SEO - should small businesses and the self-employed ignore it?

SEO is the process of raising a web page's visibility in the search engine result pages (SERPs).

A common misconception is that search engines index web sites - in fact they focus on web pages. As a result, certain pages on a web site may achieve a high SERP ranking while other pages on that same site perform poorly.

The case for SEO

Search engines have evolved to the point where they are now powerful reverse advertising mediums.

The term reverse is used because they function exactly the opposite as traditional advertising. While broadcast and print advertising seek to reach as many people as possible in hopes of finding a few potential buyers, search engines are used by prospects who have a high level of interest in a product or service and are actively seeking the information needed to make a buying decision in real-time. I like to call this just in time advertising.

If an organization provides a product or service, and it does not rank high enough in the SERPs, there is little to no chance the prospect will encounter that organization while doing their research. The result? A lost sale. And depending upon the average lifetime value of a new customer, the financial ramifications of that lost sale can be considerable.

No Longer a Changing Marketplace. It is a Changed Marketplace.

Ten years ago marketing pundits were writing articles stating "The time is soon coming when not having an Internet presence will seriously impact your ability to do business."

That time is no longer coming; it is here.

Then, as late as 2005, top Internet marketing consultants were warning the business community that search engines were rapidly replacing traditional advertising methods as the consumers' preferred method of gathering product or service information and for selecting a provider of that product or service.

Here is an excerpt from a report released on September 27, 2005 by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC):

"The consistent growth in overall revenues shows marketers may be shifting more of their total advertising budgets to online. This is a natural development as research shows more consumers are spending a larger percentage of their media time online, while the flow of advertising dollars follows."

That prediction has come true as well. And of all the online advertising mediums available, SEO is the only one that is guaranteed to reach a consumer at the moment they are actively involved in the buying process. But that guarantee is only valid if the organization has an active and well-executed SEO plan in place.

Mere Search Engine Presence is Not Enough

As in Real Estate, the key to benefiting from the business-driving benefits of SEO is location, location, location. It is not enough to simply be listed somewhere amongst the SERPs.

In order to have a fighting chance of being the recipient of search-engine dollars, it is necessary to be in the Top 10 search result listings. Here's why:

Although the consumer is actively making feature and price comparisons, most have a limited attention span. As a result, by the time they have read the information provided by the companies that rank 1-10 in the SERPs, the chances are excellent they have accumulated all of the information they need to make a buying decision including where to make that purchase.

If an organization's listing is on the second or subsequent result pages, it can be argued that they might as well not appear in the SERPs at all.

Combine the loss of potential revenue with the perception that a company with low or no listings may not be credible, and the need for a professional SEO program becomes even more obvious.

Conducting Effective Link Campaigns

Clearly one of the most difficult and time-consuming SEO tasks involves a process known as link building. Link building involves creating links to your web pages from other sites.

Various link building methods are available including writing and distributing articles, creating blog posts, advertising in ezines, participating in link exchanges and others.

The primary benefit of an effective link campaign is that Google and other search engines look at a site with a large number of inbound links as being authoritative which can result in higher SERP rankings.

A secondary benefit is that links appearing on other quality web sites will result in more traffic coming from those sites to yours.

The problem is, a poorly executed link campaign can actually result in lower search engine page rankings and reduced traffic. This is especially true if ibound links come from the previously mentioned bad neighborhoods, or if the links violate any of the other written and unwritten rules which seemingly change on a regular basis.

Inexperienced people who attempt to create their own link building campaigns frequently end up bleeding off their page rank rather than increasing it.

SEO Success: Thinking Like a Customer Thinks

The process of selecting relevant key words is one of the most important pieces of the SEO puzzle.

Although there are many design and content rules that must mesh together flawlessly in order to achieve the coveted Top 10 SERP results, none are more important than the proper selection and use of key words in online content.

Because key words comprise the index pointers that search engines use to retrieve results from their huge database of web pages, the importance of optimizing for the key words customers use to find your product or service can not be overemphasized.

But finding those key words is not as simple as holding a few brainstorming sessions with your marketing and product management teams and copying down a list of words.

Consumers may not use the terms you would use when searching for your products or services. The may use long phrases; they may misspell words, and they may use synonyms that you might not think to use.

For example: In many parts of the U.S., the brand name Frigidaire® is used by people as a generic term for a refrigerator regardless of which refrigerator brand they own or are thinking of buying. An appliance store that did not carry the Frigidaire brand would likely miss out on the opportunity to sell a brand they did carry to those shoppers who use the name Frigidaire as a generic term.

