A great misconception is that after a website has gained steady rankings, they can stop SEO strategies. This is the farthest from the truth.
The Importance of Sustaining Your SEO Efforts
SEO involves many tasks. There are website and backlink audits, correcting the issues found in the audits, studying competitors, and planning a strategy based on that analysis. One of the more important parts is a solid content strategy. Why so?
- Every time you publish new content, it triggers Google to visit your site (once your sitemap has been submitted to Google). The more Google visits your site, the better your chance of ranking.
- Also, when you study competitors’ keywords and get content for publishing, every new content allows you to rank for more keywords. One article can get indexed for dozens, even hundreds or thousands of keywords.
- SEO Writing involves researching what people are looking for, and giving the answer for that search query. The more substantial and valuable your content, the more Google will favor you in ranking.
- Finally, when you post fresh content, it tells Google that your site has updated information, making Google favor you in ranking. Especially with the March 17 update from Google:
As of March 17 2023: Google Will Start Crawling Less to Reduce Environmental Impact. What is the impact of this on ranking? Unless you give Google a reason to visit your site by way of fresh content, Google will visit your site less and will prioritize websites with fresher content.
Source: Search Engine Journal
What Happens Without SEO – My Case Studies
These cases involve two scenarios
- The client was already ranking so they thought it could ride them through without SEO, and
- Contacted me, did not pursue
1. The client was ranking so they stopped SEO to “save”
So what happens when they stop SEO to “save” money
- Dramatic dive because of unmonitored toxic link attacks: a podiatrist in Adelaide
Audit showed no errors but the massive toxic links as shown below caused the nosedive above
- A Shopify site selling healthful snacks
- An Aesthetic site did not know their Analytics tracking code was gone
- A Shopify site selling a specific type of attire
- An International Distributor of Craft Materials
- A Pool Contractor in California
has errors and toxic backlinks the client was not aware of which…
…which caused the rapid decline in keywords indexed/ranking
- Thai Massage in Australia rapid decline in ranking
This massage spa in Australia did not know they were also getting toxic link attacks
Before with SEO, no toxic links, no errors
After the end of SEO services, toxic link attacks
2. Contacted Me for SEO, did not pursue
Lost first-page rankings
Takeaways
Google loves updated websites, so if SEO is stopped or not pursued, expect a negative impact. Your rankings are not permanent, so if your site is not updated or maintained properly, expect a nosedive.