The Barebones Basics of SEO Services

[Marcia]

There are a lot of "theories" going around, but what are the fundamental basics of SEO that every site owner has to look at?

1) It's all about keyword phrases

That's the fundamental basis of any optimization project, whether it's for SEM or organic SEO.

2) Is the site search engine friendly?

Can all the pages on the site be crawled by the engines? And are PR and navigation being sculpted to direct visitors (and Googlebot) to the most important, user_relevant pages on the site?

While it's true that effective SEO can increase visitor numbers and pageviews, is that all there is, and is that what it's all about in the final analysis?

3) What good is traffic that doesn't convert?

Is there any justification for offering SEO services that don't also take into account the site's qualities that will encourage or discourage purchases and/or converion to acual buyers?

Bottom Line Question:

Can SEO still be offered as a stand-alone service, or is offering just that snake-oil unless conversion factors (and usability) are also factored into the process?

[beu]

Can SEO still be offered as a stand-alone service, or is offering just that snake-oil unless conversion factors (and usability) are also factored into the process?
No, I've always thought the notion of "barebone basic SEO services" was a myth! It reminds me of when I designed t-shirts at UGA. Folks would ask "how much is your cheapest t-shirt" and I'd reply "that depends on how cheap you want to look?"

To show ROI you need conversions associated with SEO which means you need properly setup and implemented analytics. That is all after keyword research and ranking tactics have proven successful. Even then you've got to look out for issues like http images in https pages, where the server is located, what sites have taken you clients content and if their shopping cart works on safari. As SEOs we are SEMs and as marketers we have to look at every element of the site from a number of different perspectives.

Just my 2 cents! Thought provoking post though.....

[aks2008]

Yes, I still think that seo can be still offered as a stand-alone service.

[Marcia]

Let's expand on some thoughts here, and maybe take a look at some factors that influence effectiveness and profitability.

Offering "straight SEO" services:

Sure, sites can be optimized to rank well for specific keyword phrases; but are those the keyword phrases that will ultimately lead to conversion and increased sales and income?

And then again: can sites rank well for their desired keyword phrases without taking the "big picture" into account, like the internal navigation structure, and what some would call "conversion funnels?"