I’ve been playing with a service called LotusJump. Basically what LotusJump does is analyses your site based on the key phrases you are trying to rank for (you provide these), and gives you a collection of specific, actionable recommendations. Often small business people kind of understand SEO but don’t know where to start. LotusJump overcomes this barrier by providing the actual specifics you need – “go to this URL and do this” type of things. The recommendations focus almost exclusively on link building, which is the cornerstone of competing for tough keywords.

It doesn’t provide deep recommendations on how to change your site (although gives some basic content information). That is pretty tricky to automate.

While the recommendations aren’t going to get you to the number one spot for an ultra competitive term, there’s no doubt that if you follow them you’ll see a substantial increase in rankings, and could easily achieve a number 1 spot for a term of medium competitiveness. Given it’s aimed at small businesses (as far as I can tell anyway) this is perfect. Following all the recommendations will be a substantial amount of work – we’re talking days here, not hours. Still, SEO is a tough game and that’s what it takes.

With the basic service at a reasonable $24.99, those with little SEO experience would find it a great spend. I’m impressed.