Propel Marketing, LLC

Being in the business of optimizing websites, it’s no surprise that I get asked, “what is SEO?” Many have the idea that SEO is a “rip-off,” as results can take time to collect, and not all businesses are meant to be #1 on Google. In truth, many of these so-called SEO companies are using old practices and charging you for outdated materials. Beware of extreme promises of rankings and techniques that seem to “trick” users somehow. These old, seemingly-simple practices can actually drag you down on major search engines.

Search engine optimization in its earliest form (let’s call this SEO 1.0) was all about matching titles and domain names to products & keyword search phrases, making the site as easy as possible to crawl for Google and other engines. While these basics are indeed important to start with when building your online market, much more can be done. The businesses who still use this antiquated approach to optimization are probably looking for a 2.0 version, but end up spending up to $1,000 per month for 1.0 tips. How do you make sure your SEO company is using 2.0?

SEO 2.0 is all about improving your rank on search engines for relevant and appropriate reasons. Say you go to a job interview. Just because you dress nicely doesn’t mean you’re going to get the job. It might help, but you can’t just be an “empty suit”.

In the same way, having basic SEO practices in place is a good idea, but will probably not give you a major boost in engine ranks. Today’s SEO 2.0 focuses on how your website “behaves” and interacts with users. How do your users navigate your website? Are there sufficient incentives to staying on the site longer, keeping customers poking through your pages out of curiosity, pleasure, or need? Are your page titles accurate? Do you have unique content? These are the starter questions for SEO 2.0, and Google Analytics can help you get some answers.

Gone are the days of simply needing an excellent domain name. Google and others have caught on to the tricks and techniques used by websites looking for false leads, and they simply don’t work as well. Start looking at where your traffic is coming from, how much time visitors spend on the site, and what they are interested in when they get there.

Happy SEOing,
Tanya

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