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Local Directories Increase Visibility and Win Business

chris190 — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:04:04 +0000

I am often asked which directories businesses should use to create more visibility on the Internet and, if possible get more customers. There are literally thousands of sites that you can submit your details to, but some of the most important are SuperPages, InsiderPages, Yelp, and Yellow Pages. These all help to establish your website as a professional business and are highly regarded by the search engines.

As well as those directories, there are two others that I always recommend: Manta and Thumbtack. Manta is a local directory andwebsites registered there often appear in the top ranks of search engines results. Thumbtack has the added advantage of delivering leads directly to you. You will receive and email when someone submits a request for the type of service or product that you offer and you then have the option to follow-up. If you choose to pursue the lead you pay a very modest fee for the lead (currently $4) or you can elect to pay a percentage of the price if and when you win the job. This is a great method of lead generation that can get you more business at the same time as increasing your visibility.

You can see my Thumbtack listing here: search engine marketing" target="_blank">Search Engine Marketing

Creating A PPC Campaign To Improve SEO

chris190 — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:21:08 +0000

Before you spend a lot of time and money on your search engine optimization efforts, you should consider marketing your website with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.
Why?
Well, there are a number of benefits including:
*   It will allow you to get a more accurate picture as to how much search volume there is for the keyword phrases you are targeting. Although most keyword tools will report search volume data, you’ll frequently find conflicting information.
*   If you track your conversions, you can quickly see which keyword phrases yield the highest return on your advertising dollar. These “money” terms can then be used when performing SEO to your site.
*   If you haven’t already created a PPC campaign it’s possible that you will be offered a certain amount of free advertising credits by the search engine of your choice. Google frequently gives out $100 worth of advertising credits to those who create an Adwords account so you might as well take advantage of it.
In addition to the benefits listed above, it will also allow you to get quick exposure for competitive keyword phrases. Instead of waiting for weeks, or months, you can show your ads the same day you place them.

SEO Basics For Small Business Owners

chris190 — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:17:35 +0000

SEO is short for “Search Engine Optimization.” It’s a collection of tactics designed to help your web pages rank better for the keyword phrases you’re targeting.
The main difference between SEO and say, Pay-Per-Click advertising, is that the visitors you receive from your listings will not cost you anything. These free listings are also called “organic listings” and there are usually ten such listings per page.
Your listings are triggered whenever someone searches for a particular term (aka keyword phrase) using a search engine. The search engine does its best to return the most relevant web pages for the search performed.
Your goal, then, is to help the search engines understand what your web page content is most relevant for. The clearer you communicate your relevance, the more likely it is that you’ll receive good search engine rankings.
Generally speaking, there are two main SEO techniques to perform to each page of your site. They are:
On Page SEO
On page optimization includes anything that is done to your actual web page. As each page is under your control, you can ensure that it is optimized for the keyword phrases you believe are most relevant to your content.
Off Page SEO
Off page SEO is more challenging as you can only control so much. Any webmaster can link where they please and if they’ve linked to your site using an undesirable bit of text, you may suffer the consequences.
However, you can control the majority of the off-page work to be done and it’s important you do. Linkbuilding is generally considered to be the most important “off page” factor and ignoring it will hamper your ability to rank well for the terms you are targeting.

Doesn’t My Website Designer SEO My Site?

chris190 — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 11:12:01 +0000

This post isn’t likely to make me many friends from those in the Web Design community but you know what they say… “sometimes, the truth hurts.”
The problem is that the “left hand” generally has no idea what the “right hand” is doing and as a result, important details are left undone. In this case, the left hand represents the web designer and the right hand represents the client.
Most client’s assume that their web designer will be SEO’ing their website. Most web designers’ assume that the client will hire a specialist to handle the Search Engine Optimization tasks.
Do you see where this is going?
After the web designer has finished their part, they put the site live. The client reviews the work, marvels at the beauty, and makes the final payment. The problem is that the site has not been SEO’d at all and the client is completely unaware of this fact.
I’ve seen sites that have been live for years that still have “meta titles” that read, “Untitled Document.” This is a sure sign that no SEO work has even been done and the site’s traffic rankings are usually hideous.
Now, I’m not blaming the web designers of the world because I don’t think it’s their place to SEO the sites they build in the first place. I do, however, believe that they should communicate that fact with their clients. Some web designers perform basic SEO to the sites they are building and some outsource the work to a SEO Consultant.
Regardless of what is done in terms of SEO, the topic should be discussed with the client. This way, the client will understand what it is they’re paying for and will know to look for a SEO Consultant if that work isn’t being performed.

