Which three letters bring on sweaty palms and sleepless nights for business owners and web masters everywhere? IRS?  FBI? Good guesses, but the culprit is… SEO.

If you do it wrong or put it off, then your website will spend its days lost in the endless pages of search engine results, like a message in a bottle floating in a vast, dark ocean.

But what if you crack the code on the secret language of meta keywords, H1 tags, and inbound links? Will all the riches and glory of Page One Google Ranking await you?

Well, no.  As with most things, good SEO is less about uncovering “the secret”, and more about taking the time to understand and implement best practices… and then to keep applying them religiously over time.  (Sorry!)

This leads to the big question regarding your website’s search engine optimization… do it yourself or hire an SEO expert?

According to a recent Marketing Sherpa report, just over half of businesses manage their SEO in-house, while about 45% use an outside expert or are considering one… So whichever way you decide to go, you’ll have plenty of company!

Here are a few pointers to get your started down the path to SEO success.

If you’re going to do your own SEO…

• Learn the basics first. Invest in a couple good books on SEO.  There are lots, so find one that lays out the material in a format and style that works best for you.  Browse Amazon to see what other readers are recommending, or just head to the business section at your local bookstore and flip through what’s there.

• Subscribe to SEO information sources. Get a daily stream of advice, tips, and tricks from experts.  Check out this list of 15 good SEO blogs, or if Twitter is more your thing, follow TheSEOList, a great curated list of folks that tweet about search engine optimization.

• Don’t approach SEO as a one-off project. Instead, think of it more like going to the gym – consistent effort over time is what will bring results!  If you need more traffic right away, you should read our previous post, Should You Do SEO or Paid Search?

If you’re going to hire an SEO consultant…

• Educate yourself on what you’ll be paying for. This article from Search Engine Journal, What’s My SEO Charging Me For?, is a great place to start.

• Ask (smart) colleagues for referrals. Part of an SEO consultant’s job is to understand your business and customers, so finding someone who has worked with businesses like yours before can really help get things moving quickly.

• Remember there are no SEO guarantees. Be wary of any consultants making claims that guarantee you a specific ranking or position. Search engines are complex, the algorithms are nuanced, and results take time. Reputable SEO practitioners will happily agree to goals and measurable milestones, and factor these into your billing and payment terms.

And in either case…

Don’t worry about every possible tweak you could make – just start with the basics and you’ll be well on your way. So wipe off those palms, get a good night’s sleep, and we’ll see you on Google’s Page One!

(P.S.  We’re here to help… so feel free to give us a call at 888-330-3236)

Did you know that fewer than half of all small businesses advertise online? That’s what Nielsen Online reports. Surprising, huh? Well, maybe not… if you’re a small business owner who finds Internet advertising confusing, complex, and cluttered (we sure do!)

But the fact is that most consumers now search the Web for local products and services like yours. And if your competitors aren’t already on the Internet they will be soon. So like it or not… it’s time to jump online.

Seriously, how else are you going to become comfortable with Internet marketing if you don’t begin doing it? (Tough love, I know.)

Here’s the good news: There are lots of services now available to help you market your business online. From making it easy and affordable to build a website; to getting a listing with the Internet Yellow Pages; to helping you manage search advertising with Google.

Not sure where to start? Read on…

1.  What if you don’t even have a website?

Our recent post: Does Your Business Need a Website? lays it out for you… including the must-have pages that every local website needs. And here’s our list of the Best Free and Affordable Website Builders. You’ll be seriously amazed at how easy it is to build a great looking website. Best of all… no technical degree required!

2.  Want to have your business found on the Internet?

Listing with the Internet Yellow Pages and other online directories is really important. Here’s our list of the Best Local Directories for Your Online Advertising. With these directories, it’s mostly free to create a listing for your business… and if you’re willing to pay ($25 to $50 monthly) you can also add photos, special offers, user reviews, and more!

3.   What if you’d like to find more prospects online?

Using a service to help you with search engine marketing may be the way to go. Check out Yodle and ReachLocal to see if they meet your needs. Both specialize in helping small business owners advertise on Google and other search engines to find prospects looking for local products and services.

4.  Still trying to get a handle on this online advertising stuff?

We understand. As a matter of fact, we’ve written a few blog posts on this very topic:

Why Advertise Online? Here are 7 Important Reasons

Getting Started with Local Online Advertising?

Your Local Online Advertising Options

And remember… when you’re ready we’re here to help too!

One of our favorite places to visit this time of year is Los Angeles. Why? Because it’s got that perfect combination of beaches, movies stars, and Disneyland (for the kids of course!)

L.A. is also one of the biggest metropolitan markets in the country… with almost 18 million consumers ready to spend on your products and services.

Wondering how best to reach them with your online marketing message? Then check out our list of the 21 best websites for advertising to L.A. consumers.

For example, this “best of” list features websites for major print and television news outlets including the Los Angeles Times and KTTV Fox 11, sites geared towards specific regions or neighborhoods, such as Yo! Venice, Daily Breeze and Blogdowntown, along with lifestyle and event sites including LAist, Green LA Girl, and LA Moms Blog.

The complete list of the Best Websites for Advertising to L.A. Consumers can be found on our Leadtail blog – Best Online Advertising Stuff.

Have a great L.A. website that you’d like to nominate for next time? Just let us know…

We’ll see you at the beach this summer!

Let’s say the goal for your online business is to generate $1,000 in cash every month. Given this goal, how much should you invest to market your site? Or do you just spend what you can and hope for the best? Unfortunately, too many people I talk to are not doing the marketing math to realize that hoping is not enough.

Let’s do some easy calculations to understand why.

First you need to answer a few questions:

• How much money do you make per order? Just multiply your profit margin by your average order size and this is how much you’ll make per order. For example, if you expect to make a 50% profit on every order and your average order is $100 then you’ll make $50 per order.

• What’s your website conversion rate? Don’t expect more than one out of every 100 visitors to place an order. An order could come from someone using your online shopping cart or seeing your phone number on the site and calling in their order. Either way, it means you have a “conversion rate” of 1% (1 order out of 100 visitors) which is pretty typical these days. And when you’re first starting up, your website conversion rate could be a lot less than 1%.

• How much are you paying for each website visitor? Whether you advertise using paid search or banners, you want prospects to “click” your ad and come to your website. To keep things simple, let’s assume you pay Google $2 for each of these clicks. This means your cost per website visitor is $2. (Generally speaking, you should expect to pay Google $2 to $4 per click)

Now we’re ready to do the math:

1. Cash goal: $1,000 (my example)
2. Profits per order: $50 (per our assumptions)
3. Orders needed: 20 (20 orders * $50 profit = $1,000 cash goal)
4. Conversion rate: 1% (1 out of 100 visitors will order)
5. Number of visitors required: 2,000 (20 orders / 1% conversion rate)
6. Cost per visitor: $2 (cost per click)
7. Marketing spend needed: $4,000 (2,000 visitors * $2 per visitor)

Once you’ve figured out the math you’ll come to an important conclusion: in my example, you have to spend $4,000 on marketing your website to generate $1,000 in cash. What’s the bottom line? You’ll actually lose $3,000 every month!

Or said another way, it’s almost impossible to make money paying Google to drive traffic to your website. Does this mean that all is lost and you’ll never make money with your online business? Of course not! There are a number of ways to more cost-effectively market your site than handing over every dollar to Google.

For example, search engine optimization can help you generate natural (free) search traffic to your website. You can also submit your site to online yellow pages and directories that make it easy for prospects to find your business. And when you make your first customers happy, they’ll become a “volunteer sales force” and tell everyone to come check out your site!