The Web Wrangler

A lot of my clients worry about SEO, an Internet marketing buzz-word that stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” In a nutshell, SEO is a blanket term for all of the things that you can do to increase your search engine rankings, preferably to a point where your web site appears on the first page of search results. A lot–and I do mean a lot–of different variables factor into search optimization, and thanks to people abusing certain variables to manipulate Google, they’re constantly changing, so much so that not even the Google engineers can explain exactly how a website’s rankings are calculated. If it seems complicated, that’s because it is. Chasing down the latest important variables, staying on top of relevant key words, monitoring analytics, link-building… optimizing your site and keeping it relevant to Google is a full-time job in and of itself, which is why people like me are able to make a living from it.

But do you really need to worry about SEO for your site? It depends on what you use your site for and what you want to get out of it. My own web site, TheTaskWrangler.com,  for example, is not optimized for search engines. This is partly because I have about as much time to devote to my own website as the cobbler has time to make shoes for his own children; but it’s also because I don’t really need to worry about it. I get most of my business from word-of-mouth recommendations and referral traffic, and that keeps me busy enough that I don’t really need to attract a lot of search engine traffic. My site primarily serves as a place I can point potential leads to for more information on my services and pricing.

On the other hand, if my web site was my main marketing tool and I depended on it to draw in potential clients, I would need to make SEO a priority. If I ran a shop and sold goods online, or if I wanted to sell ad space on my site, I would also need to invest heavily in SEO to help drive traffic. Basically, if you want to make money from your web site, or if you just want your site to be popular for its own sake, good SEO practices need to be high on your list.

The good news is, improving search engine optimization isn’t really that complicated. It’s easy to get hung up on hitting the right key words and installing all of the right code and meta data to manipulate your search rankings. While these things do help, the best thing you can do to improve your rankings also happens to be the best thing you can do to increase traffic in general, not just from search engines: create good content, create a lot of it, and be part of the conversation.

What do I mean by “be part of the conversation”? I mean participating in the Internet, as much as time allows. That means replying to people on Twitter and Facebook and not just shouting links at them. It means taking time to leave relevant blog and forum comments that add to the discussion. Link your username to your web site, or put a link in your forum signature, but don’t leave comments just for the sake of dropping a link (for one thing, that type of comment is likely to get trapped in the spam filter, and if it makes it through, people will see right through it and not click on principle).

These types of links don’t necessarily add any SEO value, but this practice of leaving thoughtful comments and participating in the discussion gets you not only noticed, but respected. This in turn gets your website noticed, and makes other bloggers feel more tenderly toward the prospect of providing you with the type of link that DOES add SEO value.