Search Engine Ranking… Either Be Patient or Pay
Clients always want to know how to get to the top of the search engine so that they can attract more visitors to their websites. It’s a very obvious question, but the answer to it always surprises everyone. PATIENCE.
In this fast-paced world, we want everything now. But when it comes to organic search rankings with search engines like Google or Bing, you have to be still and let the search spiders find you, like you, and rank you.
Search engine optimization is basically using key words throughout your site ( in links, headings, and content) that correlate to what your website is about. Sounds painfully easy, but it’s not. There’s a science to it and it is something I do for many of my clients. I’ve helped dozens of my clients’ sites reach higher in searches than they had with previous designers. I typically charge $300 per average website to perform the optimization and charge monthly for continued analyzing and tweaking. Click here for 10 quick SEO tips.
But if you don’t have time on your side, be prepared to spend money on advertising to get more traffic on your site. If people aren’t finding your business or organization through google, then you have to tell them you exist. Market your site in magazine or newspaper ads and billboards. Remember to make sure it’s on your business card and your letterhead. A cheaper way to advertise is through the internet itself. You can take a stab at email marketing and social media pages, but the most cost-effective approach is to start an adwords campaign through google. (This is something I can help you with!)
With adwords, you set your budget and google does the rest. Tell them which terms you want to be found under and they only bill you when you get “clicked” on. Once your budget is used up, they stop posting your ad. This is a fantastic way to get traffic on your site because you are targeting only those who are looking for your services.
At the end of the day, the old say, “if you build it, they will come,” doesn’t apply to websites. You have to get people to your site. And if you aren’t willing to be patient and let organic searches find you visitors, be prepared to pay for it.


I recently had a client decide she no longer needed my hosting services because she found a website online that offered free hosting and she could save $50/yr. Yeah, free hosting has been around for years, but this new website was offering it with no strings attached. No logos, advertisements, surveys, nothing… just free hosting for budget-conscience folks and a user-friendly interface to help you pick out, edit and publish a pretty decent website on your own. (You just pay for the domain.)
Ok, day three of my “Save the Earth; Embrace the PDF” series. And today I want to share with you a little bit of knowledge about keeping records using the fantastic portable document format.