Saturday, September 12, 2009

Deciding Whether Or Not To Do Search Engine Optimization

By Marty Albercore

Websites and blogs are being created and content is being produced at a higher rate than ever before. With the dramatic increase in information, it's easy to get lost in the proverbial crowd. On one hand, search engines are more adept than ever at indexing this new information and enabling searchers to find it. Conversely, the amount of information means that a lot of content will be shoved to the end of the rankings and people are likely to never find the content.

Search engine optimization can help any website standout. SEO works to optimize the website and build up infrastructure around the website that will help it rank higher in the search engine's eyes. Search engine optimization is a process, not an event. It requires consistent dedicated effort over time to become competitive.

Do all sites need SEO? Believe it or not, the answer is no. SEO is a results-driven process. There has to be some end goal in mind, whether that be readership, sales, or branding purposes. If your goal is not about selling as much as possible, increasing readership as much as possible, etc., then you may not need search engine optimization at all.

You may be focused on blogging for a very specific audience, like family. Nobody else would be that interested in your life events. You might operate a site specifically for the purpose of chronicling your achievements or your creations. In cases like this, people are likely to find your site by typing in your name, and the people who are searching for you are those you would want to be readers.

Search engine optimization takes a lot of work and requires a definite investment of time and energy, not to mention success mixed with failure, especially if you want to show up for competitive keywords. If you don't have a reason to do SEO, it's just not worth it. You'd be better off focusing on writing content that people will find by accident and enjoy.

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