Out with the Old and In with the New!
I know many of us can be stubborn when considering jumping on the band wagon to any new fad, trend or trumped up service. Although discretion may on the conservative side of valor, holding out until the unfeasible occurs (nothing) is not necessarily mandatory either. As anything new trend emerges you will have the purists, who are just fine with the old way of doing things (the tried and true way) vs. the “new fangled” method which oftentimes supercedes the old by eclipsing it’s form and function. Common examples that come to mind are standard mail vs. email, traditional advertising vs. internet marketing and optimizing your website, for example.
So, what exactly am I talking about and why should this concern you? One prominent reason is, if you are seeking revenue as a result of your website, due to the convenience driven society that we live in, the standard of clicking through page after page to find relevant results in search engines is a thing of the past. We want it, and we want it when we want it is the mindset of most surfers, so if you fall short and just so happen to be on page 5 instead of the first page of Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask or any of the other search engines out there, chances are your site will see very little traffic as a result.
In the mind of the surfer, positioning is synonymous with quality, trust, relevance as well as perceived value. Those who make it easier for prospects to find what they are really searching for can literally rank all the way to the bank, regardless of what nay sayers or traditionalists have to say about it. Having your website optimized for a major keyword for example can bring hundreds or thousands of qualified prospects to your site, if your offer strikes a chord with your audience, then success in ensured, otherwise it’s back to the drawing board to figure out if that keyword and your website are really the best match.
What is SEO and Why Should I Care?
For those who may not have heard of search engine optimization, it is the process of optimizing the content on your website to make it more appealing to search engines, which in turn reward your website with higher rankings and relevance. Unless appearing in the upper crust of the search world has little if any significance to you, then SEO quite frankly is not your cup of tea. But say for example, that you have a business with a website and you are involved with retailing products or services, search engine optimization is something that you eventually will have to consider since over 8 billion searches are being conducted every month for products and services, failure to acknowledge or participate is only separating you from a colossal audience that could change the landscape of your business.
Embrace Change, Change is a Good Thing
Why would anyone in their right mind want to be anywhere than in the top 10 – top 20 search results for their business in search engines? Let’s just say that being old fashioned and sending a letter in the mail for example every time you wished to correspond with a business outside of your local area is something you prefer, sure, you could do it, or you could check that antiquated ego at the door and just learn how to use email instead. Business and the internet are changing at an alarming pace and each fuel the other through supply and demand for updates, revision to outdated methodologies and the need for optimal efficiency.
Speaking of efficiency, this brings us full circle to the topic of SEO and optimization of your content. If you are online reading this right now, chances are it was through optimization of the content and SEO that accomplished it, otherwise you would be reading someone else’s blog, advertisement or website since accessibility is by all means a process of natural selection as far as convenience is concerned.
Strangely enough, holding on to the past may be great for Kodak and reminiscing about the old days, but for now many would rather embrace change and reap the rewards of emerging technologies and their innate ability to make our lives more convenient and fulfilling.
Optimization is just a technique, but the value it offers is the ability to have more people hear your message, read your content and share your ideas, passions and philosophy. SEO is just a method, and much like a glass it can embrace virtually any form of content. Just like a fragment is never be greater than the sum of it’s parts. SEO is dependent on readers, viewers and an audience to support it’s relevance. I don’t know about you, but if that is the case I would rather be in with the new and in the top 10 search results any day, rather than buried in digital obscurity on page 73. So, if you own a website and haven’t considered having it optimized, it’s only a matter of time until SEO becomes a thing of the past and something else, bigger, better, faster and more convenient occurs. Until then, we will be right here at the helm.
