Search Engine Optimization is NOT a Field of Dreams

One of the best films about baseball fantasies is A Field of Dreams. How does it relate to Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

“If you build it, they will come” is likely the most memorable of all the famous lines in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner. If you’ve spent marketing funds to build a website but are waiting for customers to arrive you’ll understand why the title of this article is “Search Engine Optimization is NOT a Field of Dreams.” Building a website requires planning to address the online marketing objectives of the organization. If objectives have not been defined it is time to do so.

Many of the business owners of small and medium-size companies I’ve spoken with proudly point to their website. Some have wisely allocated marketing dollars with professional site developers to create their online presence but wonder why there are not hundreds or thousands of daily visitors. Others have enjoyed good traffic levels but have not generated much business. If Tiffany’s were to open up a jewelry store deep in the Pinelands of New Jersey or in a densely populated but economically depressed city would it be successful by Tiffany standards? No way!

The same is true of the online world. A site may be state of the art design, but if no one sees it or if those that do are not good prospects the investment is wasted. But in the online world there are tools available so that the owner of any website can attract qualified prospects and measure defined conversions with accuracy.

A fundamental tactic frequently overlooked by small businesses is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). There are thousands of self-proclaimed SEO experts, and there are also articles available from true SEO experts cautioning about do’s and don’ts when selecting your SEO vendor. It isn’t simply keywords and Meta tags. Sound SEO requires planning, attention to detail, and continuous follow up. A guarantee of top rankings should be an alert flag. Unlike the magic formula “If you build it, they will come,” there is no easy, one step SEO solution to get to the top of natural search results.

If you build it, they will NOT come unless the site gives them reason to do so. SEO is important because, if done effectively, marketing tactics such as paid search, Internet yellow pages, local networks, directory submissions and email can be minimized. The visitor WILL arrive because the search engines know the purpose of the site. The purpose of the site is driven by the online marketing objective. So when you plan a website or look to enhance an existing site, rely on trusted professionals for necessary assistance and do your homework. If a site is optimized they WILL come.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm and is filed under SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.