Industry Articles
Why is SEO Important?
Can you afford NOT to optimize your website?
There are countless ways to market your business and most “traditional” methods of advertising are very expensive – usually too expensive for the small business owner. All businesses should have a web presence – and most do. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is one of the most advantageous methods of marketing your business on the Internet. SEO is similar to an ad in the Yellow Pages – you are giving the consumer what they are looking for when they are looking for it. Banner ads can work well, if done right, by purchasing a banner ad on a complementary site – your advertisement will be viewed by visitors that may have an interest in you products. But, with SEO, you are giving the potential visitor exactly what they are looking for – when they are looking for it.
Just like advertising in the Yellow Pages – SEO offers people what they are looking for when they are looking for it. Recent statistics show that respondents who used traditional Yellow Pages decreased from 75% to 62% - where do you think these people are getting there information now – the Internet. Statistics also show that most people that buy online – start with a search engine. This is why you need to optimize your web site so you will rank high for the keywords and phrases that are pertinent to your industry. If your website isn't showing up in the search engines for the products and services that you offer – you can bet that your competition is.
The competition varies greatly between keyword phrases. While some keywords and phrases would be nearly impossible to show up in the search engine results page for – others are not. This is important information to know when you are preparing to optimize your website yourself or to hire a professional SEO. For example, the phrase "healthy weight loss plans" had 59 people searching for it in a 24 hour period according to Word Tracker, and 566 websites competing for that exact phrase in Google. But the phrase "weight loss plans" had 64 people searching for it in the same 24 hour period – and 239,000 websites competing for it in Google. This type of information is very valuable in developing a successful search engine optimization plan.
There is a wealth of information on the Internet on just about everything – even on how to optimize your website for the search engines. A good place to start to find the information you need is on Google.