Even though barnacle SEO strategies have only recently returned to prominence as a popular subject among SEO professionals, the concept of barnacle SEO has been around for quite some time and the term itself originated nearly a decade ago. The idea, as implied by the term, is that SEO efforts can be enhanced by attaching a relatively low-ranking website to one that tends to appear at the top of search engine rankings for keywords related to that particular site. This is an excellent complementary strategy when combined with many of the other best SEO practices, but it is a particularly efficient option for small businesses that may be operating on a small budget.
It has to be incredibly frustrating for any small business owner to spend a great deal of time and effort in creating an informative website detailing everything their business has to offer only to see it buried in search engine results by larger companies that have the advantage of a massive marketing budget. It is not only these seemingly monolithic businesses that occupy the most coveted spots of the search engine results, however, as a number of highly ranked sites are those that function like aggregators and create databases filled with information regarding a variety of businesses. It is these sites that the small business owner can take advantage of through the use of barnacle strategies without having to blow through their marketing budget.
Utilizing barnacle SEO strategies, small business owners have access to a technique that is not only efficient from a cost standpoint, but is also quite simple to implement. In order to identify the most ideal sites to attach a website to, the small business owner simply needs to perform the kind of keyword searches their prospective customers would enter. For example, a consumer is likely to perform a search using a phrase like heating repair phoenix when they need to find a local company that provides expert heating repair services. As such, the barnacle approach would have the small business owner search that particular phrase along with a variety of others to develop an understanding of the best-ranking sites appearing in the search results.
The directory-type sites that consistently rank at the top of these searches often represent the most effective options for this particular SEO strategy. Once the ideal barnacle sites are identified, the ease with which the rest of the strategy is carried out is nothing short of remarkable. This is because the remainder of this strategy includes creating and posting a business profile for each directory website. In executing this portion of barnacle SEO, small business owners have to make sure they include the most updated and relevant information, making sure that the information they provide is always consistent across all of the various platforms. This will help improve the efficiency with which the search engines index the site, as posting conflicting information on different sites can limit the effectiveness of the strategy. Once complete, there is a dual benefit that arises from this strategy that small businesses will surely appreciate.
In addition to the enhancements to search ranking results for the website of the small business, there is the secondary benefit that comes from greater visibility on other websites. Someone searching for services in a particular industry may find that their keyword search returns results that include consistently positive mentions in the majority of the sites that show up. When a prospective consumer sees results like this, it is incredibly likely that they will come to the conclusion that the small business so frequently mentioned is most likely to be the best option. As any SEO expert is aware, consumers tend to associate a high rank in search engine results as a reflection of a company’s status as an authority in its particular industry. This outcome is obviously beneficial for small businesses, making it clear that barnacle SEO may be an ideal approach for those with relatively limited marketing budgets.