What to expect from organic SEO

Posted on February 16, 2012 in Bing, Google, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Yahoo

By: Jay W. Spencer
 
Organic SEO can sometimes be an intimidating and confusing process for clients who have never worked in field of online marketing. The process is commonly misunderstood because SEO is not a physical product or a tangible entity like a Web site design. It’s human nature to want to experience something with all of our senses. For example; we want to hear, touch, smell, taste and be able to see the product or service to know it’s working. However, SEO is very different in regards to this concept. You generally don’t see any SEO results for a time period which can range anywhere from 2 weeks to as long as 12 months. The reason many business owners don’t see the value in continually pursuing SEO, is because the lion’s share of the work is ongoing behind the scenes. Consequently, they can’t see it so they don’t see the benefit in doing it. To truly comprehend the process of SEO, you must understand the terms and methods used to achieve it?
 
What is Organic SEO?
 
Organic SEO is the process of ranking in the search engines without paying to appear within the results. Typically each search engine has 10 organic results per page.
 
Keyword Selection
 
Keyword selection is the process of choosing keywords that fit your line of business. The keywords will always have a justifiable search volume behind them. If you work with any other SEO company make sure you ask to see information regarding search volume. There are two types of keywords: geo-keywords and national keywords. An example of geo-keyword would be something like “Shoes NH” or “Shoes New Hampshire”. An example of a national keyword would be “shoes” or “sneakers”. As a result, this would allow you to rank nationally and possibly all over the world. National keywords take a lot longer to build enough links to grow search volume. This translates into waiting a longer period of time to achieve first page rankings. When working with geo-keywords as mentioned above, do not expect to rank for the national version of the keyword unless your campaign included both keyword types.
 
On Page SEO
 
On page SEO is the process of adding your newly selected keywords to your site. The keywords are added to your meta titles, meta descriptions, meta keywords, and site content as needed. This phase is completed early in the campaign. From time to time changes or tweaks are made as the campaign progresses.
 
Off Page SEO
 
Off page SEO is the process of building link popularity to your site. Link building is a monthly process that continues over time, to help enhance your rankings. This process is ongoing and done behind the scenes. Many times the purpose of link building is misunderstood. The process of building links is done exclusively for search engines. It can be very easy for a new client to get hung up on links. Watching your rankings improve every month is evidence your link building is progressing along.
 
Monthly Reporting
 
Reputable SEO companys provide monthly SEO ranking reports. They practice this method of reporting, because search engine rankings can drastically fluctuate on a daily or weekly basis. A month is a more appropriate amount of time to provide an accurate measurement of the effort’s progress. SEO Reports should be generated monthly for the best overall results, to create an accurate snapshot of the campaign.
 
Realistic Expectations of Rankings
 
We all like to see immediate results when we pay for a product. Instant gratification invokes a feeling of value for our hard earned dollar. Typically, we have the ability to predict a client’s ranking when we are in the keyword selection phase. Monthly searches and competitive index of keywords are excellent methods in predicting when rankings will achieve respectable, measurable results. Choosing a keyword that is geo or nationally targeted, plays a huge role in how soon it will rank. If an SEO company guarantees you a first page ranking in x amount of weeks or months, they are pulling your leg. Or even worse, they are utilizing inproper SEO tactics that can get you penalized by Google and fail to generate any new business. There is no way to tell a client with 100% accuracy that they will rank on the first page, in a certain period of time. Strategically planned SEO tactics and pursuing quality keywords, are the best way raise the level of business generated by Internet search engines.