Optimization...!?!

With the explosion of another [dot]com boom and outburst of the Social Media tools, it definitely became imperative to think of Internet Marketing of your product/service or skill/talent. The digital and virtual ‘Profile’ is becoming the key to your presence on WEB – the most happening and interactive place of the 21^st century. Moreover, it is not just enough to create or have a profile page on the internet somewhere, it’s crucial for your marketing efforts that more and more visitors take a look at your web-presence in any form. The next step involves pinpointing the ‘Target Audience’ and inviting them to your page and engaging them by stimulating their interest levels and curiosity about what you have to offer. It would be little overambitious at the beginning to expect a response in form of any kind of feedback from all the visitors to your page, but it certainly is the fundamental objective of the entire internet marketing endeavour... isn’t it?

Here comes the gimmick called SEO or SMO into picture. ‘Search Engine Optimization’ or ‘Social Media Optimization’ are claimed to be the specialized services offered by some agencies that promise to empower your marketing strategy and increase visits (not results or business, mind you!) to your page in a period of 60 to 90 days. Alright, that’s quite fair... so, what’s the catch? Nothing! If you have the chunk of funds that you can spare and you have this gambling instinct to call blind shots without being very sure of what and how you are going to hit... absolutely no problem, go ahead with the best deal for a SEO or SMO of your ‘Profile’ with any agency near and dear to you!

Before you start to wonder ‘Does this all has to do with that little crack in my head’, I will try to make it little clearer where I am leading to. Would you mind me asking few questions without any obligation for you to answer...?

• Have you ever hired any professional to swim/surf/sail the sea for you? 
• Have you ever tried to lose/gain weight by watching ‘Slender blunder’ videos? 
• Have you ever tried to score good marks in any exam by copying or substituting? 
• Have you ever been to a psychological counselor to treat your neighbor’s behavior? 
• Do you dream to live a long/healthy/happy life because people claim to ‘Been there, done that?’

It is getting more and more bad and mad... isn’t it? It’s not, believe me! If you have ‘Yes’ for an answer to any, I repeat... ‘ANY’ of the above, you definitely need an agency for SEO and SMO...! You can close this tab and hunt for the best bargain you can get around. Good Bye!

However, by any chance, by any measure and by any standard, if you answered ‘NO’ to all, I repeat... ‘ALL’ of the above, Congratulations! You are qualified to read further...!

So you are the ‘Do it yourself types’, huh...? Good for you! Now, let’s take a closer look at WIIFM. Never heard of this...? Well, take down your first note of the first lesson – learn all the relevant acronyms as fast as you can! This was ‘What’s In It For Me’- The fundamental and eternal curiosity (not a question) that lays the foundation of any Marketing Strategy! Any breathing, thinking and ‘developing’ human being will have this in mind for virtually everything including other humans, trust me! Basic instincts that one can’t get rid of, you know! Let us leave behind the philosophy and get back to business... yes, that’s what it all is about!

In the series of 5 posts, I will try to explain what could be done, how to do it and why in this way, in the most simple language possible. However you will have to bear with little sarcasm, can’t help it!

Now to answer very first of your question – why am I doing this? – remember that little crack in my head? Well, at the outset, let me be very clear that I NEITHER OWN ANY SEO/SMO AGENCY NOR OFFER SERVICES FOR THAT. I am an independent consultant and I counsel people... mostly free! I have few clients who pay me in cash and kind at their free will and I am active on various discussion groups wherein people regard my opinion. You can check out all my links through http://about.me/manishpuranik This is absolutely at your discretion and NO CONDITIONS APPLY.

In recent months, I came across more and more concerned queries about this SEO/SMO thing from my clients, readers (?), followers (??) and counselees (???) who seemed to be eager about understanding this New-Age-P.R.O. (Note down – Public Relation Officer) to go for an informed decision, relying on me, as they prefer to do most of the time. This would have been another friendly gesture in good favour without any money involved (“we will pay to the SEO guy if we need to spend, stupid”), I decided to make it public and allow all the mortal souls to benefit (?) from this GYAN which, as it is, neither sacred nor secret anyway! That's it for today and you can look forward to some interestingly insightful stuff at this place when you visit again, if you do so at all.

Stay tuned and Keep Optimizing...!

BTW, take time to ponder a little on the last question and if you are not sure of your answer, try replacing 'Dream' with 'Plan'...! Now you got it...:)