We’ve all done it. Especially if you’re a small business owner.
You hop onto Google and type in your company’s name “to see where you pop up on Google’s Search Results.” You’ve even searched for keywords you have tagged your site with.
You smile as you see your business turn up over and over again at the top of your search results, and assume that your potential customers are seeing the same thing.
Oh, how wrong you are!
So What ARE You Seeing?
When you perform any search on your computer, you are getting a Personalized Search Result.
A Personalized Search Result is created by your internet browser. As you use your search engine (Google, Bing, etc.) to peruse the internet, your browser is saving cookies from the pages you visit.
Your browser works with your search engine, sharing the info stored with these cookies and affecting your search results.
Over time, your search engine becomes a completely personalized tool, pulling only information it has determined is relevant to you over time.
Crazy, isn’t it?
What Does This Mean?
While this could be good news at the end of the day for your business, it definitely affects the methods you have been using to test out your site’s SEO.
As a business owner, you are no doubt spending plenty of time on your own website, customizing it, updating it, and making sure it converts the way you want it to.
This affects what you might see when you perform a search for yourself or the keywords you have just optimized your site with. Your website will obviously turn up at the top of your search results on your own personal browser…your computer already knows how much you like your own website!
How Can This POSSIBLY Be Good News?
Thankfully, these personalizations can be beneficial when it comes to applying SEO to bring in new customers.
Browsers do more than simply tracking the top links you click. They also log your location, which means that people searching for “best home remodeling contractors” or “top sushi bars” will have local locations pushed higher on their search results above large-scale, national chains.
However, if you happen to be a home remodeling contractor or sushi bar and have never tagged your site with keywords such as “sushi bar”, “top home remodeling company”, or “top home remodeling sushi contractor” (hey, you never know these days!), no one will see you!
At the end of the day, you must make sure your entire website is tagged properly in order to stand a chance at ranking towards the top of search results for prospective clients!
Try This Test
The next time you want to test your SEO skills, try deleting your history (and especially your cookies) from the browser you currently use. For better results, try using a completely different browser.
Your best bet is to just head down to your local public library and hop onto one of their computers.
Now try searching for your top keywords. Are you happy with the results?
If not, then you may need to completely revamp your online marketing campaign. Depending on how far along you have come on managing your own website, this may mean a total overhaul of your entire online content.
If you’re too busy for that, we can help! Sweet Rose Studios specializes in improving your online presence for prospective clients. From optimizing your home page to drafting tomorrow’s perfect blog post, we know what it takes to generate the content you need to attract the people you want to your business!
Click here for more information on how Sweet Rose Studios can help you improve your SEO today!
