Should I optimize my site for search? Is it worth the cost?
Should I optimize my site for search? Is it worth the cost?
The best way I can describe the potential effectiveness of search engine optimization is with a simple analogy. If there was a magazine thats only goal was to give the readers a way to contact companies about a particular product or service that you offered, would you advertise in it? Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? It gets better. What if that magazine had a large subscription base? What if running the advertisement stayed visible for years at a time? What if the advertisement was cheaper than traditional print advertising? What if you could track every person who reads your advertisement, see how many of them end up buying, and improve the advertisement based on the findings?
The picture I just painted is search engine optimization in a nutshell. Every day people are searching online for specific products and services that they want to buy. Search engine optimization is a process in which a site is altered so that search engines such as Google can better determine the relevance of your website and display it to users when they search for your product/service. An example of this would be a user typing into Google “New York limo service.” The user has the intent of renting a limo, and if you had a limo service you would want your site to appear in the listings. Depending on the keywords use, you may find that people are searching for a given product or service hundreds to thousands of times per month. Each of those searches is a potential customer, so it is easy to see the potential for growth coming from the search engines.
The most common question people have in regards to SEO is the price. Because SEO is a new industry, prices and price-models range dramatically with out any real regard to the effectiveness of the service. Some firms charge hourly, some charge monthly, others charge per project, and some even charge based on performance (ie: if your site ranks #10 you pay a given amount, if you rank #5 you pay a different given amount).
An easy way to get a basic idea of what the pricing might be, is think about what key phrases you would like to optimize for and look for how much competition you would have. If you are competing with millions of other sites for a very broad key phrase such as “diamond ring,” it probably will take a lot of time, work, and strategy to get your site to beat out all the others battling for that spot. However if you are targeting a more specific less competitive key phrase such as “New York Limo Service” it will take much less time, effort, and competition to get you ranked and leads rolling in.
Search Engine Optimization is not for all companies however. There are some services that people simply don't look for online, or maybe just not in your specific area. There are others where the costs of SEO would not bring in enough revenue to justify them. This is why it is important to do some planning on your part. Figure out your profit per sale/lead on average, and then work with a high quality SEO firm to help find out how many people search for your service on a monthly basis. With the tracking tools available today you can easily find out a realistic expectation of the 2-3 year revenue generated by an SEO campaign. The industry is thriving because so many companies can achieve effortless and revenue and growth through search engine visibility.
Should I optimize my site for search Is it worth the cost - To learn more about this author, visit Ross Johnson's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Search Engine Optimization has been around for a long time, much longer than you probably realize. However it only now is getting attention that is turning “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization) into a common word that thousands of companies offer as a service. It make sense however, that the industry is getting said attention as the amount of people who browse, buy, and look for information on the Internet grows dramatically every year. However it is a scary industry from the consumer side. Difficult to understand with plenty of Catch-22's, misinformation, and potential high costs. The gray areas of SEO make it difficult to figure out if it is worth doing. Luckily for you, I am here to help you figure that out.
The best way I can describe the potential effectiveness of search engine optimization is with a simple analogy. If there was a magazine thats only goal was to give the readers a way to contact companies about a particular product or service that you offered, would you advertise in it? Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? It gets better. What if that magazine had a large subscription base? What if running the advertisement stayed visible for years at a time? What if the advertisement was cheaper than traditional print advertising? What if you could track every person who reads your advertisement, see how many of them end up buying, and improve the advertisement based on the findings?
The picture I just painted is search engine optimization in a nutshell. Every day people are searching online for specific products and services that they want to buy. Search engine optimization is a process in which a site is altered so that search engines such as Google can better determine the relevance of your website and display it to users when they search for your product/service. An example of this would be a user typing into Google “New York limo service.” The user has the intent of renting a limo, and if you had a limo service you would want your site to appear in the listings. Depending on the keywords use, you may find that people are searching for a given product or service hundreds to thousands of times per month. Each of those searches is a potential customer, so it is easy to see the potential for growth coming from the search engines.
