To SEO or not to SEO?

By: Paul Arinaga
Submitted: 2007-01-17 13:47:14
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

There's a debate raging in marketing circles: should you use SEO or Search Engine Optimization techniques on your website or not?

First of all, what do I mean by SEO? Search engine copywriting requires that the copywriter concern himself with the strategic placement of keywords, tags and the like within his web copy to get the web page as high as possible in the search engine rankings.

According to a survey by Enquiro and MarketingSherpa on the role of search, over 60 percent of BTB buyers research products online from 2-12 months in advance of a purchase, and 69 percent of them start with the “organic” (i.e. search engine) listings. So, ranking high with the search engines is important.

That said, there are several other points to take into consideration:

(1) How does “organic” website traffic fit into your overall sales process? Do you drive traffic to your website using other means (advertisements, direct sales calls, seminars, free white paper offers, etc.)? And how qualified are the leads that come from the search engines?

(2) You need to make it into the top 10 or top 20 (any lower position is of little or no benefit). How much competition is there for the keyword? How likely is it that you’ll make it into the top 10-20 listings without too much effort?

(3) Search engines are constantly tweaking their algorithms (partly to prevent the “black hat” SEO experts from manipulating rankings) so just optimizing your pages is a moving target.

(4) Ultimately, content is king. Having plenty of useful (fresh) content on your site will probably do more for your rankings in the long-run than SEO will. Moreover, content is a more stable contributor to high rankings.

(5) Incoming links (other website linking to your site, ideally websites that are ranked high and are highly respected) are generally considered more valuable than simple keyword optimization and the like. See www.alexa.com to research website rankings.

(6) Keyword optimized pages can sound slightly strange; they often don’t read well. Moreover, their selling power may be weaker than pages that focus first and foremost on the prospect, rather than the engine.

In the end, it’s probably best to follow a 3-part strategy:

(1) Focus on writing the most convincing copy you can, aimed at the human reader rather than the search engines.

(2) Optimize the keywords, if you wish, but never change a word of strong copy if that change will weaken the copy, even if SEO best practices dictate such a change.

(3) Once the page is up and working (e.g. generating strong conversion), optimize it for the engines by tweaking the copy, but test to make sure that those edits don’t reduce conversions.

So, do SEO, but use SEO intelligently and always put your (human) prospect first.

There’s also a larger point here: besides search engine optimized pages and clever copy, what really drives traffic to your website – and keeps visitors coming back – is useful, fresh content.

Content is STILL king!

Copyright 2006 Paul Arinaga

Paul Arinaga is a professional freelance copywriter specialized in helping software and other technology companies improve their marketing materials to get more and better leads. http://www.paularinaga.com This article is excerpted from "The Software Marketer's Toolkit".

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in SEO category

  • "What's-In" and "What's-Not" in SEO - By: Wendy Ang
    SEO is a never ending spiral of change so it's important that we can come up with new and profound ideas and strategies on how we can rank our site as number one.
  • Why an SEO Marketing Company Can Help Provide Exponential Growth - By: Joel McLaughlin
    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies can make you more popular with search engines, but often the mastering of SEO techniques can be a full time job. If you're like most business owners you aren't looking for an additional job.
  • Article Marketing Guide For SEO - By: Mull Singh
    Getting traffic to your website is no easy task. This is true especially when lack of experience holds most of us back from obtaining our true Internet marketing goals for making money.
  • What You Should Look For In An SEO Company - By: Wendy Ang
    Many businesses today, such as yours, are about to make use of the services that an SEO company provides. But before entering in such agreement, there are things that you should know about SEO and the process that these SEO guys take to make their efforts successful.
  • SEO Guide For Newbie's companies? - By: JATINDERPAL Singh
    Critical to helping people connect with the web businesses they are searching for. There are companies out there that claim to get your page rankings.
  • SEO New York for a higher SEO ranking - By: Steve Waganer
    SEO New York companies help you achieve a higher ranking by employing basic SEO techniques that are appreciated by all search engines.
  • Phoenix Internet Marketing, SEO and Search Engine Optimization Is Growing - By: Joel McLaughlin
    With tough times in the economy, many Phoenix Arizona businesses are searching for talented Phoenix SEO and Phoenix Internet Marketing companies to help with their website traffic and search engine optimization needs. Many companies are starting to realize that one of the most cost effective internet marketing methods is online marketing.
  • Surefire Search Engine Optimization Tips For Beginners - By: Joel McLaughlin
    When building a web site you need to fist have solid search engine optimization structure. You also need to create a lot of unique content talking about your main keywords of focus. This will help to increase website traffic.
  • Fantastic Reasons To Use Search Engine Optimization Consultants - By: Joel McLaughlin
    Do you think that you know everything there is to know about search engine optimization and online marketing? If you said yes, then you may need to think again! I know I don't know everything there is to know, and I have been in the field for over 10 years.
  • Surefire Search Engine Optimization Link Building Tips - Internal And External - By: Joel McLaughlin
    I have been working as a SEO Expert in the search engine optimization field in Phoenix Arizona for over 12 years, and unfortunately I am still learning. SEO consultants can teach you about a lot of things when it comes to the search engine optimization marketing of your website.