How Any Business Can Benefit From SEO

By Kara Taylor

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a hot topic these days. It seems every time you turn around someone is talking about SEO and how it is essential for any company that wants to make a go of it in today’s business world. But what exactly is SEO? And does your business really need it?

Well, SEO is a marketing strategy that is intended to give you a stronger, larger web presence. And with consumers turning to the internet more and more for their product and service needs, SEO is, indeed, a key part of finding new customers and increasing the visibility and profitability of your business.

Site Optimization

Optimizing your web presence can only be a positive thing. After all, how can people know how amazing your company is if they can’t find you? When looking for a product or service people are more apt to turn to the Internet, particularly the search engines than the yellow pages. If you have a poor ranking and a minimal web presence, then potential customers won’t be able to find you online. And that can mean lost sales.

You may think that only large business need and can afford to utilize SEO as part of their marketing strategy, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, a smaller business can sometimes benefit even more than larger companies who may already have a solid web presence.

SEO Strategy

While both large and small companies can benefit from SEO, there is a difference in how it is applied to each. Other things besides business size that need to be taken into consideration when developing an SEO strategy is whether or not your company is local or global and if you deal with products or services.

It goes without saying that a larger company will have more money available for marketing and therefore more money that can be allocated for SEO. On the flip side, larger companies will need a larger SEO strategy in order for it to work.

Larger companies will most likely also already have an established web presence with a high traffic website. Their SEO strategy therefore should be geared towards tweaking the existing website and making it more efficient in drawing traffic by implementing more and better keywords in product and service descriptions, emphasizing competitive pricing and delivery service.

Small Businesses

Smaller businesses may have newer or smaller websites and not as high a volume of traffic as larger companies. While keyword placement can help to direct traffic to the site, a much better option is to use link building in order to increase the website’s ranking and direct traffic.

Increasing your online visibility will help increase your sales and put your business on the map, even if you are a local company without global aspirations. Local people turn to the Internet for their information also. The proper linking and keyword use will put you on top of the game.

Link Building

If your company’s website is new, link building is essential regardless of the size of your company. You want to make sure that you are listed when people search for your product or service on a search engine. And, in order to be recognized and indexed you need to use link building.

The right link building will also ensure that your website is high up in the search results. The higher you are ranked, the more people will be able to find you. Think about it: when you search for something online, how often to you click past the first page of results? Not very often.

Your Strategy

SEO doesn’t just benefit the big chain companies. Smaller companies can also get use out of SEO. The key is to make sure that the SEO strategy is personalized and geared towards your business whether you are selling a product or providing a service.

Author Information

Kara Taylor is an experienced blogger and a specialist in SEO, social media and website content. She uses her knowledge to give expert advice on a variety of topics on a Q&A site. When she is not blogging, she loves to learn new recipes and cook for her family.

Photo Credit: Sachin Ghodke

The Compassion in Furloughing Employees

When this recession is all said and done (and it will one day be truly and mercifully gone) there will be a number of trends recalled that people will examine as they attempt to get their minds around what they went through.

This can be a good thing because though business is cyclical in nature — fraught with many ups and downs — there is something about a deep downturn that is etched in our memories, becoming among the deepest and most defining moments in our lives.  Hopefully, resulting in a new appreciation for life, perhaps showing that thriftiness can build character.

What Our Great Grandparents Can Tell Us

One need only to talk with someone who was part of the now fast passing away generation that lived through the Great Depression to get a feel for how that period shaped their entire lives, even as unbridled prosperity later ruled the day…at least for a relatively short while.

The ugliness will no doubt be remembered too, sparking conversations where we’ll recall those times when large corporations were bailed out even while small businesses and middle  income folks were struggling to stay above water. We’ll also wonder just how much government really expanded during that time and whether it’ll ever contract to a more manageable and sustainable level.

Why Not Furloughs Instead of Layoffs?

But, I think one trend that will get a bit more than a passing reference will be how companies handled layoffs during that time.  Clearly, most struggling companies opt to go the mass layoff route while others try a more sensible, even humane approach by furloughing employees.

Furloughing is common with blue collar workers who sometimes are let go temporarily and called back to work later on. During their furlough (laid off) period, workers can collect unemployment benefits and in some cases work another job.

This practice has been around for decades, allowing companies to adjust workforces as needed. Employees may not particularly like being furloughed, but they know that the odds are with them that they’ll resume their employment at some point down the line.

A Bum Rap For White Collar Employees

White collar employees usually aren’t as fortunate. When management decides that money needs to be saved, one of the first things they do is cut payroll. Not cutting back on hours. Not reducing their workforce by attrition. Rather, permanently laying off significant numbers of people immediately.

I have always thought that this practice was senseless, even cruel. Generally what happens is that a portion of the company’s workforce is put out of work while the remaining employees keep working with few, if any changes. Sure, there may be the attendant salary freeze or restrictions on what days they can take off, but the majority of the workforce feels nary a pinch while a handful have their lives totally disrupted.

Particularly Disruptive For Seasoned Workers

This disruption is not easily remedied, particularly for older employees who almost always go through an extended period of unemployment and must eventually settle for a position that pays far less and offers few opportunities for advancement.

Back in 2002 I was part of a group of thirty people let go from a company, a move that I found somewhat of a relief but also a tremendous hardship. I understood that my company was going through a difficult time, but I also knew that things would change and that they would be hiring once again.

Of course, there is always the case made that I (and other long term employees like me) would eventually be replaced by someone who made less money, but in the majority of situations laying off people affects employee morale, puts a drag on company earnings, and disrupts lives.

I don’t believe that companies owe their employees their jobs, but I think it does say a lot about a company who does everything within their power to keep their workforce in place even through difficult times.

State Employees, Retail Workers Furloughed

This past week I learned that two family members were preparing to be furloughed, unusual moves for their fields as one works for a large retailer while the other is in state government. For my retailer relative, she’ll be having her days cut back from five to four while my government relation will be taking scheduled days off without pay over the coming months.

Certainly, no one likes to take a pay cut but in this case things turn out a little differently — no one loses their job. True, there is no guarantee that additional furloughing won’t happen nor have lay offs been ruled out, but for now, everyone is employed.

A Company’s Strength? Its Workers!

I find something good, even reassuring about a company who takes a page out of the blue collar handbook and tries it with office workers, sales staff, store employees and traditional white color employees. And, I think showing employees that you’ll stick with them through thick or thin builds a much more loyal and engaged workforce, one that will do their jobs better and, ultimately, increase a company’s bottom line.

Good business sense is for a company to recognize that its employees are its number one asset, something not to be discarded when things get tough but kept in place in order to build a strong, committed body of workers.