Diy Seo (Do it yourself SEO) (First of three parts)

CEBU, Philippines - I feel like writing about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) lately. The reason being is it’s already part of my personal mission to educate our local businesses to be competitive in the web. The internet is not only the easiest way to get one’s product visible online but also the most affordable medium to do campaigns and promotions. It is worthy to note and for businesses to realize that the average internet time a person is logged to the internet is about two hours a day and out of which, adults spend an average of 24 hours a week surfing the net, says CNET.

These stats were actually released three years ago and for sure, the numbers may have grown slightly or considerably, now that the Philippines has ranked among the top Facebook users in the world and in light of internet-capable mobile phones that make internet an "anytime, anywhere experience." Which means internet surfing is already part of the everyday habit of most people.

But why SEO? What’s that got to do with my business? And what do I get out of it? Well, people do not just log in to the internet just to take a peek in his inbox or nose around the juiciest rumor on Twitter or Facebook. People are also in the look for new information as well as things to make their life easier. And for many Filipino internet users, nowadays, they also buy online and use search engines to get their way through those products and services.

Less known brands or those that have been recently launched, will definitely have trouble finding their way in the computer screens of consumers if they are not found online. I find it such a waste to see websites lying idly in the internet returning no business for the company. Companies should begin to rationalize and rethink the purpose of their website. They need to transition their website from being a marketing expense to a money-generating center or at least contribute considerably to the overall marketing effort. But this can only happen when a site is promoted. A website, while a promotional or marketing tool in itself, also needs promotion. And among the most popular methods of promoting a website is advertising in Google or in high traffic websites like Facebook. Paid advertising may come in too draining in your pocket but they are undeniably worth the money if you want faster results.

SEO is another popular tool that does not cost much in terms of money. Its only downside is you need to spend a lot of time promoting your site in social media, putting up new contents, and fixing the technical aspects of your site that makes it unappealing to search engines. And yes, SEO is quite a lot of work, I mean really. So you may want to entrust it to the experts so you can focus on your business.

But if you’re the type who’s always in the look for something new or maybe the adventurous type, I promise you that it is really worth the try. Just to let you know, SEO can be learned through reading. And there are thousands of resources that you can find in the internet. There are also forums that discuss new techniques and changes in the search behavior of search engines or what we popularly call “search algorithm.”

So to be candid about it, SEO is no rocket science contrary to popular belief. Those who offer such service are the ones who try to scare you with technical and unfamiliar terms to make it appear that it is such a monster if you’re going to do it yourself. But it’s not. Time is your best friend to learn SEO. As a matter of fact, I came to know SEO when I was working for a tech company based in Silicon Valley more than 8 years back. I was practically clueless. I wasn’t the techy type and had no inkling what the “damn thing” really means back then. But eventually, I learned it through reading and trying my hands on it. And to cut the long story short, I had calls from tech people (take note tech people) asking for advice and entrusting their SEO work during my free time. Then I got invites (and still getting invites to this day) to talk SEO in schools and to small groups of tech and business people.

In my next column I would like to begin dealing with the most basic principles to get you started. So see you next column.

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