With over a decade of experience, Brian Rotsztein is a recognized expert in the Internet marketing industry. His unique approach helps companies increase sales and visibility while decreasing missed opportunities. He trains the trainers on Internet marketing, especially SEO. For more info, please visit 
It’s time to stop postponing your SEO! Excuses for not optimizing your company’s website are wide ranging but all pretty poor. While millions of businesses continue to waste money for non-optimized websites, they also use lame excuses for not using SEO.
SEO is going mainstream but there are still a lot of people who don’t know about it and aren’t informed about it. To be sure, if the web design company you speak to about building your company website does not emphasize SEO, you’re being ripped off. I can’t emphasize that enough.
It’s amazing how many people I have this conversation with:
Prospect: “Well, we have a website but it’s not really to get new business.”
Me: “Then what IS it for? ”
Prospect: “Um, I’m not sure.”
Precisely. Far too many companies still have no clue as to what their website is for (not to mention what they should be doing with Twitter, Facebook, or other social media platforms).
In the past few months alone I’ve heard lots of excuses but here’s the best: “we have a website for pest control but it doesn’t really do anything for us so SEO is not for us.” Are you kidding me?! PEST CONTROL?! If your target market sees bugs and rodents in your household you want to get rid of NOW, you RUN to a search engine to find someone to come over as fast as possible.
Excuses, Excuses
It’s too expensive. Can you afford not to optimize?
I don’t know where to begin. Stop procrastinating. The best companies will work with you. They’ll listen to what you have to say and analyze your needs, then do most of the SEO work themselves.
I can’t compete. If you think it’s too competitive to optimize your website, then you should probably be planning to close your business soon. The world is going online. If you’re not there, you’re likely going to disappear.
Our current team says we can ignore it. I really hate this one. Once in a while I provide a quote and then hear “our current web design team says we don’t need SEO” which is moroninc. The reality is that the current team is afraid to be out of a job and rather than look out for their clients’ best interests, they tell them SEO isn’t needed. Arg, I hate that.
We’re new. So you’re saying that you don’t have a budget? That’s because you’re viewing optimization as a expense rather than an investment. It should be in your business plan. How much did your brochures cost you? What about the newspaper ads? Are you even tracking those? Most consumers begin searches with Google.
We’re afraid. I never really understood this one. Is it because they’re afraid of technology? They lack imagination and don’t want people to realize it?
There’s really no reason not to optimize your website. It’s a must. If you need help, let me know.
Fair points! But in fact making money from SEO is hard going even after you decide to implement it. For the top rankings competitor sites can have thousands of additional links.
Though of course long tail is always an option. : )
Pete
Good points here. SEO is difficult and intimidating because Google is difficult and intimidating. Their algorithms (which change heavily and often) are a mystery, and it’s a fine art of guessing to know what works and what doesn’t.
I think we’re in that gap between technologies. People still accept the expenses of the old ways (yellow pages, brochures, etc.) because it’s how it’s always been and what people know. Social Media Mangers and SEO experts are still a new niche profession, and people aren’t yet geared to think in those terms. I think in the next ten years, things’ll be different.
It’s the companies that act now that’ll be ahead of the game.
Delena
I agree that top rankings competitor sites can have thousands of additional links! Not all people knows SEO that much. They doesn’t even know the essential of Google page rank. If you want to invest through your websites, then you must be knowledgeable in SEO world.
There are thousands of websites of same category. Unless you optimise your website,you can never compete in online business
Indeed SEO is going mainstream nowadays and failing to compete in this field can make you lose money. The sooner that a business start to invest in SEO the more money it can makes in the long run.
I don’t think the argument that competitor sites will automatically outrank you because they’ve got so many more links is even remotely valid. I think most companies that are out of the loop as far as SEO are local businesses. Local businesses can easily optimize for local keywords and rank really well. I speak from experience as someone who has done freelance SEO for several local businesses. It is always worth the return. Some business owners underestimate how popular Google is at this point, to their detriment.
Hi there,
SEO is really an important factor of online money making. Very good and informative article.
Understanding the purpose of the website and doing SEO are two different things. SEO is just an option, not a must. In some cases, it’s just not effective to do SEO to get new business as the business is generated via other channels with lesser cost-per-sale.
Well, SEO is an important aspect for the success of a blog / website.. This is the thing I have always kept in mind since day 1, I started my blog. As of now, I do not get much time to write articles, but when I write, they are properly SEO optimised and the effect is that with, on an average, 15 articles per month, Technolism is able to pull some 16k visits every month
I have to increase my posting frequency now.. any tips pleasee
There are many more websites created on same topic so it is more important to do SEO of your site for making money online.
“Well, we have a website but it’s not really to get new business.” haha is this a real conversation?
Yes! People actually call and say that. I can understand that attitude in the 1990s but not in 2011.
I agree SEO is the best when making money online.
SEO is the very essence of a successful and lucrative online business.
You are absolutely right. I started off with a same mindset but quickly realised that it actually does not have to be so difficult. I learned as much as I could about it and have decent rankings after 4 months of hard work.
Thank you for your comment, Nik. Even 4 months is very good to see results. It can often take longer than that.
What is important in SEO is quality links. They easily get indexed and could rank sites faster. Relevant keywords is also needed when doing SEO.
Nice post there. I was an excuse maker for quite a long time. Now I do my own SEO.