This document provides 15 facts arguing that high search engine rankings are not essential for business success. It argues that focusing on customer retention and acquisition through quality customer service, effective branding and marketing to the core 20% of customers is more important than rankings. Regular communication through newsletters and social media are also emphasized as effective marketing strategies that do not rely on search engine rankings. The document concludes by recommending small businesses test limited social media promotions.

1. Forget Rankings
CaribAcademy Staff Writer – T Walker
Fact # 1 - There can only be 10 companies listed as the top 10 on any search engine and usually at least
a third of those listed are paid to be positioned there.
Fact # 2 - I personally know of many companies listed on the top 10 of many keywords and they have
not converted such positioning into cash.
Facet # 3 - With the millions of people around the world using the same keywords, it is impossible for all
of them to achieve top 10 listing at the same time.
 Are companies doomed to failure who never achieves a top 10, 30 or 50 ranking? Absolutely no!
Fact # 4 - Many of the most successful online companies have never achieved a decent ranking with
Google, Yahoo or Bing.
Fact # 5 - If your company is dependent on sales from your online business solely based on being ranked
within the top 10 or 20 of any of the above-mentioned search engines, you are doomed for failure.
Fact # 6 - Based on the 80/20 principle, if you focus on the 20% of your clients who can give you 80% of
your income then, you can safely eliminate 80% of all your potential customers and still be 80%
successful by taking care of those 20% that are giving you 80% of your income.
Fact # 7 - If the 20% market share knows exactly where to find you via the World Wide Web then, you
can be sure that your ranking within any search engine is irrelevant to the success and sustainability of
your company.
Fact # 8 - If your 20% market share can go to your website and easily find what they want, contact info is
visible on every page, inquiries are being answered within a few hours and your refund policy and
affiliate program are all well organized, Google, Yahoo and Bing ranking plays no role in the success of
your company.
Fact # 9 - If you continue to brand your company to your 20% market share by making sure that each
invoice, letterhead, envelope, receipt, business card, menu and promotional materials have your logo,
website and e-mail address then, paying money to Google, Yahoo and Bing to be listed on their top 10
search results based on certain keywords, is financially unnecessary.

2. Fact # 10 - If your 20% market share that is giving you 80% of your income is satisfied with the quality
and standards of your products or services then, being listed in the top 10 of Google, Yahoo and Bing will
not be a part of your short and long term sustainable marketing and promotional mix.
Fact # 11 - If the only two questions you and your team focuses on each morning are:
 What are we doing today to keep the customers we now have?
 What are we doing today to create new customers?
You will come up with your daily marketing and promotional strategies, then, your ranking on Google,
Yahoo and Bing is not important to the success of your company.
Fact # 12 - If you understand the importance of having an up to date database of past, present and
potential customers and you use it effectively to stay in touch, then, your 20% market share that will
give you 80% of your income is not dependent on your ranking in Google, Yahoo or Bing search engine
results.
Fact # 13 - If your marketing and promotional mix includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus,
Pinterest, Instagram and other social media, then, your 80% financial success rate based on your 20%
market share will be more of a reality without once dependent on your ranking in Google, Yahoo or
Bing. You should also know the social profile of your 20% market share.
Fact # 14 - If you have a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly e-newsletter or Blog whose content focuses on
your monthly success stories, product and services, customer satisfaction feedback and highlighting
companies using your products or services; this will contribute to the success of your business.
 Even though I personally believe that one’s ranking in Google, Yahoo or Bing is a marketing
strategy that is earning big money for many SEO companies around the world, and its
importance is widely over rated for the majority of Micro, Small and Medium Size Enterprises
(MSME), knowing the demographics of your customers, what they are clicking on, where they
are coming from, their age group and how they are learning about your products or services are
important to the success or failure of your company.
 Having a simple and functional website without flash if possible, is important to the success of
your online business. Make sure your telephone numbers, website and e-mail addresses are on
every page.
 If you understand the difference between Page View versus Hits, you would not be making a
decision based on the amount of hits a website gets per month because Internet Pros know that
this is the most unreliable method to measure the success of a website based on these facts:
1. A visitor to your website will generate one Page View for each page visited. If those pages have
100 graphics each on them, those images will also generate additional hits.

3. 2. Based on the amount of graphics on a page, you can have one organic visit (one hit) and 100
additional hits (graphics).
3. So, someone might rightfully claim that they had 101 hits for that day but in reality, they only
had one organic visitor to that page.
 Pay-Per-Click was one of the biggest scam to be incorporated into online marketing
mix. Companies were charging Micro, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (MSMEs), for
example, five (5) cents per click while that same company was paying calling centers and
individuals two (2) cents per click to visit and click on your banner ads.
 Many competitors were also clicking on those banner ads driving up that client’s monthly Pay-
Per-Click marketing expense without any real Return on Investment (ROI).
 They are software today that allows anyone to show hundreds or thousands of fictitious visitors
to a website. You must be careful from whom you are getting your reports from.
 Relying on Google, Yahoo & Bing Ranking or buying Pay-Per- Click advertisement is waste of
money and time for Micro, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (MSME).
Face # 15 – Companies who compensate their sales team well, and are not afraid of getting the opinions
of bottom line team members who sometimes understand the issues and weaknesses of their
companies better that top management , will take themselves out of the Search Engine overrated
Ranking Bubble.
Here comes the oxymoron. CaribAcademy strongly support your strategic and well planned social
media marketing mix, especially Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. You should invest
around US$25.00 to US$50.00 to test the market with a few promotions on Facebook.
You Are In Business For Yourself
But Not By Yourself
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