Do Older, Well Established Websites Need SEO?

We recently had the question in the OurChurch.Com forums asking if Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services, like the Progressive SEO Management service, would be helpful for older, established websites. I thought this was a fantastic question and decided it would be perfect for a blog article.

Are SEO services helpful for older, established sites?

Depending on how old and established a site is, the need for an aggressive SEO service may not seem as urgent. After all, if you already have the rankings for your most competitive keywords and others, then you can’t really get much better. That said, there are three key reasons an SEO service is still important and effective for older, established sites.

1. Just because a site is older and more established doesn’t mean the site has no room to grow. The OurChurch.Com website is a great example. We have been around for nearly 14 years. We have thousands of members and tens of thousands of incoming links. I’d say that qualifies us as “old and established”, but are we ranking number 1 for every keyword we’d like? Nope. Even as old and established as we are, we have room to grow. So, we continue search marketing services for our own website.

2. I’ve never come across a site that was well optimized for all the keywords from which they could be getting traffic. This means that even though the site is old and well established, it’s not getting the all rankings or traffic it could be getting. Why settle for half the traffic? I’ve even seen a lot of older sites that aren’t optimized at all. Those sites could increase their traffic dramatically very quickly by having their site optimized.

3. The Internet is constantly changing. There isn’t really any point when you have reached the ultimate goal and can stop. There are always new sites coming on the scene and competing for the same keywords you want to rank for. I’m reminded of the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. As we all know, the hare stops running the race and takes a nap. Meanwhile the tortoise is slowly but surely gaining and eventually over takes the hare. The same thing can happen to websites that are doing very well in the search engines, but decide to stop and rest on their rankings. One morning they may wake up to find they don’t have the rankings or the traffic they used to have and they are no longer so well established.

Search marketing never really ends. Techniques change and your competition is always nipping at your heels. I know this may sound a little daunting, but do Olympic athletes ever stop training to be faster or better? Well, yes, they do…when they retire.

Do you have a well established website that’s doing well in the search engines? What are you doing to keep yourself at the top of your game?

Kurt Steinbrueck

OurChurch.Com Director of Marketing Services

Kurt serves as OurChurch.Com’s Director of Marketing Services, bringing over 20 years of expertise in search marketing, and has developed numerous marketing services and served hundreds of churches, schools, ministries, and businesses.

He has authored more than 500 articles on the subject, contributing to platforms like the Christian SEO Guys blog and Church Marketing University, and is an active participant on LocalSearchForum.com.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Kurt is an ordained minister, serving as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, FL, demonstrating his commitment to both faith and community. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from Georgia Southern University. He also holds a Specific Ministry Pastor Certificate and a General Pastor Certificate from Concordia Seminary.