In efforts to increase sales and profitability, more and more companies are turning to online marketing initiatives - specifically, search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of the mixture of technical expertise and marketing into a finely tuned website that is search engine friendly, ranks well for certain keywords and phrases, and suits your audience of perspective buyers and/or sellers.

According to a recent American study, it was found that only 20% of all businesses outsource search engine optimization processes to professional SEO Companies. The remaining 80% are not concerned about search engine optimization or believe they have all the resources and skills to do it in-house. Note that in order to generate a significant amount of Web visibility, your website must typically rank in the top-30 results.

So, the question boils down to this, what is in the best interest of your business?

Make your SEO program in-house or subcontract. To answer this question we will first focus on the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to implement and maintain a good program for search engine optimization.

SEO knowledge and skills

1) Basic understanding of how search engines and directories work.

This may seem too obvious, but you would be surprised by the number of people do not understand how they actually work. This knowledge is the basis of your SEO program.

2) Website design

Although SEO is not completely a technical marketing process, it requires a fair amount of technical knowledge of what constitutes search engine-friendly web design. Some elements of web design can help your search engine rankings or hurt them. Simply knowing basic web design is critical.

3) The experience of the SEO Expert

Good SEO practices are a most difficult knowledge skill set to obtain. If you have never implemented a program of SEO, then you are in for a big surprise. Search engine optimization programs require a lot of research and are extremely tedious. More importantly, they need real SEO experience. That means knowing what strategies and tactics of SEO work and those who do not.

In-house vs. out-sourced SEO projects.

If your company is considering conducting your search engine optimization program in-house, here are some questions to consider.

• Who will be responsible for the analysis, design, implementation and measuring the success of your SEO program?

• Is this considered the role of your department, marketing or other service (s) in your company?

• Do they have the time, knowledge and resources to successfully implement and maintain search engine optimization program? And do they really care if it works or not?

IT Department

Typically your IT department handles multiple tasks daily - from troubleshooting your company's LAN or WAN to fixing the sales department laptop. Over a long IT person's day, what priority and focus do you think he or she will commit to your website listing on the search engines? And even if your IT department has some skills in web design or development, these skills may represent only a small percentage of the knowledge required for a successful program of search engine optimization.

Marketing Department

Typically, your marketing department juggles many marketing projects and is constantly faced with deadlines. From handling new campaigns for print collateral to preparing to launch new products or services, marketing personnel's time is spread very thin. In addition, is your marketing department well-versed in the technical aspects of web design and search engine optimization? Do they have the time to become experts? Do they have sufficient internal resources? Often, the answer to both questions is no, they do not.

Other individual(s) within your company

Who then becomes your SEO expert and why are they responsible for your SEO program? To give an already harassed employee another new "project of the month," usually result in another addition to their monthly to-do list that may not get done and frustration by senior management on why their website is not producing sales results...

Summary

From a business standpoint, it makes sense to try to mobilize domestic resources to maximize your company's productivity and profitability - whenever possible. However, there must be a line drawn in the sand between what your organization's capabilities are and what they are not.

As you can see, there is more to search engine optimization than meets the eye. In order to implement and maintain a good SEO program, you must acquire specialized knowledge, skills and resources. This can be done by hiring a professional search engine optimization of the company.

Professional SEO Companies devote their resources and experience to support your company's web marketing initiatives. Building on their experience and know-how, your company can quickly and more effectively implement a successful program of SEO.