You may or may not be aware of the importance of SEO and everything that encompasses the process of properly tracking your website. At a recent event I ran into an old friend who just started a new business. It is a small cupcake and pastry shop located in a small town. For purposes of this topic I will use the conversation I had with the owner in this next example. As we were discussing the significant amount of progress the new business was receiving, we then talked about marketing and social media platforms. The website was launched the following week after the store opened, and the verbal responses she received were incredible (notice I used the word verbal). When I asked her which platform she preferred to use for search engine optimization (SEO), she then responded “Well, do I really need SEO?” My response: Absolutely!

The conversation continued, and I went on to explain that all of the questions she wanted answered were all leading back to the website and its progress. Large catering orders are able to be placed, and there are many other user friendly features available. The images, layout, and overall look of the site are very well put together. The only issue here was that as an owner, it was simply impossible to know exactly what the website’s visitors were clicking on, how many page views, demographics etc. I simply informed the owner that all of this can be tracked with the help of an analytics system.

Due to the fact that she was new to the idea of actually utilizing SEO to check the progress of her site’s presence, I went over a few of the most popular platforms (Google Analytics and SEOmoz for example). I touched the basic functions that are provided as far as creating campaigns, keywords, and generating reports. I then informed her that in/on-page analytics is a great way to visualize what links visitors are clicking on most and least (she was stunned by this fact). Needless to say, by the end of the conversation she decided that it would be beneficial to the business to create an SEO campaign for the company website with a system that suits her best.

The moral of the story here is that success doesn’t increase its progress without analysis and maintenance. I will have an update on her SEO implementation after her campaign is up and running. In order to track traffic and overall feedback from your website you must utilize a source to aid you in the process. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be glad you did. SEO changes often, but only to improve in ways that help you the business owner/marketing professional navigate through the loose ends. With the help of SEO (operated either with a marketing firm or on your own) you are able to pin point all areas that need improvement, and which areas are more effectively appealing to your visitors. For more information on SEO refer to our previous articles: Start Your Engines! Monitor SEO on All Avenues, Cloaking and Unethical SEO, and Tracking Traffic on Social Networks.

We would like to hear more information regarding personal start-up experiences with SEO for businesses, big and small. Share your story with us!