For our part, We the SEO's are continuing to prepare our websites so that they get in the way of existing search traffic. There always have been two opposite views of this; firstly that we are unfairly manipulating the results, and secondly that we are fairly manipulating the results.
The truth of the matter is this; without SEO's to amend websites so that the SE's (Search Engines) know how to rank them, the quality of the listings would be far worse. We are a necessity for the SE's as we ensure that the cream rises to the top. 98% of web designers do not know how to get a website to rank within a search engine, they miss out on all of the key indicators within a site and so some well built, beautiful, expensive websites are destined to live in Pay Per Click land or in obscurity.
I see so many clients who are sold expensive websites as the answer to their dreams, when it truth they are nothing of the kind. I see so many clients who wish they had spent thousands less on the design so that they could spend it on SEO instead.
What use is a website that no one can find?
Even in these difficult times, as footfall starts to dwindle and profits disappear, the more forward thinking site owners are looking to improve their market share. Either by the addition of new keywords or by starting an SEO campaign in the first place, buyers still exist, shoppers are shopping, just in smaller numbers and more cautiously. The question is, are you going to take a larger share of the market and survive or are you going to become a failure statistic?
As more traditional forms of trade begin to suffer, online sales increased during the Christmas 2008 period by over 25% on 2007. Some companies are making money by embracing new technologies and moving with the times, others are going to fail if they don't evolve successfully to meet the needs of the 21st century consumer.
I think it is unfortunate, but the internet will kill the British high street, and in the fullness of time, the retail park too. More and more, bricks and clicks retailers are seeing theirs shops used as fitting rooms for an online purchase at a later date. To a certain extent, we as people are shooting ourselves in the foot somewhat as once the shops are gone we will have to manage with just the virtual world to shop in...which isn't the same experience at all.
SEO will be driven by retailers needing to save money and increase footfall to both their bricks and clicks shops. It will be an interesting year in which I think we will see some more household names join, Woolworths, MFI, etc on the scrapheap. The big question is... will you do enough to protect your market share in 2009?
David_Holland
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