It may seem like a no-brainer, but actually, the answer is not necessarily Yes. If any of the following examples apply to you, you may not be in need of an SEO campaign right now:

You have a website that you really don’t want strangers to find, such as a training tool for your employees or a classroom tool for your students.

Your site is already ranking well, you’re satisfied with your sales, and you don’t want to rock the boat.

You’re in a big hurry—say, you’ll go out of business without a major upswing in revenue in the next couple of months. This is not to say that SEO can’t help you, but good SEO takes time. You may need to focus your energies elsewhere right now.

Your site is going to be completely rebuilt or redesigned in the next couple of months. If that’s the case, read Shari Thurow’s book Search Engine Visibility (New Riders, 2002) about how to build a search-friendly site from the ground up. If this is you, you’ll want to keep our book on hand, though, for use as soon as your new site is launched. If this list doesn’t apply to you, we think you’re ready to begin your SEO adventure!

It is a rare site indeed that couldn’t use a little improvement in the SEO department. And, with the importance of SEO on the rise, if you don’t need it today, it’s a good bet you’ll need to brush up your SEO smarts for tomorrow. So even if you don’t think you need SEO right now, we recommend that you take the time to work through the questions in this chapter and make sure that your goals aren’t begging for a little help.