If you are doing business on the internet, it’s critical that you are aware of the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is. You likely know that search engines drive the internet. If you are interested in growing your business into a force on the internet, you will likely depend a great deal on search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing to drive the vast majority of traffic to your site. Gaining a high placement in the search engines can provide you with a significant amount of traffic.
Be sure to see the Barnes Internet Marketer’s Resource Guide for tools that will help you with SEO.
SEO is comprised of thousands of small details that combine to help provide you with a solid ranking in the search engines. When you first start out, it can be extremely difficult to determine what are short term tricks compared to the solid strategies that will provide you with lasting results. The main goal of a search engine is to deliver relevance. For without relevance, the search engine won’t be around long. If the results a search engine delivers is not relevant to what the customer wants, they won’t be back again.
For example, if you are getting married and are on a tight budget, you may do a search for budget wedding tips. If you get results back that show sites for lavish destination weddings, you aren’t going to be happy. The search engine wants to deliver the closest sites possible to budget wedding tips because it’s good for their business to keep their customers happy.
When it comes to SEO, you’ve got to be on the lookout for hucksters.
There are plenty of folks running SEO services companies that will offer you the “opportunity” to move up in the search engine rankings – sometimes they will even “guarantee” a top spot. If someone guarantees this to you by simply doing some SEO work, don’t fall for it. SEO tactics generally take time to have an impact on rankings. Now, there are ways to move your site up in the search engines in a very rapid fashion. Unfortunately, those methods are frowned upon by the search engines, so those efforts will deliver very short term results. On top of that, you run the risk of being delisted in a search engine such as Google.
Those that participate in trickery to gain you search engine positions are generally using tactics that are known as “black hat SEO”. These tactics serve no purpose other than to trick the search engines. They ALWAYS fail. Some work longer than others, but in the end, you are getting very short term results that could damage your long term standings. Tricks by hucksters involved in questionable SEO tactics my use the following:
- Adding thousands of links on hundreds of websites
- Duplicating pages on your site
- Buying or stealing content from other webisites to use on yours
- Connecting your site to linking networks where thousands of sites exchange links
Be sure that if you hire an SEO company that you ask specifics. Exactly what steps are they going to be taking to improve your rankings? If they tell you it’s a “secret”, find yourself another SEO company to help you.
Now don’t misunderstand. There are many, many hardworking SEO professionals that CAN help you with your on site SEO efforts that over time WILL help you increase your search engine ranking. Some “White Hat SEO” efforts will work faster than others, but know that generally speaking, it’s going to take time for above board efforts to show solid results.
As discussed above, search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! want to provide the most relevant results possible. Google in particular has been very active in updating their search algorytyms on a regular basis to week out those who have come up with new ways to try and fool their search engine. Anytime these changes take place, internet marketing forums are abuzz with unhappy folks who have used questionable tactics to get their sites to the top of the search engines. Had they stayed away from trickery when it came to their SEO efforts, they’d have a site that was continuing to rise in the search engines instead of falling to the bottom of the listings or being removed all together.
When running a business online, having a good understanding of legitimate SEO tactics is not only a must, but is as just important as knowing what’s not legit.
