If you’re already ranking well for a particular search query, should you stop optimizing for it? Let’s say you’re doing a great job on writing content. You’ve done some quality keyword research. You’re tracking your progress. You’re seeing that the page in question is ranking really well for a number of keywords that you find important to my business.
Do you continue to mess with things or leave them alone? Well the answer is, “it depends”. Why is it always “it depends” when it comes to SEO? Great question, but the simple answer is that there are so many dependencies, especially the market that you’re operating in.
If you’re in a large metro with a lot of “same brand” dealerships within close proximity, you don’t have the luxury of resting on your laurels. You’re going to have to apply constant pressure to ensure that your competitors don’t leapfrog you.
But if you’re located in a more rural setting, you might be able to write a quality piece of content for one keyword, have it start to rank well; then you can just check-in on it periodically to make sure that it’s continuing on its way.
Make it a point to understand your market, and the competitive landscape. Who’s taking your lunch? Who’s lunch are you taking? Knowing the answer to these questions as they relate to your content, and your business as a hole will help you to determine what’s working well, and if/when to readdress things to make sure they continue working well, in order to maintain your competitive advantage.
This is yet another illustration of why owning your data, and being able to understand it, is so important. Owning your data and understanding the performance of content across the competitive landscape you’re operating in is the most valuable means of informing the next steps in your digital marketing strategy.