NECESSITY OF SEO FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

The first part of the 21^st Century has proven to be precarious times for small businesses, especially those in their nascent stage. More than half of those new companies fail in their first year. For an enlightening explanation concerning this phenomenon and other perils confronting small businesses, visit: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/smallbusiness/a/whybusfail.htm  

A new threat to the average entrepreneur comes in the form of a paradox surrounding the use of the internet. More and more people hire a small business by searching online. This can produce beneficial results for some while proving to be a disaster for others. At the present time the overwhelming majority of people use Google as their primary search engine. More critically, some surveys indicate over 90% of users do not even look at page two of the results before making up their minds. The obvious conclusion is that a small business must have excellent Google search rankings if they want to succeed.

Merely developing a well written and attractive, relevant website is not sufficient for good rankings. In fact, any experienced SEO (Search Engine Optimization) consultant will testify to finding poorly written and unattractive websites on page one while an eloquently written and superbly crafted web page of a competitor will be listed on page five. There are diverse opinions among SEO experts as to why this happens, but no one is absolutely certain.

Google constantly reviews the internet with “crawlers” or “spiders” which are programmed with constantly evolving algorithms that rank a website on factors ranging from relevancy to use of keywords, to the strength of other sites that refer to the website, and many other factors. The techniques used by different SEO companies vary. What works in spectacular fashion one year can prove to be a flop the next year with the result that a page one website will suddenly appear on page eight or even the total disappearance of the site without any explanation provided by Google.

SEO GURU

Ralph Marcus Maupin Jr is a nationally respected SEO Guru who has developed an advanced form of SEO called Online Business Optimization (OBO), a term he coined. He is often consulted by other SEO experts and speaks at many conferences and seminars. He may be reached at 248-939-6232

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEO AND OBO

Experts in the internet marketing industry are acutely aware at how quickly the industry has changed in the past few years. Most focus on Google search engine results. They can tell you what the terms Panda, Penguin, or Hummingbird refer to. They can define words such as anchor text, keywords, URL, backlinks, and black hat. They know what SEO and OBO signify.

Many businesses have lost countless customers and the profits associated with those patrons only because they don’t know how to market their product or services on the internet. The great majority of internet shoppers utilize Google as their preferred search engine. A company that does not understand this concept is doomed. I would be like a 1980’s business in a very competitive field not using the yellow pages.

The traditional way for enhancing the search engine results of a company’s website was through Search Engine Optimization (SEO), using many techniques ranging from issuing press releases, to having multiple blogspots refer to them. Some even developed methods of having government and educational institutions refer to them in order to enhance the website’s standing in the search results.

A recent development is the use of Online Business Optimization (OBO). OBO is a term coined by internet marketing consultant Mark Maupin of Right Now Marketing. Essentially OBO is an advanced method of SEO which employs the strategy of using multiple URLs (uniform resource locators or websites) in a coordinated fashion to achieve page domination. A good example of the end result of OBO is to type in an industry name such as plumber or painter coupled with the name of the city.

Often a company will have their main website in the first position, and a directory site such as Yelp, Manta, or Merchant Circle in the number two or three spot. That same company might also have a Facebook Page and a YouTube Video also on page one. That is what Online Business Optimization is all about: page domination.

By contrast, that company’s closest competitor is not listed at all on page one, and has only one website on page two. Every day it loses customers because it neglected to hire the services of a capable internet marketing company. Any business which seeks to maintain or improve its standing in the market should consider employing an experienced internet marketing company that understand OBO.