Colorado Web Solutions

Search Engine Optimization: The Black Sheep that should be Golden

Posted on September 26th, 2007 by cwsnews

“Once we get up and running, maybe we will look into search engine optimization. Right now, it costs more than we want to pay”

When you are in the business of website construction, and the more complete world of building successful online businesses, this is a quote that you will hear with startling regularity. Search engine optimization is a critical aspect of a successful online business that is too frequently viewed as being too costly or not important enough for business owners and budget builders. This article will address the importance of timely SEO work in relation to new online businesses and website redesigns.

Anyone who has even looked into starting a business, whether they saw it through to completion or not, has most certainly become familiar with the phrase “location is everything”. As a business owner, you might be lucky enough to possess the best product, best concept, best customer service representatives, and the best prices. But if you do not possess the means by which to present any of those things to customers, what are they really worth? Truly successful businesses, be they brick and mortar retail stores or websites, combine a product, a concept – and equally important, a medium that is easily accessible to the largest number of potential customers possible. Ask any small business owner why they need a website, and the response will probably sound something like this… “Because it will allow us to expand our business across the country and even the world.” Yes, the real draw is the potential number of customers online. There are hundreds of millions of people online doing business every year, and that number will only continue to climb. By making the investment in search engine optimization a priority you will greatly reduce the time it takes to reach the largest possible number of potential customers. Remember, effective search engine optimization does not occur overnight. Instant gratification is only achieved by costly pay-per-click advertising methods. Effective search engine optimization can achieve the same results for a fraction of the cost of PPC advertising.

So, if you have your priorities in order, upon completion of your website or redesign, phase two will be about search engine optimization. We are all aware of the importance of top 10 results in the major search engines for the key words and phrases related to our specific products. If you rank outside the top 20 for example, your chances for turning search engine results into sales are virtually zero. If you rank somewhere in the top 10, some level of success is likely provided your website is effectively built and easy to use. At CWS, we like to stress the importance SEO work in tandem with the website design to create a web page that is not only easy for the customer to find, but an effective sales tool as well. We have all done a search only to continually arrow back to the results page because the page we were sent to was cyber trash. It is simply not enough to attract visitors. The page itself must be effective as well.

Here are some interesting facts from Search Engine Marketing Firm iProspect regarding search result behaviors:

Read the Full Post