I speak with a lot of small businesses and they have some wild ideas about what it takes to be successful online.

Periodically I’ll dive into their thinking and offer ways to work through the issues they face.

One problem is they don’t understand search engine optimization – SEO. I can explain that it involves selecting keywords and integrating them into a web site (source code and text). Some of them wonder what that really means.

When I share that the words should be on the web site (it really doesn’t happen without touching the web site), they wonder what that might mean to the design.

One business wasn’t real keen on disturbing the design with words (apparently everything is supposed to be pretty with text a part of images). I made the case for appropriate sections, touches of text. The business rejected SEO. I think it’s just because the overall look mattered more and the executive was not able to grasp what text and SEO could accomplish within a nice design.

Instead of welcoming SEO, the start up ignored it.

Later, the executive asked for SEO after the design went ahead with a design that didn’t favor SEO.

Now I’ll try to work with the design with the possibility that the design will need to be modified. It’s just a shame that SEO wasn’t given a chance in the first place.

When companies are all about the visual and skip the SEO strategy, they basically declare: “I want to limit my search engine visibility and let others get the visitors.”

I justed created a new guide for accounting and CPA firms: “How Accounting and CPA Firms Can Succeed with SEO.”

Get  your copy of the accounting and SEO guide today.

It’s from World Synergy and Accountants and CPA Firms.

Here is an excerpt:

Accounting firms have many options when it comes to marketing. They can start with traditional efforts like generating leads through networking and following up on referrals from existing clients.

For a moment, you might think that no one would hire a professional services firm just by searching online.

But it happens that way – all of the time.

Yes, individuals and companies check with friends and business associates to find an accounting firm that could be a good fit for their interests and needs. They also rely on directories and search engines like Google and Bing to identify potential firms. Here’s a quick sampling of monthly searches on Google:

And that’s just the broad, national data. Here’s a cross-section of local searches:

In this guide, we’ll look at key ways accounting firms can leverage search engine optimization (SEO) to connect with prospective clients:

SEO has been around since the early 1990s and people still seem bewildered by SEO like it’s some kind of special magic that only some marketers understand and few master. It is complicated and based on many variables. But it can work if you’re smart about your strategy.

If your accounting firm wants to succeed with SEO, you need to start with a simple reality – your web site’s viability. It can change over time, but each web site at any given time has certain strengths and an ability to rank well on major search engines.

You can’t just pick keywords like you’re a kid in an apple orchard. It’s not that simple. Take stock of your situation and get a handle on what your web site has going for it.

Search engine rate all sorts of information for every single page, including:

• Domain name
• Domain age
• Number of pages
• Inbound links from other web sites, newsletters, blogs, magazines, directories, etc.
• Keywords in title tags
• Keywords in page headers (like headlines)
• Keywords in subheads
• Keywords in the core content
• Keywords in and around links between pages on a web site (also called anchor text)
• Keywords in the navigation
• Keywords in URLs (page names)
• Amount of content on each page
• Keyword themes throughout a web site
• Keyword density (percentage of keywords in relationship to other words on a page)

Online marketers are often frustrated with their website content. I tackle some of their concerns in Aisle #3 of my new series, “SEO Is NOT a Candy Store.”

The video goes through some of the content options, including making case studies that are accented with appropriate keyword phrases.

Sometimes companies have websites that include the singular form of a keyword phrase. The tough part is shaping the content to support the plural form of the same keyword phrase.

I’d suggest making some Featured Products pages to give you a chance to call attention to plural versions of keyword phrases for products and services.

Check out the video:

Every website can be a candidate for SEO, but you really need to think about the eligibility factor. Just like sports players who must comply with eligibility rules, websites need to be ready to play.

Or, if they aren’t ready, they may need to get in shape before having a shot at ranking well for quality keyword phrases.

I made a new guide on the topic for World Synergy, which I joined this year (I’m the Web Strategy Thought Leader).
The complimentary report is called: “SEO: How Eligible Is Your Website to Play?”

The guide walks through several website factors that can help marketers determine how much their companies will succeed with SEO. Online marketing comes at a price. Some people pay it along the way. Others have to catch up.

How eligible is your website? Get some fresh insights today.