Focusing on the Wrong Thing

A former roommate of mine used to say, "You're worrying about the wrong thing." He usually said this in reply to some question I had which conveyed a sense of fear or anxiety.
Though it sounds like evasion, however, it's a good statement to keep in mind when analyzing the mass of information an SEO might examine.

§ Poll: What Do You Think Is Most Important?
Of the following items, ask yourself: Which of these is most important?

Then ask yourself: Which of these is most important to me?

> Traffic to my website
> SERPs
> CTR (if you're runing ads)
> Usability
> ROI
> Growth in clientele
> Growth in revenue

Why is asking these questions important? I'll give you an example. Recently I checked our Alexa Rank, a standard traffic measurement tool. To my surprise, Alexa reports a better rank for us. However, Google Analytics reports a drop in traffic. Quantcast also reports a drop in traffic. Nevertheless, our client base is growing, along with our revenues.

So, if revenue was most important to me, then of course I'd want to stay on the course we're on, regardless of what the traffic reports say. On the other hand, if traffic is most important, then clearly changes in our overall marketing strategy are in order.

In other words, what your business deems most important will shape your Internet marketing plans and objectives. And this can have a direct effect on your bottom line.

Therefore, it is important to "focus on the right thing" (that which is important to you and your bottom line) and not waste time "worrying about the wrong thing" (those things which other SEOs say you should be focusing on, which may not have anything to do with your bottom line).

Sent from my T-Mobile Dash - Gnosis Arts - www.gnosisarts.com