As a copywriter, I get a lot of “make sure you get my keywords in, because I want to rank”. And, because I wrote the copy, I even sometimes get “hey, my site isn’t ranking - what did you do wrong?”

Let me tell you the truth about Keywords and Search Engine Rank: Keywords are almost meaningless when it comes to ranking in the search engines. 

Now, before anyone gets all up in arms over this let me explain what I mean by that.

To start, let’s establish something: Keywords are immensely powerful in getting a page or website ranked. In fact, on their own, they can propel a site to #1 on Google within hours. That’s how powerful they are.

But wait Dan… didn’t you just say they are meaningless?

Yes, I did. They are both meaningless, and incredibly powerful. I think you’ll understand this better if I just show you the test I did. 

Last week, I ran a test with keywords. The two posts that preceded this one were test posts that I put up on 2/11/2010.

The first post was about Dracula smoking cigars with Godzilla. And within two hours, that post was #1 on google. Really, if you typed in Dracula Godzilla Cigars, that post is #1 (this one will likely eventually beat it, too.) Here, see for yourself

Let me repeat that - within two hours, it was NUMBER ONE on Google. You didn’t even need to put quotes around it or anything - just those three words.

Man, that’s serious power. If you had a business that people used those terms to search for, you’re gold.

Then I did a second post maybe 15 minutes later. This one was about home based business advice. I don’t need to post you the Google link - I’m likely still waiting for it to show up in the top 1000. Never mind the top 100, or the top ten. And forget #1. It’s been a week, and that post simple doesn’t show up.

So, one post shoots to number 1 within two hours. The other doesn’t show up at all. Interesting, huh? So, what’s the difference?

Could it be that maybe, just maybe, there’s ZERO competition for the dracula/godzilla/cigars one? That nobody out there is using those combined words for any of their webpages? (which, by the way, saddens me - I’m a huge Godzilla fan, I like cigars, and Dracula was cool too!)

And for the home based business one there’s… I dunno, maybe FOUR MILLION competitors? (or so - I lose count.)

So that’s why I say Keywords are Meaningless. Most of us are in businesses with ample competition. It goes without saying that almost all of the competition is going to use the same popular keywords. Even if you get creative and use some odd keyphrases, everyone has access to the same keyword tools - it’s unlikely you will be the Godzilla outlier. Plus, it’s the popular terms that get used the most.

Look at it this way - if you are a Houston carpet cleaner, you and probably 100 other businesses use “houston carpet cleaning rug cleaning shampooing drape upholstery” etc etc etc - all the expected stuff is going to be used by all of the businesses in the area. So just using the keywords isn’t enough.

Now let me be clear - I’m not saying you can ignore keywords. You can’t. Not using them would be a killer. But using them is probably not going to help you rank high either. Keywords are one of many ranking criteria search engines use. Thus, you’re generally using the keywords simply to pull you even with everyone else on that particular ranking criteria. 

That’s what my home based business post did - it pulled me even with other home based business pages in regards to page title and opening keywords. But it lost heavily on “the other stuff”. So it’s lost amongst the sea of competition. But the Godzilla one… well, that scored a clear knockout. NOBODY out there has more information about godzilla and dracula and cigars ALL ON THE SAME PAGE. There’s no need to look at anything else - put Dan #1. Yay, I win!!!

But I won nothing, really. Nobody else was even playing. Understand what I mean? Keywords are necessary, but they aren’t particularly helpful, either.

Now this always leads to the question of “ok Dan, just how DO you rank?”  

Well, to answer that, I’ll start by saying I’m no SEO expert. But I do have a high natural ranking on some competitive keywords, so I do know a little. But I think I’ll save it for another post.

So to sum this up, I essentially wanted to dispel that keywords are IT when it comes to ranking. They aren’t (unless your name is Dracula Godzilla and you own a cigar shop, of course!)

This is part two of my test. Yes, it will have to do with home based businesses and home based business advice and the like. But it’ll take a third post.

Be back in a few days…

Ok, this isn’t so much a post about Dracula smoking cigars with Godzilla as it is to prove a point. In other words, this post is a test. A test that has to do with business and marketing. More to come in a few days.

And now, I’m off for the long weekend (I may even smoke a cigar… although not likely with Godzilla and Dracula. That would be kinda cool, though…)

Enjoy your President’s Day Weekend, everyone. I’ll return to this test next week.

Here are a few predictions for the New Year:

We will see the slowdown of social media, as everyone realizes it’s:

A) not all that useful for business; and

B) a pain in the ass at times.

