Search engine optimisation has special emphasis for a small business start-up as it offers a largely expenses free means of marketing the organisation’s website and gaining those all important first customers.
Although SEO may be a might be cheap in comparison with other forms of traditional advertising, depending on the type of business it can be very expensive in terms of the time resources it requires in order to lead to successful sales.
Time to Start SEO
Ideally the right time to begin considering an SEO small business-start-up strategy is a few months or even years before the planned launch of the new entity.
Work carried out on search engine optimisation does not reveal results over night due to the restrictions placed on new websites by Google, Yahoo and the other major search engines.
Depending on the level of competitiveness associated with the main terms of that particular industry, it might be a year before a website can be ranked fairly according to its content and not be penalised by the fact that it is a new site.
By building a simple website and launching it a year before the actual start of the business, it is possible to better coordinate the two so that the website exposure levels are high at the time business operations commence.
Methods of Carrying Out SEO
There are variety of ways in which SEO can be carried out including the use of so called specialist or using in-house knowledge and skills. There are both benefits and disadvantages which each of these particularly for a business start-up where both time and money resources are likely to be restricted.
In-house Search Engine Optimisation
The main benefit of carrying out search engine optimisation in-house is the level of control that is maintained over possibly one of the business’ most valuable marketing tools.
By keeping SEO in-house the proprietor can ensure that the methods adopted in attempts to advance the given website up the rankings are those which will actively promote it without running the risk of achieving a short term bump but an eventual ban.
As most of the website’s content will likely be written within the business itself, gaining knowledge of search engine optimisation can result in pages being written with rankings in mind. The alternative can mean that pages have to be changed later on to make them more search engine friendly.
Of course there is the cost aspects where being able to conduct SEO activities in-house can save the business start-up money at a time when finances are likely to be in short supply.
Third Party SEO
Finding a good third party to carry out the business’ SEO is a very difficult and dangerous field, as there are no shortage of companies out there who claim to be able to place a website at the forefront of any given search term.
Some of these organisations might employ unscrupulous techniques to make an initial impact only to have the website penalised later on, long after they have gone. Remember that no one will care about your website as much as you do.
As when buying any product or service, an analysis of a company’s history and achievements can help distinguish from another and aid you to draw conclusions as to the effectiveness of SEO plan it suggests.