Search Engine Marketing Spot

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With this article series I hope to educate some of you readers out there on what it really takes to be in this business and succeed at it. I do not claim to be an expert, a guru or anything like that. I am however a internet marketing entrepreunure that would like to share my experiences with you in the SEM/SEO industry for the past five years. You will read that I have been doing this since 1998, however that was not my full time job then. Some would claim to have 9 years experience, however to me the first four years was nothing more then a hobby. That hobby turned into a definite passion and obsession in 2002 when I took my first full time marketing job. These experiences and knowledge is what I want to convey out to anyone looking to get into the business.

I want to be an SEO, what do I need to do?

I have seen that question several times and I cannot believe that some think it is so easy. I do not think many people realize the amount of time that goes into marketing a website on the internet today. They think buying search engine submission software will be good enough to get started. They also think that SEO is the service they need to offer, however in today’s industry we are SEM’s rather then just SEO’s. On page optimization is no longer enough to achieve good results for your clients, the off page marketing strategies play a major role in getting good SERP’s. In the past it was easier because there was less competition, not many search engines, directories were far few and between. With all of this, it meant less work to be done when optimizing a website to market on the internet. I started out simply designing websites out of my college dorm room for small fee’s back in 1998. Optimizing those websites for the search engines was still a challenge back then, it just did not require as much time as it does in today’s internet marketing world.

I see quite a few people asking on forums if they should start an SEM/SEO business because they see how popular it is. Others inquire about it due to the fact they see some companies charging thousands of dollars for there search engine optimization and marketing services. I have even read on a few posts where the author was inquiring about what they can do to optimize there clients website to improve its rankings. The author of course offers SEM/SEO through there website, yet asking on the forums what they can do to optimize a website. So you have started your own SEO company and want us to do the work for you? I do not mind helping people out, new to the industry or old school I will try and answer any question I can. I am just at the point now to where everyone is offering there SEO service with almost no knowledge of what it takes. There are people out there who see the dollar signs of some of the well established companies and think they can open up shop and do the same thing the next week. This industry is an ever changing and evolving business that requires planning, dedication, commitment, knowledge, experimentation, patience, and time among a few others.

Planning – To succeed in this industry you need to walk slowly with this step and measure it from every angle. Do not think of what is at the end of the road and try to race there for the money. You will not get very far, and if you manage to get somewhere it will not be for very long. This is a very important step in your business practice and each time you sign up a new client. With SEM/SEO you need to not only find out what your client needs, but try and become part of there business so you can see what else there marketing campaign might need to help succeed even more. I love it when there are arguments about what is the most important thing about SEO. This is the one that that has never changed and probably never will change. The most important step to any successful SEM/SEO campaign is the planning. Without proper planning, you could be targeting all the wrong keywords for your client. I will go in more depth about keyword planning in a future article.

Dedication – To succeed in most things in life, you need to be dedicated to your goal or goals at hand. You cannot put fourth 50% effort and expect to get 100% results. There are no quick and easy techniques to achieving top rankings for your new clients, unless of course they already had a SEM/SEO campaign in the past where most of the leg work was already done. You want to succeed in this industry, put fourth the work like the rest of us and in due time you will be thank you did so. You do not achieve high levels of success overnight or in just a few months. Stay focused and dedicated and your business success will follow.

Commitment – To succeed in the SEM/SEO business you need to commit to your goals and stick to them. If you go off track, do yourself a favor and get back on that track so you can build that road to success in this business. By committing fully to your business, you will take that drive and apply it to your clients needs. Those needs should turn into goals, not only for them but your business as well. Follow through and deliver on those goals and it will lead to a happy client and a successful marketing campaign. Without committing fully to your own business model, how can you say you will commit fully to any of your clients?

 More to come in part 2 of this article series.