If you only take away one, single, solitary nugget of information from this blog, please let it be this: don’t just rely on SEO to market your small business.

There are so many search engine optimization evalgelists out there, writing articles and setting up whole business models dedicated to the “glory that is SEO strategies.” Some believe that if a web site is optimized in the right way, you will never pay for a banner ad or ever need print marketing. Qualified traffic and customers, they say, will start pouring in. Most non-savvy business owners will go with it, thinking they are missing something in the mystical process of web site design. They pay thousands of dollars in consulting fees and optimization packages, only to find out those “guarantees” are nothing more than high hopes.

SEO alone will not drive you to the bank.

Small business owners need to get familiar with marketing campaigns. Marketing is one of the most complex, time-consuming and essential aspects of a small business. Any business without marketability or even an established marketing plan will not last more than a few years at most. In order to take market share from a larger competitor, you will need a reputation. The best way to get recognized is to be seen in more than one place. There is a reason McDonald’s, Disney, NBC, Virgin, AT&T and Comcast are on the top of their games: you see them everywhere. In movies, on TV, on the radio, on billboards, online, in the mail, in your email, attached to other mail, inside stores owned by other companies, on bus stop walls, in magazines, in newspapers… these are all part of an elaborate plan to get you to see their logo or name a million times over so that when you think of something they offer, they’ll be the first one you remember. “We need a vacation. Let’s go to Disneyland. I’m hungry, so let’s stop at a McDonald’s or something. Better bring a cell phone; maybe Virgin’s got a good prepaid plan or something.”

You know you have them when you’re followed by “or something”. They remember you first out of the cloud of competition. Is SEO going to give that to you? Only if someone is plugged into their computer 24/7 and can sustain your business throughout its lifetime. You need to know where your target market is, what they watch, what they read, where they go, what they do, and how you can get in their face long enough to make an impression. This is why SEO companies are starting to offer comprehensive viral marketing plans, such as YouTube productions or custom profiles on MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn. They are becoming less SEO and more “online marketing solutions.” And that’s how it bloody well should be.