April 3rd, 2010 by Nick

When a firm decides to use SEO services for the first time, its management may feel a bit nervous about what they are getting into. They can appreciate how it would be great to be at the top of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), but they may have heard scary tales of black hat strategies and search engine penalties. More practically, they may be uncertain with regard to how soon any of their investment could have a positive commercial effect. Moreover, they may know little about what the initial phases of search engine optimisation might actually entail.

It is important to recognise that all SEO companies are not the same. In addition, it must be acknowledged the needs of diverse sites are different. Therefore it is not possible to be too specific about what the initial phase of search engine optimisation includes. With these caveats, it is possible to shed some light on the different parts of the early stages of what should ultimately evolve into a continuous process.

There are often three ‘core’ activities which are required to set the process in motion. It is possible to explore each one in turn.

Analysis

An SEO company may sometimes perform this initial task free of charge. This is because it can be difficult to discuss the commercial side of the potential business relationship without knowing how much work will be required during the first period of working together. SEO analysis typically involves a consideration of a site’s already existing traffic. This is usually conducted at the same time as looking at the site’s location in the SERPs and scrutinising the site from a SEO perspective. The analysis may consider why a site is where it is. On occasion, a SEO specialist may already be familiar with the sites of some of the firm’s competitors.

Keywords

Researching keywords is a fundamental part of an SEO campaign. It is absolutely imperative to assemble a list of relevant keywords. Assessing the specific keywords to be targeted, whether they are short tail or long tail, is an important part of SEO strategy. Keyword consideration is about measuring up the competition for size and about contemplating the nature of potential customers. It is sometimes worth deciding whether some of the keywords should be aimed at a particular locality, bearing the type of the business in mind.

Planning the SEO

The site’s inherent weaknesses and the relevant keywords may have been at least provisionally determined via the discussion so far, but an SEO plan is required to point everything in a forward direction. This step includes establishing tactics in the context of an overall strategy. The strategy should be flexible enough to accommodate changes as tactics are implemented and outcomes observed. Selecting the right blend of tactics will be related to financial constraints, the type of firm receiving assistance and the preferences of the individuals concerned. A tactic might score highly across the board, if it is affordable, likely to yield positive outcomes in relation to the competition and is a favourite of the search engine optimization specialist concerned, for example. At other times, compromise may be a necessary evil.

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