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Every website owner out there has heard of SEO. Maybe you didn’t know the technical term, maybe it was just “that Google thing” but you knew it was good to be at the top of the search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical to every business that is online, whether you sell online or you just get leads online. If the search engines in all of their automated computer power can’t find you, your potential customers are really going to struggle.
So, every business with an online presence needs SEO… ok, so what exactly falls within SEO?
I’m so glad you asked! There are a couple huge pieces of SEO that are the necessary first steps of every long-term SEOist to business owner relationship.
First, every SEO provider worth your money should ALWAYS do the following;
Keyword Research; this means that your SEO provider talks to you about your business. I know, go figure. They need to learn all they can about the services and products that your offer. They should then take this and dial down a list of 10-25 keywords that best represents what YOUR business offers your customers as well as being keywords that a customer might actually do a search for.
Website Modifications; this is usually pertaining to the way your site was developed. Websites are NOT always created equally… there is a good way and a bad way build websites just like with everything else. Unfortunately, it’s only very recently that most designers and developers have taken notice to these guidelines and have actually started used them. Most websites created even just a few years ago are poorly developed and should be updated.
This can mean just making minor modifications to your code or it could mean that your site needs to be completely re-developed. Maybe it’s time for a new design anyway? It’s unfortunate but it’s reality.
A good SEO provider should also either out source a copywriter or do it himself, but in most all cases that website copy will need to be modified as well.
Lastly, something every business owner should make sure they’re getting is…
SEO Keyword and Placement Reports; you need to track your SEO provider to make sure he or she is doing their job, just like with any employee. This should include where you’re ranking with at least the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo, & Bing) for the keywords that were chosen in the Keyword Research phase. You should see an upward trend over the course of a couple months.
Search engine optimization is not an overnight process; it does take a lot of time and effort, but at the very latest you should start to see results within 30 days.
