Tag Archives: keywords

Get More Traffic

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You want the maximum visibility for your website.  In today’s climate, that means being actively involved in driving your site so that your customers can find you each and every time.  Gone are the days of “create it and leave it” websites that are static and unchanging.  Websites have become the cornerstone of business marketing. You need to take steps to fine tune your site to make it a more effective marketing tool.  

Reciprocal linking is part of your search engine optimization plan.  Part of your ranking from Google is based on reciprocal linking.  Simply put, every link to a website is a vote for that site, which helps boost your Google ranking.  There are guidelines to be followed and it must be monitored to check link validity (based on relevance to your industry).

 Over the past two years, online directories have become invaluable.  These directories are small bits of internet real estate you can leverage to drive customers to your website.  Think of them as ads scattered over the internet and you’re controlling their message.  They now allow more content than ever before and, most importantly, many are review oriented.  Online reviews are another huge factor in gaining positive Google results. 

 Reviews on sites such as Yelp, Google, Yahoo, etc. are not screened by you.  As a result, customers trust the reviews to be accurate and that equates to added value to your products or services.  Yes, you may get negative reviews, but you can address any issue through the directory.  Again, that builds customer confidence in you and your company.

 Much of your traffic will come from search engine results. Keywords are indicators of the most important topics, service or product on each web page.  These are words your customers will use to find you.  Controlling your keyword strategy can make or break or your site.  If your site is more than 2 years old, it’s time to review your website.  Google has made drastic changes to the way it analyzes keywords and Meta data on a webpage. 

 I provide a package plan with these services and more. Visit BrendaSimon.com .

Number 1 on Google

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Will I be #1 on Google?

That’s everyone’s goal. Once your website goes live you will be inundated by solicitations guaranteeing your number presence on Google search.

Organic Search. This is what I do with SEO when creating a website. From page titles to keywords and content, all are components of optimizing a website for an organic web search to return your site where relevant and in your locale, if you are not nation wide.

A lot can be accomplished to achieve organic search results, and you want to utilize all tools.

People will tell you they can get your website #1 on Google maps. The fine print, which takes digging into is this:

You will appear #1 somewhere, sometime for some keyword search. Most often in their guarantee if your business category is highly competitive – that keyword will turn into long tail keywords:

auto transmission repair in Pomona, Ca

If you’re an auto repair shop that leaves a huge number of services you either, now buy more keywords for, or…don’t.  This can add up to a staggering advertising campaign.

Another point which is told later in the sales pitch is: “If after 3 months you aren’t in the top 5…”. That is the  length of time organic searches can take, and you aren’t paying for those. If you are paying $150.00/month plus $600.00 set up fee to test the waters for appearing in the top 5 places on Google maps and you don’t appear at all…that is a lot of money. Plus you already have a chance of appearing organically in your locale for free. You’re better off setting up an AdWords campaign.

No easy answers, but remember: there are no guarantees to be placed Number One on Google without paying for it – and if you want every search…that price will be quite high in most markets.

Local Search

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Google Maps
Google Maps has always been an effective listing to get ahead of the crowd. With so many online, the competition is tough for businesses within certain categories. ex. web designer. If your business is specialized Google maps will most likely continue to work well for you.

Local Search Marketing
Now, we have new companies offering to get you ranked on Google Maps – within parameters, for a fee. It is a substantial fee.

How do you make a choice?
Can the companies be selling this info and NOT produce results? Part of your decision making comes from investigating the company: how long in business online is a BIG factor. It is too easy to charge you an annual fee and close shop. Local search marketing companies need a history.

The part of the equation difficult to pin down is: Google says they cannot guarantee placement on Google Maps, and suggest you buy their AdWords. Makes sense: if they are going to give a higher ranking it is going to be profitable for them. So, how can these companies say they can?

Part of the answer is in the keywords. If you are narrowing your keyword list to 5 – that is tough, for most businesses. The fine print of one company tells the client they, the company, can change up the keywords if they are not appearing on the first page Google Maps. The trouble with this is: keywords can be created and paid for by a client, but if no one ever searches under those words, these companies can validate themselves as delivering, but it isn’t “real”.
ex: keyword:
custom web designer loves Westies

That keyword could bring you to my website – but how many people will type that in a search? That is the trouble. Longtail keywords are known to deliver more “ready-to-buy-searchers”, to narrow down their search/save time. But choosing long tail keywords is tough, simply because: they ARE so long.

One company I researched had a video with a phone number at the end. Pricing sounded reasonable. Trouble came up when the no one answered either of their phone numbers and the pricing on the website was higher than the video. Since you have to make a decision somehow – this one is obvious.

One service these companies sell is to fill out your online directory listings. Fine, since most small business owners are short on time. But the fee is out of whack especially when one company requires you to fill in all the information and they will submit to listings.

I continue to search for someone who offers an affordable service for small business owners. The local search is the need for most of my clients, but someone who is interested in smaller budgets.