Without a Website, search engine optimization is worthless, and with very little exception, the reverse is also true. Pay-per-click advertising such as Google AdWords or Facebook advertising can be very helpful, but will never make up for the need of relevance-based “organic” search engine results. Even with a substantial PPC campaign, a Website without proper search engine optimization will simply not have the audience it takes to be competitive in the Internet marketplace. It will also suffer a much lower return on investment (ROI) due to the need to constantly “feed” it with traffic.
An important fact of organic search engine optimization is that once the work is done, the results will generally last a very long time. This is because the basic principles of researching the right keywords, producing quality Website content, proper programming, incoming links from other Websites, and other search engine optimization considerations have been met. This would seem to most of us to be quite elementary, but it is shocking how many potentially useful Websites there are on the Internet that are just wasting away like a billboard in a basement or a retail store stuffed away in a back alley in the wrong part of town.
You understand the importance of search engine traffic for your Website, or you would not be reading my blog. The vast majority of Websites need to be visible in search engine results. Even in the few cases where search engine traffic is unwanted or unnecessary, it is important to adhere to the proper programming and quality Website content practices that lend to the Website’s optimization.
Although most people realize the need for high quality search engine traffic coming to their Websites, the number of people with the necessary search engine optimization talent to achieve this is small. Because of this fact, it is often not as challenging as you may think to be the number one result in a Google search for the product or service that you offer. There are two ways you can achieve this, and that is to do it yourself, or hire a professional SEO to handle it for you.
Author Mark Murnahan is the Chairman and CEO of YourNew.com, Inc. and provides SEO consulting services to companies and non-profit organizations. Mark Murnahan may be reached toll free at 866-A-Web-Guy (*REDACTED DUE TO AGING WEBSITE*) for consultation.
