SEO Specialist Blog

In the last post we talked about the reason that businesses – web sites included – embark upon a marketing campaign. There are certainly many objectives that businesses have in this pursuit, but the ultimate reason that businesses go through such a process is to increase their profits. For web sites, working with a SEO specialist is often the way that they go about their marketing and hopefully they will work with a professional that understands their ultimate goal.

As we discussed, search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) are methods to increase web site traffic. They are approached in different ways – PPC is paid placement on the search engines and SEO is a process by which web sites come up naturally in a search engine’s results. But ultimately the goal is the same – to attract an audience and increase web traffic.

Keywords are the core of both of these campaigns – chosen to mirror what it is thought that potential visitors would use to seek out the products and services in which they are interested. These keywords are ultimately the most crucial piece in a web site not only generating traffic but increasing their profit. Choosing general keywords meant to spark visitation may realize some increased “hits” for a web site; this will obviously increase web traffic but may not ultimately increase profit.

But the more specifically and carefully chosen keywords are more likely to not only increase web traffic but targeted web site traffic – visitors who are more likely to have a real interest in what your site offers. Work only with search engine optimization companies that understand the crucial link between keywords and profits and will set your marketing course accordingly.

Why do web sites engage in marketing efforts? Sure, it’s to maximize their exposure so that people know they’re there, create a brand identity that people can recognize, come up early and often in the search engine results, inspire people to visit their site, and generate new business. But ultimately, the reason for all of this effort is to increase profits as is the goal of any business. Businesses want to make money, plain and simple. And web sites, as they are businesses, want the best solutions for marketing themselves so that they can achieve all that they have planned and – in the end – make money as a result.

The best search engine optimization companies – those professional vendors that expertly guide their clients through the world of online marketing of their web site – understand the ultimate goal of their clients; to increase their profits.

This may sound like this is information that would be a given for any company charged with marketing a web site, but the fact of the matter is that often profit is overlooked in many ways. Search engine optimization is a process by which a web site uses specifically chosen keywords and phrases, as well as other methods, to attract the attention of the search engines and elevate their page rankings in the search results. The goal? To attract more web site traffic. But what many people fail to understand is that these keywords – if not chosen correctly – may serve to increase web traffic but only the kind of traffic that logs on, checks out the site, and moves on; not the targeted web site traffic that is more likely to be interested in the site’s product and services and is therefore more likely to become a customer. More in Part II.

Businesses face a daily challenge to market their products and services most effectively. What it essentially comes down to is this: you can have the greatest advertising and marketing campaign on the planet but if you are showing it to the wrong audience then it is falling on deaf ears and blind eyes. It will not be effective and there’s no way around it. Like showing insurance commercials to kids and toy commercials to adults, there is little that can be done to bridge the communication gap.

Online marketing falls under the same umbrella in terms of reaching an audience. Web sites that do not do enough to reach targeted web site traffic are missing the boat in terms of delivering their message, plain and simple. Without the audience in place to receive the transmission it is essentially lost in space.

So it’s important to always keep your audience in mind when it comes to everything you do online in terms of marketing. Don’t forget that marketing pertains to everything that has to do with your site – the content that you post, the functionality of the site, the way that it looks, the video you embed on there, and the search engine optimization effort that you pursue to increase web site traffic.

Forget your audience in any one of these components and you are likely to fall flat in your efforts. You design your site with your audience in mind – in terms of the aesthetics and how it will appeal to them; you make sure the site works and is effective – as a slow loading site with broken links will damage SEO and likely cause visitors to leave; you fill your site with the information and content that will appeal to your audience; and you consider your audience when making plans for SEO services as we’ll discuss in the next post.

The key element to the growth of any Internet based business is increasing targeted web site traffic. Simply increasing web site traffic in general can lead to more visitors that happen across a web site while looking for something completely different. Attracting individuals searching for the particular content on a web site is what truly leads to effectively marketing and increasing revenues.

There are many ways to increase web traffic to a particular web site. Some of these means prove more effective than others. Simply spreading the word about a web site through marketing and advertising may potentially drive more clicks out of curiosity, but these “curiosity clickers” do not always result in more sales. Driving specific targeted web site traffic provides a much greater ratio of clicks to revenue.

Search engine optimization is an extremely effective means to increasing targeted web site traffic. This process drives a web site towards the very top of the search engine results where most browsers begin clicking in their search for particular products or information. This is done through the process of adding quality content frequently to the web site. Over a relatively short period of time, these web sites bounce to the first page of search results based upon the match of the phrase entered to the search bar.

Increased web traffic certainly provides the potential for businesses to increase their revenues as a result of more potential customers entering the virtual doors. However, increasing the targeted web site traffic is instrumental in ensuring growth.

If you are a web site that is counting on the business of consumers this holiday season - to visit your site and purchase the products and services that you provide - then you may be understandably nervous; and you are not alone. Businesses across the country wonder and worry how the economy will affect what is often their busiest time of year; if consumers will be buying in the same manner that they have done in the past.

Ultimately, there is no way to control what kind of spending methodology consumers will adopt this coming holiday season. They may very well be taking stronger hold of their budgetary reigns. Ultimately web sites can only take control of what they can control and in this case it is directing web site traffic and making sure- once consumers get to the site - that the product is available, the site is functional and clear to navigate, customer service support is available, and you are competitively aligned in terms of pricing.

As linear as this may all sound, web sites may have the inclination that they are better off shutting down all forms of marketing and saving their dollars until the crisis passes. While this may sound good in theory, the reality is that without consistent efforts on the part of the web site owner – in terms of strong, continuous search engine optimization –the likelihood of sustaining steady web site traffic is minimal.

