There’s a popular 1980’s song by Rock and Roll legend Pat Benatar called “Love is a Battlefield”. Well the same can be said about SEO and if you’re going to be in the war you need to be in it to win it.
First of all, don’t go overboard with this. You’re not going to dress up in a loincloth or kilt or shining armor and put war paint on your face, you’re going to realize that you have competition and you had better have your battle plan in place and follow a warrior’s ideologies regarding discipline and contest.
Your competitors may or may not be targeting you. The smart competitor doesn’t target the company down the street, they instead improve their promo online to the point that there is no competition. Spending your time to target one competitor is foolish because while you’re breathing down their neck, you’re neglecting your own company and there will be another wolf snooping around waiting to pounce on your inattentiveness.
To fight effectively means having a plan, knowing your tools, statistics, strategies, and industry. This encompasses a lot of areas from knowing website programming, photos, videos, social media, and more. You’ll need to know at least a dozen pieces of software to not only build your site and maintain it, but also software to study statistics and metrics. Without these you’re wandering around in the dark and sooner or later you’re going to bump into something or bang you head or stub your toe.
Make sure your work space is ready for production. Know the latest in the software you’ll need, the latest changes in the SEO industry, and prepare to deliver to yourself, a quality website or blog that you will be not only proud of but one that will bring you in the attention, leads, and revenue. You owe it to yourself to make your site exciting and interesting to you, and by default it will be interesting and exciting to the public. Your competitors will be left in the dust trying to match your skills. With social media you’ll be able to build an audience your competitors can’t touch.
These are the weapons you use to win the battle and it calls for keeping a sharp eye out on all fronts. You can’t rest on your laurels. You have to be on your toes as someone doing SEO or if you hire a professional, be close to them as you progress.
This is the real way to win the battles and the war. The war will be ongoing, however, and you’ll never get time to rest. That’s the price to pay if you want o play. The battle starts with you and your skills. What you know and what you need to study and apply. Don’t take shortcuts or be dishonest or the search engines will beat you down worse than your biggest competitor.
Finally, enjoy what you’re doing. If you ever lose interest and enthusiasm in your SEO campaigns, it will show through to your customers and they’ll lose interest.
BTW, it’s okay to dress up like your favorite warrior and wear war paint and hoot and yell. It adds to the fun.
