What is SEO?
A fair enough question and a common one because of all of the lingo internet marketers and programmers (like myself) like to use, sometimes we forget to slow down and use the English langauge. So here is a short article (in the English langauge) that helps define what SEO is to those not fluent in geek-speak.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In short it is the art and science of improving a websites organic (unpaid) listing on search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc) results. The end goal is always to have the website being optimized to come up high in the rankings for targeted keywords, preferably on the first page of the search. This process may require editing the content of the site for keywords and phrases, the website HTML structure to make it more search engine friendly, building links to the site from other sites, keeping content updates, social media, and a host of other techniques, strategies and methods.
SEO is not to be confused with SEM which is Search Engine Marketing (paid advertising on search engines). It is another form of advertising and just like all forms requires time and effort put forth. Ask your professional for more information regarding timeline and long term costs.
It is important that a trusted professional is employed to perform any SEO on your website. There are methods by which temporary short term results may be optained at the price of bad reputation or even risk of being removed from search engine indexes altogether. These “dirty” methods are known as “black hat SEO”.
To be safe, work with someone you can trust and has good references. Also be sure to ask them how they plan to increase your sites ranking. Beware keyword stuffing, useless content that is hard to read by visitors, hidden text, displaying different pages to users then to search engines, link farms, and any other kind of methods that appear “spammy” or deceptive.
Always seek a professional who uses “white hat” techniques.
Can Creative Impact Help?
Of course we can! We offer many different SEO services ranging from basic optimization which is included in all of our web design packages, to high end SEO packages.
With us, you can expect to spend $250 per month for a lower end budget package and at least $1000 per month for a full fledged SEO campaign.
Contact us for more information!
