SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Makes a Difference

The last few weeks we discussed things that involve creating websites. This week, we will begin discussing SEO or “Search Engine Optimization”. You will see how SEO or Search Engine Optimization can make a difference!

Here are some examples we’d like to first share with you before we begin to explain what SEO. If you look at the screen-shots below, these clients of ours were able to achieve some very impressive results, landing on page 1 with ranks #1, #2, #3, #5 and #6!

SEO - Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, ranks 5 and 6!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, ranks #5 and #6!

SEO - Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, rank 3!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, rank #3!

SEO - Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, ranks 1 and 2!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, ranks #1 and #2!

SEO - Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, rank 5!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, rank #5!

SEO - Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, ranks 1 and 2!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, ranks #1 and #2!

SEO - Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, rank 2!

SEO – Search Engine Optimization result; page 1, rank #2!

How much would high-ranks on search engines like these, help your business?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization has been very popular because of the heavy use of search engines. Consider this; if a person in public somewhere sees another person wearing tee-shirt they like, how are they going to look for it? Chances are he/she is going to go online to do a search on search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo. This is exactly why you should consider SEO for your website. If you do not optimize your website for the best possible rank, you’re falling short of your potential to be found online by your clients and customers.

Building a website is the first step, not the last. Too often, the beginning is mistaken for the end. There are some common reasons that small business owners build a website and forget about marketing it:

  • There isn’t a good understanding about how websites work and how its marketing works
  • They may not see the value in SEO or other forms of online marketing
  • There isn’t a good understanding about how services related to websites work together in conjunction with websites
  • Budgeting reasons (usually not allocating the right amount of funds into online marketing)
  • They are stuck in a comfort zone with traditional (offline) advertising methods

If you create a physical, paper-brochure, you will need some form of distribution to get that brochure to people. If you just print the brochure and leave it in your office or store, it wouldn’t do much good. That’s what often happens to websites. Your website is that “brochure”.

E-commerce websites have an even greater need for SEO. You can think of an e-commerce website as a “storefront”. If you rented some real estate space for business (office or retail space) and you did not tell anyone about your new office or retail store, your business would probably lack the foot-traffic it needs. You may have a great looking website but if there isn’t some form of marketing spreading the word, people won’t know about it.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons small business owners create a website and see if there is a need to market that site. Some of those reasons are:

  • To simply have a presence online
  • To improve store traffic, increase incoming calls to the business, etc.
  • For e-commerce and online transactions

“To simply have a presence online.” – This happens for various reasons. Sometimes it’s because close-competitors have one and they don’t want to be left behind or maybe these small business owners want their business’s contact information available for viewing online. If this is the case, you probably don’t need all that much marketing. You probably should still do some on-site SEO so your Web pages are optimized but you may not have to worry much about about the marketing aspect or the “off-site optimization”.

“To improve store traffic, increase incoming calls to the business, etc.” and “for e-commerce and online transactions” – An important component to making this work is to have a good marketing plan with consistent execution. A big part of this will be SEO. SEO will likely be a major part of your strategy because when potential clients and customers look for something, they often turn to the search engines first. If you are an “online storefront” or an e-commerce site, online marketing such as SEO is one of the most effective ways to market your website. A pure e-commerce business (online business without a physical storefront) without a proper online marketing plan is likely to fail. Just because you built it, doesn’t mean that they will come. It is more crucial for e-commerce business to consider SEO.

Search engines rank Web pages against many factors. Some which are known and many which are not. They use a mathematical formulas called “algorithms” to determine how Web pages rank. When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, there is the “White Hat” methods (ethical and acceptable methods) and the “Black Hat” methods (unethical and methods that are “frowned upon”). White Hat methods are methods that are considered acceptable by search engines and are the viable long-term approach. The Black Hat methods are methods that are considered unacceptable and while it may (and we emphasize “may”) give your website a temporary boost in search rankings, it can get your website penalized or even banned, costing you more in the long run.

In summary, SEO or Search Engine Optimization should be apart of every serious small business owner’s marketing plan. In upcoming articles, we will discuss more about SEO such as SEO red-flags and warning signs, how to spot Black Hat SEO methods and more.

Note: While these two clients have achieved high rankings with their intended keywords and phrases, SEO results cannot be guaranteed by anyone and its results will vary. At NetServices, we only use White Hat SEO methods because we believe it is the only viable, long-term SEO-solution.

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