Back in May, I spoke to the St. Louis Small Business Meetup Group about getting traffic, climbing the search engine rankings and beyond.  It was a great meetup in a small restaurant in Kirkwood – a terrific atmosphere and I think you’ll enjoy this video.  In it you’ll learn:

• Why Shotgun Marketing is a think of the past
• Why You need a CMS
• What Google Thinks About Your Site
• How to Spy on Your Competitors
• Plenty More Tips

But as you get more and more clients, the small things start to really take up more of your time than you’d like.  Working on these details continue to suck up your time, except now they’re exponentially growing because your client list is growing. They have become a burden.

Let me introduce you to oDesk – a gathering of smart people who are looking for freelance work, and they’re eager to work on your small stuff. Problem is, on top of your already-growing list of things to get done, you just don’t have time to learn the nuts and bolts of something like oDesk on your own.

Enter Russ Henneberry – Russ is a small business owner that is passionate about helping other businesses succeed.  He has taught classes for years on everything from analytics to content marketing – and now he’s created the world’s first complete tutorial on how to get things done while you work on the important stuff.

If you’re a small business owner, and want to start ‘farming out’ some of the small stuff, you’ve gotta check out this course.  I have it, and have learned a ton.  Russ takes you literally step by step through the website and shows you how to create a job, just how to word the description (so everything gets done exactly right) and how to interview and pay your new workers.  You’ve gotta check this out.

Disclaimer: Russ is a friend of mine, but he didn’t ask me to post this. I got his course and was blown away by the quality and step-by-step processes he’s included in it. I’ve learned a lot from it, and just had to share it.  And it’s not an affiliate link. Now stop reading this and go get the course.

Soon there will be two types of businesses, those online and those out of business.

While I’m not sure if the quote ever really came from him, the premise of the statement is definitely true.  And even years later, only a staggering 40% of small businesses in the US have websites.

Of that 40%, a good chunk of those websites are stale or dead.  They heard that they needed to be online, and rushed to get online, but had no strategy or planning about why they should be online.  They just knew they had to be there.  And after a few years of their website sitting there doing nothing, they’ve most likely abandoned what little hope they had about the Internet, when actually now is when they should be actively pursuing climbing the rankings and dominating the ever-growing online segment of their industry.

Is this you? Have you tried to get online, but haven’t succeeded?  Traffic is minimal or zero, leads never come, and no one even knows about your website?  Are you embarrassed to put the URL on your business cards? Here’s eight reasons why I think you’re in this boat:

1. Your brother’s best friend’s hairdresser’s cousin isn’t a web guru

Sure, hiring him was a great idea at the time. You’ve got little or no money to put into the “internet thing” and he was willing to do it “for the experience” and add it to his portfolio.

Problem is, those animations are just hideous, the technology he used to build the site back in ’99 wasn’t the best then, and it’s useless now.  There are no meta tags, no heading tags, and overall the site just sucks.

Even worse is that “Under Construction” page that never got updated.  What’s the point?

Fix: It’s time to hire a web designer, bite the bullet, and get a real website that engages customers, shows off your products and grows your business.

2. The search engines can’t index (or even find) you

You’re proud of your website.  The very cool Flash intro page really shows off your business in a way that no one else does.  Problem is, the search engines can’t see your website because of all that Flash.  They can’t index it, they have no idea what it says, and they have no idea how to categorize it.  So you’ll never rank on the search engines because they have no idea what you do.

Fix: Dump the Flash intro.  If you’re dead set on having some dumb animation on your page, put it in the header or some other small place.  Don’t make it the entire page.  Put real content with real follow-able links that the search engines can use to learn about you.

3. Your contact info isn’t on EVERY PAGE

This is an easy one.  Your phone number, at a minimum, should be on the top of every page of your website.  A lot of people simply look up your business so that they can call and interact with a real human.  If you make it hard for them to contact you, you might as well put up a sign that says “We don’t really want your business”.

I personally won’t click around on a website and strain to find a phone number or address.  If I can’t find it, I’ll hit the BACK button and go to the next result – probably your competitor.

Fix: Put your contact information in a very noticeable place.  Put your phone number at the top of the site, easy to read.  Build a Contact Us page that includes your phone number, address and even a map.  For a bonus, add printable directions or a click-to-call service.

4. Your site isn’t mobile-friendly

Smartphones, Google Maps, and ‘Apps’ aren’t losing popularity.  These things are everywhere, taking over the population.  If someone can’t browse your website in a mobile way, you’re missing a growing segment of searchers.

Fix: Build a mobile version of your website.  This should not be a high priority, particularly if the other things mentioned here apply to you.  Put this on the back burner, but don’t ignore it.

