Search Engine Optimism is the practice by which you hire a search engine optimization (SEO) or website company and hope they do something good for your businesses search rankings.
Good luck with that. Your optimism will be needed.
Search engine optimization has nothing to do with being optimistic, it is a science. That science is based on two never-ending principals:
- Search engines like relevant, fresh content on your website.
- Search engines like your website when other websites of similar content link to your website.
It’s that simple. Granted, there are countless other variables that constantly change based on the whims of Google, Bing and Yahoo but these two are your never ending principals to follow.
Search Engine Optimization Providers
Can you imagine any other aspect of your small business where you would write a check to a vendor without expectation of a product delivered to your door or a service performed with some kind of verifiable outcome?
Well, that’s what happens every day to companies all over Kansas City and the nation looking for improved Google, Bing and Yahoo rankings. Payment is made but little is received in the way of verifiable performance or understanding of how search marketing works.
We encourage the optimism, but let’s talk optimization by providing a few tips and suggestions for weeding through the muck that is search engine optimization. This is not a lesson intended to teach search marketing. It is a list of tips to help business owners search for, interview and select a search marketing company.
There is No Secret, Wizardry or Magic
Search engine optimization does take experience and training. But contrary to many who promote SEO services, these skills are not limited to programming and web skills.
If the first basic principal of good web search marketing is relevant content, then the most practical skill to posses is the ability to write compelling copy that is attractive to both customers and computers (search engines).
Writing website copy that is easy to scan, interesting to read and attractive to search engines is a craft finely honed by great copywriters trained in web search. It is a delicate balance of word mastery and a deep understanding of how search engines work.
Keywords, meta-tags and other buzzwords might impress the uninformed. But unless your SEO company first asks the question, “what will be talk about,” move on in your search for a web optimization company.
First Do No Harm
The second principal of great search engine optimization or SEO is linking. That is, links to your site from other sites of similar content have tremendous value and weight. However, acquire your links in the wrong manner and you can experience the worst search engine outcome of all – blacklisting.
If a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo identifies a growing number of links to your site without the benefit of relevant content they will penalize your search rankings up to and including blacklisting – removing the site from the search outcome inventory.
If you are hiring a company to assist in improving your search rankings, ask the question; “will you be acquiring links to my site and if so, how?”
Wide Net or Single Lure?
Fishing for prospects or customers? You can throw a wide net or you can use a single lure to catch that one whale of a customer you’ve been looking for.
Fishing metaphors aside, there is an appropriate time to consider the single lure strategy rather than casting a wide net. Every SEO campaign begins with a business strategy that directly relates to your SEO tactics.
You sell widgets. So do hundreds of other companies across the nation. By selling such a broadly represented product on the web you compete with hundreds of companies using thousands of phrases to attract a widget buyer. It’s an uphill battle.
But imagine that a small segment of widget buyers only want light blue widgets with power steering and gold embroidery. By including content on your website specific to light blue widgets with power steering and gold embroidery you greatly improve your chances of reaching these customers. That’s because your competitors are still all chasing just widget buyers.
Optimization without Accountability is Optimism
This one is easy to explain and to provide questions to ask potential SEO providers:
- Will you assist us in determining performance goals for this investment?
- Can we calculate and expected return on investment?
- What measurement tools will we use and will you assist in interpreting them?
- What will be our benchmarks prior to beginning a SEO campaign?
- Are there service charges or barriers to success that we haven’t discussed?
Do You Need a SEO Company for Your Small Business?
Small businesses can often use an outsourced provider of SEO services more than a large business. That’s because small business owners are often spread-thin handling the dozens of responsibilities they must address each day.
Small business owners in a growth mode learn quickly that their time is best spent leading others. Seldom do they attempt to perform their own legal, accounting or other services that require special training or skills. The same should be true for search engine optimization services for small business.
Before you search and before you hire a SEO provider, do you homework. Remain optimistic that you will increase sales through good SEO practices that will drive traffic to your website but be informed and ask the tough questions.