Search Engine Optimization: Consulting!

I have been teaching a search engine optimization class through Continuing Education for a year now, and I have to say that as much as I had learned at eBay while I was there, I have learned three times more. The concept seems pretty simple: increasing your chances of being in the top ten within a specific search engine. Seems simple, doesn't it? But with the multiple ways it is possible to increase your footprint, it becomes more complex to do it the 'white hat' style.

Currently, I have been working with a rafting company, Colorado River and Trail Expeditions, who asked me to do some consulting work for them. I've never really done any paid consulting work before, though I have been rather eager to get into the consulting field. Last Thursday I had a presentation at Cyprus Credit Union, and since I would be off the clock at the U anyway, I made an appointment and headed down to their office.

I was first impressed with their site code. They hired a consultant to assist them with that as well, and he did an excellent job with their code. It was clean, concise, and a joy to look at. It made identifying locations to add keywords simple and easy.

Next, their traffic has been great overall, even without their increased Google standing. That being said, they are coming to their slow season (expected when the water is running low and Autumn is coming), so traffic will continue to dwindle because of the seasonal nature of the business. It also means that this is the perfect time to make the change.

There were a number of other marketing suggestions that I had made that will increase their back links for free, and still remain very optimal. It will be interesting to see how their footprint continues to grow during the next few months. I'll be monitoring the website for a while, and may (with the permission of the company) use their website as an example in my class.

This, of course, all comes back to the class itself. We are going to be focusing on Search Engine Marketing a bit more, which from my past students has become the real interest. It seems that people have finally come to the realization that the search engine isn't the only goal in marketing, but rather increased traffic. The class will still focus on techniques to optimize for search engines, but will now include some information on quantifying your return from search engine marketing overall.

*end shameless plug here* ^_^