Imagine you have realized your dream of owning a restaurant and are finally approaching the day of the Grand Opening. You have done a lot of work to create a menu, build a store, hire the right employees, and create an ambiance. Now you’re ready to open those doors! When you get to that point, don’t you envision hoards of hungry customers anxious to see your new restaurant, taste your food, and enjoy the service? How disappointing would it be to open the doors and hear nothing but crickets chirping?

The online world is not much different than the real world when it comes to getting customers to your business. However, instead of calling them customers, it is more often referred to as “building traffic”. That essentially means you are attracting customers to your store. If you don’t have anyone looking around, you won’t have anyone buying. The first step is just getting them there, keeping them is another topic to address in a separate article. I want to help you understand SEO and why it is so important.

The most effective way of building traffic to your website is through SEO—or Search Engine Optimization. This is a formulated method for optimizing your pages with the appropriate keywords, phrases, original content, and organic ideas. You can also do this by putting backlinks in your pages and having others link one-way to your site.

This is a process that can’t be done overnight and requires an investment of your time in not only adding the content to your site, but writing good quality content. There are several companies who specialize in SEO marketing and if you have the capital, you can pay them to do it for your. If you do, you should make sure they can give you real time reports showing just how much your traffic has increased.

As for the do-it-yourself type, it is something you can learn how to do without getting a Bachelor’s degree. Just like everything in life, you usually have time or money. If you’ve got time, then doing it yourself is just the right thing for you. One thing you should understand,when building traffic to your website is that in order to be competitive you must incorporate SEO marketing into your business plan by making time or putting money towards your efforts. Without it, your business may be just another face in the crowd and could be buried under your competitors—who may not understand why SEO is so important.