Search engine optimization efforts, in fact, must be continuous in order to be continuously effective, regardless of the economy.

People speak much of search engine optimization but do they really know what it means? The answer is a resounding no when you consider how very many web sites display poor optimization. The statistics are astounding. Well under ten percent of all web sites are properly optimized. Which means that while web site owners have put out so much money – and put so much effort into making their web site successful – they are completely missing the boat in ensuring that their site is even visited in the first place.

The fact is that in order for a site to increase web traffic and retain a comfortable spot on the higher pages of the search engines – a premium position that will continually help to increase web site traffic and earn their business – they must retain SEO services that will work the web site consistently and employ those methods that have been shown to work time and time again.

One of the most important components of effective search engine optimization is the utilization of particular keywords in relevant content that is meant to engage the attention of the search engines. Web sites that utilize keyword rich content realize benefits on a multitude of levels. Such content offers additional value for visitors to the site; but the keywords themselves work to propel the site upwards in the search engines’ rankings. The goal of the web site, of course, is to make it to the first page of search engine results in an effort to attract as many visitors as possible.

In the next post…more on why the choosing of keywords is so important in the overall process of SEO.

In the last post we talked about how some companies feel the need to go it alone when it comes to different specialties of business. There are some companies that may think that they can they can run their business and do their own advertising, marketing, public relations, and all the other things that go into making a business successful.

With web sites this is parallel to a web site owner tackling search engine optimization without professional guidance. There is a misconception that SEO is something that is a one and done kind of thing; you make your site search engine friendly and then you go on your merry way forever in a good position to increase web site traffic.

But the truth is something very different and much more time consuming than its given credit for; SEO efforts are a day to day thing –a web site must be constantly worked to stay engaged in SEO.

In order to give it the time that it is due, a SEO specialist can help a web site lay the groundwork for success by implementing the necessary elements for good SEO including:

* Good content that is also infused with carefully selected keywords. A SEO specialist will help a web site choose the keywords that are most likely to be used in a search for their particular products, services, and information. And they will help craft content that includes these keywords and continually update that content to renew interest.

* Good linking strategy. It’s important to have inbound and outbound links with highly ranked sites. These links count as “votes” for your site with the search engines. A SEO specialist can help cull these links.

Small companies often fear that they cannot compete with their larger counterparts – and with good reason; after all, larger corporations can outspend small competitors and therefore can be much more aggressive in their marketing. Really, in the world of everyday, traditional business, this is like comparing apples and oranges. Businesses – large and small – have something to bring to the table and in all likelihood they are going after a different target audience. Smaller companies need really only be concerned with their competition with companies of similar size and scope.

But the world of online business has really changed everything in that it has leveled the playing field in a lot of respects. Smaller companies are able to present a much larger image online and because there is no physical space per se they are able to offer much of the same bells and whistles as the bigger guys.

You would think the complex of the smaller company would be vastly improved. But it’s not. Insecurity still reigns supreme.

This is because many smaller businesses still that think that they are getting beat out by bigger companies in terms of their ability to increase web site traffic and gain a foothold on the search engines through search engine optimization.

But here’s the truth: small or large, companies are equally able to increase web site traffic through comprehensive search engine optimization efforts. There is no measure of a company (aka web site’s) size through the search engines; the search engines only care that the right elements are in place.

In the next post, we’ll continue to talk about how web sites large and small can get big results in SEO.

In the last post we talked about the importance of having a marketing plan in place for businesses; and how companies generally require such a plan in order to account for their spending and set forth their goals for growing the business.

Part of a modern day marketing plan includes plans for their web site, as very few companies do not, at this point, have an online presence. And the web site is in no way exempt from having a plan in place for it as well. After all, a web site markets a company and it must be “worked” consistently in order to increase web traffic, promote the company name and brand, and hopefully convert those visitors to their site into customers and clients.

In order to make the most of their marketing dollars, many web site owners will work with a search engine optimization specialist who will take the company step by step through their SEO process. By no means should this be a cookie-cutter marketing plan, as each business is different and has its own goals, but the core of the plan may look like something like this:

* Measuring where the site currently is on the search engine page rankings. Is the company coming up on page 3 or is it coming up on page 11 of the search engine rankings? There can be no plan for growth until you know where you’ve started.

* Putting a search engine optimization plan into place that may include the choosing of relevant keywords and keyword phrases, the creation and placement of content that includes those keywords, and the development of a strategic linking campaign to help generate buzz and propel a site to the higher pages of the search engine rankings.

* Measuring progress. Any reputable search engine optimization specialist will measure your results as your plan progresses, giving you’re a very clear idea of what your money is getting you in terms of marketing.

In the last post, we talked about how web sites – like traditional businesses – in order to be successful, must put plans into motion in order to define their objectives and ultimately measure their success. The way in which businesses are best able to go about doing this is with the help of the entire team. Without the whole business involved – employees to management – the effort of working towards particular goals can be somewhat splintered and the end result can be less than successful. And web sites are no exception.

The first goal that we talked about that most web sites are interested in achieving was to increase web site traffic. And with a search engine optimization plan in place – one that all members of the team are committed to working – web sites can often achieve their goals to increase web traffic.

Some of the additional goals set forth by web sites include:

* Converting visitors to customers. It’s great to have search engine optimization efforts be successful enough that a web site is able to increase web traffic. But until they are able to convert those visitors into customers the web site is not able to make the money it needs to support itself and be a viable member of the online business community. Web sites can do this as a team by putting manpower towards making sure the site delivers in terms of giving visitors what they need and want once they get to the site.

* Create a buzz about the site that transcends search engine optimization. Through solid public relations and marketing, web sites can get the word out about what they have to offer, creating a word of mouth campaign that propels the site’s success.