Is SEO Worth Paying For?

Today, I met with a potential client to talk about getting his products, for sale, online. During our conversations, we got on the subject of SEO (search engine optimization). I had mentioned to him that his current site wasn’t too “Google-Friendly”. His last web developer create a brochure-style, mostly static website that left a lot to be desired. Simple things like properly naming image files, including proper tags for links and images, and using proper h1, h2, etc. were totally disregarded. Who knows, this man’s shop could have been the #1 on Google result for his niche years ago if the person he previously put in charge of his business’ website would not have cut corners.

SEO was all the buzz back in the 1990′s and early 2000′s. If you could figure out what search engines liked, you could cram your website full of it and reap the rewards of holding the top spot for your targeted search results. While climbing to the top of search engines like Google isn’t nearly as “easy” as it was a decade or so ago, it’s still doable for many niches.

SEO is as relevant today as ever. Sure, people can’t shut up about Facebook, but Facebook is just the new MySpace. You remember MySpace, don’t you? If you think all the exposure you need is via social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, well you just might find yourself regretting that decision in a couple years.

If SEO is the key to getting a high rank in searches specific to your product or service, what’s it worth to you to be in the top spot or the first page of the results for those searches? Imagine you own a flower shop in New Orleans, LA. Let’s say there are 20 other flower shops, in your city, competing with your for business. What’s it worth to you to come out ahead of all the other flower shops in New Orleans when someone searches on Google, Yahoo! or Bing for, “New Orleans Flower Shop”? This can be achieved with a properly strategized SEO campaign.

If you’re not happy with your current search engine rankings, or would just like an SEO analysis of your current website, contact me for a consultation.

Tags: beating the competition, bing, facebook, google, myspace, seo, twitter, yahoo!