Free Search Engine Traffic?

Search engine optimization begins and ends with the proper use of keywords and keyword phrases. So much has been written on that very subject and I am sure people are sick of hearing about it. Regardless of what you think and what has been written the truth of the matter is that it isn’t something the average person can do.

Sure there are great tools out there that can help you select the proper keywords and even recommend proper keyword phrases but the correct use of these words and phrases is pivotal. Here again there is so much written on the subject of proper use that anyone can or has become an expert. This is false.

Proper keyword, keyword phrase, selection and use, is a painstakingly long process. We at Position Front Page personally have a staff of four, working full time on that process alone. What it comes down to is being able to analyze the data properly, making the right selection, writing the required keyword rich content, with the proper ratios and emphasis.

Simply put it takes roughly 3 working days just to select the appropriate keywords and keyword phrases. They essentially become part of your internet marketing campaign.

Then it takes another 2 days just to write the required content. Add to that another 2 days to calculate the density of the selected words or phrases, all this for only one page. Imagine then how much time you need if you plan on optimizing 10 pages!

Now if you are thinking that everything said above seems a little too unbelievable, you are sadly mistaken or if you think you can do all that in just one day then you are doing it wrong. It is not that you cannot do it in one day, but rather that you cannot do it right in one day.

For example, let's assume that you are going to build a site about dog training, and you want people to come to your site. You need to find out what kind of information about dog training that people are looking for so that you can build pages optimized for the keywords or keyword phrases that people are actually using as their search criteria.

This is indeed one of the most time consuming parts of keyword or keyword phrase selection. The reason is it is not as simple as loading up a piece of software typing in dog training and voila you have your list. No, it is also analyzing what your competitors are doing and or using. Then if you think by mimicking what the top ten are doing will get you a top ten result, here too, you would be mistaken.

Analyzing both, the keyword selection results and competing websites selection’s narrows down the list of words or phrases but calculating expected results is a very complicated matter.

SEO firms are equipped with data, data that you cannot buy. Good firms have a history based on trail and error and have come up with and revised many times, algorithms that help them come up with results. Knowledge is power, but experience is more powerful.

It is this experience that determines which keywords or keyword phrases a site should be optimized for. As in our previous example, you are an expert in training German Sheppard’s. What should be your primary keyword phrase? Should it be “German Sheppard dog training” or “German Sheppard training” or “dog training” or all three?

It is this kind of information that becomes vital when planning the right internet marketing strategy.

Keyword or keyword phrase selection, combined with optimized content and proper usage density are all experienced based algorithms. Self proclaimed SEO gurus who have read dozens of articles on the subject and suddenly think they know a thing or two about the subject can in fact hurt you. And then we have the search engine algorithm changes, combined with finicky user search tendencies add to that keyword or keyword phrase order and you can see what a complicated mess you can create.

Here is an example do a search using Google for “hotel Bangkok” and then Bangkok Hotel. Instantly you can see different results, and there search frequencies are shocking as well. An inexperienced person could never ever know the difference, but a good SEO firm like ours, Position Front Page does.

Site traffic is the penultimate quest. Targeted site traffic yields a higher conversion. Balancing them both is everything but requires an expert. Good SEO Firms are not cheap but their attention to details and results is the difference between a good site and a great site.

In closing you can see by this article that in fact there is no such thing as “Free” search engine traffic. Even if you don’t hire an expert in the field, purchasing the required software would set you back handsomely. Then add to that the time needed to learn how to interpret the data and you can see it ends up costing a lot and what if you over use the keywords or keyword phrases and you get banned, what then? It is an expensive lesson to learn.

Ask yourself this question. Would you take your Mercedes to a Honda dealer for repairs?



About the Author
Archie Glikakis is a search engine optimization consultant for Position Front Page. His expertise in this field, has lead him to write many articles and he is always in forefront when large clients come along. He also does some freelance work for a division of that same company, Position First Page.