When it comes to maintaining an online business, search engine optimization is not a choice but a responsibility. The SEO landscape is susceptible to change with every new browser, plugin, tool, algorithmic update, etc. This necessitates the need to understand the market in which the company is functioning and the products it has to offer. And based on this understanding along with the collective knowledge of the online customers, an ecommerce SEO strategy should be drawn up.

When you look at online marketing as a whole, it can seem a bit overwhelming. After all, the world of online marketing involves a bunch of different pieces including search engine marketing, search engine optimization, paid search advertising, social media marketing, Maps optimization, content writing, competitor analysis, and Google analytics, to name a few.

Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, you could use Google Analytics to see which keywords people searched to get to your website. No more. Now, Google has encrypted all searches — for both searchers who are signed into Google and those that are not. What that means for you as a marketer or business owner is that you now have little clue which of your carefully-chosen keywords are the most effective at sending traffic to your site.

Small and medium sized businesses often struggle the most when it comes to wading the murky waters of search engine optimization and online marketing. In an attempt to save money and perhaps cut a few corners, many small and local businesses found themselves floundering in a metaphorical pond without water wings and are only now able to start doggie paddling their way back towards dry land.

Search engines are increasingly making it more difficult for all but the largest e-commerce sites to rank high. It seems Google wants to be the sole affiliate on the web and websites like Amazon and eBay make it very hard for others to even get noticed. More and more, e-commerce SEO is harder and harder as search engines gradually remove commercial sites from their results. Their own ads and shopping programs are much more noticeable in search engine results than niche organic results. Search results are now concentrated more on content than products.

Businesses, no matter the size, all strive to minimize expenses and in turn maximize profit. Many business owners view marketing services as expenses that provide a short term gain to their organization, whether it is to customer reach, customer retention and even sales. It is vital for business owners to understand that many of their online marketing strategies, specifically search engine optimization, are investments into the long term success and profitability of their organization.

From longtail keyword phrases to Google AdWords, your business follows a diversified strategy for SEO success. But how do you know whether your SEO strategy is actually working? Sure, you’re already tracking the results of your AdWords campaign and monitoring conversion rates, but this information only gives you a partial snapshot of your SEO strategy’s successes or shortcomings.

SEO is one of the most misunderstood inbound marketing strategies used today. Of course, this is partially a consequence of the fluid nature of the SEO process, the rules of which change every time a search engine like Google introduces new algorithmic adjustments. Because those algorithm changes are largely designed to weed out unscrupulous, "black hat" techniques and reward quality content, businesses that try to take shortcuts are frequently penalized for practices they've hitherto relied upon.