Build Your Brand: Why SEO is Important

Google Says Better to Hire SEO NOW…So Why Do So Many People Wait?

seo branding

 

For a lot of people, SEO is an afterthought.

It’s strange, as even Google says that IF you have to hire an SEO, you should do so early rather than late, like when you’re just planning to launch a new site.

Now, why would Google say that?

Because SEO isn’t a topping that you can just pour on top of your site. It’s a base ingredient.

Yes, this applies to websites–but to your brand, too. Don’t wait until later or you will miss out on much on a lot of good business $$$.

Why is SEO important…important enough for Google to tell you that it IS indeed important?

Google (and other search engines…but Google is still, at least for now, #1) rely on providing a good ‘user experience.’ They want the people who are using their search engine to be happy and to find what they are looking for.
After all, if they don’t, Google knows that they will start searching using some other tool. This is exactly what happened to the phone books, right? We all used to look things up on the phone book until Google made it so much easier to use the internet.
Google wants to have happy customers because if people find what they are looking for, then businesses will advertise on Google. It is all economics.
So what does Google want from you, your site, your brand? They want speed, a site that is easy for their robots to understand, that is mobile friendly, that has fresh content….
If you think SEO is not related to this, you would be wrong. SEO affects so many levels of the user experience.

Check out this diagram from Peter Morville. It gives a basic idea of what it feels like to be searching for something online.

user experience honeycomb tfE2pU

Think in these terms, they are the very foundation of a good user experience. Evaluate your website and brand based on them.

  • Useful: Your content should be useful and relevant.
  • Usable: Your site should be easy to navigate.
  • Desirable: Your design should appeal to your target audience.  
  • Findable: You should focus on content and make searching for information easy..
  • Accessible: Your site should be mindful of people with disabilities.
  • Credible: Your brand must show signs of authority and prompt trust.

Most of these attributes, like being useful, usable, findable, accessible and credible map directly to SEO. After all, search engines gauge the overall user experience and decide if your site is the best result to show.

If you haven’t already optimized your brand for the search engines, this is the best time to start, because you probably want to market to the MILLENNIALS.

The millennials are used to having information at their fingertips and making purchases IMMEDIATELY!

This is why it is so important that your business is able to be found online RIGHT NOW.

This is exactly what SEO does for you. It allows people who are looking for what you have to offer–right now–to find YOU as opposed to finding your competitor.

Most people today are purposefully searching online. They are not responding to spam-vertising. This is what we call, “in bound marketing” as compared to “interruption marketing” which would be like the old school type of advertising on the television or radio.

inbound marketing

One of the most important parts of branding, and marketing in general, is that you have to put yourself in the shoes of your prospective client.

No business can appeal to all buyers. Who is your ideal target market? Why are they looking for the service or product that you offer?

And consider HOW they are looking for you. This is an essential part of SEO. You and your colleagues may have specific terms or jargon that you use repeatedly, but that doesn’t mean people who are outside your industry–people who are prospective clients and customers–know that slang.

“Keywords” is a term that we use in the internet marketing space. Some people believe that keywords are dead. Well….they are and they aren’t.

The WAY in which keywords were used in the past is indeed dead. But keywords, the basic concept of them is very much alive. In essence a keyword is simple a word that a person might type into the search bar to find something…if you offer that something and have used SEO properly then that prospective customer will find you. Because of SEO and keywords.

That is a short summary of how SEO is important to your business and your brand.


Read more on the topic from Neil Patel Here: via How to Use SEO to Build Your Brand

Small Business Saturday Success: It Isn’t Too Late

Northern Colorado Local Businesses Win with Small Business Saturday

Read how your business can benefit by taking part:

Small Biz Sat Image

What is Small Business Saturday?

Small Business Saturday is a “shopping holiday”–a special day, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It falls on the Saturday immediately after Thanksgiving.

That means this year the big days in (Saturday) November 28, 2015.

While Black Friday is geared for large retailers and Cyber Monday is an internet purchasing event, SBS is a day for small, local, brick and mortar businesses to get their share of the holiday action.

The first Small Business Saturday was held on Nov 27, 2010, with the concept originated by American Express (who has the trademark on the term, btw.)

#SmallBizSaturday, #smallbusinesssaturday, and #shopsmall are commonly used on social media sites to promote the day.

Why does it work?

Yes, it does work. Last year nearly $6 billion dollars was spent during Small Business Saturday.

There has definitely been a shift among many consumers to support their local businesses. There is even some backlash against the impersonal nature of shopping online. There is something to be said after all for the ability to see and touch something in person. And there are the people–that would be YOU the store owner and your employees. People like to do business with people they like.

Sure, everyone wants to get a good deal, but they also want to feel good about the experience.

Local governments are supporting the event. Let’s face it, local businesses support local governments because they pay local taxes. It is in the best interest of the entire town, village, city or county to have local dollars stay local. Most employees of local businesses live near by, at least relatively speaking. So when we buy locally we are helping out our neighbors earn paychecks as well as helping our community take care of itself.