5. Your site isn’t interactive

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Blogging is one of the best things you can do for your online business efforts.  Blogging used to be defined as “a personal journal that you can publish with ease”.  But small businesses have seen the potential of more traffic by adding a blog to their website. Adding a blog to your website will create new content (which the search engines love), show life to a dead site (which the search engines love) and give you the chance to interact with your audience (which the search engines love – as do customers!).

Fix: Add a blog on your domain.  If you aren’t sure how to do that, contact your web guy and get help.  Don’t sign up for one of those free blogging sites, that won’t help your business at all!

6. Oh – My Eyes!

This is related to #1.  It’s time to stop those crazy animations, the wild colors and scrolling marquees.  Those things were cool back in the day but not any more.  Search engines want content thats easy to understand and digest.  Customers want calming colors that persuade them to hang around on your website a while and read what you’ve got to say.

Fix: Calming blues and greens are the way to go.  Bright oranges and reds are considered ‘alert’ colors and encourage the customer to get off the page.

7. You Took Away My Wallet!

There’s not much worse than writing great content, having a good looking site, getting traffic and then not giving them a way to engage you.  A call to action should be mandatory on every page of your website.

Since only a fraction of the visitors to your website actually land on your home page first, it is imperative that all the pages on your site provide value to your visitor and gives them a place to interact with you – whether it’s by signing up for your newsletter, filling out a form to find out more information, or a BUY button.

8. You’re clueless about those that are visiting your site

Ok so you’re doing all seven of the above things correctly.  Good job.  Traffic is flowing, people are visiting your website.  But do you know what’s happening once they get there?  Are you logging into your analytics each week to find new trends?  How are your visitors finding you? What pages are most popular on your website?  Are there pages you can tweak to make them more interactive?

Analytics borders on nerd territory.  Data is what robots want, not humans.  Unfortunately, you’re running a business, and that business relies on data to function.  Are you missing out on potentially untapped market segments?  Are your pages falling short?  If your bounce rate through the roof?  And if so, why?

Fix: Take some time to read up on analytics.  Find out what you should be looking for, create some custom reports and watch for new keywords that could spring your business into uncharted territory online.

Is your website crap?

I spoke on this subject recently at a Chamber of Commerce meeting.  Some people may have been offended by the pull-no-punches approach I took, and others probably “got it”.  Do you “get it” or will you just continue to wonder why your website isn’t getting any traffic?

During the meeting, he was telling me how he had control over each page footer, how he could build out each footer to be different, link to different pages, etc.  That’s cool, could help with his internal linking.

But then he started telling me how he could build different pages for slightly different terms, and them link them through the footer, thus creating an entire network of pages.  For instance: Mother’s Day

mothers-day.htm
mothers-day-gifts.htm
mothers-day-ideas.htm
personalized-mothers-day-gifts.htm

and so on.

These micropages, in his mind, could each be optimized for their particular keyphrase, and they’d ultimately dump the visitor to the same products.

I think that’s a bad strategy and can explain with one word – dillution.

By creating a network of similar pages, you’re dilluting the domain and potential authority that site may have for “mothers day” terms by spreading them across 5, 10 or whatever amount of pages.

I think building one page that ranks nicely for Mother’s Day is the way to go.

But – you say – if he creates 10 pages with 10 different targeted keyphrases, isn’t he increasing his landing pages by 10?  Sure, but he’s dilluting the chance that any one of those 10 will ever rank for any of those terms.

One Strong Page

The smart way to go is to build one awesomely authoritative page.  Put links to the various product or product categories that Mom would like, and then add some content that reflects mother’s day.  Naturally use a few different keyphrases (don’t go overboard here) and you’ll be ahead of the curve.  Need an example? Check out what Zappos did.

Step two would be to build links back to the Mother’s Day page with various anchor texts, thus ranking that one page for many related terms.

MicroSites

The inspiration for this post came after I read Vanessa Fox’s article today on microsites.  I agree with her that these sites can cause confusion for visitors and search engines alike.  They also spread out your web designer/SEO guy’s time between several domain names.  That time (and money) would be better focused building one kick-ass domain.

Niche Sites – Not to Be Confused

Lastly, I wanted to mention that there’s a definite difference between a microsite that’s created simply for the reason of pushing traffic to a main site and a niche site.

Niche sites are sites created for the purpose of cornering a particular market (for instance bluedoorknobs.com) and selling to that small & tightly focused audience.  These sites can be highly profitable, depending on the audience.  At no time to niche sites “dump” their visitors off to a bigger and better site in order to expand their sales.  They’re there to sell blue door knobs and that’s it.

The Debate Goes On

I know there are those out there who disagree about both the micropage and  microsite strategy.  I’d love to hear what you have to say!

In the 80s I was warming up to a Vic 20, then Commodore 64 and Apple IIe. But now I use a badass Dell laptop, widescreen monitor and high speed Internet connection. The 80′s are fun to look at and reminisce about but I’ve moved on.

