SEO – Search Engine Optimization. Without it you do not exist. Well, your website doesn’t exist in the eyes of the search engines and that is like not existing. People can’t find you when the go looking for someone like you.

While people finding me on the web is only part of my overall marketing strategy, it has become a very active “passive” method of bringing new clients to my door. And I have not paid for placement in a long long time. A few years ago I experimented with pay-per-click, but quickly saw what seemed to me like far too much money going out without an equal or greater amount of money coming in.

I was already (and still am) pretty well placed in most of the search engines, simply by the fact that I have been online with a web presence since 1996. First with corporatevideo.com and then shortly thereafter with voiceover-talent.com. An ex BF was experimenting with SEO techniques and optimized my sites with the techniques of the day and even though those early META tag and key word salting concepts have evolved, my websites have consistently stayed pretty high in the search results.

But, I am seeing others in my immediate voiceover world popping up ahead of me in the listings, so it may be time to look at the techniques of today and see if I can tweak my sites a bit. The idea of paying for placement after not paying for placement rubs me the wrong way, but if I start to see that simple changes will not move me up the list, then common business sense should drive me toward a solution that may include spending a little money.