So many people obsess about page rankings as though it’s the be-all-and-end-all of search marketing. Let’s be clear here: it isn’t, and nobody should think it is.

The whole point of direct marketing – which I think SEO should be as part of, rather than existing in some kind of IT-marketing organisational vacuum – is that you continually test, refine, learn and improve. You rigorously examine every part of your communication and, if you find a better way of doing something, you do it.

If we take the theories of the DM greats like Drayton Birdand apply them to search marketing, it quickly becomes obvious that even if you reach the hallowed position of number one on Google, your journey is far from over.

Are you number one on the right keyword? Sure, you did your keyword research, and if you’re getting search traffic and conversions you probably did it well. But how do you know you wouldn’t have got even more search traffic and conversions if you’d chosen a different term?

The only way is to test (and that’s where Google’s web optimiser and tools like it are so great). Furthermore, make sure you keep an open mind. The minute you think you’ve cracked it is when you have to roll your sleeves up, go back to the drawing board and start the test-learn-refine cycle all over again.

That’s where direct marketing differs from traditional ‘above the line’ advertising, which is notoriously hard to measure. Traditional marketing uses market research to try and predict what customers will like. Direct marketing uses testing and previous experience to know what customers will like.

SEOs are blessed with a wealth of analytical tools, many of which are free. Use them to improve your results – don’t let page ranking blind you to your site’s true potential.