Govind AgarwalBusiness Clients are best known to be partly, if not entirely clueless. Ask what made them think of approaching an SEO vendor and they would probably get back with a reply that doesn’t say much: “Because we need it.”
While this may truly apply, the real concern lies in the fact that nobody knows why they need it. On the positive side, it is refreshing to find that businesses are finally beginning to acknowledge the importance of SEO practices. But it stops there. To really embark upon a long lasting internet marketing journey, businesses must have a detailed understanding of why content marketing and keyword optimization is crucial for them.
SEO is indeed a complex, constructive, and time consuming process that embeds within a series of sub-processes including on-site and off-site implementations, content creation and marketing, keyword use and research, link building efforts, and so forth. Search engine experts and SEO vendors will tell you how they build plans for every specific business need and price them. From the entrepreneurial perspective, it would be advisable to know what these plans include and to what extent each or one of them are applicable to their current situation.
Given below are three basic components for identifying your SEO needs:
Know Your Business Goals
It is surprising to find clients overlooking such a fundamental aspect. When I say ‘business goals’, it should be from a viewpoint that culminates both internet marketing and your basic business ambition which is to generate high sales.
I admit there are some fixed mantras of attaining your primary goal. Seasoned SEO players will broadly point out arenas that will help you drive high traffic: video marketing, PPC campaigns, and social media exposure. While each of these seems practically relevant and plausible, you must understand where your focus should truly lie with respect to your current status.
If you are still trying to get your head around your basic requirements, ask yourself these questions:
What is my ultimate goal? Is it to reap high conversions?
Should I focus more on product awareness?
Will high local online visibility shoot my business to a never-seen-before level?
Is there a Google Penalty to work on?
Gauge Your Current Website Performance
From the questions mentioned above, it is evident that your choice of plan will depend upon how well your website is currently performing. Data analytics is a permanent process in client assessment, as it provides a catalogue of traffic rates and conversion numbers for the purpose. SEO vendors after all, should know what they are about to deal with.
This could in fact, be your starting point of reference. Self reflection and analysis will direct you towards your lack. Recapitulating memoirs of your business performance will help piece together a comprehensive SEO plan with a pre-determined budget. If you have rip off reports or penalties to your credit, consult and acquire a detailed understanding of how brand redemption is carried out before you reset your optimization goals.
This brings us to the third point which is:
Be Honest About Your Resource limitation
Some clients are understandably reluctant to reveal their true business status. Unfortunately, SEO is to business what a shrink is to their client. If you do not have enough resources to go about, be open about it to your SEO provider. If content creation is not your forte, you must take their assistance. If you have a team of excellent writers but no guidance for edits and keyword use, train your people with proper consultation.
Knowing the fundamentals of your SEO plan will help you understand what to expect from it. It will speed up your proposal stage that involves selecting the right provider and plan of action.
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