Do I Need to Perform SEO for My Web site?

I know what you’re probably thinking, hell yeah I need Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for my web site, right?  Although it does seem like a no-brainer, the answer isn’t always Yes. I will list out some examples for you where SEO may not be needed.  This may save a lot of time, energy and money for those of you who are all about the bottom line.  If any of these apply to you, you may not be in need of an SEO campaign right now:

  1. You have a website that you really don’t want strangers to find.  This can maybe be a training tool for your employees or a classroom tool for your students.  More and more schools are moving to online classrooms.
  2. Your site is already ranking well, you’re satisfied with your sales, and you don’t want to rock the boat. :)
  3. You’re in a big hurry—say, you’ll go out of business without a major upswing in revenue in the next month. This is not to say that SEO can’t help you, but good SEO takes time. If you need that much of a change that quickly, you probably have many problems, not just SEO.
  4. Your site is going to be completely rebuilt or redesigned in the next month or two and content will not be carried over.  Although, in the blogging world, we all know content is king, companies might be doing this for a different reason.  

It is definitely a rare occasion to find a site that couldn’t use a little improvement in the SEO department. And, with the importance of SEO on the rise, if you don’t need it today, it’s a good bet you’ll need to brush up your SEO smarts for tomorrow. So even if you don’t think you need SEO right now, I recommend that you take a look at the SEO Book I just linked to and read it.  Then, you want to take some time and work through your goals.  An important question to ask yourself is:

  • Who is the target audience for your website? I’m sure it includes potential clients/customers. But don’t forget that it may also include members of the press (remember managing your online reputation), employees at your own company, current and past clients seeking support, even potential investors nosing about for the inside scoop!

Assessing your audience, self-reflection and goals will help you determine if you need SEO.  I bet you never thought anyone would tell you didn’t need SEO huh? :)  Well, I just did for the mentioned examples.

  • Remember to enter your name and contact email in the sidebar to get my newsletter and short free eBook I’m developing. Again, your email is safe with me and I won’t spam you :)

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2 Comments »

Comment by Nate Whitehill
2007-04-28 14:25:46
MyAvatars 0.2

Jane I like how you are thinking outside of the box. It is funny that SEO is now the box, but you have the right ideas exactly. It’s funny - people who are not familar with SEO think that it is synonymous with magic. I think that SEO’s should start being called SEW’s - Search Engine Wizards, just to confuse people even more. :D

 
Comment by Brandon
2007-05-02 08:20:26
MyAvatars 0.2

Very interesting read. Who would have thought that SEO could be bad for you. As Nate said “Jane I like how you are thinking outside of the box.” I agree, nice job with thinking outside of the box.

 
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