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SEO – NOT A FAD!

July 12, 2011 | by Dar Sojka | 1 comment

Okay by now you know SEO is here to stay.

It’s not a fad like leisure suits (never been a fan) or bell-bottoms (loved them!) of the 1970’s that disappear or take a long hiatus – (bell bottoms are back baby!).

So how and where do you begin your SEO journey?

I’m often asked this question and my answer is … by getting intimate. And 99.9% of the time I get the same response…’what do you mean by getting intimate?’

Get to know, in-depth, not only your company but also your:
• Customers, and
• Competitors

I cannot stress the importance of this step. And I’m not going to lie. This is a long process and you may not like some of the information uncovered. But if you do not know your company, your customers, and your competition, intimately, then how can you:
• Know what your company truly has to offer – products and services – and more importantly, what they do not offer…but should;
• Know who your customers are…and their needs; and
• Know what you do better than your competition…or do worse!

WHAT IS SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) according to Wikipedia is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engines via the ‘natural’ or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

So … what does that mean? It means getting a potential customer to your website via organic or unpaid means. If done correctly your website will receive a high ranking on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). A high ranking gives your company the exposure it needs to increase the amount of visitors to your website, therefore increasing your ROI.

An increase in your ROI could mean an increase in – sales, visitors to your website, visitors downloading white papers, etc. – there are many ways to measure your ROI.

For your site to receive a high ranking from search engines (major players are Google, Bing and Yahoo) it must have pertinent keywords/phrases placed throughout the website, META tags, links and other social media avenues.

How do you know which search terms/phrases to use? Ah ha…that is where ‘getting intimate’ is so important!

Next blog I’ll go into more detail on how ‘getting intimate’ leads to targeted SEO.

In the meantime what were the fads when you were growing up? Any you really miss? Any you hope never return?

I’m out to get a new pair of bell-bottoms before they go on hiatus again!

Take care, be happy and stay tuned!