Maybe I take this whole SEO thing too seriously, too personally even.  As an SEO consultant, I get paid well to drive quality traffic to my clients websites and I do a good job of it.  I spend hours reading, studying, and searching, always trying to get better.  Advanced SEO and Web 2.0, got it.  Social Media and blogging, I can do that too.  I can walk the walk and talk the talk but at the end of the day I’m still frustrated.  Why?  Because I keep getting lost in all the little details.  I have lost sight of the big picture.  What’s the big picture, you ask?  Helping my clients become more successful on the web than ever before.  Good rankings don’t matter if you aren’t making sales.  Do I need to know all the little details?  You bet.  But if I can’t help my clients become successful, none of this matters.

So, today I am reminding myself of my 3 most basic responsibilities.

1. To generate website traffic.

2. Make sure the traffic turns into leads.

3. Help turn those leads into sales.

Yes, I know there’s a lot more to it and I also know that many articles could be written about any one of these topics.  I just don’t want to get hung up on all the details anymore.

In a nutshell, it’s not about good ranking reports, the latest techniques, or my ego.  It’s about helping businesses achieve success they never knew possible.

Search Engine Optimization has changed the way businesses do business. The Internet has allowed most businesses to be in front of their customers 24 hours a day, and in turn, that has made search engine optimization a key element to any marketing campaign. SEO can drastically enhance any company’s Internet presence by putting them at the forefront of search engine rankings and the people using them. Here are three advantages that SEO has over more traditional forms of marketing.

1. SEO is highly cost effective – There are no materials to buy, and no printing or postage.  A full page newspaper ad, run only once, will cost more than a months worth of SEO work.

2. There’s less competition – While most businesses are trying to get the best newspaper placement or their radio spots placed during peak drive times, search engines are much newer to the market place. This means not as many companies have realized the gains that can be made and this puts you in a great position.

3.  You have a captive audience – Most people that end up at your website are looking for what you are selling.  The goal of traditional marketing is get your product/message in front of as many people as possible.  The reality is that only a small percentage of those people are really “in the market” for what you are selling.  But when someone sits down with their laptop to search for the product that you sell, there is no doubt they are “in the market” and in most cases, are on the verge of making a purchase.

While Search Engine Optimization will never replace traditional marketing, it is a key component that will drive traffic to your website, increase your visibility, and bring you more business.

There are several pitfalls you are sure to run into when trying to do SEO on your own. Here are a few of the biggest ones that come to mind.

1. Improper keyword analysis and strategy
2. Underestimating the value of onsite content
3. Underestimating the value of authority links
4. Not tracking your progress
5. Thinking you can do it in the same amount of time an SEO can. An expert SEO could have you ranking for quite a few of your keyword phrases, in the time it takes you to learn SEO and figure out what works on your own site.

Bonus

6. It is extremely difficult to pick up on slight shifts in algorithms when looking at a single site.

7. At a minimum you should consider a $1,000 investment to at least help get the wheels moving in the proper direction.

I strongly suggest you consider hiring an expert. You’ll see profits a whole lot sooner with an expert than you would on your own.  If $1,000 is going to break the bank, then yes you have no choice but to do it yourself.   Otherwise, we strongly encourage you to at least get yourself on the right track with a minimal investment.

Has your SEO Business suffered losses from the economy? Perhaps you need to think about targeting Recession Proof businesses. Here is a top ten list that is sure to help!

#1 – Health Care

#2 – Energy

#3 – Education

#4 – Environmental Sector

#5 – Security

#6 – Political

Up Markets in a Down Economy

#7 – Foreclosures

#8 – Used Merchandise

#9 – Alternative Fuels

Bonus

#10 – Reputation Management

Question:
After a reconsideration request, do you typically notify webmasters that the penalty has been lifted?

Answer: John Mueller
If you recognize that your ranking / indexing has improved, chances are that it has been accepted. if not, I would recommend posting in the Webmaster Help Groups.

In other words if there is a ranking you *think* should be better and isn’t – perhaps it is being (slightly and/or significantly?) manually demoted and you better do a re-inclusion request after fixing the problem. Not just *expect* it to be fixed by Google automatically.

At least something to think about.

In the 6+ years of our small SEO business, there have been four people that have stood out head and shoulders over anyone else in the search business.

In the early days, I was hooked on WebmasterWorld. I couldn’t get enough of the monthly Google dances“ even noticing a couple of them before anyone else.  Thank you, Bret Tabke, for putting together such a great website.

Then there is GoogleGuy. No one can ever forget him. The meaningful hints Matt Cutts would give us that could sometimes make a huge difference. Thanks Matt.

During my days (and nights) of following every post on WebmasterWorld, Danny Sullivan contacted me to get my take on the Florida fiasco. Danny was and still is the King of Search, what in the world was he doing calling me? Perhaps he noticed my clients weren’t really all that affected by the Florida updated.

For quite some time now, I have been getting all the new information I need from one place. Aaron Wall‘s SEO Blog. He has probably done more for the little guys than anyone I know.

The SEO industry is a great industry with some very good folks even willing to help us little people. For that I would like to THANK everyone on this list.

There will always be mysteries; the best SEO’s learn how to repeat those mysteries.

…if you don’t provide quality responses to the email you receive.

