Your business has a Web site. Think that's enough? Hardly. Potential customers need to be able to find you, and that requires you to flex some search engine optimization skills. And because the world of SEO -- and the Internet, in general -- is constantly changing, it pays to learn how social networking is moving in on Google's territory.
So you launched a Web site, and you're even updating it regularly with new products and news. Before you pat yourself on the back, are you forgetting something? How about making sure that Googlers can actually find you? Search engine optimization requires effort, but it doesn't have to be too puzzling, and the results can be profitable.
Engaging in SEO means you've designed your Web site so that search engines like Google and Yahoo can find your pages and index them. Can you do that yourself? Sure, but sometimes it pays to bring in a professional. Indeed, the art of SEO has bred an industry devoted just to increasing search engine rankings. Fortunately, some of those experts agreed to talk to bMighty and dispense their thoughts, advice, and predictions.
The Old Days Of SEO
Businesses have been paying attention to SEO "since its inception, probably starting in 2001," said Joe Matthew, founding CEO of Powerful CMS. And if your company has been following the same SEO techniques all this time, you'd better rethink your strategy.
Don't Miss: SEO Is Not An Afterthought
"The problem with SEO is it's changed a lot from year to year, and people just had theories," said Brian Carter of Fuel Interactive, where he is director of search engine marketing, SEO, and social media. "There are so many things that affect ranking, so you need to prioritize."
Getting Started
Ideally, your company should have started practicing SEO, oh, five to eight years ago. Realistically, you should start now -- even though it doesn't take a long time to "get into" SEO, it can take a year before your site will get serious consideration from search engines, said Paul Levine of Rage Software.
And just how do you get serious consideration? Google's SEO Starter Guide covers about a dozen areas that you should consider optimizing, including improving title and description metatags, URL structure, site navigation, content creation, and anchor text.
bMighty's article "Make The Search Engines Find Your Web Site" covers the importance of keywords and link building. It can take several months to conclude which keywords produce the best results for your site, but using a tool like Google AdWords can be inexpensive -- we're talking about $40 for a few months -- and is perfect for a non-tech-savvy smaller company.
"Use specific keywords," recommended Levine.
And there are lots more resources on the Internet for strategies, like SearchEngineWatch.com, which offers articles like "Link Building 101," "Google AdWords 101: Landing Pages," and "SEO Expectations And Commitments."
"The biggest thing is people don't take advantage of basic strategies," said Levine. "Two or three of your most important keywords should be in the title tag."
The design of the Web site is very important to search engines being able to find it, said Carter. While a Web designer might make the site look cool, Google might not know how to index it. "Make sure your site isn't confusing and puts up barriers," said Carter. "That leads to a low conversion rate." Conversion rate refers to how many of the visitors to your Web site will become customers based on site traffic, average purchase amount, and total order volume. (Click here for bMighty's free conversion rate calculator.)
Also, create an XML site map file -- that way, if there are any problems with your site, the search engines will tell you.
"What you pay for with SEO usually isn't software -- it's usually people-driven," said Carter, who added that his company uses a lot of free tools to do SEO, like plug-ins and add-ons in Firefox. There's even talk of Yahoo automating SEO.
But while SEO can be people-driven, it's also people who can block SEO efforts. "Bureaucracy can be a factor," said Carter. "If your company has a bunch of fiefdoms -- if that translates into making a change, that can slow down the SEO process." And that's when being a smaller business can be advantageous, because having less bureaucracy can mean fewer people to go through to make decisions about the SEO process. "SEO success comes down to how well the organization is run," said Carter.
Next Page: Tips For Better Search Results
