SEO is Search Engine Optimization. SEO is an ongoing effort to secure rankings for the words that searchers use to find businesses like yours in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

As you contemplate building a web site or revamping an existing one, you need to work with a web designer that knows how search engines work, so that he or she designs yours properly.

Most web designers understand a little SEO, but their task of keeping up with general design doesn’t leave them time to learn SEO at a meaningful level.

If you are planning on getting traffic from search engines without paying per click, you will need good optimization to show up on page one of the search results for your keywords.

The more competitive your niche, the more likely you will need to optimize to get good placement.

How to Know if Your Web Designer / Developer Knows SEO

If they know SEO, they will…

1. Have asked you for the terms/words you think your customers use when they search for businesses like yours.
2. Have then furnished you a list of those keywords and associated terms, an estimate of the number of times those terms were searched last month, and where your site ranks for each of those keywords.
3. Have shared tactics needed to improve performance for those terms and asked you to budget for ongoing SEO work or set aside time to do that work yourself
4. Have given you monthly reports showing you where you are ranked for each of your tracked terms as of a given date, so you know whether you are making progress toward bringing more potential customers to your site
5. Have given you a Google analytics report (or equivalent) so that you know how many people visited your site, what keywords they used to get to your site, where they came from, and what they looked at.
6. Meet with you at least quarterly to review the performance of the site, propose budgets and targets, and work with you to meet those goals.

You Get More of What You Measure

If you are not getting this basic information from your web professional, you are not in a position to measure the results of your effort to grow your business using the Internet.

Unless you are measuring them, your web marketing results are likely weak.

Don’t wait to get this information about your site. Your competitors are getting it and  being found by people who could have ordered from you.

There is an old adage in business management: You get more of what you measure. Just starting to measure your web results will focus you on improving them.  The tools are simple to use and mostly free.

If you have a website or blog that isn’t bringing you the business you expected, email me your site address.  I will give you a free report that scores your site for SEO and shows specific actions you can take to improve your website’s performance as a source of leads and revenue.

Remember only you can make business great!

Ron Sturgeon, founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with an extensive resume in consulting, speaking, and business writing, with 3 books published and 2 more expected in 2012.

A business owner since age 17, Ron sold his chain of salvage yards to Ford Motor Company in 1999, and his innovations in database-driven direct marketing have been profiled in Inc. Magazine. After the repurchase of Greenleaf Auto Recyclers from Ford and sale to Schnitzer Industries, Ron is now owner of the DFW Elite Auto suite of businesses and a successful real estate investor.

As a consultant and peer benchmarking leader, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plain-spoken style, providing field-proven, high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve.

Ron is a web expert, but he is also an expert in helping all types of small businesses become more successful and more profitable. He has helped owners in industries from restaurants to law firms with a wide variety of business issues, including sales, promotion, production, financial measures, business strategy, and planning for start ups. Whatever your unique challenges, Ron can help you.

To inquire about peer benchmarking, consultations, or keynote speaking, contact Ron by calling 817-834-3625, by emailing rons@MrMissionPossible.com, by mailing 5940 Eden, Haltom City, TX 76117, or online at Mr. Mission Possible.