Does SEO Really Matter?

Gary Eckstein Internet 2 , , , , , , , ,

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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is much spoken about both among web professionals and those employing consultants or companies to manage their Websites. If you have a website or are interested in Internet Technologies then SEO is likely to be a familiar term familiar to you but does SEO really matter and how important is it?

What is SEO?

SEO is about making an effort in an attempt to get the website to rank highly in organic search results (e.g. Google, Live or Yahoo search results). It is incredibly valuable for a website to appear as one of the first few results returned in a search on a Search Engine. Seldom does a person select a result other than one of the first few returned from the Search Engine. It is also important that the website appears high in search results when the appropriate keywords are searched for e.g. it is of little benefit if a car electrician Website appears as the first search result when a person searches for the term ‘install sauna’.

Knowledge of how Search Engines crawl sites is needed in order to understand how to optimize Websites to feature best in organic search results. SEO however is an art and not a science therefore results are never guaranteed but it is always best to Search Engine Optimize a website as much as possible. I occasionally work as a SEO consultant for small and medium sized organizations and it is seldom that the basics of SEO are being performed (which negatively affects the number of people who will visit the website).

What are the Benefits of SEO

As discussed previously, the objective of SEO is to;

  • appear early in organic search results in order to increase the volume and
  • be returned as a search result against the appropriate search term/s (keywords).

The primary reason that organizations have websites is to promote their business which may be via selling from the website or providing information about products or services offered. Search Engines do not charge a fee to direct visitors to your website and the number of visitors which may be directed to your website through SEO can be huge which generally equates into more business for the website owner. Good SEO has the additional benefit of making your website easier to navigate for visitors meaning that they will generally spend more time on your site which in turn increases the chance of further business.

So, Does SEO Matter?

SEO can make (or break) a website! The most popular websites enjoy their enviable position in part to concentrating on SEO. Heard of Flickr? Flickr is a very popular photo sharing website owned by Yahoo and Hitwise, the Internet data collection and analysis specialists, have identified the role that SEO has played in the success of Flickr.

SEO absolutely matters! It is essential in improving where your website will appear in search results from Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo and Live. Why not go to Google and search for the search terms your customers may enter to reach you. If you are not appearing in the first few returned results then it will likely make business sense to engage an SEO consultant.

Want more business? Contact me about how I can optimize your website.