or removing content.
This means at least two things: trust and responsibility! Be especially careful and responsible when entrusting someone with the optimization of your site, because …
Optimization can be a double-edged sword!
If left to incompetent or inexperienced people, “optimization” can not only hurt your site’s ranking but even drop your website from Google’s results altogether. Be extremely careful when selecting the people who will be engaged in this activity for your site.
If you happen to come across people who promise to do anything to your site so that it gets to the top of Google and stays there, just run away! Such a thing is simply not possible, and if anyone claims this, they either do not know what they are talking about, or they are simply lying to you.
The reason for this is obvious: the Internet environment is extremely dynamic. Your competitors’ sites are constantly changing, and if you don’t take measures to keep your site constantly changing and optimizing as well, it will deteriorate its ranking day by day until it drops out of Google’s results altogether.
It is impossible in such a constantly changing and highly competitive environment for a site to consistently rank well if it is not just as constantly optimized or, in other words, improved.
How much does site optimization cost?
As we have already said, the optimization of a site is not a one-time act, but an ongoing process. The optimization prices you will see here are completely indicative and are simply what we offer to our clients, and only for “normal” sized information and company sites (between 30 and 50 pages).
As you can guess, optimization prices depend a lot on the size and nature of the site, as well as on its subject matter. Naturally, the optimization of a large online store in a highly competitive niche will be much more complex than that of a small to medium company site in a not particularly competitive area.
Optimization is ALWAYS done for specific keywords or phrases! It is not possible to optimize a site “in general” and “for everything in the industry”!
Unfortunately, we often get calls from clients expecting us to optimize their site “for any searches related to the subject of their site”. Such a thing is simply impossible, and even if it was (theoretically) possible, it would be overwhelming for any optimizer and outrageous as a price.
Optimization goes through several stages
Preliminary analysis:
In order to be clear about the prospects for the development and optimization of your site, it is necessary to make a detailed analysis of both the features (technical and content) of the site and the existing competition in the Internet environment.
Such an analysis includes both a detailed review of the site’s code (the technical implementation of the site) and the features of the content (the texts) and its structure.
The preliminary report is based on detailed statistics obtained directly from Google about the searches affecting your industry, as well as the set of keywords that were actually searched on Google and for which your site actually appeared in the results. This information is a mandatory and invaluable basis for the further development and optimization of your site.
Basic optimization:
Basic optimization is a critically important stage during which, based on the analyzes from the preliminary report, the most significant changes are made both in the structure and substance of the content and in the code of the site. In some cases, minor technical changes to the content management system (CMS) are also required to allow better indexing of the site by Google.
Sometimes it is at this stage that it is necessary to add content (texts) to the site in order to increase its chance of ranking well for the desired keywords. Naturally, the creation of this content is not included in the price for this optimization and the creation of such content (copywriting) is subject to a specific agreement with the site owner.
The duration of this stage very much depends on:
- Site volume,
- The existing competition in the niche, and
- The initial state of the site and the number of enforcers on it has changed.
This stage usually lasts at least three months, but for certain types of sites with higher volume and high competition, it can last six months or more.
Sustaining and developing optimization:
The purpose of developmental optimization is to preserve and continuously improve the Google ranking reached after the initial optimization for the specified keywords and expressions, as well as to react with the necessary changes in the event of significant changes in competing sites or Google’s ranking algorithms.
Unfortunately, once they have achieved a relatively good ranking, many people stop there and do not continue with this support optimization. This, unfortunately, is a huge mistake!
As we have written many times on this site, any search on Google is a competition, which is impossible to constantly win if you do not “train” just as constantly, that is, if you do not develop and improve. This is fully true for optimization. Your site’s ranking in Google will inevitably begin to deteriorate from the moment the optimization work stops!
It is also very important to regularly add new content to the site and update existing content. The reason for this is obvious: Google “makes its living” by directing its users to sites with relevant, reliable, and up-to-date information on the searched topic. If no new content is added to your site for months, and the old content remains unchanged, this is a signal to Google that the information on your site may be out of date, and it will probably stop sending you users.
Frequently asked questions about website optimization
Can we still pay a one-time fee to optimize our site?
Although this is definitely not the right approach, it is still possible … There is a set of minimum technical and content requirements, which if a site does not meet, it has practically no chance of ranking well on Google … If this is your case, it is definitely worth working on it to meet at least these minimum requirements, even if the optimization is not subsequently continued. So at least your site will get a chance to enter the Google results.
Can optimization be done on a static site?
Not only can it, but in most cases, static sites (those not equipped with a content management system) allow a better optimization and the optimization can be much more precise and therefore more effective.
What results can be guaranteed?
At least we guarantee two things: First – that the ranking of your site in Google for the specified keywords and phrases will improve significantly compared to the starting position. And secondly – that we will harness all our over twenty years of experience and knowledge to make this improvement in the ranking permanent and substantial.
As it has already become clear, ranking in Google is a dynamic process and it does not depend only on your optimizers, nor only on you, but on the entire competitive Internet environment. Therefore, the specific improvement in ranking depends not only on the experience and knowledge of your optimizers but also on the specific Internet competition in your business.
Therefore, no responsible person would give you guarantees for something that does not depend entirely on him, and the behavior of your competitors on the Internet is definitely not under the control of your optimizers.
