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

Sometimes I meet a business owner that has done a little research, changed a few things on his/her website, and is really proud of being on the second page of Google for one of their industry’s terms.  But how many Internet searchers actually go to the second page of a Google result?

The Internet has definitely cultured a great bit of impatience, particularly when it comes to finding information online.  We want the right information, and we want it now.  Searching the Internet through search engines like Google, Yahoo! or Bing (or the thousands of other choices) will usually yield good results, but they aren’t perfect.

On average, only 11% of Internet searchers go to page two of a SERP – search engine result page.  So ranking on page one gives you nearly 8 times the amount of traffic that a page two ranking will give you.

Even worse – only 3% of that 11% go to page three.  That means that a page three ranking is virtually useless.  While it may bring you a visitor or two a month, it’s not doing you much good.

Spiders on the Web

The average ‘stale’ website gets visited (aka spidered) by the search engines every 4-6 weeks.  Since the website hasn’t changed in a long time, there’s no real reason for them to come by every week and check for new content.

This is pretty typical of businesses.  They get a website:

• because they heard they needed one
• because their competition has one
• because all the cool kids have one

There’s no thought put into the website beyond the fact that they needed one, and in most cases business owners didn’t even put much thought into who they hired to do it.  Total waste of huge opportunity for revenue growth.

Getting to Page One

Since the average website isn’t going anywhere fast, getting the search engines to take notice of it can take some time.  A lot of time.  If you started making changes to your website today, there’s a high possibility that the search engines won’t even notice those changes for up to a month and a half.  Even then, noticing and doing something (ranking you higher) are two different things.  If you’ve optimized your home page for the term blue widgets, and currently you aren’t listed in the top 100 results (10 SERP pages) for that phrase, a move into position 89 isn’t really doing you much good, is it?  Sure, it’s a step in the direction you want, but it’s not producing any traffic.  So how do you get to page one?

Ah, that’s the golden question, isn’t it?

The way to a page one result is through constant and consistent pressure.  Blogging weekly will increase the search engines’ awareness of your website.  They’ll see that ‘movement’ and start to visit your website more often.  They’ll start to rank your site because there’s real information (content) that’s valuable to their searchers.

That change, along with link building, onsite optimization, and a ton of other things will get your site moving in the right direction – up!  But don’t think it’s a one time or quick fix.  If you do, you may see some very short term rankings, but you’ll fall right back in the no-traffic-pit.

Why Most SEO Contracts are Long Term

A good SEO will require (at minimum) a six month contract.  Personally, I won’t take anything less than a one year commitment from a new client.  Why?  Well, just like I said earlier – six months of work might get you to page three or two of a term.  It’s still useless unless you’re happy with sitting at 11% of your potential.  I’m not happy with that.  A one year commitment tells me that the business owner understands that they are investing in a long term strategy, not a short term bandaid.

Want to find out more about Search Engine Optimization for Small Business?  Contact me and let’s talk!

But by all means, take the time to do it right. You don’t want to look like an idiot because you ran through it so quickly. And it’s not something you can pay your twelve year old son Jimmy to do, neither. You don’t have to pay some business $299 to do it, either.  That’s just crazy.  Take the time on a Sunday night to get it right.  It’ll be worth it.

List Your Business Correctly

The first step to getting your business on Google Maps is to visit the Local Business Center (LBC) section on Google.  If you don’t have a Google account, you’ll need to sign up for one.  Once that’s out of the way, you’ll need to claim or add your business.  Chances are, they already know about your business, but have incorrect and very limited information about it.

Take the time to fill this out in detail, particularly the section labeled Description: This is a great place to put in some keywords about your business, list the things you sell or services you offer.  Don’t forget to add your website.

Pick the Right Categories

Last, enter as many valid categories for your business as they’ll let you.  All five, if they all fit.  but don’t just add categories because they’re there.

See that third listing? Hair of the Dog is a bar.  They don’t have pool supplies.  They don’t have a pool.  They have beer.  Unfortunately, they don’t have a beer pool, although that’d be pretty damn awesome if they did.

After listing your site, you’ll need to verify the information that you just entered.  In the past, Google always sent a postcard to the business address with a pin number for verification.  They also called the phone number and asked you for a pin number.  From what I understand, the postcard is no longer offered, or is only offered if other methods fail.  However they offer to verify your listing, make sure you follow through and verify your site!

For Yahoo, use http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php

For Bing, use https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

What was the word that was mentioned more than any other? WordPress.

During my session on Local SEO, one of the business owners raised his hand and said, “All throughout these sessions the number one thing we keep hearing is blog, blog blog. Why is this so important to a small business owner?”

I loved this question.  It’s a question I get in most of my small business sessions, and it’s one that can be easily answered.  There are a lot of reasons to blog, but there is one (in my opinion) that stands out above the others.

Blog for the long tail

In my opinion, the long tail of search is one of the greatest places for most businesses to pull in great leads.  A long tail searcher is already considered a warm lead compared to someone who’s looking for a more generic phrase.  For example, if you fix washers and dryers, which customer would you think is a warmer lead?  One that searches for ‘maytag washer’ or ‘maytag washing machine repair company 63103′?

Assuming you’ve written a blog that covers maytag washers, there’s a higher probability that the second searcher will a) land on your site and b) be a much warmer lead which will probably convert (if your site is well optimized to grab that lead)

Since long tail words are virtually unlimited, the vast variety of them will best be harvested by consistent and diverse content.

Blog for content

Those wacky search engine spiders love content.  They love to come to a website and see more than just pictures.  They want something to digest, something that’s original and industry related.  If you are fattening them up with quality industry-related content, they’re going to like you.  And like leads to rank.  Just like Santa Claus, leave out some good cookies and milk each week.  You’ll see your site grow, you’ll make the spiders happy, and you’ll reap the profits of more traffic.

Blog for activity

There’s nothing worse than a stale website.  If your website isn’t changing, updating or growing, you can forget about any search engine love.  They like to see movement.  Movement means life, and a website that’s ‘alive’ will have a much better chance at ranking.

Blog for community

One of the best things about blogging is the fact that people can interact with your business.  There’s something cool about being able to leave a comment on a post that was written about something I’m looking for.  If you’ve written a post on Why Your Maytag Dryer Isn’t Turning, and that’s just my problem, there’s a darn good chance I’m going to buy from you.  And I’ll probably leave a comment on your post thanking you.

And if that’s not my problem, there’s still a chance that I’ll leave a comment with my problem/symptoms.  You can then answer this, or better yet – write another blog about that problem.

Having your blog open to comments (moderated, of course) will lead to an interactive website.  Your visitors will give you free content in the form of comments, and you’ll be able to better serve your community of followers.  Win-Win.

Does your business blog?

Do you think it’d be a good thing to start? What are your biggest hurdles in getting a blog going?

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.

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.

Related Posts

We Had a Website, It Was a Waste of Money