Keywords – Their Relevance to SEO

chris190 — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:07:21 +0000

Every successful SEO Plan is designed around the keyword phrases that will be targeted.
Do this right and you’ll likely get the results you are looking for… improved rankings for the terms you’ve optimized for and an increase in targeted traffic.
Do this wrong, however, and you will have wasted a whole lot of time (and possibly money too!)
Keyword research is what separates novice SEOs from true professionals. Most anyone can find keywords using a tool like that provided by Google but few know how to sift through the junk to find the treasure.
It would be impossible for me to teach you the intricacies of keyword research in this short blog post but I will give you a “top level” explanation of the three main aspects.
Search Volume
Behind each keyword phrase, there is an associated “search volume.” The search volume is an approximation of how many times the keyword phrase is searched upon in an average month.
So, if you optimize a page around a term that has a listed search volume of 100 searches per month, you can’t expect a first page ranking to bring you much traffic. After all, you should never expect your site to receive all of the available “clicks.”
Keyword Intentionality
When choosing keywords it’s important that you try to get inside the mind of the person doing the search. You may think that the keyword phrase clearly conveys what the searcher is looking for but this is not always the case.
There are many sophisticated techniques used to determine the “intentionality” of each keyword phrase but here’s a simple tip… enter the keyword phrase into the search engine you care most about and look at all of the results.
Are there a number of sponsored ads on the page? This can indicate that the keyword phrase has a “commercial intent.”
Are the organic listings what you expected to see? If most of the listings are relevant to your business, you’re on the right track. If they’re not, you probably don’t really understand the intentionality of the keyword phrase.
If you search Google.com for the keyword phrase, “how to save a life,” you might expect to see listings on first aid, CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, etc. Instead, however, you will find information on the song, “How To Save A Life,” by The Fray.
Determining Your Competition
This may sound a bit harsh, but it’s true… if you want to rank on the first page for a particular keyword phrase you are going to have to kick one of the current listings off!
Because of this, it’s important you know what it is going to take to accomplish this before deciding to optimize for the term. In some cases, you will find that the work will be easy and in others, near impossible.
There are many factors that come into play when determining your competition. It’s not just about the strength of the competitor’s website/web page, but also your strength in comparison.
This topic is a lengthy one but here are some of the questions you must ask:
*   What is the domain age of my competitor and how does that relate to mine?
*   How well optimized is their page and how does that relate to mine?
*   How many links does their page have and how does that relate to mine?
While there is more to it, the answer to these three questions will give you a general idea as to whether you can compete or not and what you must do to improve your chances.

Common SEO Terms

chris190 — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:05:38 +0000

As Search Engine Optimization is highly technical, there are many specialized terms used when discussing this topic. I’ll list some of the most commonly misunderstood terms below, starting with SEO/SEM (and the difference between them).
1.   SEO/SEM
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” It’s a set of techniques used to improve your website’s rankings in the search engines for a particular set of keywords, or keyword phrases.
SEM stands for “Search Engine Marketing” and is being used more and more by search engine professionals. In addition to the standard SEO techniques, SEM Consultants also specialize in:
*    Creating Pay-Per-Click Campaigns on the search engine of your choice… primarily Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
*    Buying paid “inclusions” from the search engines. This is paying a search engine company for a guarantee that your website will be included in their search results.
2.   SERPs
SERPs stands for “Search Engine Results Pages.” It’s the page that is returned whenever someone conducts a search through a search engine.
SEO techniques are used to improve your web page’s ranking amongst the other “organic” listings in the SERPs with the ultimate goal of increasing targeted website traffic.
3.   Keyword Phrase
It’s extremely important that you grasp the concept of the “keyword phrase” as it is the backbone of SEO. A keyword, or keyword phrase, is the word(s) entered into the search box by an internet user.
As the search engines return the web pages they believe to be most relevant for the keyword phrase entered, it’s vital that you understand the concept and do your best to optimize your pages for the keyword phrases you want to be found for.
4.   Backlinks
Last, but not least, is the subject of backlinks. Most SEO Consultants agree that the creation of backlinks (aka links, link building, one-way links, etc.) that point to your pages should be your primary objective.
You need to build quality links, that contain your targeted keyword phrases and you need to do this on an ongoing basis. SEO is not a “once and done” type of activity, it requires continual improvement/management to be truly effective.

So You Want a Website?

chris190 — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:02:36 +0000

Anyone who is trying to do business without their own website is fighting a losing battle against their competitors-ALL the most successful companies have had their own sites for years and do most of their business through them.

It really shouldn’t be necessary to explain to anyone in 2010 why a website is essential, so the next questions are, what
should it contain and how much should it cost?

The answer to the first question is a negative-it should not be a cookie-cutter site like hundreds of others out there . The site must also include useful information and details of how you are different to other local businesses. If you just offer the same as everyone else, why should someone buy from you instead of them?

Your site should contain fresh content and it should be updated regularly-the more pages it has and the more frequently they are added, the better they will rank in the search engine results.

It is also vitally important that the site is optimized for search engines. That means setting up everything from the domain name, the pages titles, and meta tags to the heading tags in the text and the density of the keywords for which you want to rank. Without this detailed and critical work you are likely to end up with a pretty site that doesn’t generate leads and sales.

The second question, what should it cost, is more difficult as the larger the site, the better, and that means investing more in its development. But there are some guidelines-don’t get a novice to design your site, no matter how little it costs-you will waste your money.

