Step 2: Arm yourself!

The good SEO, the bad SEO, and the just very very ugly.

The SEO industry is not regulated, plus due to the ever changing search engine algorithms, the industry and techniques are constantly in flux. This provides a market place ripe for scam artists that will take your money and use excuses as to why the campaign was not successful. 

However, there are many good reliable SEO companies that will provide you with quality results. In order to determine the good from the bad you MUST do you homework when hiring an SEO company. This means familiarizing yourself with the basics.

Niche marketing has become a common buzzword in Internet marketing. However, what is niche marketing exactly? What is the best way to go about it? How do you find niches?

In a nutshell, niche marketing is targeting your messages to a narrow audience, ideally one with an unmet need. With the proliferation of the Internet, niche marketing has become much more viable than before. Niche marketing has its pros and cons and may not make sense for all businesses. However a small to medium sized businesses with a limited budget, can benefit from niche marketing. A small retail store that competes against a large retailer can create a loyal following by providing services and information that address the needs of niche markets. I know what you are saying, that’s great but how do you find niche markets?

Set Your Objective

Before you begin to look for an SEO company, you will need to have a solid understanding of what the main objectives are for your Web site. Is your priority to just increase traffic? If you are running an e-commerce site, your main priority should be to increase sales. Increasing traffic is just one way to increase sales. Ask yourself questions such as:

• What is the main goal of my web site? (Do you run sales, generate leads, etc)
• Are you looking to increase sales/ leads in a particular category?
• Are there any areas of your web site that you know are not performing to their potential? 

These are just examples of questions that can help you get a better understanding of your true objectives. Try to stick to less than 3 so that you can stay focused, having 1 objective is fine.