Truth be told, search engine optimization (SEO) may not be for you.

Regardless of the product or service and company size, SEO just may not be something you can handle at least for now. If you fall into one of these areas, you may want to just skip the online marketing rage.

1. You dont want to edit your content.
If youre not willing to change your content, an SEO consultant really cant do much to help you. Really, the keywords people use need to be in your content. Its that simple.

2. You love graphics lots of graphics.
Partial to graphics? Excellent. If you have plenty of business and a pretty Web site, SEO may not be in your future. Again, text helps if you can work it into your Web site. But if you love static graphic or Flash and skip intro buttons, you may want to save SEO for another day.

3. Pages short on copy.
Its not really a repeat of #2. Weve some rather barren Web sites with hardly any graphics and not enough copy. Honestly, it sometimes seems like a hunting expedition may be needed to track down more than a paragraph. How many words do you need? No one knows the magic number. But 25 words usually doesnt help.

4. You change your content a lot.
So you want to keep your home page fresh and exciting? Unfortunately, major changes often conflict with the SEO strategy. In other words, if you keep wiping out the keywords an SEO firm inserts, the program is pointless.

5. You want to wait on the redesign.
Some companies get excited about SEO - high rankings and increased traffic can pay off. But dont get started on a program if youre just going to let your current Web site miss out on search engine optimization. Some businesses just want to gear up keywords for a new design months down the road while neglecting their current Web site.

6. You cant stand the thought of your page titles changing.
The title appears in that blue bar in Internet Explorer the one way up there above Favorites. If you prefer to say About Our Company instead of keywords that actually BRING traffic, you might want to put SEO on the back burner.

7. Youre not willing to address other business problems.
SEO consultants can get you traffic, but they cant make your Web site more user friendly unless you let them. Maybe your product page is too busy or your shopping cart is confusing.