The Non-Common Sense of SEO
If you’re a chef, you trust that people will let you do what you do best — cook. Common sense, right?
When you’re in online marketing, you trust that people will always question you. This is just a fact that comes with being involved in this particular profession; the non-common sense part, if you will.
ZDNet.com released a great article about SEO last week that I think explains the best way to approach SEO if you’re not an “SEO Master” of sorts. Their advice? Lose any preconceived notions you may have had about SEO and leave it to the professionals. This is not meant to offend anyone, it is meant to let people know that unless SEO is your full time gig, you might want to consider consulting the pro’s. Just like if you want a good steak, you know you’re not going to McDonald’s.
For example, just because you sell “dinner plates”, doesn’t mean that optimizing your site for the phrase “dinner plates” is going to get you ranked #1 in the search results, nor should you expect it. Think about it. How many people sell dinner plates online? Approximately one gazillion, give or take a few, right? The whole concept of SEO is to drive QUALITY traffic to your site, not just put the most common keywords or keyword phrases on your site and hope that the marketing gods will shower you with conversions. You have to get specific with the type of traffic you want to bring to your website and create a game plan so you aren’t just throwing dollars to the wind. The more specific you get with your keywords and keyword phrases, and the more research you do upfront on those terms and different traffic avenues, is what will help you lay the foundation for a successful website.
I think the number one rule people should remember about SEO is that it takes a great deal of PATIENCE. Rome wasn’t built in a day; your marketing campaign shouldn’t be either.
