Search Engine Optimization Challenges Small Business Website Owners Have and How To Solve the Problems

Alla Goltsman is a Search Engine Optimization Consultant, the owner of the website http://SmallBusinessClicks.biz and the President of SEO company Diverse Funding LLC in New Jersey.

The company specializes in growing YOUR business with measurable online marketing results.
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-Google Places setup, SEO, and Promotion.
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Many Small Business website owners need help to bring out the best in their websites. These people need services of professional Search Engine Optimization experts.

When a web surfer tries to find information on internet, he types a query into a search engine. The search engines find the website that can give the best information as the answer to the question. The websites that show up on the results page are the best optimized websites. Those websites have the keywords the web surfer is inquiring about. Those websites have all the 'ingredients' the search engines are looking for when they try to determine the best websites.

Search Engine Optimization is a process of increasing visibility of the website to the search engines. Once the search engines recognize a website as being optimized well, they send FREE organic web traffic to the website. People trust websites that show on the result page (SERP - Search Engine Results Page). The well optimized websites are rewarded with FREE web traffic. They generate more business leads and more sales. That's the real benefit of Search Engine Optimization that lasts years.

Real Search Engine Optimization problems Small Business Website owners face: they are busy running their own businesses. They don't have time to learn and implement Search Engine Optimization.

What if the company has several websites? The need for Search Engine Optimization expert becomes even more real. I truly believe there are more honest people in the world then crooks. Unfortunately there are crooks as well. Some of them are Search Engine Optimization experts.

They try to charge much more money for their services than it is necessary.

They try to charge for services that are not relevant.

They promise to bring your website to page #1 for the selected keywords in ridiculously short period of time. Good SEO takes time and efforts. If you meet people that they can accomplish SEO in short time - RUN.

They tell you to target the wrong keywords. If a keyword is not specific to your business, it is wrong. For example: a shoe store sells shoes for large feet. If you target the keyword phrase 'nice shoes' it's not going to bring people with large feet to your store. Even if people come to your store, they will not buy the shoes for large feet. That's an SEO scam.

They don't give a written proposal with delivery dates and with no specific description of what is going to be done for your website.

How do I know who to hire to help with our SEO? I have contracted with a couple groups to build links and content but haven't increased traffic enough to get more leads. What questions should I ask?

This is a question that was asked by a real person on LinkedIn.com

Put Social Media to serve your needs. Go to forums and simply ask people if you are getting reasonable quotes for the services you need. Search Engine Optimization experts hang out there. They are looking for clients. It can be dangerous, because the competition among SEO experts is fierce. The same SEO crooks can say just about anything including bad things. Those SEO experts that share their knowledge - they are the real good ones.

Do you have your own network? Ask for referrals. Talk to your friends. If you are an entrepreneur, most likely your friends are entrepreneurs as well. They might know an SEO expert that is honest and does a great job.

Educate yourself as much as possible about SEO. The more you know about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) less chance you have to be taken advantage of. You don't have to do the job, but you must interview the consultant. Your knowledge will allow you to understand and justify the answers of the SEO expert.

Have Google Analytics installed on your website. It's a free and one of the best analytic software programs around. You need to track Search Engine Optimization results. This program will measure the results of the Search Engine Optimization. It's really good and easy to use.

Be aware of 'Black Hat SEO' tactics - intentional deception of search engines. Stealing web content, deceptive robots redirection, spamming robots, keywords stuffing, hidden text and links - these are 'Black SEO methods.

Keyword Stuffing
Some people still try to use keyword stuffing - intentional increasing of keywords quantity not relevant to the website content. This is used to improve website rankings in search engines. Keywords have to be used in content. Keyword stuffing is not as popular now as it was a couple of years ago. Search engines are very well aware of this technique and they detect it.

Hidden Text - setting the same color of text as the webpage that's hidden text. Web surfers do not see hidden text. Search engines 'see' it.

Doorway Pages
Doorway pages are not appreciated by Google and other search engines. They are "landing" pages targeting certain keywords not supported by relevant content. These pages have no value for web visitors.

'White Hat SEO' is the ethical good practice SEO.

It pursues natural linking generated by good unique content writing. On-page SEO good practice: generation of meta tags, relevant meta descriptions, relevant page titles, etc Off-Page good practice: link building with unique content, website directory submission, unique articles describing the business promoted, sincere blog commenting and video marketing. Following the search engines guidelines - that's 'White Hat SEO'.

First I wanted to let YOU know that Search Engine Optimization does not happen overnight. It takes consistent effort and time. Search Engine Optimization is a long term smart investment in your business.

What are your marketing goals? That's question #1 you need to answer.

Some marketing goals are:
- Increased quantity of business leads
- Improved quality of the business leads. That means easier conversion into paying customers.
- Company branding
- Customer Acquisition
- Reputation Management (boosting positive or diminishing negative)

Search Engine Optimization starts with determining your company main keywords that will bring web traffic. The ultimate goal of SEO campaign - get on page #1 of SERP (Search Engine Results Page) for those keywords. You see, web surfers do not browse other pages. They just limit themselves to page #1 most of the times because they know that page #1 has the best answers to their questions.

Depending on the quantity of the keywords and competition getting on page #1 might be very difficult to do or on the contrary - very easy. The final product of Search Engine Optimization is increased web traffic, increased and improved business leads and sales. If that does not happen - YOU wasted your money.