Is Google in control of your business?

Consider this for a second.

Your online business is bringing in the money you always dreamed it would. Mainly because you’ve achieve #1 position for your core keywords.

What do you do with the inflow of cash?

Before you start relying on that money you should probably consider what will happen if Google decides to drop you from their index.

My point is: In Business being completely reliant on a third party to support your business, and having zero control over what that party does is a very high risk.

I would think it is wise to use Google to build yourself a lead & customer database that you can sell to ongoing. Income from the running of ad’s (be it banners or adsense) when the pure mass of traffic comes from Google is ultimately unsustainable.

Let me know what you think, and how sustainable your income is?

 

Agreed. You should not rely completely on google or any search engines. If more then 30% of your business is coming from one source, then you should try and expand your sources right away.

 

Exactly your business should never rely on SEO whilst it can get you places you can lose rankings overnight...

I still think SEO is great but your business should not be bassed on it primarily

Josiah

 

very true, no business can reply on just one aspect of marketing , online / offline marketing both should exist.

 

It frightens me how many people invets so much time in SEO. The time invested can be a lost investment overnight.

Invest that time in solid business building principles you're future proofing your online business.

 

100% Correct, Not all eggs should be in 1 Basket

 

If you dont have investment to do that (thisis valid for most of the webmasters) there is no alternative to doing it. But once you obtain enough funds, i think you are totally right for putting eggs to different baskets.

 

This is right, but we have to rely on some way authority and trust (and that's one of the reasons how to build Google's Empire).

 

This is a basic principle that most small and medium business owners forget.

I'm really sad when I read at this forum people unable to walk one step without fear on what Google may think of or what Google will react if they do this or that.

In one word, they are Google's slaves!

 

googleslaves.com? lol

I think it all depends on what services/products you are promoting, I have one services that 100% replies on Google as there is no other alternative. However, I do have other projects/sites that I try to build traffic from different sources (relevant sites, social media sites etc.)

 

Relying only on google has disappointed many people over the years. Your site could be banned for reasons unknown to you, changes in their algorithms, etc..
Diversify, diversify diversify.

 

This was my problem, I didn't consider that, and it came to the worst.

 

Isn't this just the same as diversification in the stock market? Although your efforts will be diluted (i.e. not as much time to spend on SEO, since you're promoting your other affiliate scheme etc) your risk will also be diluted.

It's the same as relying on a single stock in your portfolio to generate all your returns. A bad idea!

 

I own about 200+ sites right now, and the majority of them depend on Google.com. Yes if someday Google to decide to drop my 200 sites... That will be be a big explosion in my business. But this world you will have to have some faith sometimes. If you are going to say what if and what if.. then you will never build or make anything.

Ofcourse the money that I will be receiving from Google I will try to invest it in other ventures. But the problem is I can't find something more profitable then google.

 

By having many sites you are spreading the risk to a certain extent.

Notting

 

Exactly, that is why I buy sites all the time

 

I rely 100% on google now - simply because I don't know what the hell else to do, yet

 

it's same ....even you have 1 site or 100 but if google ban you then sites are there for nothing.

 

I have talked with people who rely on a steady income from Google, they become complacent and think they have money to play with. They lock themselves into dedicated hosting contracts, big advertising campaigns etc..

As more keyword competitor comes along these people fight back out of fear of financial loss, by spending countless hours tweaking every little aspect of their site.

I wouldn't say they’re slaves to Google, instead perhaps they're delusional, thinking that as the Internet grows exponentially they can remain highly ranked in Google.

There is going to be more and more keyword competitors every day. Those who can hold the high search engine positions will have to fight harder to keep them.

Fighting to stay in the limelight is a distraction, and it will take your attention away from running your business, degrading service to your customers, and it certainly kills the dream of "making money in your sleep". And, before you think "I can outsource SEO", remember so can your competitor.

I have noticed this:
1. I am seeing more and more references to SEO in business and corporate media. SEO companies are targeting small to medium business with ferocious campaigns. A sign that SEO effectiveness is dying.
2. Public bookmarking sites are growing ever more popular.
3. Word of mouth / Viral marketing is growing in effectiveness.

I think the web has now matured to a point where shortcuts and automated formula's are useless. Common age-old offline business principles are your keys to succeeding online.

Better get stuck into some Marketing Economics and Business 101 books. 

 

My answer is NO, it isn't. I am devoded to web development, and earning decent money out of that.
Google doesn't help much there.