(512) 537-5868
(512) 537-5868
Before I begin that – let me ask you – what is the purpose you have in mind searching “SEO in Austin“?
Are you needing SEO (search engine optimization)? or are you trying to see what your options are?
Either way its all fine. I’m glad you found me – 
let’s talk a little about what’s in SEO in Austin for you.
Most business owners in Austin or anywhere else in the world, make the logical assumption that when they have their website designed, whomever they hired to do their website has done their SEO. Its what had to be included because its a website because website = SEO, right?
And secondly, most business owners when accosted by so many businesses approaching them to be hired for SEO services, naturally fall back on what and who they know and assume that their original website designer can perform those exact same services – maybe cheaper to boot since they have already done business with them before.
Duh – right?
I mention this for a reason. First there are two huge assumptions going through this thought process, maybe more but two huge ones.
1. A website designer is also an SEO expert -
2. A business owner has to understand SEO before they feel their can profit from it
Let’s address #1 in this article more in depth. An Austin website designer most likely IS very familiar with SEO and knows there are certain places in the html code to place specific words so that a page can be considered optimized. And human desire to only have to work with a single entity is so strong – most of the time businesses work with GREAT designers who have PEDESTRIAN SEO skills just because its easier and on the surface it makes sense.
And that’s not your fault.
You would only go to a dentist for issues related to your teeth and a general practitioner for an ear ache – right? Because you understand the boundaries of each plus you don’t have the added layer of confusion by your dentist calling you and asking if you have an ear ache.
So is it really wrong to rely on your graphic designer? No. But it is wise to understand the boundaries of what they typically have to offer.
Graphics – yes
Website search functionality – yes
Text and text changes – yes
SEO – typically only ON PAGE SEO -
Keyword research – typically no
Building continued social media presence – typically no
Ranking your site – typically no
I will be writing more on this topic here – please sign up to the RSS feed or ask me your most pressing question (see box on upper right hand area of site)
Next topic: HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW FOR SEO – here’s a taste – SEO for the CEO
My speciality is SEO for Austin TX businesses. And so often when I speak with business owners – they know what SEO is and maybe a little bit of the terminology but not the expertise or desire to learn how to do it – they just want the phone to ring.
And for years this mystery about what SEO entails has been perpetuated because keeping it a mystery has made money for many people. But its hurt a lot of businesses. How many have sent away a $5000 check to some company with a slick approach only to find out later – that traffic or those new “clients” weren’t targeted, weren’t interested and certainly weren’t going to bring in the business to even cover the expense.
So a lot of folks have been disappointed, think SEO doesn’t work or least doesn’t work for them, and are jaded even if the real deal walks in their office, they have no way to assess what’s accurate and what’s not. In short, because they don’t know who to trust there is a lot of money left on the table that their compeitors are getting.
If I could change one thing about how SEO is spoken about it would be to speak of SEO in one of two ways – on page SEO and off page SEO. Why? Off Page SEO accounts for 70 – 80% of why a particular site is ranked #1, #2, #3 and so on.
On page SEO is what most graphic designing firms or individuals offer. This is where they place specific information or data in the appropriate places for either a human AND a search engine to see or where specifically a search engine might see.
If you hear the term “meta data” this is information that only the search engines are designed to read. Most website designers will be familiar with the basics and you should ask them to quote with on page SEO included.
Off page SEO is where a lot of what seems to be magic appears. In short, off page SEO is basically what is happening on other sites (directories, websites, social media, blogs, article directories, press releases etc) that point back to your site.
A professional SEO consultant will have specific knowledge on WHAT to generate on all those other sites but HOW to do it in a way that appears natural to the search engines.
On page SEO for the most part, even if you do it really “wrong”, won’t get your website removed from the search engines. But Off page SEO done incorrectly can at best – not give you the boost in rankings that you need or at worse, get your site removed from the natural search results.
I’ll write more on this because I think its important to educate local businesses so that they know if they were to compare the investment of $45 a month for ineffectual “SEO” or $300 a month for professional results driven SEO that brings in business – they can calculate a real return on their investment.
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