Why Search Engine Optimization Specialists Are Vital to Your Online Business

Many webmasters see search engine optimization specialists as an unnecessary expense. They figure that anyone can learn the basics of search engine optimization and do it themselves. The recent Google update that buried some very high visibility sites shows just how wrong they are. In fact, without the input of search engine optimization specialists, who make their living following the vagaries of Google and other major search engines, even the highest ranking websites are just one Google dance away from obscurity.

The Google update, officially known as the Panda update, made changes to the algorithm Google uses to determine which sites to serve up when someone searches for a particular phrase. Any SEO professional will tell you that those changes aren’t uncommon – Google is constantly tweaking the algorithm to make its search engine results more relevant to the queries entered into the search engine giant. The outcome of those tweaks is seldom as widespread or significant as those of the Panda update, but many small business website owners have their own horror stories of how one small change to the Google algorithm tanked their online business for months. Search engine optimization specialists are very familiar with those stories – many a website optimization company has scrambled to stay ahead of Google changes and updates or raced to make changes to their SEO strategies when an update rendered months of work useless ove
ight.

For many website owners, part of the problem stems from using SEO strategies designed to capitalize on only one or two of the factors that Google uses to determine relevance. That’s a common failing of do-it-yourself SEO specialists who have read one or two books or articles on search engine optimization and absorbed a few tricks to boost their website ranking. They add pages heavily peppered with keywords, or include keywords in their image tags or focus on link-building with key phrases in the anchor text. While that kind of SEO strategy can have impressive short-term results, the basis for the success is shaky. All it takes is a tweak in the importance of one or two areas to completely tank page rank and importance that’s taken months to build.

The fact is that Google and other search engines base search engine results – and ad placement – on many factors. Search engine optimization specialists make their money by following search engine results and analyzing them to figure out the changing importance of various factors. Rather than focusing on one, two or three factors, they base their SEO strategies on organic SEO, which encompasses everything from on page SEO to the number and quality of links, both inbound and outbound. And unlike most DIY search engine strategists, a search engine marketing agency can draw on the knowledge of multiple departments.

Search engine optimization is not a do-it-yourself proposition, despite the many books that suggest you can easily boost your search engine rankings without the help of the pros. For ongoing SEO support that can bullet-proof your site to Google updates and changes, turn to search engine optimization specialists whose business relies on understanding what Google is thinking today.