Niche Info Online Business

SEO - Just Add Water.....NOT!
By Jennifer Horowitz (c) 2008

I miss the old days....life was simple. Your TV had just a few channels, your phone was attached to a wall, and the computer was a cool thing to have for the few who could afford one. But times change, our world changes and technology grows. TV has 200 plus channels (and still nothing on), your phone is attached to your hip and you could not live without a computer and the Internet is filled with billions of pages.

SEO was an easy job then. It was a no brainer. It was fast, it worked and the stress was little. Well, those days are long gone and the facts of SEO are no longer as easy as it used to be. It is not a quick fix and it is an ongoing process.

You Don't Have to Study for 5 Years to be an SEO Pro!

Sure, there are hundreds of SEO companies available for you to choose from. Cheap ones that say they submit your site to 1000's of engines (big deal), ones that add 100's of doorway pages (look out for spam), those that promise fast top rankings (they lie). Let's face it, for SEO there is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. But lets not focus on the bad and ugly....they may be cheap, but you get what you pay for...nothing!

SEO is not instant, not any more. You need to look at many factors, you need to be prepared to make changes, you need to be willing to work closely with your SEO expert and be willing to be in it for the long haul. SEO changes and you need to be ready to meet those changes.

You should be serious about your web site. This is your business and you need to treat it as such. Canned web sites, website templates that offer everything from stores to products to hosting and say you have no worries on updating the site and still can achieve rankings may be a bit misleading. SEO is ongoing work and one you need to be prepared to handle.

Your SEO Expert serves two purposes...to guide you in changes that you need to make to a web site and to help you optimize your web site by actually working within the site so that you can be found for relevant keyword phrases.

Your Web Site Design
It used to be that design aspects really did not matter. Well, now they do and it is a big deal. If your site is poorly designed, poorly coded and developed using complex databases or heavily graphic, you face issues. You may need to make changes, you may want to develop a new site...whatever the need, your SEO will inform you what issues may be causing the site from being read correctly.

Give Your Site a Voice!

Your Keywords
Please...generic words may seem like the best, but with billions of pages, is it really feasible? Keyword phrases are extremely important, phrases that target your audience are imperative. Your SEO expert should work with you on helping you to make the most important choices on good, targeted and precise phrases that will target your consumer or product line.

Your Content
Using your keywords in content is important for the engines. Having good content is important to your consumer as well. Lack of content is not going to help you gain on the engines and lack of content is not going to help your consumer understand your product line. Your SEO expert can provide you writing assistance for those do it yourself folks or provide you with their expert content writers. Do not be fooled...if you are not using keywords with content, how can you expect to achieve rankings for those phrases?

Forget Expensive PPC Advertising - There is an Alternative!

Your Site Link Popularity
If no one else thinks your web site is important, then why would a consumer. You web site needs to be found on relevant web sites. You need to get your site out there....it needs to be seen on other web sites. Not doing so means that even you do not think your site is important enough to share with others. Your SEO can help you achieve a successful link campaign or even consult with you on the process. This is a time consuming task, and it needs to be done right. I mean, you want your site to be seen on the best of sites, so take the time to consider getting a link to those sites that can help you be seen as an expert in your product field.

Your Blog
Funny word...Blog. I mean, what does it really mean? Who came up with it...well who cares. What is important is that they are fabulous for helping with your SEO campaign. They are informative, they are easy to navigate, they contain content and so much more. Bogs are the way to go to help enhance your site. Again, your SEO can help you by developing a blog. You can easily learn to maintain it, keep it fresh, and keep it current.

Conclusion
Sure, SEO is just part of your marketing game plan. But it is a vital one when used with your other online and offline marketing. Gone are the days of easy rankings. Just because you built it, doesn't mean they'll come. A website is a business and as such deserves your time and your professional SEO to help you achieve your goals and bottom line success.


About The Author
Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing for EcomBuffet.com. Over the past 10 years Jennifer's expertise in marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has helped clients increase revenue. Jennifer is the editor of the popular Spotlight on Success: SEO and Marketing newsletter. Follow Jennifer and stay current on SEO, marketing, social media and more: http://twitter.com/EcomBuffet