Would you?
1. Have an unlisted business telephone number?
2. Pay for a storefront sign and never hang it up?
3. Pay to have a print ad designed and never run it?
Then why would you . . . Invest in developing a website that your prospects can’t find?
What, exactly, IS Search Engine Optimization anyway?
To understand why search engine positioning is so imperative, you must first understand the concept of a search engine. There are over 5 billion documents on the World Wide Web today. You use search engines such as MSN, Google, or Alta Vista to help sift through https://www.alexandremthefrenchy.com/ this gigantic collection of documents to find the specific information you need.
An Internet surfer will likely choose one of 3 routes to get to your Web site:
1) The Internet surfer types the entire URL into the command line of their browser. This option requires that your URL is already well known. (And the URL should also be easy to spell!)
2) The Internet surfer clicks on an advertisement or link that sends him/her to your Web site.
3) The Internet surfer locates you by typing certain keywords or your company name into a search engine.
Internet surfers typically go to their favorite search engine, type in words that pertain to what they are looking for, and wait for the search engine to return its results in a list format. This is easy and effective.
To give you an example: go ahead and search for “women’s shoes” on Google. This search will return thousands of Web sites!
No Internet surfer will scroll through thousands of results! Instead, they are going to pick from the links that are closer to the top of the search. So it would stand to reason that the Web sites that will do well on search engines are those that rank in the top 30, and better yet, the top 10, for the keyword phrases that have been selected for their site.
Search engine optimization is the way to go if you are looking to INCREASE TARGETED TRAFFIC to your site while complementing and improving your more traditional marketing and advertising efforts. Search engines work better for promoting your site for a number of reasons.
A top search engine ranking often translates into hundreds and even thousands of new qualified visitors each month. It is reasonable to anticipate a steady stream of qualified traffic when your Web site achieves continuous top rankings on multiple search engines.
When an Internet surfer types a keyword into a search engine, they have already identified the product or service they need more information about. The search reflects a definite level of interest by a potential buyer.
Search engines are the most important tools for locating companies and their products on the Internet. Over half of all Internet users search the Web every day, and searching is the second most popular Internet activity. (Email is # 1!)
NOW let’s focus on why your Web site doesn’t get noticed by the Search Engines.
While having a quality website with a good design and good content is key, it is not enough to get your site noticed by a search engine. There are many factors that can hurt your site’s search engine placement. Let’s take a look at some of them:
SERVER DOWN
Search engines don’t notify you before they visit your site; they simply send the spider. If your server goes down or your web host is providing you with unreliable service this can have an impact on whether your site gets spidered or not. Imagine if the search engine spider came while you were experiencing downtime. Your web host should be able to provide you with information on their server downtime.
