Market Trends
The 3 Keys to a Winning Search Engine Optimization Strategy
by Gene Crawford
In the past few years, search engine optimization and marketing have become huge topics. It's not hard to understand why; put your company's website on the first page of Google, Yahoo, or MSN for the right phrase, and you're virtually guaranteed a nearly endless stream of new customers. It's not an exaggeration to say that these spots are worth millions -- in some cases more than prime real estate in places like New York, London, and Tokyo.
Because of the enormous stakes involved, SEO has become as much of a science as an art. Top marketers have dozens of formulas, techniques, and automated tools to help them find and keep the top spots. Bookshelves and seminar rooms are overflowing with advice on page headers, meta tags, links, and other search engines staples.
But while all of these things have their place, the truth is that most small businesses -- and quite a few big ones -- could drastically improve their search rankings by sticking to some of the tried-and-true basics. Here are three keys to a winning search optimization strategy:
Focus. What are the five most important words or phrases that could help you double or triple your business? This seems like a simple enough question, but it's one that many business owners and marketers struggle with. Trying to do too much, too soon, is a classic mistake, so make sure you have a good idea of the kind of traffic you want to attract before you begin any SEO campaign
Quality. Many years back, when the search engine phenomenon was relatively new, unscrupulous marketers could get away cramming dozens of key words into nonsensical "articles." They might not have made sense to a reader, but automated programs scanned them in and directed traffic to the sites.
That wasn't such a great approach then, as it tended to annoy visitors, but it's even worse now. That's because the smart folks who run the big engines figured out the trick a long time ago. Not only can't you fool them, but if they catch you trying, it may push your site even farther down in the listings.
The best way to get -- and keep -- profitable traffic coming to your website is to post quality content. Put up tips, articles, blog posts, and product descriptions that don't just sell to people, but educate them as well. Not only will you be rewarded with better positioning, but you'll find that satisfied customers will be much easier to come by.
Consistency. Starting an SEO program is a bit like joining a gym -- you have to do a lot to make it work, and you can't do it all once. Except in rare cases, search engine positioning doesn't change quickly; you're going to need to keep adding content and links for months and years to secure the best places. The good news, though, is that once you do it will be very difficult for your competitors to overtake you.
A strong search engine campaign might seem like a lot of effort and expense, but once you make it to the top of the listings, it can all be worth it. That's because the Internet can bring you thousands of new customers -- day and night, from all over the world -- but only if you're patient and persistent enough to make it happen.
Gene Crawford is a designer with more than 10 years experience creating simple, user specific, and elegant web sites and applications. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Art. Currently he is President and co-founder of Period Three (www.period-three.com) a full-service web-design agency in Columbia. Period Three provides all the services you need for a successful web site, including design, programming and Internet marketing and keep three things at the core of their development process; Keep it simple, make it measurable, get powerful results.
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