Copyright 2005 Jack HumphreyThink about
first thing you ever heard about “marketing a website” on web. 99% of time first words anyone ever hears are “search engine marketing.” Or some semblance of phrase.
And from that point on, hammering of misinformation never lets up. You are led to believe that your business will die a terrible death without search engines. You are led to believe that only people who can guide you through mine field of search engine optimization are SEO “experts.”
Also you are told time and again that only way to market online PERIOD is through search engines. You are conditioned over time to focus most, if not all, of your efforts on tricking search engines into liking your site above all your competitors for search terms where “there can be only one.”
Well, here’s a wake up call: The vast majority of small business startups will never have resources, time, or know-how to turn an idea into a profitable online business focusing only on search engines.
Just look at deluge of information there is out there on Google and how to rank well with them. People are picking apart their ranking patent application right now to try an glean a website promotion strategy based upon what Google reveals in their application about their ranking system.
Is this information valuable to a small business wanting to sell its wares to a whole market rather than just part of that market which uses one of big search engines?
It is in extreme moderation, yes. In a well balanced marketing campaign that focuses on many ways to bring in targeted traffic, search engine marketing has its place. You do what you can, and you move on to all other ways there are to promote your business.
Yet, so many people are falling victim to gleam and glitter of search engine riches being pushed on them by SEO firms and people selling search engine how-to manuals.
It is not long before a new business finds itself wrapped up in a game where only winners are geeks and deep pockets.
If you do not fall into either of those categories, your business is doomed from start if you hop right off porch to play with those big dogs.
“But I hired a ‘big dog’ SEO firm to make my business stand out and compete with geeks in my market niche.”
More power to you. In actuality, unfortunately, you probably just hired a teenager from India with an internet connection in his parents’ house. Most small business start ups cannot come close to affording a major SEO firm. They charge corporate-level premiums to be able to access their services.
