Managing SEO Expectations

When meeting prospects or starting work with new clients, one thing I always try and do is manage expectations. Many people still think that soon after launching a new site, they'll soon see it ranking highly in the search engines, or if it's been optimised, results should be seen in a short space of time. Unfortunately those days are long gone, and oh, if it were so easy!

Like any marketing, web marketing needs to be done proactively and consistently. Whether you're advertising in a magazine, doing some PR or optimising your site, it's an ongoing activity, not something that can be done as a one off and then forgotten about. I also tell my clients that online marketing needs to be incorporated into the whole marketing mix, you can't just rely on the search engines to build your business.

So, what should one's expectations be when promoting a website? Well, this depends on many factors, such as: how long the site has been around for, who is linking to the site, what resources are available to promote the site (time and money), how committed you are to achieving high rankings. The internet is highly competitive with more and more websites being launched every day - this is making it much harder to be seen and if you're in a particularly competitive market, it's those who spend the time and/or the money who are most likely to succeed. Even when you're seen, is the message right? Is your website going to convince someone to contact you and not the next company that's found?

What can a small business with limited funds do who's keen to drive sales and enquiries through their website?
Commit time - the more time you can spend on optimising your site and adding fresh content regularly whether it be news, special offers or even starting a blog. Not forgetting those all important links, particularly if you're a new site. Get found on appropriate industry websites, get some articles or news published on other sites, encourage people to link to you however you can.
Try things out - SEO isn't the be all and end all, and let's face it, with the frequency of algorithm changes, it's a good idea not to rely solely on rankings. So try some pay per click ads, build up a list for a regular newsletter, be active on forums, write your own blog and post on other blogs, try out social networking. Even pay for a few well-placed links.
Be patient - don't expect instant results because it just won't happen. Be prepared to wait for your marketing efforts to pay off, whatever marketing you're doing and keep repeating your message.
Don't give up - as with anything, persistence generally pays off, so if you keep proactively marketing your website, spending time little and often, your efforts will pay off!