I got bad news first - there are no shortcuts to being successful on the web.

Sometimes I hear people calling me for advice to say, “I just want top rankings and don’t want to do that much work or learn to use new software. I don’t want to pay anyone a monthly fee to get me traffic. I just want to make one change and have it be successful.” or “I want a real cheap and easy way to get more traffic. I don’t want to pay much but I want to be at the top of the search engine rankings today.”

With all due respect, these folks want a get-rich-quick scheme, and the web probably is not the best place for them. The web is actually one of the most efficient marketplaces in the history of the world. Notice that you can buy a digital camera by shopping online for it and save $20, but chances are, the vendor charging $20 more has better service and support in case you need to return the camera for any reason. The fact that the stock markets are now Internet-based proves this fact beyond any doubt.
While the web provides more opportunity than ever before for small businesses, there are no short-cuts, no (legal) get-rich-quick schemes, and no automated solution like software that does all the work for you.

So where’s the good news for small businesses?
Actually, there’s great news for small business website owners. Search engine advertising has created more successful small businesses at a faster rate in the last 5 years than ever in American history. Running a combination of long-term SEO, pay-per-click ads, a CRM database tied to your website, an email newsletter program, and a website analytics package means that your website can compete with the best of them. So if your competitors are making money off of search engine marketing, chances are, you can too.
It just takes a realistic investment in both time and money. Realizing this is what will separate the successful small business websites in cyberspace and those that never quite get off the ground.

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