Steps to Know that Search Engine Optimization Isn’t
for You
Truth be told, search engine optimization (SEO)
may not be for you.
Regardless of the product or service and company size, SEO just
may not be something you can handle - at least for now. If you
fall into one of these areas, you may want to just skip the
online marketing rage.
1. You don’t want to edit
your content. If you’re not willing to
change your content, an SEO consultant really can’t do
much to help you. Really, the keywords people use need to be
in your content. It’s that simple.
2. You love graphics - lots of
graphics. Partial
to graphics? Excellent. If you have plenty of business and a
pretty Web site, SEO may not be in your future. Again, text
helps - if you can work it into your Web site. But if you love
static graphic or Flash and “skip” intro buttons,
you may want to save SEO for another day.
3. Pages short on copy. It’s
not really a repeat of #2. We’ve some rather barren Web
sites with hardly any graphics and not enough copy. Honestly,
it sometimes seems like a hunting expedition may be needed to
track down more than a paragraph. How many words do you need?
No one knows the magic number. But 25 words usually doesn’t
help.
4. You change your content a lot.
So you want to keep your home
page fresh and exciting? Unfortunately, major changes often
conflict with the SEO strategy. In other words, if you keep
wiping out the keywords an SEO firm inserts, the program is
pointless.
5. You want to wait on the redesign.
Some
companies get excited about SEO - high rankings and increased
traffic can pay off. But don’t get started on a program
if you’re just going to let your current Web site miss
out on search engine optimization. Some businesses just want
to gear up keywords for a new design months down the road while
neglecting their current Web site.
6. You can’t stand the thought
of your page titles changing. The
title appears in that blue bar in Internet Explorer - the one
way up there above “Favorites.” If you prefer to
say “About Our Company” instead of keywords that
actually BRING traffic, you might want to put SEO on the back
burner.
7. You’re not willing to
address other business problems. SEO consultants can get you
traffic, but they can’t make your Web site more user friendly
unless you let them. Maybe your product page is too busy or
your shopping cart is confusing.
