Go the SEO way

In a crowd when thousands are rushing, it is difficult to spot that one person you are looking for. Similar is the case on the web, it is difficult to spot your site among the millions, which is why certain tools and techniques need to be used. Search Engine Optimization [SEO] steps in to make this possible. When someone searches with the keywords either in Google or Bing or any other search engine, the SEO plugged into your site will make sure the site pops up among the top search results.  This helps boost visibility of your website and draw more visitors [aka prospective customers]. Vincent Sunder, Founder/CEO of Alabos BPO Solutions says “Yes, SEO is important, and some of my clients firmly believe in leveraging on this mode of marketing, but i also feel it works at times and other times you rely on other forms of marketing. Also, keep reviewing, making changes as technology evolves every day”.

How do search engines work?

When you type a query [a keyword or phrase] it is taken to the web server and sent to the index servers. The index server matches the pages that match with the query, retrieving the sites and links that match showing them across pages based on ranking.

In order to make Google or any other search engine index your site, you will have to submit a sitemap to Google through webmaster central. Each page title plays a key role in the search process. There are Title tags which contain keywords, Meta tags used in website banners which again contain similar keywords. All these helps promote the website on the search engines. Rahul Narvekar of Fashionandyou.com says ” It is very critical in first phase when you are looking at standing out in the crowd, and almost everybody is looking at Googling you to check out the company background and credentials . We were very lucky to have a young energetic team driving this. Currently, everyone in the e-commerce space is spending buckets getting this right, which will help them take big steps up the ladder called success”.

How SEO helps your business?

You cannot expect results over night when it comes to SEO. It is a long term process. How long the process can take depends on the methods and strategies used by you. Sorav Jain of Echovme shares “We regularly optimize our websites and blogs for keywords related to digital and social media marketing. It is a must for us because we offer that as a service and a increased visibility also helps us get leads via search engines. We invest in search engine marketing considering the competition and competitive keywords we mostly prefer to bid on keyword phrases (long tail) than on the direct keywords itself.“ In the long term it will help you gain visibility and will help you rank as one of the top sites when a user is performing a search related to your business.

When does SEO help?

The SEO helps businesses that are more revolutionary in nature than the novel ones. The ones with a new idea fail to be helped by SEO as the user does not know it exists and hence does not perform a search looking for the product or service. So here you can use a marketing tactics first and then focus on SEO once the users are familiar with the product. Puspendra Mehta, co-founder, Vcherish Consultancy adds “During the initial stages, when you are just taking off from the ground, you need to invest time and effort in mastering the art of SEO. We use SEO, SEM, Linkedin, Facebook Ads and various other tools to gain visibility.”