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

Twitter This? I Don’t Think So!

I’ve gotten accustomed to reading a variety of tweets since I became very active with Twitter this past January. In between the obvious marketing blurbs and newsworthy items I have learned a lot about some of my fellow Twitter users including their business trips, flight details, conference highlights and assorted away from home tips.

But it seems that I’m not the only one following tweets so closely. Israel Hyman learned that his tweets may have led to his Mesa, AZ home being robbed this past spring when he and his family journeyed to Kansas City to visit his wife’s family. The police didn’t link his Twitter activity to the crime, but Hyman did based on all of the details he shared leading up to and through the time he was away.

Well, I just returned from a trip but didn’t even use Twitter once when I was away. I like Twitter, but there is something about sharing 140 characters worth of intimate details that turns me off. Okay, maybe you enjoyed your mocha latte this morning which is a harmless and fun statement, but there are times that I find other details twittered about people that I think are best left off of social media sites.

5 Tweets That Should Never See The Light Of Day

To that end, I’ve compiled a list of five things that I believe should never be tweeted let alone mentioned by people online. Sure, free speech is great but why supply more information about yourself than necessary?

Your Trip Details – What Israel Hyman experienced should be fair warning to everyone. People complain about their privacy being eroded due to the internet, but I blame web users for a good deal of the problem – if you like to Twitter about visiting a certain place, light up the Twittersphere with your comments after you have returned. Otherwise, don’t blame anyone if your home is robbed.

Your Family – In many cases, I know the names of Twitter user spouses, their children and in many cases their pet’s name. I get uncomfortable when family is mentioned beyond generalized terms for the simple reason that there is bound to be someone, somewhere who would love to have that information, but for all of the wrong reasons. Maybe I’ve watch to much of “America’s Most Wanted” which would explain my thinking, but there are enough cyber creeps out there who could do you or your family members real harm.

Company Problems – A sure way to get fired is to tweet about your employer, a client or someone else you have a working relationship with in a negative light. I’ve seen it done and wonder what point the twitter user was making. Whether the company caught the tweet or not I don’t know, but once something has been tweeted, it can be dug up forevermore. Find another way to vent!

Hashtag Spam – I haven’t seen it too often but once in awhile someone gets the brilliant idea that hashtag (#hashtag) spamming is a good idea. Gee, if you’re trying to sell a product unrelated to iPhones then why would you use that hashtag? Socialmediatoday caught a furniture company doing this very thing – I got to believe that the company lost customers as well as respect thanks to this practice.

Avoid Flame Wars – Tweeting is micro-blogging so it stands to reason that just like commenting on a blog, leaving comments on tweets makes perfect sense. But, unlike a blog which has a limited audience, tweets can be read by anyone, anywhere. So, if you plan on having it out with someone on Twitter, be forewarned that your tweet conversation can be followed and monitored by everyone. Show some restraint, avoid calling people names too.

Add Your Mis-Tweets Too!

I’m sure that there are other things that shouldn’t be added to Twitter, but I’ll keep these “fab five” on my list. If you want to add one or more of what I call “mis-tweets”, feel free to hit the reply button and let us discuss the matter!