It is also important to optimize for seasonal search terms. For example, a site well-optimized for the term children's clothing would run the risk of missing out on sales during the time when the hot search term is back to school clothing.

Failing to optimize for misspellings and word variations such as jewellery, jewelery and jewelry, may also result in lost income opportunities.

Optimizing for key word phrases is also a way to increase sales. While the phrase "woman's gifts" seems logical for a store that sells those types of products, the term "last minute gifts for my wife" has the potential to attract a significant number of male shoppers who have waited until the last minute to buy something for their spouse.

A good keyword strategy also requires one to be bold enough to buck the trends towards political correctness. Simply search Google on the phrase holiday gifts and then on the phrase Christmas gifts and you'll see that the top 10 SERP results are almost entirely different for each phrase.

And finally, a balance must be struck between optimizing for key words and phrases that are too broad to have any significance or so narrow as to defeat the purpose of SEO.

Key Word Selection Alone is Not Enough

Key word search results must be continually monitored and adjustments must be made as pages move up and down in rank and new competitive key words and phrases emerge.

SEO professionals augment their knowledge and experience with tools specifically designed to both measure key word results as well as suggest new key words and variations based upon the results of those measurements.

Raising Your Visibility in a Crowded Marketplace

SEO provides an opportunity to engage in 24/7 highly-targeted marketing at a fraction of the cost of planning and executing traditional advertising campaigns.

An additional benefit of investing in SEO as a marketing tool is that customers do not become immune to your message. This is because they are not constantly exposed to your ads and only actually see them the moment their thoughts are on the products and services you sell.

Combining a powerful SEO campaign with a well-designed site containing compelling and informative copy and graphics provides this additional benefit:

Even the smallest business has the opportunity to compete on a level playing field against larger merchants who may be able to outspend the competition on traditional media buys, but end up being an equal in the SEO arena.

SEO as a Partner in Persuading the Undecided Buyer

An optimized SEO campaign can lead a prospect to a web site. After that, it's up to the content, the site design and the offer to make the sale. So while SEO doesn't guarantee more sales in and of itself, it does guarantee the opportunity to attract more prospects to the web site which, in turn, gives your site the opportunity to close the sale.

How SEO Can Reduce Customer Defection

An organization may have top-of-mind awareness for the product or service that a consumer last purchased from it, but that same consumer might only be peripherally aware, if at all, that other product or service lines are available from the same provider.

An example is the U.S. big box chain Best Buy. They have made strong in-roads in the television and computer channels, but are not as well known for their other lines such as ranges, dishwashers, coffee pots, toasters and hand mixers.

By optimizing your web pages for your complete product or service line, you increase the opportunity to keep your customers buying from you, a brand they already know and trust, when they are seeking to purchase products or services they might not know you carry.

Managing SEO Technology Requirements

The potential ROI from running successful SEO campaigns is far too high to leave in the hands of inexperienced people who do not focus solely on SEO tools and techniques for a living.

SEO requirements and best practices change regularly. It is no longer possible to simply read a book on SEO, download a few tools, and expect to experience success.

An inexperienced person attempting to engage in SEO can actually cause far more damage to a site's search engine listings and reputation than the savings realized over hiring experienced SEO professionals produce.

Inexperienced people performing SEO work often end up using "Black Hat" techniques because they are determined to prove their abilities by quickly increasing the rankings of the web pages they work on.

Whether done innocently or not, these "Black Hat" techniques are so contrary to major search engine policies that engaging in them can result in a web site being delisted and banned in its entirety.

Other pitfalls are not as obvious but can have equally devastating results. For example, Google warns of conducting link campaigns with sites that they term as being in "undesirable neighbourhoods."

But how does an inexperienced person know how to make the determination between a site that is a desirable link partner and one that will result in lower SERP rankings? There is no lookup list of "bad neighbourhoods." It takes skill and experience to know the difference.

SEO is a time-consuming process that is ever evolving. There is no one-size-fits-all solution or plug-and-play black box remedy. Proper SEO requires ongoing care and maintenance in order to achieve high rankings and maintain them once they are achieved.

Like any profession, successful SEO practitioners spend a great deal of time staying current with industry changes; attending training classes and seminars, and investing in the latest tools of the trade. They know what works today, and they already have their eye on what new SEO options will be working tomorrow.

If you are looking to increase sales and raise your visibility in a crowded marketplace, hire an SEO professional.