We recently got quite a bit of feedback from users and members about our SEO articles. The consensus so far seems to be that most of the articles are good (thank you, friends), but that some are a little technical (thank you again for the pointers), or, shall we say, dry. We didn't think our SEO Trump Consultants were too geeky, but it's not our opinion that counts.
In general, it seems many readers would appreciate a more popular guide to SEO. No problem. We humbly comply. So we decided to extend our appeal to folks who are interested in SEO (and what it can accomplish for you ... ) but want it kept simple and less technical.
So, this will be the first in an open-ended series of more popular SEO articles. And yet again, your feedback will be appreciated.
The style and general tone of this "Easy SEO" series will be lighter, and sprinkled with similes, examples from real life, everyday situations. We'll try not to get heavy-handed with definitions and other dry goods. Please rap our knuckles if we do.
Here we go.
Imagine you are a young lawyer, shrink, or other professional and you finished your internships, bar or psycho exams and all that jazz. In other words, you are now licensed to inflict damage on your clients, patients, and other victims. You are of course eager to convert all those years of hard work into cash, repay your student loans, and recoup those sky-high tuition fees as soon as possible. Nothing wrong with that.
Only problem: yes, you had some orientation classes at College, some tips how to succeed, and maybe open houses where candidates were passed around potential employers or head hunters. You have a handful a business cards, still warm off the press. But you don't want a job. You want to be independent. And why not?
So here you sit in your newly rented office and count the ceiling tiles, and wait for the phone to ring off the hook. What are your options?
You can advertise in the media - subject, of course, to the ethical guidelines of your professional bodies. The same restrictions might apply for e-mailings or business card campaigns.
You can try word of mouth campaigns within your community, your sports club, your church, wherever. You can use some referral service. There are other avenues, too: Facebook or other social sites. Phone calls? No way.
Get onto a radio show as an expert host or guest in your field and impress everyone is a possibility, too. But experts there are many, and unless you have something original or unusual to say, it's "we heard this before, thank you very much" time. You can even write letters to the editor or reply to articles or blogs (obviously controversially, to draw attention ...).
Either way, you want business (sorry, make that clients). But you aren't yet known well enough for new clients to break down your office door.
See what we are trying to get at?
The young professional's situation is really pretty similar to a website owner's. How does she become well known and well visited?
And this is what SEO is all about.
That's it for today. To be continued the week of December 15. Future articles will be shorter. We hope. |