Really, I know people who got caught because they called in sick, then someone else posted to facebook about the big party that the sick person attended that very same day. And the human resources manager (who the sick person stupidly friended) sees “YEA, THAT WAS AN AWESOME PARTY. AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU LISTENED TO ME AND CALLED IN SICK??” 

Yea, that’s good… and as far as business, sure, it has its uses - basically, it’s a quasi-website/blog with a built-in RSS feed. But it’s not this be-all, end-all “join or die” thing it was touted as not too long ago. And Twitter… I still think we’re trying to figure that one out.

The economy will recover… kinda

The most common definition of recession is two consecutive quarters of a falling GDP. But if the GDP bottoms out, well, it’s not a recession anymore. In fact, if it bottoms out, a recession is technically over. That’s good… right?

Seriously, I don’t think there will ever be a recovery like we’d like to see. I’ll post more thoughts on this in the coming weeks as to why I feel this way. But let’s just say this “everybody lives the good life” society we’ve built is unsustainable. Sorry to be a bit gloomy, but it’s true.

However…

Opportunity will abound for those who can deliver the goods

I have always felt that those who can truly produce quality work will succeed (and I don’t mean showing up at a job and going through the motions - I mean people who are exceptional at what they do). And I feel that will really start to come into its own starting this year, because there’s soooo much mediocrity out there. And it’s getting exposed, because…

It’s not going to get any quieter

To me, the aughts (or 00’s or whatever we’re calling it) will be partially defined by “noise”. Goodness, the noise… cell phones, texts, texts while driving, texts while sitting in front of me at the movies, text your vote to #5542, banner ads, Nigerian millions and Viagra for the taking, call to vote for your favorite American Idol, click here to follow me, get your new ringtones here, send a JibJab card, mood=moody (duh), sign my online petition, become an affiliate, click here to comment…

You can’t hide anymore. Personally, or professionally. If you do something good, everyone knows. If you do something bad, everyone knows. And if you call in sick and go to a party instead, everyone knows (oops.) That’s a good thing for some of us, not so good for others.

For me, it’ll be good, because I predict that…

In terms of business, real messages with Substance will increasingly be listened to

Bite-sized nuggets of marketing aren’t going away. But they will reach a point where they begin to drown each other out (I think we’re getting close to that now.) This will allow for longer, calmer, more honest types of marketing to increase their effectiveness. Because they’ll be seen as more “real”.

Anyway, there are a few predictions to get you through the start of your week.

For anyone hoping that I was going to spill details of a date gone bad, well…. let’s say I never had a date go bad.

Regardless, this little essay does indeed involve dates - calendar dates and similar. It’s mostly directed at websites, but the lesson learned can be applied to almost any business.

In very simple terms, if you are going to “date” anything, you’d better make sure you are dedicated enough to stay on top of it. There is no more certain way to say “I don’t give a @#$%” than having Mother’s Day stuff still up on Father’s Day.

Or still having your “Winter Blowout” on April 9th.

Or having a dated news item on your home page that is six months old.

Or posting the date you updated your blog, and the last update was four months ago.

Seriously - what would you think if you came to my blog, and the last entry was written four months ago? Would you wonder what happened? It may seem trivial, but it’s a big negative.

Because it essentially says you let the little details slip.

The same goes for brick and mortar businesses. How many times have you seen one that keeps sale prices up after a sale is over? Or has the big sign outside advertising last week’s bargain?

In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that “most” things with dates end up just like what I describe above. They get neglected, then forgotten. Most people and companies are great starters. But there are very few finishers.

Be a finisher. Take the Mother’s Day stuff down the day after Mother’s Day. Post to your blog regularly. Your quarterly newsletter should come out four times a year, not three. And your “recent news” needs to be…. well…. recent.

Neglecting updates is a killer. It really is. No matter how nice a website is, if people see “old” things on the front page, or they see a blog that was last updated last season, it puts a tiny sliver of negativity in their heads. And that’s something no website (or business) wants. This is partially why I don’t recommend that companies put “company news” right on the homepage, because after a short burst of updates, that’s the first thing to get neglected. I’d rather not know any of your news than know that your last noteworthy thing happened at 2008’s Spud Show.

It’s on my whiteboard next to me right now: “12/21 - 1/4 - VACATION (don’t be too lazy, though - change the websites dates.)”

Yes, it really says that (except that I don’t write in italics). If you have dates on your website, put changing them on your planner right now.