SEO Why do I Need It? © 2008 Interface Communications Group

A famous coach once said “Get in the Race or Fall Behind.” This applies to SEO as well.

Each year, more websites enter the fray known as the internet market, and most of them get eaten alive within a year, ending up in debt. Why? Complete underestimation of SEO.

What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It refers to the act of making websites easier to find by search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and most any other engine you have ever used.

SEO Why Do I Need It? Why do I need Search Engine Optimization? Without search engine optimization, your site cannot be found on organic (“free”) search engine results on the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and others.

SEO Is Optimization Enough? Is it enough to optimize the pages on your site? The answer is No…unless you don’t care to have people ever see your site on Google’s 1 st page of results. Search Engine Optimization involves more than just optimizing a few pages on your website. There are… –Inbound Linking – Google determines the importance of your optimized content by how many rich text links are linking to your site –Quality of Inbound Links – Link farms won’t help. Only sites dedicated to your industry will, or portals created especially for your site or sites just like yours.

SEO Is Optimization Enough? [CONTINUED…] –Directory Submissions – The hardest submission to make properly. –Search Engine Submissions – Some count, others just don’t. –Portals – These are sites that deal with your industry and its top keywords and key phrases. –Cross-Linking – This is when you link from one page to another among pages on your own site. Without ALL of these in place in the proper proportion, it is unlikely your site will ever reach Google’s Top10 –unless your keyword is “rubber baby buggy bumper stickers in blue”, in which case, knock yourself out. No one will likely race you for that 1 st place result.

Key SEO Issues Inbound Linking There are many rules for inbound links these days. Google has encoded these rules in its algorithm it uses to rank the keyword relevance of websites. SEO professionals must watch Google and adjust over the course of time to learn what these rules are and how to maximize them to advantage.

Key SEO Issues Cross-Linking – It helps to cross-link on your site, but to what degree is it safe? Google allows a good deal of this, but how much is enough or too much? You probably don’t know, but a professional SEO company always will.

Key SEO Issues Directories – They count higher than a thousand minor engines in the eyes of Google. –Problems: Operated by Finicky Human Editors Usually difficult to get accepted into Difficult to submit properly to Only SEO pros typically know how to get a submission accepted quickly

Key SEO Issues Meta Tags - Google cares more about content than meta tags. So using Dreamweaver or other editors to assemble meta tags is mostly useless, except for a very small few. Content – This is the text on your site, including a lot of the keywords that help visitors find your site. It also includes the names of your images and other files.

Key SEO Issues Black Hat Techniques As the name implies, these are “illegal” or frowned upon from the standpoint of most search engines and in particular in the eyes of Google. If your site’s code raises the red flag and a human monitor finds you are flouting the rules, your site could disappear from view indefinitely.

SEO Q & A And now for some SEO… Q & A

SEO Q & A Q: If Google cares more about content than meta tags, why can’t I do it myself? A: Many can and do. But then the site still sits in the water due to lack of understanding about the other factors which are still missing. And then there is the time factor.

SEO Q & A Q: Can’t I just go around SEO and use AdWords? A: Yes, you can, but by putting it off, you will be paying for AdWords for the life of your business. Also, Customers tend to trust a name they can Google instantly.

SEO Q & A The Time Factor Q: How much time does it take to take a site from 50+ position to Google’s prized Top10? A: About 2-4 hours per day, 5 days a week, for up to 6 months or more. Got some spare time on your hands?

SEO Q & A If you said YES to that last question, here’s a follow-up: Q: Do you have another 6-12 months to master SEO? If not, you may find that your master work lands you either severely penalized or banned from Google for a year or more. A: We’ll let you answer that one yourself.

SEO Q & A If you said YES to that last question, here’s a last follow-up for you: Q: What if I use a “Black Hat” optimizing technique without realizing it? A: Google and most other engines will assume you did realize it and penalize or even ban you anyway, whether or not you knew what you were doing.

SEO Q & A If you said YES to that last question, here’s a follow-up: Q: If Google bans my site, what then? A: Either you get a new site, or you’d better saddle up to pay AdWords. Either way, you’re never going to get a decent position on Search Engine Results Pages ever again.

SEO Q & A In Closing To those with the 6-12 month learning curve timeframe to spend learning white hat versus black hat techniques, and the 6 months or more required to take a site from nowhere to Top10 on Google, we salute you. To all the rest, check out our eContentManager package today. eContentManager

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