The most common question people have in regards to SEO is the price. Because SEO is a new industry, prices and price-models range dramatically with out any real regard to the effectiveness of the service. Some firms charge hourly, some charge monthly, others charge per project, and some even charge based on performance (ie: if your site ranks #10 you pay a given amount, if you rank #5 you pay a different given amount).
An easy way to get a basic idea of what the pricing might be, is think about what key phrases you would like to optimize for and look for how much competition you would have. If you are competing with millions of other sites for a very broad key phrase such as “diamond ring,” it probably will take a lot of time, work, and strategy to get your site to beat out all the others battling for that spot. However if you are targeting a more specific less competitive key phrase such as “New York Limo Service” it will take much less time, effort, and competition to get you ranked and leads rolling in.
Search Engine Optimization is not for all companies however. There are some services that people simply don't look for online, or maybe just not in your specific area. There are others where the costs of SEO would not bring in enough revenue to justify them. This is why it is important to do some planning on your part. Figure out your profit per sale/lead on average, and then work with a high quality SEO firm to help find out how many people search for your service on a monthly basis. With the tracking tools available today you can easily find out a realistic expectation of the 2-3 year revenue generated by an SEO campaign. The industry is thriving because so many companies can achieve effortless and revenue and growth through search engine visibility.
Should I optimize my site for search Is it worth the cost - To learn more about this author, visit Ross Johnson's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 Ways to Optimize Your Web Site
| |||
| Search Engine Optimization is a technical process which is used to raise the rank of a website in the search engine index. SEO makes a website easier for the search engines to read and also helps the users in findin... |
|||
|
SEO Basic understanding
| |||
| Hello Friends,
You don't need auto submits to get to the thousands of search engines people say they can get your website to.
Using the proper META tags and Keywords along with the proper content and you will... |
|||
|
Inbound Links are VERY Important!
| |||
| It's a well known fact that the on page contents of a web page are important to search engines. One thing that is most often over-looked however is building inbound link campaigns. According to Google, Yahoo and MSN... |
|||
|
Maximizing the full potential of your website.
| |||
| Many people invest in a website and months or years later they complain, “my website is worthless, I never get any business from it.” Creating a website without search engine optimizing it is like creating a newspap... |
|||
|
What Your Web Designer Isn't Telling You
| |||
| What exactly is search engine optimization? Simply explained, it is the technique of attaining a high ranking in search engines and directories via changes to your site code to make it more search engine compatible.... |
|||
| |||
|
Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: http://www.business901.com Web/Blog: http://www.FundingYourNonprofit.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/business901 – Linked In http://www.twitter.com/business901 – Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
|||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) Jay Kubassek is a Canadian born entrepreneur, internet marketing genius, professional speaker, international real estate developer/investor, executive film producer, extreme sport enthusiast and a passionate supporter of several charities worldwide. In 2007, Jay's vision and dedication to help other entrepreneurs and business owners duplicate his marketing success led to the creation of his fourth company CarbonCopyPRO, an internet marketing firm already worth over 15 million dollars that has over 20 employees and contract workers with clients is 12 different countries. Jay resides in NYC with his girlfriend Jamie, three year old son Milo and dog Cooper. As executive producer he recently premiered his first film in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. As an adventurist he is racing the 2008 Baja 1000 off-road race and is a member of the 2008 U.S. National Elephant Polo Team, The New York Blue who will be representing the US in the 2008 World Championships in Nepal. Visit Jay's Blog: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 Ross Johnson (Visit Ross's Website) Ross Johnson runs an interactive and search engine marketing company out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Johnson joined the field of SEO in 2002 after realizing that by only providing web design his company was only helping clients figure out half the battle of an effective online presence. Since 2002 Johnson has helped countless companies reach top rankings and heavy traffic. With a specialization in new real estate developments, he has helped develop new strategies and tracking methods to improve ROI and maximize potential at the top rankings. Johnson has published countless articles on all aspects of search engines, including niche areas such as local searching and ppc branding.
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Innovative Thinking Mental Imagery Emotions Drive Behavior Interview Coaching New Year Revolutions |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||