The national GoLocal Cooperative also gives five great reasons to buy local:

  • Buying from locally owned businesses keeps your money circulating three times longer in the local economy.

  • With that money, local businesses create the majority of new jobs.

  • Local businesses are, by far, the best supporters of community projects and nonprofits.

  • Because they live here, local businesses provide the best customer service and support.

  • Most of all, supporting local business and products strengthens and preserves our unique community.

The day has been so successful in the US that the event has also been adopted by shopkeepers in the UK since 2013.

How can my business take part?

Team Up: Consider teaming up with another local business.

Say you own a candy shop. You might offer discount coupons so when one of your customers buys some treats they get a discount at the neighboring coffee joint, and vice versa.

Or maybe you offer a small sampling of another store’s products and they offer some of yours. So your top selling Christmas candy shows up at the local bakery and some of their specialty cookies or cupcakes are in your case as well.

Consider creating package deals. You might create a basket that has cookies and coffee, chocolates paired with a great Merlot.

At the very least you can cross-promote a compatible business–be willing to tell your customers about other shops in the area, and have sales fliers and their coupons available to hand out.

Talk It Up: promote the day, your business, and each other

Have fliers or posters up in your shop alerting customers to SBS.

Use Social Media to start generating buzz–now! And keep posting about the day. Let people know what you will be doing special for that day.

Be specific in your advertising–whether that is fliers, ads in the newspaper or online ads. Let customers and potential customers know why they should come to your store on Sat the 28th. Offering a discount? Are specific items on sale? Donating proceeds to charity? Are you having special entertainment or activities? What will you be doing on the 28th that makes it imperative people show up on that day, as opposed to any other day?

If you are holding a special event or donating some of your proceeds to a charity then be sure to do a press release. By getting the word out you have a much better chance of having more people come to your store.

American Express is offering some free promotional tools. It is probably too late for some of them, but there is some printable signage as well as email promotion ideas available here.

Small Business Saturday image from American Express Corporation

 

Banner Ad Scams Too Good To Be True

Banner Ad ScamsIf you have a website or blog you have probably been hit up by “professionals” who are interested in “helping you” in a variety of ways. Sadly, many of these so-called pros are actually out to scam you. They may be after your money or they may be looking to infect your computer or your website with malware.

I am not an IT expert, I know enough about my computer and coding to get the job done–most of the time. I do have a good sense when something feels squirrelly. One of my sites was hacked once and I can tell you from personal experience that it was a royal PIA to get it cleaned up. Frankly, I don’t understand how people get their jollies this way–that site was not making any money, so it certainly wasn’t to make financial gain!

I digress…as I so often do 😉

The latest came through my contact form. The good news is that I can safely read the messages from my contact form. The other good news is that I was smart enough, awake enough, alert to the possibility enough (you choose the descriptor you think is right) to NOT click on the link.

Whenever I have a question about if something is legitimate I do a simple Google search. And guess what I found this time? Yep, lots of people are reporting this scam.

Here is the content of the message I got (please do not go to the URL listed–I have definitely NOT activated the link, but want you to be able to see the full scam)

Subject:     Contact Form Results
From:    Josephine Bergson <josephine.bergson@lltconsulting.net

Josephine Bergson wrote:
Hello!

My name is Josephine Bergson representing the advertising department of the LLT
Consulting company. We are interested to place ads (banners), of your choice, on
your websites.

Design and sizes can be seen on our website at www.lltconsulting.net/id_fvo24fca/
Depending on the banner size you choose we can pay up to $950.00/month.

If you are interested to become an advertising partner please let me hear from you.

Kind Regards,
Josephine Bergson
josephine.bergson@lltconsulting.net

Website:
IP: 209.222.26.85

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Too good to be true? That’s because it is!

This might be a great deal, but one of the flags is the dollar amount the are “offering”…but you don’t have to just take my word for it.

Read what a couple IT/high tech guys have to say about this scam (this links ARE active and click away!)

Michael Sheehan AKA HighTechDad: http://www.hightechdad.com/2015/01/22/blogger-warning-llt-consulting-banner-ad-scam/

and Len at Telapost: http://www.telapost.com/bloggers-scam/

Both these guys give good hints on how to determine if what you are being offered is spam. I love this part, do a simple “who is” search and “if the domain is new, registered to a funny name, in a foreign country, renewed recently, and does not belong to a legitimate sounding company you can be sure that the email has ill intentions.” (Thanks Len for that quote).

Also, be realistic, not greedy. If your site doesn’t get significant traffic (yet) then you probably won’t be getting these kinds of offers. If the money seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Clicking on links can load your computer with a malware or trojan. Len stated that he believes this single scam has affected hundreds of machines or more already. If you are one of the unfortunates who did click the link, check these guys out for suggestions on how to clean your machine.

To your successful online business–and pooh on scammers!

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Your Site Name

This is part 5 of a 6 part series on search tips for local businesses

Should Your Site Name be Your Business Name?

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Your site nameFor many businesses, they want their website name to be the same as their business name. And for many this makes sense. Especially if you are a big, well-known brand. Someone looking for a hardware store in your area may just type in the name of one of the big box stores rather than using keywords. In those instances have your site name (your URL) match your business name is important.

