How SEO Can Make or Break Your Business

Considering SEO for your business’ website? If so, then congratulations, as this is without a doubt one of the most sensible things that you can do. However, you need to realise that in the world of Search Engine Optimisation there are some unscrupulous people out there who will take your cash but provide you with very little benefit. On this page, I shall take a look at a few ways on how SEO can make or break your business.

1. SEO is VITAL

I am going to start with the positive here as things are going to get pretty bleak later on. Now, imagine this. You have spent thousands of pounds (maybe even a bitcoin) on a website. It looks absolutely fantastic, and you are waiting for the first customers to roll in and start giving their hard-earned money. Brilliant. You have the right idea. What most people don’t realise however is that having a website is not a case of ‘build and they will come’. If only it was this easy. If you want people to find your website then you are going to need to tell them that you actually exist. This is where SEO comes into play. Search engine optimisation is all about getting you to the top of the search engines, i.e., Google, Bing etcetera. It is all about putting your business into the eyes of people who are after what you have to offer. Nothing is more effective at this than SEO. In short, if you do not invest in it, then you may as well not have an online business. It really is that important. You only ever get out of SEO what you put into it.

2. Blackhat SEO

Now, let us move onto the bad, briefly. I am sure that you want to start drumming up sales as soon as you can, right? Of course you do. However, you need to realise that Search Engine Optimisation is not something that can be done overnight – not if you want to actually stay at the top of the search engines, at least. There are some companies who advertise SEO that will get you to the top of the search engines quickly. You may have got emails from such companies; trust me, I get them all the time. More often than not, these companies will be using techniques that are against the rules of the search engines. They will get you to the top of the search engines quickly and you may even make money. As soon as the search engines discover that you have used some dodgy techniques then you WILL be kissing goodbye to your high SERP (Search Engine Result Page) position. You may even end up kissing goodbye to your business, as well. After all, if people can’t find your company, then, well, you have no business.

3. Link Farms

You may have been told that it is important to get as many links out there as possible to boost your position in the search engines. This is true to an extent. However, it is absolutely vital that you only have your links posted on relevant websites. You may notice in your link building activities that there are some ‘link directories’ out there that contain a huge array of links. There is no real rhyme or reason to these links. They just exist, mainly for the sole purpose of getting people up the search engines’ results pages. In the context of how SEO can make or break your business, these are known as link farms. Being on one of these link farms can see a penalty against your website which may cause you to drop down the SERPS quite drastically, in some cases. If you must build links yourself then it is important you take great care in where they are placed otherwise you may suffer some pretty harsh penalties, which will not be fun in the slightest. Only build links on trusted websites, with low OBL (out bound links) – this is a golden rule.

4. You make money

I am going to end on a positive note here. The aim of every business is to make a profit. As I mentioned previously, SEO is all about getting your site to be found online – to gain exposure. However, it is important that you get found for the things that are actually relevant to your company. This means that you will hopefully be getting ranked for keywords that showcase what your company is all about. As people stumble across these keywords, they will find your website and buy from you. Honestly, SEO is some of the most effective targeted advertising out there. Get to the top of the search engines for some major keywords in your niche (or even some minor ones) and you will not even think of investing in PPC advertising again.

To have your business exposed in front of millions is not a dream. It is a reality that, in some cases, isn’t rocket science and is achievable. Whichever SEO methods you use, try to stick to white-hat SEO to prosper & have long-term success. Now you know what to look out for on how SEO can make or break your business.

If you have any other suggestions of how SEO can make or break your business that can be added to the list, please share them with us below in the comments.