Few Reasons Why You Should Spend More on Search Engine Optimization

Google implemented several changes in the year 2013. The May 22nd Penguin update most profoundly affected traffic to small business websites. It is only now that some webmasters are seeing some increase in web traffic after a prolonged period of dwindling web traffic. This is in part due to the Panda softening implemented by Google.

This in turn has prompted several thousand webmasters to make changes in SEO tactics, which were anyways long overdue. Today there are fewer and fewer small businesses that want to employ low quality SEO services. However, the catch is most small businesses run on very small or miniscule margins; and are thus resistant to increasing SEO budgets.

Here are some reasons why small business should do a rethink

Reason 1:

Google has made it amply clear that SEO tactics that used to work in 2008 will no longer work. Keyword stuffing, article spinning, paid links, re-born domains, excessive bookmarks, duplicate content, and content lacking depth is no longer going to count.

There is no point rejoicing the fact that you have not received an unnatural link warning from Google. If the quality of your content does not improve consistently your SEO strategy is doomed forever. This might sound dictatorial to some, but there is no denying the fact that Google is the big daddy in the industry and you have to respect their viewpoint.

Reason 2:

Google updates did put a financial burden on you, and only a few websites have partially recovered from Penguin downgrades. Traffic is definitely returning, albeit a bit slowly.

To expedite the process all you have to do is fix your website urgently. Technical issues can be fixed immediately using Webmasters Tools. Another thing that you could do in a hurry is remove all the duplicate content on your website.

All content that has keywords stuffed in them should be removed immediately, and so should thin or shallow content. Replace thin content with content that reflects real marketing in the true sense of the word.

As for off-site issues like bad links, begin the process of removing them. The least you can do is start sending link removal request to other businesses that were retained to build bad links. Instead focus all your energies on content marketing.

All this is going to cost some dollars, but in the long run you will thank yourself.

Reason 3:

Hiring a SEO firm and forgetting about it is no longer sound business sense. The Set-it-and-forget-it models will no longer work. Even if you outsource your SEO tasks you will have to monitor your SEO, as in the end you are accountable for the success/failure of your SEO strategies.

This means you need to choose your SEO service provider more carefully. Your choice of SEO vendor will greatly influence your business, so do it after giving it a fair amount of thought.

A good SEO is also a good marketer. There was a time when SEO was considered a technical exercise, not anymore!

Reason 4:

All the above reasons seem a bit daunting, but don’t get overwhelmed by them. SEO continues to be a great investment that you will ever make in your business. However, avoid walking into the trap of hiring the cheapest SEO service provider.

• SEO is still the smartest investment you ever make.
• Cost per lead that SEO brings is significantly lower than other measures you may wish to take.
• Google has ensured only high quality SEOs bring in the results.
• Integrated marketing strategies still provide the best ROI.

Over the years we have seen the progression of SEO from infancy to adolescence to maturity. It is true that SEO will become more expensive as time goes by, but it will also become exponentially effective. ROI on SEO has nowhere to go but north!