Search Engine Optimization is a term that has gone from being almost completely unknown to being one that is very frequently used in the business world in less than a year’s time. The reason behind its popularity is the fact that a whipping eighty percent or more of the market is searching Google, Yahoo and similar search engines for all of their products, services and needs before they look in the Yellow Pages or anywhere else! This has sparked an enormous demand for SEO services; with business owners realizing that they are going to have to optimize their websites for the search engines before their competition beats them to it. Nobody wants to leave money on the table by neglecting to perform a simple, basic and fundamental task. The increase in demand has been clear to see, as business owners scramble to find professionals who can optimize their websites for them.

How SEO Will Help Your Business

The way it works is simple. When your website is optimized, it will show up on the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN, Etc.) when someone types in a keyword or keyword phrase that is related to your business. There are thousands of different possible keyword phrases and variations that people may type in when searching for something that your business offers. For instance, think about how many different ways there are to search for a restaurant in New York City. You can type in “Restaurant in New York City” or “Places to eat in New York City” or “Restaurants NYC” and so on. Then there are the plural versions of each word such as “restaurant” or “restaurantS” etc. As you already know, the first page of any search only displays 10 results. In many cases there are hundreds of thousands and even millions of pages of search results for a given keyword phrase.

In order to guarantee that your website will show up on the first page or first few pages of results, you would have to pay some pretty large fees (per click) to be there. Plus, unless you know exactly what you are doing with PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising, you can end up wasting a fortune on clicks that don’t even convert into customers. Also, many prospective customers won’t click on search results that they know are paid for (because these listings show up on the right side of the search results under “sponsored ads.”

The more commonly known SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is also referred to as “organic” or “natural” SEO which means the website gets optimized to show up in the natural search results; on the left side!

If you improve your business website’s Google ranking, you are also increasing the exposure that your business will get substantially. Especially considering how much of the market share is using the internet and the various search engines to find what they are looking for — whether it be for a product, service or information. SEO is perhaps one of the most profitable and worthwhile investments that a business can acquire. Although it requires an initial investment, it can bring you targeted traffic to your website for years to come, without paying a single penny when people find your website. The people who find your site, will be people that are looking for exactly what your business offers which means they are very likely to become a customer.

Some big companies and major corporations are investing millions of dollars in SEO and other internet marketing consulting services. However, on the local level it is a lot more affordable to get these services performed for you, since the target market is not as wide as some international companies.

By securing an organic search engine listing and improving your search engine positioning overall, you will get laser targeted traffic to your website and you will not have to pay a hefty fee every time someone clicks on a link to your website. Your business will gain more online exposure and it will have a fighting chance to compete with the other businesses in your niche market, ensuring the survival of your business into the coming years.

What is SEO?

SEO is the term used for optimizing a website so that it shows up on the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Etc) when someone searches for a keyword phrase that is related to their website. If you have a website that is for a Chinese Restaurant in Chicago, you would certainly want your site to show up when people search for “Chinese restaurants in Chicago” or anything related, right?

If your website isn’t there, then your competitors’ websites will surely be there and then you can lose out on the traffic and therefore lose money. Why leave money on the table while such a HUGE share of the market is searching the internet to find nearly everything they need? And why give the targeted traffic to your competitor?

There are several ways to show up on the first several pages of Google, Yahoo, etc. One of those ways is to do “Pay Per Click” advertising where the business owner pays Google every time someone clicks on their websites listing. This allows them to show up on the first page (depending on how much they’re willing to spend) but it can be extraordinarily expensive and in many cases not profitable. Also, many people choose to not click on the results that they know are “paid for” and “sponsored” ads.

The more desired way to rank in the search engines is to rank “organically” or naturally, devoid of paying for any clicks and without paying a dime anytime someone clicks on your search result. This results in a long term stream of “laser targeted” traffic to your website (since the only people who find your site are searching for something related to it) which will turn into leads and eventually customers. Remember: Traffic = Money!

This is accomplished by optimizing your website for certain keyword phrases that have been proven to have a decent search volume, building incoming links to your website, formulating the proper META tags and making sure you have clean HTML code, etc. It will take hiring an SEO specialist to come and give you a consultation as to what your site needs and what it already has, as well as if there is something you may be doing wrong that is penalizing you or preventing you from showing up on Google, Yahoo, etc.

SEO is a long term investment with astonishing results and ROI’s. It is also vital for any business — large or small — to invest in having a presence on the internet as well as other internet marketing services including SEO, article marketing, link building, social media marketing, blogging and more. Simply look up a local SEO person in your town or city and ask them to give you a consultation or a prime rundown of what you need to do to your website to make it work for you and make you more money. By making your website more search engine friendly you will be ensuring long term success for your business.

To take your business online, all you need is a simple website with a homepage, some information about your business and what separates you from your competitors. Once you have a simple, but professional looking website up and running you will also need to promote it.

