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Search Engine Optimization is a Hot Business for 2005
Entrepreneur.com listing of the top 13 Businesses for 2005. From high-tech clothes to wine, eBay drop-off stores to tech security, the business ideas on our 2005 hot list run the gamut. But they have one thing in common: They're sizzling hot and just waiting for you to bring them to life.
#3 Search Engine Optimization Being a rock star on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans will get the hairs on your arms to stand up. Garry Grant, 46, who used to play with the likes of Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen, says he got that same feeling the day he learned his company was ranked No. 1 on Google. The CEO and president of Search Engine Optimization Inc., Grant says top ranking has equaled huge revenue gains: He expects company sales to reach $6 million in 2004, up from $1.9 million in 2003. Not bad for the multitalented computer science graduate, who went from being a rock star to an internet entrepreneur.
Eighty-four percent of Americans online use search engines, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which researches the impact of the internet, and ComScore Networks Inc., a provider of marketing information and consulting services. That means getting a high ranking can make or break a business. "You could spend a million bucks on a website, [but] if it's not visible, it's worth nothing," says Grant. Businesses that want top rank turn to search engine optimizers, which provide the "technology, methodology and science of increasing your website's visibility," according to Grant.
Larry Chase, publisher of Web Digest for Marketers and SearchEngineForMarketers.com, says search engine optimization (SEO) isn't for the faint of heart. "This is a very fast-changing marketplace," says Chase. "It's not the kind of field where you learn it once and forget about it." Chase recommends constant reading of industry news to keep up; Grant goes a step further and checks for patents filed by search engine companies to stay ahead of the competition.
Good niche areas for entrepreneurs include pay per click, copywriting and local searches, says Chase, who forecasts personalized searching will be the next big search innovation. For example, tech geeks searching the word Apple will get results for Apple Computer, not the kind of apple you sink your teeth into. In this niche, opportunities exist for entrepreneurs in developing the technology that acquires such user preferences or profiles, as well as in optimizing websites for personalized searches.
Of course, we can't talk about SEO without mentioning the elephant in the room: Google. Chase and Grant agree that Google gets the most SEO attention. However, Chase adds, "You can't please all of the search engines all of the time-you have to figure out that middle ground." Like Grant, if you figure that out, you, too, can be a headlining act.—Steve Cooper
Ahorre May 16, 2005 04:45 AM | Homes | Mortgage | Real Estate | Spanish Lawyer Marketing Hispanic Market