SEO: When Should You Begin Search Engine Optimization for a New Site?

Dear Rich,

I've seen you say that one should start SEO (search engine optimization) before the launch of a new site. How is this possible?

--Confused in Calais

Dear Confused,

Although you can perform SEO at any point before or after the launch of a Web site, I can think of three good reasons why it's better to start with SEO:

1. It's less expensive. A good keyword analysis (an important part of a healthy breakfast an SEO package) will drive your content and your copy; if you do it after the site is built, you're in effect doing the work twice.
   
2. It's market research. A keyword analysis may uncover some opportunities that you hadn't thought of yet; new topics to cover, even new services to offer.
3. It will help focus your social media strategy. You can take your optimal keywords and start working them into your tweets, your Facebook fan page, your YouTube videos and your LinkedIn profile...all things you can be working on while your Web designer builds out your new site.

There is some parts of SEO that can't be performed until after the site is launched, specifically a link building campaign. Obviously, other sites, blogs and directories won't want to link to a coming soon page; they'll be looking for something of value if they're going to be linking to you.

Rich Brooks
SEO for Small Businesses

Comments

[Medical Web Experts]

Nice work smith. . Managing user expectations really helps a lot in optimizing the website for getting a deeper search engine penetration, hence increasing the overall ranking. In the latest advancements of the search engine spiders, search engine optimization has not left by mere re occurring your desired keywords, It is highly required that your website design and content should serve as an enticement to the web spiders. It’s of no use to have a site which doesn’t comply with the standards of search spiders. I got my medical website reconstructed from a web designer and marketing company named www.medicalwebexperts.com. They need to almost reconstruct every page to make it compliant with search engine algorithms. After a few months of time, the impact was definitely distinctive in my income. I have got a steady increase in the patients, which was a direct result of reconstructing and marketing my old obsolete site.

[Seh]

Combining the SEO type keyword research with online video has been quite effective for me. A site called http://www.Adwido.com uploads video Free, but the best part is the way they target specific keywords to generate targeted traffic back to your site. I appreciate the SEO research tips you've listed in this post.

[Shortcuts to Internet Millions]

The post is cool. I like the blog because it has loads of information.
If you truly want your site to succeed in the search engines, a major part of your SEO strategy must focus on the importance of incoming links. The process of submitting your site to the search engines can take from a few weeks to several months. However, even a new site will be indexed rapidly, if it has incoming links.