There are several ways to promote your website and the most important and popular thing to focus on is your search engine rankings. What that means is how well your site ranks on the search engine results when people search for keywords that are related to your market. This process is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and it’s one of the most important methods of advertising and exposing your business on the internet.

You can also get involved with article marketing, social networking, link swapping, link building, on site optimization, pay per click advertising, or any one of the many internet marketing methods out there. By doing this your business will be exposed to hundreds if not THOUSANDS of new potential leads on a daily or monthly basis which can rocket launch your business into the next level of success.

Is your business online?

SEO is the process of optimizing your business’s website for the search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN Search. Although it is said that you are optimizing it for the search engines… What you’re really doing is optimizing your site for the people who want to find it. Basically, when someone searches Google for a keyword related to your business, for example “restaurant in New York City” — You will want to show up within the first couple of pages of the search results, otherwise your competitors will be there and beat you to the punch!

There are two ways to show up within the first few pages of the search results, one way is to set up a PPC campaign, where you have to pay for each click that you get to your website — but this method can cost a fortune. Then, there is the increasingly popular “Organic SEO” method, where an SEO specialist uses the power of keywords, link building and other factors to optimize your website so that it shows up in the natural, “organic” search results. This is when your website gets indexed on Google for keyword related to your niche, only you aren’t paying for each click or for your position.

People strive to show up in the organic search results which are located on the left side of any search on Google, Yahoo, etc. The right side dsplays the “sponsored links” which are paid for, by running a Pay-Per-Click campaign with the search engine itself and paying hefty fees “per click” to show up on the first or second page.

This is extremely important for any business, being that having a long term listing on the top search engines can bring a significant amount of traffic and therefore potential customers every single day of the year. If you can, try to get a hold of a local SEO expert in your area and see if they can give you a basic consultation or recommendation as to what you should/could do with your website to make it more search engine friendly… It will pay off, trust me!

Let’s assume you have a website. Did you know that if you’re not harvesting your visitor’s email addresses on the homepage, you can be missing out on thousands and thousands of dollars each year? By having a mechanism set up where your visitors enter their first name and email address in a little form on your homepage, you can harvest their email addresses with a simple autoresponder program. Over time, you will have thousands of subscribers on your list, and you can send them ALL an email at the same time whenever you’re having a sale or a promotion of any kind.

Internet marketers constantly say, “The money is in the list” and it couldn’t be any more true. By building a database of your customers’ email addresses, you can build a relationship with your clients, build customer loyalty, and best of all — keep in touch with them about upcoming sales, launches, promotions, etc. and everytime you send an email to your entire list you are likely to get a satisfactory response. Statistics show about a 2% conversion rate on average, meaning for every 100 people you email, you will make 2 sales, or 2 people will take advantage of your offer.

There is more than likely a person in your area who specializes in setting up autoresponders as well as other internet marketing services that can help take your business to the next level, or just get you more exposure online. Either way… Are you taking advantage of your biggest asset?

When someone searches for a keyword phrase that’s related to your business, for example “auto mechanics in New York” the first page of results on Google shows only 10 results. There are usually hundreds or even thousands of pages of results for any given keyword. Anyone can show up on the top page of Google, by paying a hefty fee PER click to be there. This can cost a fortune and cause a lot of headaches if you don’t know what you’re doing. SEO on the other hand is usually referred to as “Organic SEO” or “Organic Search Engine Optimization.” This means that you are making it so that your website shows up in the natural search results that are on the left side of the page when you do a Google search (the paid ads show up on the right side).

By landing your website a few organic search engine listings (on the first page or not), you are doing your business a GREAT service. This is perhaps one of the most valuable long term assets your business can have, because you will have a flow of traffic to your website, of people that are actually searching for what it is that you offer. And that is precisely why companies are paying thousands of dollars a month to search engine optimization specialists.

On the local level however, SEO services tend to be much cheaper than at the international corporate level, so they are affordable.

By having that organic listing, you will have “targeted” traffic coming to your site (people who are searching for your specific niche) and you will NOT be paying for every time someone clicks on your search engine listing! Your business will have more exposure on the internet, have a chance of competing with the rest and will survive well into the future… With your rankings going up every year hopefully!

Yes, that is a very large portion of the market and it is a crucial fact to consider. If you have a business, big or small, having exposure on the internet is so important due to the existing statistics as well as the increasing popularity of the world wide web. People of all ages are now going online, from their cell phones, laptops, computers, etc. and if you are not there for people to see… Your competitor WILL BE.

As a business owner, you most likely do not have the time to learn how to create websites, write and understand computer code, optimize your website for the search engines, get involved in social networking (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), utilize article marketing, set up a Pay Per Click campaign or do anything related to internet marketing! This stuff can be completely confusing, like Chinese to you, but it still needs to be done. It really can’t be ignored.

If you want your business to thrive in modern times, it is crucial that you look into getting an individual or a company to handle your internet marketing campaign, or at very least give you a consultation on as to what you need to do to get more exposure on the internet. It will not only make a substantial difference in your profits, but it will secure the future of your business.