Search Engine Optimization , Now You See Me,Now You Don’t

Today’s construction companies are more net-savvy than ever before. It is almost common for any business to have a website advertising their products and services and a strong percentage will know that SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. Unfortunately very few really understand how to get your company on  fast track  to being seen on line. Most people know that you gain an 80% advantage over the competition if you make it to the first ‘result  page’ of any major search engine and believe me you will need that advantage with competition being what it is today. Don’t get me wrong, you still have your die-hards that refuse to accept the fact that we went from a nation that used the Yellow Pages primarily, to a global community searching for what we need on their home computer.

Having said that let me point out that thousands of new businesses (and new converts) in just about every type of business and trade, not only have a website but they are engaging in some level of SEO. For a company’s website to be successfully found on the internet and beat out the competition they need a broad strategy. Website owners understand that it is very difficult to get that first page status and a daily chore to keep it. They find themselves here today and gone tomorrow. The truth is they need that first page ranking if they are going to project the type of presence it takes to receive the calls from customers so hard to come by in this economy.

Search Engine Optimization is like being in a relationship with someone of low self esteem. You have to constantly remind them daily that you love them and why. Everyone is optimizing for a first page position because everyone knows 80% of the searches do not go beyond that point. I could go on for weeks about what can be done to gain the online status you desire as a business owner, but for the purposes of this article let’s just say it is a lot of work and never ends.

Like brushing your teeth, it has to be done daily in order to be here today and here tomorrow.  I don't discourage business owners from having an optimized website; it certainly has its benefits. However, it takes time to see the results of your efforts. It can take 3 to 6 months (in most cases) to get to the top of the heap (if you are fortunate). If I am consulting a business owner I tell them to go for it particularly if they are doing the work themselves. I caution them it has to be maintained daily and I always suggest that they include a PPC campaign in their marketing strategy so they have both bases covered (organic or natural listing and sponsored listing). Preferable they will start with a PPC campaign which will identify which keywords convert and use them in their SEO strategy.

So what is a PPC campaign or sponsored listing? PPC (Pay Per Click) services are provided through the Search Engines such as Google and Yahoo. It’s like being at an auction without the fun stuff. You get to bid on being on the first page. Here you get to determine how people search when they are looking for your product or services. They search by entering a descriptive word or phrase for what they are looking for. The words they use are called keywords or key phrases. For example, if someone is searching for a plumber ...how would they phrase it? Sometimes it's obvious, but you would be amazed how people think and how they research. Let’s say in this case they use the most obvious description (keyword) “plumber”. Now anyone running a PPC campaign that shared an interest in that keyword would put in a bid for that keyword and if successful the highest bidders have the chance to be on the first page.

All major search engines will make available a tool that professionals use to examine what people were searching for last month and provide tools that will suggest keywords to bid on. This increases the quality and quantity of traffic flow to your website through the Search Engines. One thing to point out here is you only pay when your ad is clicked on. You will also want that visitor to land on a page that is relevant, to the point and includes conversion points that will prompt the visitor to contact you.

So to recap, SEO is one way of getting on the first page of a Search Engine and while it is free in some sense it is also labor intensive and maybe not so free. The other method of getting on the first page of a major Search Engine is to participate in a pay per click campaign. There are many companies and individuals that provide those types of services and it can be costly. While you can do both on your own I don’t recommend it because of the time and knowledge needed to be invested. You may be better off focusing that time and energy on your business. Whatever you decide I recommend you begin with a paid search program and take what you learn from and move it into an SEO program. By not taking this strategy you can spend time and money optimizing for keywords that are not your best converting terms for your business.

I encourage any business owner to contact me if you are thinking about advertising on-line . If you have a website you would like graded let me know, I can do that for free and any consultation I do is free as well.  click here for your  free consultation.

DON'T LET YOUR COMPETITION GET ALL THE CALLS. GET YOUR FREE CONSULTATION TODAY.

Thanks for reading me,

Joe Garcia

ps.

Been gone for a while, I was feeling under the weather (what ever that means) and I Thank God I am back.