Sounds easy.  It’s not.  Let me explain.  In Part 1, I talked about the general trouble most companies have simply answering email.  Today we are going to talk about how to answer them.

Based on our 1980′s old thinking, we have convinced ourselves that when someone sends us an email, no matter how clearly that customer communicates their need, we’re sure it’s some kind of trap.  We think that if someone sends us an email asking about price, they must be price shopping.  You are right, they are price shopping and they want an answer  Look at Part 1 again. Seven out of ten email don’t get answered within 24 hours.  First, you want to be one of the three that do answer and second, you need to give them what they ask for.  If you don’t, they will look somewhere else.

Let me show you a series of emails that come directly from the automotive industry.  I think it will clarify my point.

Original email from customer

Dear Sir,

I see from your website you have a 2008 Red Pontiac Solstice in stock.  The stock number is XXXXX and the last 8 digits of the vin number are XXXXXXXX.  I know that GM is offering a rebate of $1000 through the end of the month.  Please provide me with your best price including tax, license, and all rebates.  I will be paying cash and would like to complete this purchase in the next 3 days.

Look forward to your reply,

Joe Customer

Email response from the Internet manager

Dear Mr Customer,

Thanks for your interest in the 2008 Pontiac Solstice.  We have 6 in stock to chose from.  Please call me so we can set an appointment and complete your purchase.

Sincerely,

Mr Internet Manager

Final email from the customer

Dear Internet Manager,

I would rather staple my tongue to the roof of my mouth than come down and negotiate a deal with you.

Joe Customer

Yikes.  That hurts.  I have talked with the Internet manager and customer involved in this email transaction.  Here is what they had to say.  The customer did buy a new Pontiac Solstice in his 3 day time period.  Get this, he paid more than he thought he would and traveled further than he wanted to do it. You know why?  Only one dealership answered his questions.  He sent emails to 5 different dealerships.  One response was the one you see above and the other earned his business.  The three other dealerships never responded.  When I talked with the Internet manager, he made excuse after excuse as to why he responded the way he did.  Ultimately it came down to this, he was sure that if he gave the customer what he asked for he would never see him again.  He was right, he will never see that customer again…ever.

I know most of you are thinking you have a much better internet department than that in the example above.  Truth is, it is happening at your company and much more than you know.

Bottom line is this, answer every email in a timely manner and clearly answer every question asked in that email.  If you don’t, most customers will find someone who will and buy from them.  And not just once, probably over and over again for years to come.

It sounds simple.  Trust me, it’s not. It’s hard work and it pays of.  Just ask the Pontiac dealer who sold the new Solstice.

Please introduce yourself here and let us know you are watching our Blog, it will help encourage us to write more. I’ll start. My name is Dan Guay, Owner of Hay Meadows SEO. You can read more about me (and us) here, About Us.

After moving from Washington to Indiana, I had some really good friends and family (and God) that wanted to see our family make it on our own. You can read more about our beginnings here, About Us. These *closest* friends were nice enough to trust me and refer me to places they worked which in turn referred us to others, and then others.

As our network of friends and family leads began to dry up, we started ranking for phrases like ‘seo seattle’ and ‘seo services’ which then started to bring in around a new client a month which is all I’ve really been able to handle for the past three years.

Only recently have I needed to start drumming up more business. Not only for myself, but also for a couple new employees coming on board that are giving it a good go of things to bring on their own clients. As such, and with the slowing economy, we are starting to tap back into the friends and family network of leads. I prefer not to have to do this, but at the same time, its kind of fun showing off to family and friends our remarkable services. Stu Collins, a Puyallup Realtor, is one of those friends.

…if you don’t respond to the e-mail it generates.

I stumbled across some research yesterday that boggled my mind. It was the Hornstein Associates’ annual e-mail responsiveness survey. The 2007 survey was sent to 49 companies, including the Financial Times’ World’s Most Respected Companies and Fortune’s Most Admired Companies. The companies include: Microsoft, GE, Toyota, Coca- Cola, IBM, Wal-Mart, P&G, Apple, J&J, Costco, FedEx, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Berkshire Hathaway and more. Check this out, Hornstein’s research (and common sense) says that almost everyone sends an e-mail to a company at some point and that all of us expect a response within 24 hours. In 2007 only 33% of companies responded within 24 hours, down almost half from a high of 63% in 2002. Yes, you read that right. Only 3 in 10 emails are responded to within 24 hours. Companies spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every month driving consumers to their website and nearly 70% of the emails generated from those visits are not answered within a reasonable amount of time.

I know some of you are saying, it’s not the way it happens at our company. When I was managing a large GM dealership, I never would have believed that this is how we handled our e-mail. The first time I really looked at the numbers, we had a 33 hour average response time. On top of that, we were responding to fewer to 50% of our incoming e-mail. (there are lots of reasons for this which I will cover in part 2).  Do a little checking, you will be surprised and I don’t mean pleasantly. 

A quality SEO campaign can and will drive additional traffic to your website and that additional traffic will generate e-mails that must be answered in a timely manner. If those emails are not responded to, you will never see the benefit of SEO.

Responding to all incoming e-mail is only the first step.  Stay tuned for Part 2 where I will discuss how a poor response can be more damaging than not responding at all.