seo, or search engine optimization, is, in my humble opinion, about creating a marketing plan for your website.  just as with any effort a business makes to reach their target audience, the first step is knowing your target audience.  in the world of organic seo, this means knowing how your audience searches for you.  it cannot be said enough times or enough ways, it all starts here.  even before you begin designing the layout and look of your website.

the phrases your audience uses should dictate the navigation and content direction your website takes.  many of my clients, i would guess to say, 90% of them, end up totally reorganizing their website to accommodate this requirement.  this involves spending good money after bad, simply because if you build your site up without this consideration, you must tear it down and rebuild.

here are some great examples if common mistakes web designers, developers and business owners make simply because they just don’t understand this core concept:

• navigation links are pictures to get your favorite font, big mistake
• navigation is cute instead of practical, big mistake
• content is missing or lacking keyword phrases, big mistake

these are just a few of the common mistakes, there are many more; let’s get back to the target audience…

here is a great, free, google tool to investigate how your audience is searching for your services.  just type in a word or two and google will tell you how searchers use those words to look for your services.  once you understand how people look for what you do, then you can build a website that meets those demands.

the old adage, “if you build it, they will come” does not work on the internet; i would say it goes more like, “if you listen to your audience and build for them, then and only then, will they come”…