The search engine optimization industry has to be on its proverbial toes literally 24/7. This is because the search engines algorithms are constantly being changed and updated in order to give their searchers the best results they can.
There are two basic views that people share on the way search engine optimizers are adjusting their web sites to get in the way of qualified traffic, and they are that it is a fair way of manipulating search results, and second is simply that it is an unfair way of manipulating results.
The truth of the matter is this; without SEO’s to amend websites so that the SEs (Search Engines) know how to rank them, the quality of the listings would be far worse. We are a necessity for the SE’s as we ensure that the cream rises to the top. 98% of web designers do not know how to get a website to rank within a search engine, they miss out on all of the key indicators within a site and so some well built, beautiful, expensive websites are destined to live in Pay Per Click land or in obscurity.
We see clients on a very regular basis who’ve been sold flashy and expensive websites as the answer to their prayers, when really it barely has any use at all. Its very common for us to see clients who wish they had spent a lot less on the design so that they had the money to spend on optimising their site instead
Common sense will tell you that there’s no point in having a website that no one can find. Even in these harsh economic times as turnover is dwindling and profits are all but gone, the forward thinking website owners will look to increase their market share by either starting an SEO campaign or adding new keywords to their current campaign. There are still buyers out there to be had, but they are simply shopping more cautiously and in fewer numbers, but what you as a site owner, you need to ask yourself is, are you going to be proactive and move forward to take your share of the market, or will you hang back and end up as another failure statistic?
As more traditional forms of trade begin to suffer, online sales increased during the Christmas 2008 period by over 25% on 2007. Some companies are making money by embracing new technologies and moving with the times, others are going to fail if they don’t evolve successfully to meet the needs of the 21st century consumer.
Unfortunate though it is, but the Internet will destroy the high streets and eventually the majority of physical retail locations. Bricks and clicks companies are increasingly seeing their shops treated as a dressing room in preparation for an online buy later on. In a way, we the people are almost shooting ourselves in the foot because when the shops go, online shopping will be the only method left, which is nowhere near the same experience.
SEO will be brought into common light by retailers having to save money while increase turnover at the same time. This year is going to be interesting as I think we are bound to see more big names bite the dust along with MFI and Woolworths. The question is though, what will you do ensure you keep your market share in 2009 and will it be enough?