Almost every single business in the world has a web site these days - even little mom and pop corner stores. Having a web site is about as important today as having a yellow pages listing used to be.
The reason for this is that most people go to the Internet to look up the things they need. It could be a phone number for a business, or an address. It could be to find a solution for a specific problem.
Imagine announcing that you are thirsty, and a genie pops up to hand you a glass of water. This is how the Internet is supposed to work.
If you're in business and you have a web site which is not generating leads or customers for you - something is wrong, very wrong. In fact, the whole reason for having a web site is to generate business right? So whatever that thing costs you to build and maintain is a liability - not an asset.
SEO for Lead Generation
Now here's the deal: Most (90%+) never, ever look past the first page of Google SERPs (search engine page results). Let's say that you sold mattress pads in Portland, Maine. If somebody types "Mattress Pads Portland Maine" into Google, and you are on page 2 - there's a 90% chance they will never become your customer. Sorry, you lose.
So, SEO is really about matching people who are most likely to become your customer, with your web site using search engines. That's it.
How to Increase Your Search Engine Rankings
There are some broad categories of things you can do to place higher in Google rankings and give that customer a chance to hand their ball of cash over to you.
First, is what we call on-page SEO.
On page SEO are things you do to your web site to make it easier for Google's spider to crawl and index it. It ensures that Google indexes all of your pages, and that Google understands what your site is about.
It's a very technology driven process, and requires somebody with a high level of technical understanding to get the nuances.
The second thing is off-page SEO or SEM (search engine marketing). This is all the things you do that make your pages look like they have more authority. This includes things like attracting links, and social media shares.
Can I Just Do My Own SEO?
Well, that depends on a couple of things. The first is your technical knowledge. Let me clear here - there is a big difference between a web designer and a web developer. There is an even bigger difference between a web developer and a web developer who understands SEO.
The truth is that many people who call themselves SEOs are poorly qualified since it has such a different set of skills.
So really, if you can do a little technical work, and there is very little competition in your niche - you may be OK. Otherwise, a good SEO can be worth his weight in gold.
