Alchemy Blog

Many people get confused as to why they’ve paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for a website but still don’t come up on Googles first page after several months or years of ownership. There is also a great deal of confusion surrounding Search Engine Optimization (SEO), how it works and why some businesses continue to pay out ridiculous amounts of money on AdWords advertising just to keep their website at the top of Google.

It’s because many of those people are the unfortunate owners of what are generally referred to as ‘Zombie Websites’.

Zombie websites are created just like any other website, full of positive intent and the internet hopes and dreams of the proud creator or owner. They come complete with great new looks and content, full of life but then they die…usually of neglect. The bright new website decays from lack of proper updates to keep up with advancing technology and things start to break down. The zombie website’s content does not get updated and so too becomes old and oftentimes irrelevant. After months or years of neglect, the zombie website just drifts aimlessly through the internet, rearing its moldy head up once in a blue moon for whatever hapless victim accidentally stumbles across it on page 50 of Google’s search results.

Google works (for all intents and purposes) like this: You build a nice fancy site (hopefully built optimized) … Your website goes live and hopefully your web designer submits your site to Google and other search engines…or it’s mostly by chance (or popularity) you’ll get noticed at all anytime soon. Google wanders over and checks out your new site, makes a note of content, links, other features and then departs back to its lair.

Google takes off for a few days or so before drifting back for another booty call …any new content or updates? No? (says Google) Well, have any other sites linked to this one? Are people talking about this website or it’s content on social media or other websites? No? … then Google says well f*** it, I’ll come back in a month… and your rank and position drops. Google comes back in a month…still no updated content, pictures, articles or text? Well then …I’ll give this website a few months to get its (proverbial) s**t together……and down you plunge; further down or off the internet map.

If you leave a website sitting stagnant with no input, updates, interesting posts or reason for an audience to keep coming back then you’re not going to ever get the kind of exposure any business or online presence needs to survive. An update or two a month is all you need to start increasing rank and search popularity. The more the better. The more original content EVEN BETTER. Another significant factor in moving up the ranks would be to find like-minded or supportive individuals and business with websites and have them link to your website (and perhaps vice-versa) It’s called back-linking …Google and other search engines love that stuff. More importantly, people love that; they see a site that is widely popular, updating consistently, remaining fresh and interesting, at least mildly informative or entertaining, then that means they are not only likely return to see what’s new, but they’ll likely tell a few friends about it too… and higher through the search engine cloud you climb, more popular you become. Update your website, often enough for people and Google to care enough to come back often. Try to be interesting and original enough for viewer return trips or viewer referrals and the less money you’ll spend on online advertising.

And if you’re looking to really make an impact on Google quickly, try rolling a steady AdWords budget in conjunction with proper search engine management AND updated original content. The trifecta of what it takes to really roll up the search ranks quickly.

Still have questions? Need help with search engine optimization or management and updating of your website? Feel free to find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/alchemyimgworks