The Secret SEO Consultants Don’t Want You To Know

Disclaimer: Grapevine Marketing does SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) for a living. We also do a lot of other things, like design and develop websites, and manage online marketing campaigns.

But today, we're going to let you in on a little secret about our business, and the business of other Search Engine Optimization and Marketing firms you may meet.

Are you ready for it?

The secret is: there is no secret trick to SEO.

Sure, there is a strategy, and there are tactics. There is absolutely a formula for best results. And there is plenty of time and effort that must be put into a program, over the long-term, to develop those results. There is tracking and monitoring, management and tweaking, and an adjustment of the strategy and tactics when needed.

But there is no trick. There is no way to fool the search engines into thinking your website is something it's not. Or into thinking your company is something it's not. And there is definitely no quick-fix, magic bullet, short-term, or guaranteed solution to drive a website to the top of organic search listings for searches that are actually going to result in sales or leads.

So how do we, and other SEO consultants, help you achieve results? We play by the rules that the search engines have created (see below), we monitor changes to search engine algorithms, and we help you improve the online representation of your business or organization. It's not a quick-fix, but rather a long-term strategy that will generate results far greater than you could ever imagine. It's an investment of time and effort that will serve you far better in the long run than nearly any other short-term solution.

Here are the Rules:

1. Develop Great Content and Add to it Regularly (like, every day or weekly at a minimum)
2. Make your Content easy to Find and Easy to Share
3. Help People Get to Your Content. Real people.
4. Make your Content so Amazing that Those People WANT to Share it with Others.
5. Make sure your Website, Blog, and Social Media profiles are Well-Designed, Branded, and Attractive.
6. Make sure each of those includes your most Important Tactics and Calls to Action. (what do you want people to know immediately when they arrive, and what do you want them to do?)
7. Use PR (press releases, guest blogging, article distribution, etc.) to get your Content out to the Masses.
8. Use Social Media to get your Content out to the Masses.
9. Blog. Frequently.
10. Comment and contribute to Online Conversations outside of your Site and Social Media channels (ie: on complementary business' sites and channels)
11. Request a FREE SEO Review of your current website and online marketing efforts. Because there is a lot more to this list than we have space to include here.