Aesop and Search Engine Optimisation

Aesop's SEO | Search Engine Optimisation | Rough Diamond Academy
Aesop's SEO | Search Engine Optimisation | Rough Diamond Academy
Photo by Dušan veverkolog on Unsplash

A Hare, A Tortoise, A Moral and Search Engine Optimisation

Despite living over 2500 years ago, Aesop had a lot to say about SEO! Well, sort of. I loved Aesop's Fables growing up, and still do! At the end of every fable there was always a moral to the story. Whether you're familiar with Aesop or not, there's an extremely high probability that you are familiar with the stories. The one I currently have in mind is The Hare & the Tortoise.

Do you know it? Well, just in case, here's a quick synopsis:

This is a story about a tortoise, which is a very slow moving creature, and a hare, which is extremely fast! They are having a race. The hare is pretty cocky. Supremely confident! He knows he can outrun (or hop) the tortoise with ease, so he's not at all concerned. He sets out at a pretty fast clip and is soon far ahead of the tortoise. The tortoise knows he's not quick, but he goes about the race in a slow methodical way, step after step, never stopping.

The hare, who has no fear of losing, stops for a rest... and falls asleep. The hare, step after slow methodical step, passes his sleeping opponent and goes on to win the race! The moral of the story? Slow and steady wins the race! See, you did know it!

Now, if Aesop was alive today and giving advice to businesses on their approach to SEO, I have a feeling he would see more hares than tortoises in the mix. And I'm sure he'd be a little disappointed his wisdom of the ages was being ignored. I see it all the time! People set off at a frantic pace, writing posts and getting content together only to stop for a rest under a tree and falling asleep. And that's when the competition passes them.

I'm not sure it's confidence that causes business owners to fall asleep and give up writing. Often it's because they don't get instant results, or they get distracted, but they stop and that's the point. The trick with winning the SEO race is to keep going regardless of your pace! Because if there's one thing I've learned in all the years of doing this, most people stop, your competitors will stop, and that's when you can win the race!

So, when people ask me for the trick to ranking, or getting seen on search engines, I know they're looking for some magic silver bullet, like how to structure an article, or how long and article should be. And these things do matter, but one well structured article by a business owner who's fallen asleep against a tree is no match for the business owner who writes, one word after another, day after day, week after week. The may be slow and not quite so flashy, but... slow and steady wins the race!

Be an SEO tortoise, not and SEO hare!

Aesop's SEO | Search Engine Optimisation | Rough Diamond Academy
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
David-Fuller---RDA

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

For over 21 years David has been building websites for clients. In 2013 he pivoted from running a web design agency to working hands on with clients to help them build their businesses by reaching their ideal clients. Going beyond the website. The experience of working at the coal face is the foundation of The Rough Diamond Academy. Real life experience for real life businesses. It starts with building a site, but that's only the beginning!

Outsourcing Your Website Management

Managed Hosting | Pros & Cons | Rough Diamond Academy
Managed Hosting | Pros & Cons | Rough Diamond Academy

Outsourcing Your Website Management. Is it a good idea?

Outsourcing Your Website Management. Is it a good idea, or should you handle the whole thing yourself? Well, here's my thinking on it...

Ok, in the interest of transparency, a good percentage of my business is managing websites for my clients. So, clearly, I'm probably going to lean heavily toward outsourcing this for your business. But, there's some things you should consider before you do this, and like most things, you should understand what is being managed and what it means for you and your business.

Hosting

Doesn't my hosting company handle my website? Well, depending on the level of hosting you are paying for, you will get different levels of service from your provider. This will include things like allocated space, bandwidth, backups, etc. In essence though, most hosting is similar to renting an apartment. You get the space, but no the furniture; unless of course you a leasing a serviced apartment.

Web Developer

Well ok, but doesn't my web developer handle my website management? Again, depends on the level of service arrangement you have with your developer. Some developer will have maintenance plans available, sone don't. Just because they built it doesn't mean they are looking after it. Kind of like your home builder. They build it, hand it over and the living in part is up to you!

Website Management

The thing is there's a lot more to website management than hosting and making changes to a website. It's going to be different for everyone that offers this kind of service, so I'll give you a breakdown of what I do for my clients so you can get an idea of what I mean.

But first...

Why does it matter? Well, it's you business website. It's a critical part of your business marketing, or should be, so it should be treated as a valuable and valued asset for your business. In truth though it's often treated as an afterthought!

Ok, here are some of the services I take care of for clients on a Website Management Plan. I only manage sites I've built by the way.

  • Hosting (obviously)
  • Domain Name Management and Renewal
  • DNS management
  • Daily Offsite backups
  • SSL Certificate Management & Renewal
  • WordPress updates, including core, themes and plugins
  • Plugin licences
  • Hacker protection, eg if it's hacked I fixed it!

The reason I began doing this is the reason I suggest you consider it for your business. Most business owners think they'll be ok handling all this stuff themselves but either don't have the knowledge or time to actually do it! And usually they think it'll be ok... until they're hacked, or their domain lapses or some other crisis hits. Then, suddenly it's important... super important!! And that's the thing, it is important if you are running a serious business.

So, if you're going to handle the management of your website yourself, ask yourself if you really have the time and knowledge to do it, or if you're trying to save a few bucks at the potential expense of your business?! Ask yourself whether it's worth the risk of being offline, or hacked, or losing your entire site... forever! My view? Put your time and energy into doing what you do well, and get a pro to look after the management of your website. It's like insurance for your business website.

David-Fuller---RDA

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

For over 21 years David has been building websites for clients. In 2013 he pivoted from running a web design agency to working hands on with clients to help them build their businesses by reaching their ideal clients. Going beyond the website. The experience of working at the coal face is the foundation of The Rough Diamond Academy. Real life experience for real life businesses. It starts with building a site, but that's only the beginning!