Why You Should Stop Google Searching Your Business

We’re all guilty of it. Curiosity gets the best of us and we start Googling our own business. But have you considered the negative implications this could have on your Google search results? On all of that hard work you’ve put into SEO?

Here’s what to expect when you Google your own business (and why you should stop doing it, pronto):

It takes time to see results.

SEO is an ongoing investment. It’s not a “one-and-done” project, but quite the opposite. The algorithm changes daily, if not hourly, which means patience is essential to the world of SEO. Almost everything you do on your website, blog and social handles affects your SEO rankings, and it takes a lot of good content built up over time to see results in your Google rankings.

The search results will differ.

The search results you see are different than the search results a prospective buyer might see. Why? Google takes into account each person’s location, personal search history and more to determine the results they are delivered. Therefore, there is no way to compare or predict the results your prospective customers are seeing when they search for the same term or phrase.

Local search will skew your results.

Often times, your search results will pull in businesses that are physically close to you and place them higher on the list; especially on a mobile device. Googling yourself on your phone will definitely skew the results and give you a false sense of where you rank compared to your competitors.

You could worsen your own page rank.

Say that you Google your own business and then don’t click on your name. Or worse, you click on your competitor. You are telling Google that your own page isn’t relevant to the search you just conducted, moving it lower down in the rankings.

Google learns context.

Similarly, the Google algorithm learns something new with each search that is done. Therefore, if you Google a keyword that is important to your business and then don’t click on your company’s page in the results, you are telling Google that your website isn’t a good match for that keyword. Ultimately, you’re telling Google that your page shouldn’t be at the top of those search results.

There’s a difference between single keywords & long-tail keywords.

We’re willing to bet your search terms don’t align with the language that your customers are using. People aren’t using specific keywords in their searches, but rather they are Googling actual phrases, which are referred to as long-tail keywords. For these reasons, it’s important to optimize your website for the right search terms. Use Google’s tools to find out what actual visitors are searching for, and adjust your content to include those keywords.

SEO is critically important to your business, especially for locally-owned, small businesses. Don’t be frustrated if you’re making SEO changes but aren’t finding yourself first in Google search results when using certain keywords. Be patient, keep doing the right things, and resist the urge to Google yourself!