Business Owner’s guide to SEO
Gaining a competitive advantage in today’s online market can be a bit of a
challenge. They say that there are many ways to Rome and although this is true,
the problem is that once business owners find their shortcut they tend to relax
and don’t keep an eye open for further opportunities. One of these is
SEO
(Search Engine Optimization). This article will help a savvy business owner in
understanding the basics of SEO including the choice of an SEO company, effects
on the website, timelines, results and performance tracking.
What is SEO?
First of all let’s clarify what SEO is and isn’t. SEO is a process
of technical and semantic adjustments performed on one’s content and/or website
in order to make the targeted content more accessible for search engines and
help them understand the theme and focus of the site. A natural result of a well
optimized website is increase in search engine result page position. SEO itself
doesn’t get your website higher in the results, it’s the fact that your site’s
topic becomes clear to search engines that results in better position. Your
SEO company cannot
guarantee you a placement in any search engines.
How to choose an SEO company?
Your initial research is very simple. Just type in “ SEO ” in Google and work
from the top down. SEO companies that could get ahead in the results themselves
are likely to produce the results for you too. Make sure that the company you’re
researching has an office in your local area as proximity is always an
advantage. Compare the prices and features and don’t be shy to ask questions, no
matter how silly you think they are. The SEO market is competitive and companies
are competing for leads, they will do anything to get your project. Another
thing you may want to ask them is to give you a few examples of websites they
have optimized and see how competitive those were in the first place.
How will SEO affect your website?
SEO doesn’t often make dramatic impact on your website’s visual appearance.
You may expect to see some revisions in the site headings, extra text content on
your front page, footer or see additional pages added to your site. If your
website is dynamic or database driven, your programmer may need to be involved
in some stage of the optimization process. Make sure you factor in the cost of
this when you’re getting your proposal and working out your budget for SEO.
How soon can you expect to see good results?
This depends heavily on how difficult and competitive the search term you’re
focusing on is. Generally, easier search terms can be conquered within weeks and
some more generic terms may take up to six months to surface up. The best way to
ensure quick results is to select a niche keyword as your immediate focus and
work your way up.
What’s the best way to track SEO performance?
Take time to look at your website statistics. They should be supplied to you
with nearly any hosting deal you may have. Pay special attention to where the
traffic is coming from. If your main referrer is Google, MSN, Yahoo and other
search engines this means that your SEO has worked fine. In addition to this you
should check to see if your audience is qualified. For example you wouldn’t want
traffic from UK on a website that sells products that only deliver within
Australia. If you are running other advertising campaigns such as ‘Pay Per
Click’ or Banner Ads, make sure your SEO separates these on special landing
pages so that traffic from those doesn’t interfere with your natural, organic
search traffic statistics.
And remember SEO is not expensive is your sales are going well as a result.
Your sales are the ultimate gauge in the effectiveness of not only your SEO, but
any marketing campaign you may engage in. For more information visit:
http://www.dejan.com.au/