In this article we are going to take all the mystery out of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by relating your website to the systematic process of marketing that’s involved with a physical location or store. 

I have found that the greatest challenge in understanding SEO is in the “cyber” or virtual qualities of the service.  So, I will begin by taking the “cyber lingo” and translating it into the terms we will be relating them to throughout this article:

Website = Store, Shop, Location
Search Engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.) = Roadway
World Wide Web = Highway or “Information Highway”
Forums, Social Networks, Blogs, etc:  = Bulletin Boards
Posts / Postings = Ads
Press Releases / Articles = Public Relations
Email Marketing = Direct Mail
IP = Physical Address
Exit Ad = Suggestive Sales
Web Designers = Builders

Now that we have established a glossary let’s discuss Search Engine Optimization on a “real world” level:

Today we are going to build a new retail district.  We are going to build millions of stores in our new district and create a shopping mall that millions will use.  We will call it the commercial internet or “dot com”.  We will build this district off each exit of “The Information Super Highway” we know as The World Wide Web. 

Let’s examine where the capital goes during this process.  During the building process there is much capital investing into the building of stores and producing a marketable environment.  That was known as the “Dot com boom” in Silicone Valley in the early to mid 90’s.  Web designers served as the builders in a “real world” perspective of this.

Now that there are a ton of businesses (websites) to shop at there must be a way to direct traffic to those stores in an orderly fashion.  This was the beginning of the search engines or “roadways”.  They decided that, since this retail district is so vast it would be best to ask each shopper what they are looking for (by making a search query).  Search engines serve as guides as well as roadways to direct traffic to the right store for their needs, and sell ad space on that roadway to the highest bidder.  They also have assumed the role of a “Chamber of Commerce” in that; they are always sending out auditors or “spiders” that continuously update them of your store’s products and services so that they can be sure to include your site on the “road” to the appropriate product or service “keyword” to meet their user’s needs. 

What this has done is created loyal traffic that is comfortable traveling down their “roadway” and take their advice on who is right for their needs based upon their request or “search query” and these users make a habit out of it just as much as they do their route to work and back.  Research has shown that the average Google user searches for 85% of all the pages they visit.  This makes Google the biggest “word of mouth” network on earth!

Okay, now that we have stores (websites) and roadways (search engines) with an association to organize the traffic (search engines again) we need billboards to put signs (ads) where people will see them.  So, this is where the capitalism shifted to graphics designers, software developers, and creative design.  These people worked diligently on building interactive environments for users to use interactive media for free.  They built all these “hangouts” solely for the market that it brings and to sell advertising space in their venue.  This has birthed many internet languages and interactive software and movie clips.  Each of these hangout sites serve as a property or land for bulletin boards on which we can put up free signs (ads) or pay for more premium signs (ads). 

The questions to ask in this regard are:

• “How nice is your sign”
• “Can anyone see your sign”
• “Are the right people seeing you sign”
• “Are enough people seeing your sign”

After a period of time the premium sections of these bulletin boards (ad spaces) have become increasingly expensive to the point that they are not economically feasible for most businesses and are dominated by national corporations with deep pockets.  This brings us back to the free signs on the “roadway” itself (Organic Results).  Since these signs are not for sale and can only be earned by demonstrating relevance to the consumers needs, they are considered to be the most trustworthy signs on the internet.  These signs are the “roadway” itself in essence.

As an SEO specialist, I focus my attention on these listings or “signs” by convincing the search engines that your site is the most relevant and genuine website for the customer requesting the product or service (keyword) that you wish to promote.  I also research the ways that customers make their request or “type in their keywords” in efforts to maintain traffic of visitors that will make a purchase or “convert” into sales.

SEO “Search Engine Optimization”, SEM “Search Engine Marketing”, and SMO “Social Media Optimization” are the components that an internet marketer will use to promote the visibility of your site.  Future articles will discuss each of these areas in depth.

Is your site getting the exposure and producing the sales you want?  If not contact me and I can put together a customized SEO program to meet your internet marketing goals.