Don’t be tempted by the free site hosting services and their “build a site overnight” offers-those sites can never perform
well as the engines don’t take them seriously. And don’t think you can get a professionally designed and optimized site for a couple of hundred dollars-it can’t be done.

Your web designer should not just provide an empty site for you to fill out-they should write all the copy for you to make sure that it will perform well in searches. There is a huge difference between a website designer and an Internet
marketer and you need the latter to develop your site if you want it to be an effective part of your integrated marketing strategy.

For a copy of our detailed 13-page search engine optimization report “SEO for Local Businesses” email me and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

Google Places Tags–Are They Worth It?

chris190 — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:45:57 +0000

There has long been speculation that Google will introduce a way to generate revenue from their Places pages. As pay-per-click (PPC) becomes less effective (fewer than 10% of searchers now click on sponsored ads) it must be tempting to look elsewhere to replace the lost income. Google Places is an obvious choice.

A new feature has appeared on the Places editing pages (June 2010)–the option to have a yellow tag added to your business entry to highlight specific information such as a coupon offer or your website address. That sounds great, until you see that it comes with a $25 a month price tag. Is it really worth that? I could see $5 a month being a no-brainer, but for small businesses, even an extra $25 a month outlay needs to be justified.

Obviously, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”…if tags bring more qualified traffic to your website then $25 is no big deal. But as the tag feature only rolled out nationwide at the end of June 2010, it is too early to tell, but early results seem to indicate that the yellow highlight is attracting more clickthroughs.

No doubt this is partly due to the novelty effect–as so few people are aware of the option at the moment, there are not many tags appearing on the listings so they will help to draw attention to the ones that are marked. But as more businesses adopt them it may come to the point where most, if not all, of the listigns have them in which case it is unlikely to have any beneficial effect. At that point, the only question is whether not having a tag will have a negative impact on traffic.

Local Business Listings

chris190 — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:18:42 +0000

The purpose of a business website is, or should be, to generate leads and sales for the business. That assumes that the business owner realizes that a brochure site is not going to be of any value, and that he has got past the stage of showcasing “our office”, “our factory” and “our services” and is offering real value to a visitor.

Given that our business owner is more savvy, he understands that his website must provide a return on investment (ROI) and it can only do that if it produces new business–either from new clients or by encouraging existing clients to buy more frequently or at higher values.

As the majority of sales are still conducted offline, the real objective of the website is to enable local buyers to find the business and stimulate enough interest for them to go into the shop and buy. One of the best ways of doing this is through Google Places.

Google Places produces the 7-pack map results that are often seen at the top of their organic search results. These are compiled from information that Google finds on the Internet, such as reviews of businesses, listings in directories and recommendations on authority sites.

Even if the business doesn’t have a website, it can still be featured in the map results. Of course, if the company does have a website, it can add additional information such as opening hours, brands carried, and photographs and videos. All of these help to ensure a high position in Google Places and, as these have a great location on the page, above the organic results, this will result in more click-throughs and more business.

And although Google has dominated the search engine wars for some time now, it is important not to overlook the other major engines, such as Yahoo! and Bing. They have similar map results and can be useful in driving extra traffic to your site. In fact, these engines are gaining ground on Google as they strive to differentiate themselves by offering different capabilities rather than trying to emulate Google.

Every business should update its search engine map results and make sure that the information provided is as complete as possible. With fewer people clicking on the sponsored results (pay-per-click) more emphasis is being put on the organic results and the 7-pack positions.

Finding the Best Keywords For Your Website

chris190 — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:21:03 +0000

Choosing the right keywords to optimize on your website is one of the most critical factors in determining your success.
Keywords are the words that potential buyers will use in search engines to find websites that are relevant to their quest. If you get the wrong ones you might get a lot of traffic, but if it is not targeted to your product or service, you will not get many sales.

What Makes a Good Keyword?

When people are searching on the Internet they are in one of three modes:

Browsing
Comparing
Buying

When someone starts looking into a potential purchase the first stage is to gather general information through using generic keywords to find sites relevant to their search. they are looking to learn about the product or service to see if it is what they need.
The next stage is to compare the offerings of different companies to see which one represents the best fit to their requirements. At this point they hope narrow their search to a specific product.
The final step is to find the best value for that product.
The best keywords to use are those that will be used in the comparison phase. The first stage is too vague and might result in a lot of visitors to the site, but they are not buyers.

How Many Keywords Should You Choose?

The first reaction of most people when they start to list keywords is to use the general description of their business, for example: “plumbing”. But the chances of ranking well for a generic one-word keyword are slim to none: the large national corporation spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rank for those terms, and you just cannot compete. Even if you could, the term is too generic–you don’t want everyone interested in plumbing to go to your site, you want people who want a plumbing service in your neighborhood. So a better keyword phrase would be “drain clearing in Austin, TX” or “faucet replacement in Arlington, VA”. That way you know that when a search results in a visit to your site, the person is looking to buy.

So before you jump right in and start optimizing for keywords, spend some time thinking about the two to four-word phrases that potential buyers would use. If you get those right, you’re well on the way to success.