value of search engines

James Perly has explained the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) to me many times before. But being a slow learner, I have only began to appreciate it recently.

Truth is that people no longer only use search engines as portals to 'search', but often as portals to 'access'. Under the 'access' mode of operation, people are used to gain access to the information they seek by googling a simple key word, such as a name, a company, a photo sharing program. They then click on the first link google gives. if google doesn't place you in top three, all of a sudden people can't access you anymore.

For instance, which one is easier for you?
Timothy Li or http://www.timothyli.wordpress.com?

so how does this benefit a small business?

Say you are a business owner, and you have attended a presentation by Ben Q at a local enterprise event. Ben Q's consulting services fit your needs exactly, you want to do business with Ben Q. A while later you are sitting with your laptop and realized that you have fogotten the website Ben Q gave at the presentation (it was simply http://www.ben_q.com).

what do you do? you google for "Ben Q" and lands a professionaly designed website. you go through the website in excitment but soon find out this is not the Ben Q you are looking for. you try the second website google gave, no luck.. you try one more, no. you are stuck and frustrated.

Little did you know, but the 7th entry google gave links to Ben Q's blog and somewhere in the second page, Ben Q's small website gets its corner.

Ben Q just lost a lot of business, and gained some frustrated prospective customers.

Do your clients a favor, SEO your site to grant access.
whatever it may be – your business blog, your company website, even your amazon store

Just make sure you site has real value.