Let me start with this disclaimer: I am not an expert on Search Engine Optimization. (Thank God!)
That being said, SEO is definitely something that’s been around a long time and most businesses have come to realize that it is something that they need to be doing. There are many companies that will assist you with this if you can’t do it yourselves and all of them have different opinions on how it should be done, to some extent.
As evidenced by this fascinating thread on www.drivingsales.com titled ‘A Broader Look At SEO‘ by Dennis Galbraith, you can see that many in the industry have been debating the importance of SEO, how it should be done, the significance of Page One placement, and who an expert is and what that entails. It’s quite heated, which makes it quite entertaining. Is there a ‘right’ answer? I don’t think so but I’m certainly not going to jump in the middle of that battlefield.
This morning, I read an article about how Google Instant is changing SEO. (article)
It made me think about the world we live in and technology in general. We all know that computers and technology become outdated very quickly. I believe this applies to SEO as well. With the advent of ‘instant’ anything.. does all this bickering about ‘who is right’ really matter? Hell, by the time that discussion comes to a close, it may be irrelevant.
An article I saw yesterday (shared by Harlene Doane, editor of Auto Dealer Monthly ), was hilarious but had a hint of truth to it. Search engines (and websites.. YouTube Instant anyone?) are doing everything within their power to predict what we are looking for before we even know what that is. There are times when I’m doing a Google search and I really don’t know what I’m looking for (except in very general terms) but I guarantee that, as these forms of predictive technology evolve, I’ll certainly focus LESS on the search results and MORE on the INSTANT results. I’m going to start typing letters and look at what the drop-down box suggests.
I’ve seen far too many people ‘Google’ pages that would take less time to actually type the address in. I find it hilarious when people Google “Yahoo”… anyways, the point of this post is that, in my opinion, SEO is a constantly evolving beast. There are no right or wrong answers or strategies. Anyone who knows what they are doing (or teaches themselves) can apply basic SEO techniques to their business and Google will ABSOLUTELY help you learn and implement a Pay-Per-Click campaign (PPC). Trust me, they want your money.
Everything you do online is a form of SEO.. whether it’s writing a review for Amazon, posting something for sale on eBay, owning a Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media page, Tweeting.. well, you get my point. Just have a presence and be active and SEO will come naturally. If dealers or any business would DO things on the internet, SEO would be less of a chore. The problem is that dealers DON’T do anything on the internet, which is why they get dominated by companies that DO.
[Edit: If you want PROOF that just doing ‘stuff’ on the internet will achieve dominating SEO, Google search my name. You’ll have to go to Page 24 before you find AT LEAST 4 links that are not, in some way, related to or about me. Granted there isn’t much competition for search results of my name but I haven’t even TRIED to optimize my name on Google.]
I personally don’t care HOW it’s done (as I suspect most dealers also feel).. it’s all about RESULTS.
Oh, and when I can go to my computer, turn it on and it just goes to the website I want it to without me typing anything.. will SEO really matter? Just sayin’
