OK so despite the best SEO efforts, websites will still fluctuate in SERP rank, even if temporary, due to algorithm changes made by the search engine along with changes in SEO activity of competing websites.

That’s the cold hard truth and no justification for shoddy SEO. I make a point of advising all of my clients about this and that unless their site takes a permanent nosedive, there’s nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately, many clients don’t heed this advice and when they see their site drop a rank or two, they end up looking like the main character in Edvard Munch’s THE SCREAM:

I usually take this opportunity to advise clients about the need for active SEO (and not a once-off deal) and discuss some options to ‘rectify’ this ‘unpardonably’ downward spiral.

As a website owner, I can share their concerns in that, you want to see things go up all the time. You want to see green arrows and progress. The moment you see things go down or if you see your competitor move up, you break out into a sweat.

But don’t scream. It’s not a good look but it’s also counterproductive.

Fluctuations are natural. They happen. It’s inevitable.

How do you combat fluctuations?

Just keep going with your SEO.

Keep updating your content, keep looking at ways to make your site more linkable or linkworthy. Give people reasons to link back to you. Keep an eye on your competitors and see what they’re up to. You don’t have to play ‘monkey see monkey do’ with them but if you’re serious about business, then you’ll be watching your competitors from the corner of your eye so that you can counter their efforts.

This is a very simple way of looking at it but it’s as straightforward as it gets. So next time your site drops a few spots, don’t cry and send death threats to your SEO guy. Chill out and give it some time. If the downward trend is consistent, then you need to take action (preferably of the non-violent and emotional kind).

oh and if your competitor takes a higher rank than you, don’t get mad, get even!

Check out this cool word cloud which represents the content of my blog:

created at wordle.net

So recently, I had to use my mobile to access websites for those companies for the same reason: trying to find store locations as well as opening hours.

Was the experience pleasant? No, it wasn’t.

Why?

Because none of those websites were mobile friendly at all.

Bunnings
The Bunnings website won’t let you in unless you enter in your postcode/suburb/state. Then when you do that, it takes you to the homepage where right on the bottom was some info about my nearest store which is just ‘fantastic’ from a usability perspective (oh, don’t forget the Flash elements which aren’t viewable by iPhone users!). It wasn’t clear to me that I could click on my store’s name to get more info on opening hours so I immediately went to Contact Us which was not fruitful. This didn’t make me happy because I was already in a rush trying to find out where my nearest store was whilst trying to get there before it closed.

Super AMART
They chose superamart.com instead of superamart.com.au which was an instant fail. Their site isn’t mobile friendly at all, esp. with the HUGE Flash banner in the middle which on the regular website is a major navigation element. Thankfully, the store locator wasn’t obscure and I was able to search for my nearest store by choosing ‘South East Queensland’. Unfortunately, this version only showed me 4 stores. The regular site shows 13. Also, the regular site has a huge Flash-based map of QLD for you to use whereas the mobile version doesn’t – so I guess they’ve done something right (even if they’ve removed more than half the stores in the list).

Personally, I think if they all had apps for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Nokia phones, it would be fantastic. Even if the apps started off as just mere ways for people to locate stores and get info on opening hours, that would be a plus. Apps can be used very effectively for promotions. How about giving people an incentive just for downloading the app? or an incentive for using the app? It’ll work.

I would be the first to download apps from major retailers purely for the convenience of knowing locations and times and I daresay, I’m not alone.

What do you think?

I often get asked why I always choose server logs over data from Google Analytics. But let me clarify.

I don’t always do this and I don’t discount Google Analytics either. The reason why I like to use both and much prefer server logs than Google Analytics is that the data from a server is always going to be the most accurate. Google Analytics is known to miss a few things and is more useful in identifying trends.

Server logs gives you raw data which is useful for quick facts. Google Analytics makes it all pretty and gives you more readable data, or rather, data that is more accessible to the lay public.

Google Analytics is a great tool that is also free but I don’t recommend that you discount server logs altogether.