For years and years, my site was at the top of google rankings for my crown jewel keywords: SBA loan default and SBA default.
Then, I slowly began to sink. From the top of page 1 to the middle. Then from the middle to the bottom of page 1. Then the death blow. On to page 2.
It will not shock you to know that happened next. The calls and emails slowed. And I hit the panic button. I also made a some really bad decisions.
First, I hired a company to redesign my site. I asked them 50 times to confirm that my google organic rankings would not suffer. They guy, who was completely full of it, assured me. I won’t bore you with the details, but it became clear that I hired the wrong company. Even the most basic parts of the website seemed to be a struggle for the developer.
Next, I hired an SEO firm. Not wanted to waste money with no guarantees of success, I hired an offshore firm for $100 per week. They said all the right things. Used all the right jargon. 6 months later, I saw no improvement.
Eventually, I went back to my roots and started writing original content on a more consistent basis. Finally, I started to see some results!
Week after week, I climbed and climbed. Until a few weeks back, I seemed to have hit a wall.
This is where I am today. I seem to have hit a ceiling here. SBA default and SBA loan default are so close, yet so far away. The top of page 2 is a barren wasteland. The only way I can pull in clients is to go back to back to google adwords. Rather expensive google adwords. $15 per click, anyone?
The more I think about what I can do to get my to the top of page 1, the more confused I get:
I had a guy fix my site map. Then my WordPress software says I have 2 site maps. Is that my problem?
I wrote a long, long, “cornerstone” piece. Like 7000 words. Everything you could ever ask or want to know about SBA default. But I put it in 2 places on my site. Did I screw that up?
Should I be expanding upon the pages that already rank highly?
Should I bother even writing new content?
Sigh.
Do you know what’s even more frustrating?
The google search results that come up for SBA default and SBA loan default suck. The vast majority of results WILL NOT answer 99% of your questions about SBA default and SBA loan default. So why, Google, why? Here is a list of all the results that I see that I completely disagree with.
And to be clear, I don’t disagree just because they aren’t me. I disagree because if you are seeking someone to help you with an SBA loan related issue, none of these sites offer any sort of help beyond a generic article.
Nerdwallet has a neat business model. They review credit cards and loans, and when you click on their links to sign up for these types of things, they get a commission. Something they don’t do? They definitely don’t assist borrowers who are in need of some real actual advice. So why, for the love of all that is holy is this the top result? Just because they churn out tons of finance relate content doesn’t make then an expert in the field of SBA loan default.
Lendio.com, Fundera.com, and all the rest are lenders of some sort.
Lendio and Fundera are lenders. They don’t assist borrowers with SBA workout related issues. But they blog like it’s their job. Well, I guess it is their job. But you get my point. Just because you issue SBA loans doesn’t make you an expert in the default process. They also don’t offer help with SBA loans as a service.
If the goal of a google search is to find the best answer, I dare to say the the legendary Google algorithm has dropped the ball on this one. I’m not saying I should be the only result. But I am saying that people who search for SBA loan default would definitely benefit from knowing that I exist. I have writing more original, high quality content than anyone else out there.
The most common comment I hear is that my site is heads and shoulders above any other site out there. Real people know this. Why doesn’t google?
Any by the way, I wrote this article in hopes that it somehow break through the glass SEO ceiling. Although to be perfectly honest, I’m not super hopeful.
