Most people do not really know the meaning of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or what the process entails. It’s the new “buzz” word within all business circles; however no one truly understands what it is or why it is so important. When trying to explain that it is Google’s bots crawling the site, the responses usually are, “NO, we don’t want Viruses on our site” or “Your technical terms means nothing to me – get to the point.”

So in order to explain what SEO really is, it will be compared to a normal relationship. Google’s first page is represented as the absolutely amazing, beautiful, almost untouchable woman and your website is represented as the charming, self-assured man trying to pursue this lady. However, as in any relationship, a marriage does not happen over night. Firstly, the man has to put in some effort – he has to woo the lady. He has to take her out, spend time with her, make her feel special and of course romance her. But this whole process of falling in love usually takes some time and isn’t an overnight success. In the same way, ranking on Google’s first page takes some time and your site needs to flirt with Google to make it like your site in return. It is an ongoing process – when your site is finally ranking on the first page of Google, the real work actually starts. When the happy couple is married, it takes effort to keep the relationship blissful. Remember, this is one of a kind woman and other men will still try and steal her away. In other words, once your site is ranking you have to start thinking of what the competitors are doing to make Google happy for them to rank. Thus, you need to keep the romance alive otherwise a competitor may just take your spot on Google’s first page.

So, when thinking of SEO and why it is important to keep at it – just think of a happily married couple and work it takes to keep it going. Your website wants to marry Google’s first page in order to get 80% of all business. As the old saying goes: Hide a dead body on the second page of Google – no one will ever find it!