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Saint Louis Sees 16% Rise in Business Bankruptcies

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

News came out today that business bankruptcies in Saint Louis have increased some 16% this quarter.  This is apparently below the national average, but still a huge chunk of revenue and jobs going out the window.

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.
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Posted in Saint Louis, St Louis, small business | 1 Response »
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The First Steps to Getting Your Business Online

Friday, May 8th, 2009

When a business owner decides that they need to get online, often times they ask their friends, clients and customers what it is that they “do” online.  Since the popular thing right now is Twitter, I’d venture to guess that a good amount of tech-savvy customers would suggest that the biz owner jump onto the Twitter bandwagon.

While getting on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media site is a great idea, I think it’s definitely not the right way to get started.  Twitter is simply the flavor of the month right now.  A year ago MySpace was all the rage.  A year from now it’ll probably be something else.

Get Started Offline

I think the best way to get started online is to start offline, just like you are.  Ask customers how they found your business.  Did they search online? Did they look in the phone book?  Did they just drive by and see your sign?

For the ones that saw you online, this means that you have some sort of presence online, even if you don’t have a website yet.  Websites like Yelp, Yahoo Local and Google Maps (along with hundreds of others) probably already list your business, services, products and maybe even some customer reviews.

Do Some Online Investigating

Ask those customers where they saw you.  Did they read about you on one of the sites above, did they find you in an Internet search, or did they get a referral from an online friend?

Then jump online and start looking around.  See what’s mentioned about your business.  Find your business in Google Maps and others and claim those listings.  Add pertinent business information and you’re on your way.  Search for your business name with quotes around it (for example: “Bobs Sink Repair”).

Next, start thinking about what your customers would type into Google to find you.  Would they type some words and a geolocator (like ’st louis’), or would they just type in your best product (aka ‘bathroom faucets’) or service (aka ’sink repair’)?

Think like a customer, not like an entrepreneur.  Try your best to avoid acronyms and buzzwords that people in your industry would know, but Joe Average (aka your customer) wouldn’t.

Do a Bit of Keyword Research

Sure, you’re not an SEO, and keyword research doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. But just taking an hour or three to understand some of the variants in keywords that people use to find you will be worth it before you start building a website in your mind.

If you need help, or just really don’t have time, you could find someone to do it for you for a couple bucks.  Problem is, you still won’t get the experience of sitting in front of a PC and typing in various things to see what comes up.  That experience can help you get to your ‘ah-ha’ moment for search.  It can also inspire other ideas, other keyword ideas you didn’t think of originally, and it can also show you what your competition is doing (or not doing if you’re observant).

Find a SEO-Savvy Web Designer

Clueless web designers are everywhere. Your cousin’s dog groomer’s sister does it, so why not hire her? Or better yet, why not do it yourself?

It is my guess that business owners like to save money. I know I do. But I also know when spending money is smart.  Spending money on marketing materials (flyers, signage, website) is a smart move. It’s not smart to go cheap on these things.  If your cousin’s friend’s friend can crank it out, but you can’t find any of her past works in Google, chances are that’s not a good investment.

Take some time and interview a few web designers. Make sure they understand SEO, how to make search-friendly websites, and that they understand the importance of keyword placement, proper HTML coding and title tags.  When looking for an SEO, make sure they can prove their rankings, and that they offer things like call tracking and ranking reports.

Summary

While I think Twitter is probably one of the most awesome business tools out there at the moment, it’s not the core of my business strategy, and it shouldn’t be for you either.  Your strategy needs to be wide and yet focused.  Build a quality website and provide educational information to your clients. Find a good SEO-savvy designer and you’ll be well on the way to better profits.

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What is the Best Single Thing a SMB Can Do to Improve Organic Rankings?

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Times are tough. More and more business owners are coming to me (and many other SEOs) because all of the sudden their customer base has dwindled down.  Suddenly they need to be in front of customers, and the smart ones are looking to SEO for their business.

As I meet new business owners and explain what I do, I’m constantly amazed at the amount of them that have no idea what a blog is, how it works, or how it can help them.

Blogging, by far (in my opinion) is one of the best things you can do for your business. Why? I’m glad you asked.

Blogging Brings New Content to a Stale Website

Most of the business owners I meet have a website, and it’s in what I call “stale” mode.  They fell for the old If you Build it, They Will Come routine.  Wrong!

So they build a site, and sure enough, nothing much changes.  They don’t promote the site, and soon it becomes just another expense that they wish they’d never spent money on.  They soon abandon the website, and other than the URL on their business cards, it’s rarely mentioned or visited.  It turns stale.

So there’s the thing.  Search engines are infatuated with content.  They can fall in love with your website if you consistently feed them industry-related articles, thoughts, tips, whatever.

The average spider visits a stale website once every 6 weeks or so.  If the spider visits your site, and sees that nothing has changed in the past 6 weeks, they will mark you off as indexed, and will put a note in their memory to come back in six weeks to see what (if anything) has changed.

Six weeks later, nothing’s changed, so they mark you off for another 6 week visit.  Meanwhile, you’re getting little or no organic rankings because of it.

If, however, you start blogging, say once a week, suddenly there is new content.  The spider visits, sees new stuff, and decides that it will come back in four weeks instead of six.  Four weeks later, there is more content, and the spider decides to come back in two weeks.

Soon, your posts are being indexed within 48 hours or less.  Your organic rankings increase because the search engines see you as a ‘player’ in your industry.

Blogging Brings Targeted Visitors

Probably one of the immediate advantages of blogging is that it brings you targeted leads.  If you are posting ideas, products, or industry-related news, those phrases may just end up ranking for what us SEOs like to call long tail phrases.  These long tail phrases are gold.  (For more info, read this wikipedia page)

A visitor to your website, which comes from a long tail search query, is usually highly targeted and willing to buy.  They are usually looking for just what your blog post addresses, and in their minds you are immediately the subject matter expert on that topic.  You’ve highly increased your chances of a sale because of it.

Blogging Separates Your From the Competition

By posting weekly articles, tips or whatever, your audience sees your business as “being run by real people”.  This may sound like a silly thing, but in reality humans like to see a non-corporate side of a business.  Even if it’s still targeted to the business, simply putting real world anecdotes into a blog post can give your visitor that warm and fuzzy feeling about your brand.  You win.

What are You Waiting For?

If your website doesn’t have a blog, you’re missing out on one of the best customer-driving forces available today.

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