Following up on the last post about search engine optimization (SEO), I wanted to continue with a bit more information on how the whole process is working for me.

Several weeks in, and I’m even more glad than before that I decided to enlist some professional help. I’m even more sure than I was before that I simply wouldn’t have the time to do this all myself, let alone do it properly.

Here’s why.

The first part of the SEO efforts consisted of getting more inbound links to the company web page. Many SEO sites will tell you that having a larger number of inbound links is one of the keys to better rankings. What they don’t tell you is that the quality of the link matters as well. If your site is linked from a bunch of link-farm webpages (pages with nothing but links to other pages) this can actually hurt your ranking.

Since I’m trying to optimize for localtraffic rather than for global traffic (we’re not a global company, so I don’t care if someone in Florida is looking for tech support), the first step for the inbound links was to get listed in a number of local business directories. This was one of the items that made me realizee how long a process this can all be. The sheer number of directory sites is daunting. And knowing the right ones to register with is another process entirely.

And are there any results? Well, not much yet. however I am seeing a little bit more organic traffic to the company website (real life, not robots). And like anything else, part of this whole process is a numbers game; the more people that visit the website, the better chance there is of converting that traffic to a sale. Which is why we spend money on SEO in the first place, isn’t it?

And as mentioned in the original article, I’m still keeping score of the rankings. On searches for the term “Vancouver tech support” CPG Systems has slipped to the top of page 4, and there’s still nothing in the first 5 pages for the other two terms. I’m not worried about sslipping in the rankings at this point… it’s very early in the game. Besides, it’s not like my competition are going to sit still either, is it?

And neither will yours.