Unfortunately, many businesses haven’t.

Take Furniture Traditions, a highly respected furniture manufacturer out of California. These guys make some high end solid wood furniture that most anyone would love to own. But they’re stuck in the 80s.

Check out this page about their Internet Sales Policy.

When I first saw this, I couldn’t believe it.  If you’ve read my open letter to manufacturers you’d see several immediate problems with their ‘policy’.

The biggest problem I have with this is that they are restricting their own dealers that want to sell online.  They put down the Internet as a big bad thing that will hurt you and steal your milk money.

You Gotta See It to Believe It

First, none of us here at the factory would ever buy bedroom furniture over the internet. Why? Furniture is a product that must be seen in person to really understand what you are getting. The quality of the wood, finish and construction must be seen and touched to understand and appreciate the purchase.

Sure, ten years ago everyone was afraid to buy things online.  Beyond just eBay scams, people were afraid that their credit card numberss were going to get stolen.  But nowadays things aren’t like they used to be.

You make a good product, right?  You are proud of what you build? And you’re a legit company, aren’t you?  Then why would you fend off a person who wants to buy your product sight-unseen?  (And in reality it’s not sight-unseen anyway. You’ve got pictures on your website.)  If you say the quality is good, and your dealer’s website says it’s good, then purchasers should have no need to “really understand what you are getting”.  Take their credit card and ship them their stuff.  End of story.

Shipping is the Devil

…any savings that you gain by buying direct would be lost because of the astronomical costs of small shipments.

Aren’t you shipping your items to your vendors around the country?  Are you shipping it to them for free? I didn’t think so.  So are you worried about the fact that you’d have items online that cost more because there would be double shipping?  If so, why not drop ship for your vendors?  What a great service that’d be.  You’d make more sales and dealers would enjoy the convenience.

We’ve Got Dealers to Help You! (but we’ve restricted what they can do)

You may think you are saving money on the internet, but your real costs will be much higher in the long term. We have a wonderful dealer network all over the country who would love to help you before, during and after the sale.

…

We have no authorized dealers selling over the internet. If you buy Furniture Traditions products over the internet, it is very possible that you are being ripped off. You may receive a copy of our line, or worse, receive nothing at all. Again, we do not permit our furniture to be sold over the internet.

Get With It

Here’s the big problem.  You’ve got this crappy policy because of your 80′s way of thinking.  You think no one would be crazy enough to buy over the Internet, yet you personally checked your bank balance online this morning.  And you’ve got a select group of dealers around the country who are dragging your company along into the 2000′s.

So you insult them with a “policy” that your Grandpa wrote.

Is the problem because you can’t control pricing if your stuff goes online? That’s easy – enforce MAPP pricing.  Is it that you think your brand will be watered down by being sold online? I got news for you – you’re either going to have to change your policy or watch your revenues fall.  A growing portion of your dealers want to be on the leading edge, and will simply drop you from their vendor list.

See, they realize that there’s an audience out there.  They’re putting their money into marketing your products. But you won’t play ball because you’re still in your 80′s coma.  And it’s time for you to come out.

I’d love to hear from someone at Furniture Traditions or any other business that won’t let their products be sold online about their point of view on this subject.

I’ve spent some time over the last few weeks talking to business owners about their overall financial and economic situation.  As expected, nearly every industry is down for the year.  Overall, I’d put the average drop at right around 30%.

A 30% downturn in revenue can really hurt a business. One business was down over 50%. Ouch.

However I did also speak to a few businesses in the area who are holding about even from years past. And holding even when all their competitors are down is actually pretty good.  It’s not great, but at least it’s not bad news.

Others are having record years.  One owner I spoke with was on the brink of going out of business just a few years back, and is now having their best year ever.

Some businesses, such as outdoor industries like roofing have been hit with a double-whammy – the economy and the weather.  The entire month of October, usually a good month for roofers, was doused with rain.  In the month of November they had to play catch-up with the contracts they did secure, but now the weather is typical December weather, and they’re going into 2010 on a significant loss.

I also spoke with an owner of a small swimming pool installation company.  He said normally they did between 4-8 pools a year.  This year they did 1 install, and their bottom line has been hit bad.  His company had recently purchased a new truck to help with their growing client list when the bottom fell out.  Now they’re having trouble just staying afloat (rimshot, please!).

So what did the businesses that weren’t down do that was different from the others?  From what I could surmise, these businesses acted proactively on their marketing strategy as soon as they noticed the downturn. Whether it was an increase in direct mail, SEO or other forms of marketing, they saw their income dipping and did something about it.

It’s one thing to talk about a coming storm, and it’s another thing to get out and “secure the premesis”.  If your business is simply hoping it blows over, while the windows are shattering and the roof is peeling off, you may be one of the 16% or more that files next quarter.