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Search Engine Optimization and Marketing for Small Businesses
Just because your business is small doesn't mean your profits have to be.
Nearly every single one of my small business clients has said one of the following lines to me at our first meeting:
Internet Comment #1
"The Internet? Bah. Our business comes from word-of-mouth referrals. The only thing we need a website for is a reference check."
Internet Comment #2
"Marlin, we've had a website for X# of years now, and it's barely brought us any business at all. I KNOW we're missing out--everything I read and everything my friends say tell me it's time for us to move into the 21st century."
Regardless of which of these two camps you fall into, I can help reverse your thinking. The Internet is already a tremendous driver of business in just about every industry, and it will only continue to explode as more and more of our society gets online and the search engines develop better and better technology. Below are just a few of the ways I can make your website help rather than hurt your bottom line.
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing essentially consists of two larger parts: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaign Setup and Management
Ever wonder where those funny little haiku text ads come from when you type a search into Google or another search engine? Each ad is created by the companies advertising and served to you through a program called Adwords (Google) or Overture (Yahoo). Which company appears in which slot is determined by a transparent, auction-style bidding process, with some adjustments based on the quality of the ad and the particular keyword being searched.
Approximately 10-12% of all clicks on search engine results pages are directed towards these paid advertisements. This is not huge, but it is a significant number, particularly when you consider this is targeted marketing at its best: the user is actively seeking out companies from which to purchase.
Pay-per-click campaigns can be tremendously effective when done creatively and effectively, and I can help you get up and running with a campaign of your own. A number of my clients' campaigns are self-propelling (generating enough immediate revenue to pay for continued spending), even ignoring repeat business. And perhaps the best part about pay-per-click: if it's not working, you can switch the keywords on which you're advertising, or turn it off altogether, with no up-front investment to worry about.
Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A far more challenging skill than pay-per-click management is Search Engine Optimization. SEO involves a number of content management techniques that make your website as easy as possible for search engines to find and filter. These techniques include proper keyword targeting, meta description tag and page title specificity, consistent site architecture, and a number of linking strategies both within your site and between your site and others like it. Google, Ask, and a number of other search engines readily publish suggestions that will help give your site higher rankings, but typically it takes an experienced consultant to propel your site into the top five results, where approximately 70% of all clicks come from. Search Engine Optimization involves a relatively high initial investment but can reap an enormous number of "free" clicks if done well.
The clients for which I have provided extensive SEO consulting services rank very well for searches related to their target business: Take Us For Granite, Playa Grande Surf Camp, Playa Grande Surf School, The Swell Hotel
A Quick Word about the Importance of Local SEO for Small Businesses...
As of January 2008 all of the major search engines, including Google, now display a relatively new interface at the top of their search result pages for locally-targeted keywords and keyphrases (like "Granite Countertops Laguna Niguel, CA"). This new interface features a map and a combination of either three or ten text listings (known colloquially in the search marketing industry as a "Local 3-pack" or "Local 10-pack"). Sample screenshots from Google and Yahoo are shown below.
These are the default #1 search results for businesses that depend on geo-targeted search traffic.
I cannot emphasize the above point enough, which is why it's in big, bold letters. What's critical to understand is that the ranking and placement of businesses within this new interface are almost entirely exclusive of the power of their websites. In fact, there are some searches for which the top search results don't even have a website! The reason is that the top listings in the Local interface are derived from a completely independent algorithm, though many traditional SEO factors still apply.
This is both good news and bad news for small businesses. The good news is that typically, it's not very difficult to rank well in these new Local algorithms. The bad news is that typically, it wasn't very hard to rank well [at least for my clients :)] in the regular search results that preceded the advent of Local. So small businesses trying to market themselves effectively online now have just one more essential avenue to pursue. Not only must they incorporate traditional SEO within their marketing budget and strategy, but they need to integrate their online presence with a solid Local SEO strategy.
Luckily, I can help you with both.
Beyond the Search Engines...
I'm not an Economics major, and I don't have an MBA, which is precisely why I'm a good marketer. I am a creative but rational thinker. I can provide you with a number of unique, targeted marketing strategies to build buzz around your product or service, and I can help you with key insights on how to harness the power of the Internet for your small business. Remember--you don't choose the perception of your brand; your customers do. Make sure you don't handicap that perception from the beginning.