I recently did an interview for a provincial business magazine (more details later if it comes out), and one of the questions highlighted was, “I’m the small business coming into your office that knows nothing about SEO, what are you going to tell me?”

Well the answer is pretty simple, I’m going to walk you through the basic elements of search engine optimization and highlight how it can benefit your bottom line. The process is really the same regardless of web size or who walks in.

However, I also came to the conclusion long ago, and reiterated within the article, that SEO is not for everyone. Actually, let me take a step back, SEO consultation is not for everyone.

Hiring SEO Consultants May Not be the Right Solution

For many larger firms, consultants buy time. The company does not want to invest in the time to learn the new knowledge or stay current so they hire out. The fact is, many small sole-proprietorships may not benefit from a sizable investment into SEO consultation. We have turned away clients simply because it does not make any sense for us to charge thousands of dollars to rank the local vet clinic or drycleaners. (Quite simply, qualified and good SEO consultants are not a dime a dozen.)

For example, if you own a web site with a target market spanning a 10 mile radius then SEO consultation is probably the wrong investment. Don’t get me wrong, if you have any web presence at all, then search engine optimization is a necessary component to your web site, but paying top dollars for a professional may be the wrong route.

SEO Training Solutions

BUT, like I said, there are options out there. You MAY in fact have the time to learn some basic foundational aspects of SEO that will benefit your local community web site. Yes, there are options for you that don’t cost into the thousands. Distinct SEO often turn small clients to our training option. (See: Distinct SEO Training Pages for more details.)

Quite frankly, we do not have an interest in running a client through a process they don’t need. Business owners like to put their investment dollar in the right place, and we do our best to accomplish and facilitate that. Not everybody needs an SEO consultant, most do, but not everyone. But remember, you DO need SEO for your web site, but maybe you save the money and learn yourself–really it’s not that hard (at least the on page optimization stuff :P).