Most of us are very familiar with Google as the search engine. We all use it every day to search for answers to problems we have, look for products or services, or do research on something we're interested in. 

Unfortunately, for most people, getting to the top of the search engines feels like a completely mysterious process. There is so much misinformation available, it's hard to know what's right and what's complete nonsense. There are hundreds of strategies but few actually work.

The reality is that getting to the top of Google isn't rocket science and a lot of professional companies can get you there within a few months! You have lots of opportunities to get to the top, dominate your competition, and get people into your website - all just by making some changes to your website and working with a company that knows what they are doing.

The Search Engine Problem
Many people say that they want to be number one on the search engines for certain phrases, which are called keywords. Often these keywords are extremely competitive or may be single-word phrases for which competition is impossibly high. 

Furthermore, their websites have built-in problems that prevent them showing up at all. It could be the coding structure, a platform problem, content issues, lack of keyword rich content or a variety of other problems that hinder their ability to get to the top.

Website Search Engine Readiness
The very first thing you must do when considering search engine optimization to market your business is to find out where you are now. Just like going to the doctor, you must get a thorough analysis performed to see where the problems lie. 

Nearly every single website looked at has at least a dozen problems, and sometimes more, that hinder rankings. Identifying them and acting is critical. Sometimes it’s content, sometimes it’s how it’s built, sometimes it’s images, etc. Changing one or a few of these will never be enough to compete in a competitive area of the Internet. It’s the combination that makes the strategies work.

Keyword Research
The next step in a systematic search engine optimization process is to perform keyword analysis. If you're trying to get listed for phrases that have too much competition or too little search volume, you'll be shooting in the dark. This wastes money and time. Instead, taking an analytical approach to what people actually search for makes your job a lot easier. 

You can get a round of professional keyword research for less than $200. The research will tell you what’s hot in your industry and what’s hot in your geography target market. It will guide you on what to talk about in your online and offline marketing materials. It will also tell you whether your Website has any content already written to help optimization. 

The keyword research will also help conversion (getting potential customers to take action) because you are using phrases that people actually want to see. Your content is suddenly more relative to what people are looking for and you are now speaking directly into their language. This is far more strategic, efficient and monetarily beneficial.