One of the most common questions I get is whether I ‘just SEO for Google’ or something similar.
Prospective clients have the impression that optimizing can be done specifically for one search engine or that SEO that helps in ranking in Yahoo won’t help in Google.
There’s something to that, but not in the way they’re thinking. For example, on-page factors are taken into account by Yahoo faster than Google.
By that I mean that you’ll see a faster payoff in Yahoo rankings when you make (good) on-site SEO changes.
Because Google is slower to reward on-site, and even off-site, SEO work, many see the quicker ranking movement in Yahoo as a long-term effect.
In other words, because Google’s policy is to hold off and give full credit for your SEO only over time, they tend to miss the effect.
It happens slowly and sometimes long after the work is done. Therefore it appears that Yahoo does reward the SEO changes while Google doesn’t.
It’s an understandable misconception when people observe what seems to be a clear Cause And Effect relationship.
Good SEO, good content, good keyword work will benefit you in all search engines. But keep in mind that the rate of return will be slower in Google probably.
Patience is needed in the search engine world. Remember, SEO is a long term marketing strategy.