SEO – How far do you go? 

You’ve built the site. Now it has to work for you on the Web. How should you approach these Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques? Copywriter Mike Druttman offers advice. 

There are basically two ways to go in SEO – Organic and Pay-Per-Click. ‘Organic’ means taking the steps to make your site unique and relevant for search engine terms.

If you need to be found for ‘print inks for electronics’ then you’ll write good content, page titles and descriptions using these words. The search engine will pick up on these terms, but it won’t place you ‘top of the list’ yet.

The ‘Pay-Per-Click’ approach uses the same search words but places them in special short ads in the search results. Your placement depends on the budget you invest, plus the skill of SEO specialists.

Quality content wins

Whatever the SEO experts tell you, make sure first that your site has quality content for people to read. Optimizing for search engines come later. Any article written for SEO purposes must also have quality content. If somebody writes rubbish for you, stuffs it with keywords and includes your company’s name (perhaps as a ‘landing page’), your name will suffer.

Take the initiative

Step 1 is having a good, interesting site with appealing content. Step 2 is getting links to other sites that will appreciate the addition of your site to their space. Step 3 is being active in your field and always contributing new content. Show that you’re an ‘expert’ voice.

Combine all your assets

If you’ve invested in building a good site with quality content, found good links and optimized properly for your main keywords, you’ll start seeing good results. If you’re buying Internet advertising (like Adwords), look for rapid ROI and be ready to keep adapting your approach until you find it. Keep budgets modest until you find your way.

In the right hands, SEO is a highly effective way to attract high quality leads. In the wrong hands, it pollutes the Internet and damages your reputation.