SEO

Most everyone seems to understand the importance of SEO- what business with a web presence does not long to be at the top of the first page in a search result? While the desire to be at the top of the results listing is shared by many, the way to get there is something that seems to split businesses into two camps-those that want it quick and easy and those willing to invest and look at the long term.

   Tactics and Strategies

Ian Lurie, a well-known SEO expert, believes that the biggest reason for mistakes is due to believing that SEO is only a tactic. "It's not," says Lurie. "It's a strategic approach to marketing online." What's the difference between a tactic and a strategic marketing approach? A tactic is typically something you do one time. Once the tactic has been completed, most people completely forget about it as time passes as it is rarely revisited.

A strategy, on the other hand involves forward planning, refining, executing, measuring and analyzing-and then starting over again and again. This continual process is the heart of a good strategic marketing campaign-it keeps moving and adapting without ever stopping.

   Good SEO Never Stops Working

I firmly believe that enterprise SEO should never be a tactic but, rather, a long-term strategy to marketing your business online. Treating it as anything less will undermine your ultimate success.

I once had the misfortune of losing an enterprise SEO client because the new Vice President of Marketing considered it only to be a tactic, and budgeted for it his own way. He acted as though he believed that since their results were good after one year, they were done and could move on to other things.

All too many site owners fall into this trap, putting in the time and effort that achieves some reasonable benchmark of SEO and then they quit because they are "there". Sadly, that is not how enterprise SEO works and these businesses will eventually find themselves no longer "there".

   Everything Takes Time

Just as building your results takes time, so can losing your results. If you stop working your SEO today, you are not likely to plummet off the map tomorrow. While you may be able to ride out the effects of your campaign for several weeks and months, the fact remains that if you stop making links or posting content, you will eventually fall behind your competition.

Your brand and previous work can only carry you for so long. If enterprise SEO is just a tactic for you, you are undermining your own potential.

   Search Engines Are Not There For You

One thing that is difficult for many enterprise and small businesses to understand is that the search engines are not there to help you do business. The search engines are there to help their users-your customers, you hope.

Search engines are in the business of providing answers and you need to prove to them that you have the information they should provide. If your website proves that it can help to deliver the user with useful information, then your site will perform better organically and get that uplift. Businesses that only dabble in SEO here and there will not be able to prove such value to search engines.

So what is the bottom line? If you want the results to stay, the effort must also stay.

Ed Kundahl is president and owner of Allentown-based IdeaOverTen, an Internet marketing agency and Web development company that offers clients total search marketing and interactive media solutions. His roots are in small-business search engine optimization and marketing and making sites user friendly and accessible to search engines. He can be reached ated@ideaoverten.com.