It has recently come to the attention of many consumers, the importance of SEO in their websites.

Well, what is SEO? SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization is defined as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

So what does that mean to you – the small business owner? That means that your business’ website will appear higher in the “free” search results, placing your website in front of your potential customers in the Google results. This means more traffic, and hopefully more purchases.

You have to remember that it is your job to sell your product or services; it is the SEO guru’s job to make your site appear in the high ranks. He or she cannot sell your products for you; he or she can only give you the tools and access you need to sell them for yourself.

Prepare Yourself… The Interview

You don’t want to hire the wrong guru. You need to be prepared to ask him or her several questions in order to find out who knows their stuff and who should hit the road.

Q: What is your process?
A: Re-construction (whether this is a whole new design structure or just simply making medications to the existing site) of the Website to allow for search engines to more easily crawl through and index all of their pages.
Now that the pages are indexed… Monitoring of the individual pages based on a set of keywords that the clients is wanting to be seen for is the next step.
Make modifications to pages and content as it shows to be necessary.
More monitoring…
More Tweaking…

SEO is a constant battle. Just because you reach page 1 or slot 1 doesn’t mean you can sit back and enjoy the benefits. You must expect that your competition is not sitting around just letting you take the lead. They’re out there trying to improve their SEO and over-throw you as soon as possible.

Q: What parts of a Web page need to be modified in order to be indexed by search engines?
A: This can change depending on your Web site, but the key elements for SEO of any Website are;

• Header Tags
• Good HTML Structure
• Keyword Placement
• Internal Linking
• Content (all that text you want people to read)

Q: What tools do you regularly use to monitor and track?
A: These should be Keyword Analysis tools, Keyword Ranking tools, Index checking, back-link checking, and many others.

Q: Do you have experience writing copy (website content)?
A: They should have at least some experience writing copy, or they may contract out to a copywriter. This should be written well with good grammar and spelling, as well as adhere to certain guidelines that are necessary for good SEO — they should know these guidelines.

Q: What aspect of a Web site do they think is the most critical for organically ranking a Web site?
A: Content! This is the biggest aspect of SEO, followed by internal linking. The content should be thorough and have your keywords strategically placed within it.

There are many other things you need to discuss with your SEO specialist, and doing your own research prior to making any calls is important.

Contact Merchant Metrix today for a free search engine optimization Consultation to review your current website and see what can be done to improve it in the results. Contact us at 405-329-8500 or on our website at www.merchantmetrix.com.