Search Engine Marketing 4U

A lot of experts at search engine optimization in Pennsylvania (PA SEO) will thoroughly explain to clients that the best tactic is to target phrases rather than a word. For instance, a two man shop that cuts lawns may decide to go after "upscale lawn care maintenance" since that is longer than "lawn care." However, there are some companies who feel that their dominance in the day-to-day world should easily translate to the online world.

Easier Said than Done

Look at the earlier example of the lawn care business. The phrase "upscale lawn care maintenance" is self explanatory. This is a company that offers lawn care services to high priced areas. The company might only have 20 or 30 competitors in their local area and it would be easy for a PA SEO firm to get them ranking high for that phrase. But consider the phrase "lawn care." This is a much broader term. Not only would the shop have to compete with other lawn service companies but they would also be competing with fertilizers, stores that sell fertilizers, lawn equipment, stores that sell lawn equipment and weed killers. This could include a potential of over a million competitors.

When It Makes Sense

While it would seem it would take quite a bit of effort, time and money to get a site to rank high for a really broad term, there are a few instances where this type of PA SEO can make sense.

Obviously, with a broad term there will be a lot more traffic coming to the website. More traffic should generate more leads and future sales. In addition, the company's public relations should improve because it will have a higher visibility on-line. This type of exposure will greatly improve a company's perceived value in the eyes of the public and potential investors.

But keep in mind that there needs to be a considerable commitment to reach this goal. The company doing the search engine optimization in Pennsylvania is going to need several months to complete this goal. And with that type of time involved, there will be a substantial cost. Along the way, this effort will not be producing any immediate sales.

Time and Cost

The time and cost to achieve the lofty goal of first place on Google for "lawn care" will easily reach into tens of thousands of dollars and take months, if not years, to achieve. Is that a realistic goal for most companies? In the long run, probably not. Most companies are better served by a much narrower PA SEO strategy and saving their money for new product or service development. The old adage "stick with what you know" is a good rule of thumb for the vast majority of companies. Focusing on one area of a service or product and refining it until the company is a recognized expert will pay off much better in the long run versus spending so much time and money chasing after a internet rank that is volatile at best.