SEO FAQ Answers by

Do I need Search Engine Optimization?

If you need customers, then you need Search Engine Optimization. Today, your potential customers are using the Internet to find the products and services that they need. According to Internet World Stats, 77.4% of North America uses the Internet. Google's data source, World Bank, World Development Indicators, as of 2008 places Internet usage in the United States at 75.9%.

So thus the question, if a customer is looking for a product or service that your business sells; and they type keywords into a Search Engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, will your company be listed on the first page? If not, then a competitor just made a sale.

Search Engine Optimization is the complex process of making sure that your website (Your Business) is visible to those seeking your type of products or services. If you're not listed on the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) after a person enters their search query (keywords), then what you are selling is probably got going to be seen or considered. If just about everyone is using the Internet to find the products and services that they need and want, can you afford not to do implement SEO Services?

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Do I need Search Engine Marketing?

If you advertise for customers, then you need Search Engine Marketing. Imagine doing a postcard mailing that went to potential customers who were looking for your type of product or service at the very minute that they were searching. A nice fantasy, but not realistic or possible with traditional offline advertising such as print, radio or television.

Search Engine Marketing allows you to market your products and services to only those persons searching on the Internet for what you are selling. This is accomplished by the use of keywords. For example, if you are a flower shop in Irvine California, a potential customer might enter the following keywords, "Flower Shops in Irvine" or a related combination. With Search Engine Marketing such as Pay Per Click (PPC), your ad is only shown when the potential customer types in the keywords that we select for your business (SEO Keyword Research) and within the geographical area we select. This is advertising excellence. Your ads are only seen by persons seeking what you sell.

But it gets better, you only pay if they click on your print or video ad to visit your website. There's more, you can set the budget per day, you can turn on and off the marketing at any second you want and you can know every detail about how you attracted the customer with SEM Web Analytics. PPC is the most targeted and cost effective form of paid advertising in the world. And this is just one of many SEM Services that can benefit your business.

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Do I need Social Media Optimization?

If you want to retain your customers and have your customers get you more customers (Brand Evangelist's), then you need Social Media Optimization. According to the 2008 Razorfish Consumer Experience Report, "49% of all respondents made a purchase based on a recommendation through a social media website and 40% of the respondents said they have made a purchase from advertising while using a social media website". Now add to this that by using Social Media you can monitor what your community of customers are saying about you. And most importantly, Social Media Optimization provides the best strategy for customer retention. Relevant consistent updates, news and content helps keep customers engaged with your business.

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What is a Search Engine and how does it work?

A Search Engine is a set of programs that work as a team to search the World Wide Web (WWW) for website pages and/or documents based on specific keywords (query). A search engine works by sending out a Crawler (Spider, Robot, Bot) to find as many pages as possible. Another program, called an Indexer, then reads the pages and creates a Database (Index) based on the words contained in each page. Each search engine uses an Algorithm to determine relevancy. Pages that best represent the query are listed. The results you see on your computer monitor are called Search Engine Result Page's (SERP's).

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When is the best time to do SEO?

The best time for Search Engine Optimization is during the planning phase! If you are starting a new business and/or website, then this is the perfect time to be implementing SEO strategy. If you already have a website, then an SEO website evaluation will be initiated so that the most effective SEO strategy can be developed for your business.

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What skills are needed to do SEO?

Many skills are needed to do Search Engine Optimization on a professional level...

Critical skill sets that an SEO Consultant must have include: Technical Search Engine and Algorithm Knowledge, Website Development Skills such as HTML & CSS, Advanced Keyword Research Experience, Excellent Copywriting Skills, SEO Web Analytics Expertise, an Internet Marketing Education, Information Architecture Knowledge and proven Business Experience. Why proven business experience? SEO consultants work with business owners, executives and marketing departments. For an SEO consultant to effectively optimize a business owner's website, he or she must understand the business model, consumer behavior and communicate with the business principals.

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