Search Engine Optimization 101
What is Search Engine Optimization?
One of the hottest phrases in the web world right now is Search Engine Optimization. If your company has a web site, and you have not had it evaluated for it's performance in the search engines, then you are missing out on potential business. In this article we'll give you some basic ideas of what Search Engine Optimization is, why it is important for your web site, who should do it, and what you should do once you're done reading this article.
Lets first take a look at what Search Engine Optimization is, and by doing that, we can see how a search engine might value your site over another. In it's most basic sense, SEO is the process of tuning a web site so that it is perceived as important to the search engines, for keywords or phrases that are specific to the site. Search Engine Optimization is an ongoing process, that tweaks and tunes a web site, as the site changes, and as search engines tune how they identify a quality web site for a specific search.
Search Engine Optimization can take the form of content addition, renaming of pages, changing the site layout and structure, optimizing page titles, and the meta keyword and description tags in the HTML. All of these items take time, and a knowledgeable eye to achieve optimal placement in the search engines.
To sum it up, SEO is the process of optimizing a web site, for search engine results.
Why is SEO important?
Free Advertising.
Search engine results, are completely free listings, that define the authorities on a subject. While some search results are not always perfect, many of the top ten sites listed in most search engines are valuable, relevant sites, likely to have the information you are looking for. Getting your site in the top 10 can result in hundreds if not thousands of visitors coming to your site on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis. All of these visitors are achieved without paying the search engines a penny. So, an effectively optimized site, can mean a large increase in visitors and in turn increased business.
Relevant Visitors.
People visiting your site from a natural search result are most likely very relevant visitors seeking specific information about the products or services you offer. By properly tuning your site to receive visitors looking for your products, you can feel confident that the visitors coming to your web site are interested in what you have to offer. By paying for a listing on a site, or by paying for traffic that other services offer, you may or may not be getting relevant traffic.
Credibility.
Finally, and what we feel is most important is that sites listed in the top 10 of the search engines are given a higher credibility by those in the industry, and by those search for your type of business. People will perceive that your company must be an expert if Google, or Yahoo, or MSN says you are most relevant to the term they searched for. This increased credibility will allow you to more easily convert these visitors into customers, as long as your web site is designed to convert these visitors into customers.
Can I do it myself ?
Many people look into SEO and think that it is something that can be handled within their company, that a member of their staff can learn the tricks and such, and effectively build a site optimized for the search engines. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Web Design, and more important effective design for search engines is a profession, just as Doctors, Lawyers, and Accountants are professions. You wouldn't trust a lawyer to perform open heart surgery, and in the same token, you shouldn't trust your sales guy to learn how to build a web site that will convey your message to site visitors, and be optimized for the search engines.
There are many reputable firms that can help your business build a web site that will perform well in the search engines, and capture business from those that visit the site. The next question of course is, what will it cost?
What will it cost?
This is the area where there can be quite a bit of variation depending on the type of service offered, and the time frame that the services will be completed in. There are three key things that you'll want to know before you get started in getting quotes. The first is whether you will need a completely new web site, or if your site simply needs a tune up. The second is the competitiveness of the keywords and phrases that you are seeking results for. The third and final concern is the size of your site, and the scope of changes need.
Overall, a firm should quote you a specified list of services, with a very exact price for each service. Be aware that SEO services can range from as little as $2-3,000.00 to as much as $50-100,000.00 depending on the site and overall services needed.
When requesting a quote for services, have the company review your current site and provide you a detailed plan of what they would do to optimize your site, and what assurances they have in place for their work. Be careful of placement promises, anyone promising you a #1 spot on Google is someone to be watchful of.
Always get a written quote, and always make sure that the services they will offer are outlined very specifically. Get references, and review other sites they have done work for. If you don't feel comfortable with a proposal, don't be afraid to get a second or third quote from other firms in your area.
Now What?
In our next article, we'll discuss Search Engine Optimization in more depth, and what you can do to build a site that will respond well in all search engines.
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