If you aren’t a big brand, you might consider using a keyword in your URL, possibly in conjunction with your business name. If your business is specific to a town then you may want to also consider using your town name in your site name. Both of these can help the search engines know what your business is about and where you are located.

When people search for a Mexican restaurant they may not include the town they are looking in. That’s okay, because the search engines are smart and know the IP address the search was made from—and the town that that IP address is located in. It isn’t perfect, but it means that they will tend to serve to the potential customers the Mexican restaurants nearer to them, not ones across the state or country.

By including your town in your URL you can help the search engines serve up your listing to people in your area.

One word of caution—if you have your town in your URL then you do not want to put your town in every page and description. Sometimes that can be misinterpreted by the search engines as “keyword stuffing”

OK, you want to build a brand and therefore you want to have a website with your name, not a keyword based URL. That’s okay. There are ways that you can have your cake and eat it too. By having two URLs you can take advantage of local search strategies and still build your brand and name recognition.

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Reviews

This is the final part of a 6 part series on search tips for local businesses

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews

Search Tips for Local Businesses: reviewsDid I mention reviews?

Reviews = “Social Proof” that your business is real. Positive reviews on a variety of sites, including Google+ are in important part of getting found online. If you think you are doing everything else right and you still are not ranking—take a good, hard look at your reviews.

Do you have reviews with stars? These are extremely powerful. You have to have 5 reviews at the time of this post in order for the stars to show up on Google. So if you don’t have stars, get more reviews. Ask your happy customers to review you on your Google+ page.

Make it easy for people to give you a review. Hand out a postcard or colorful piece of paper letting your customers know where to place a review. Be sure to list the sites that are popular in your area. If Yelp is big where you do business, be sure your Yelp site is up, accurate and give folks that link. Angie’s List big in your town—ditto. Facebook? Whatever service(s) your customers use the most, be sure they are active pages with accurate details, and have those links handy. Whether it is the biggest in the country is not the issue (other than Google—that ALWAYS makes a difference.)

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Content

This is part 4 of a 6 part series on search tips for local businesses

Provide Important Information, AKA “Content”

Search Tips for Local BusinessesWhen you are building your pages pay attention to both the content which is the information ON the page, and the tags and metadata—the information behind the scenes.

Even though some people will claim that the search engines don’t use keywords any longer, that is really a misinterpretation. It is true that keywords have been overused and abused, which has led to changes in how search engines work. But a keyword is at its most basic simply a word. It is a word, or group of words that people use when searching for your business. As long as people use words to search, then keywords will have a place in search engine algorithms.

Think about it this way. Twenty years ago if you wanted to find a place to have dinner you would grab the phone book and look under the restaurants section. “Restaurants” was your main keyword even back then, we just didn’t call it that!

Now, if you had a hankering for great chili rellenos, you would further refine your search and look for “Mexican Restaurants.”

Of course the phone book you grabbed was for your city or town, or neighborhood, right? You wouldn’t be looking in a San Francisco phone book and expect to find a great Mexican restaurant in Phoenix.

That is the importance of the information behind the scenes. By using metadata, tags, and even titling for your posts, pages, and images, you are helping the search engines determine which “phone book” your business belongs in.

Place your most important keyword, like Mexican restaurant, in your titles, images, and descriptions. When you are building your page content, you want it to sound natural, but you also have to create the right road signs so search engines can find you.

Some of your “road signs” will include links. These may be external links that take a reader to another site for additional information. You should also have internal links: links that go from one page of your website to another page on your website. Think of links as another way to help your readers (and the search engines) to find the information that is most important to them.

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Multiple Locations

This is part 3 of a 6 part series on search tips for local businesses

Multiple Locations, Multiple Pages

local business search tips for multiple locationsIf you have more than one office or storefront then you will want to create a webpage for each physical address. Depending on your business you may choose to have separate websites, but that may not be necessary, or even desirable.

Is each business a separate entity? Does each office service different cities or areas? Then you may want to have multiple websites.

On the other hand, it can be helpful if someone learns of your business from a friend or associate that they can discover you have multiple branches. They can then choose the location that is most convenient to their home and the one closes to their office. This can actually help you get more business than if each location had its own website.

Whether you have separate pages or entire sites is up to you, but either way be sure to have all the location information for your customers. Maps and photos of what the specific office looks like are a big help, too.

Search Tips for Local Businesses: Local Search Optimization

This is part 1 of a 6 part series

Local Search Optimization

local search marketing

Be sure your business is optimized for local search. It is important to note that this is different from traditional SEO practices. While having a website can be a great idea, it is not necessarily the first place you should start–even when talking about getting found online! (I know, sacrilege, right?)

What local search optimization does for you is it actually helps the search engines and your potential customers to fine you online. It also helps them to find what content is most important on your site, if you have one.

The first thing you must decide as a local business owner who wants to improve their local search rankings is what is most important for YOUR business. And that depends on the type of business you have. The needs of a retail shop will be different from those of a restaurant and those of a doctor, for example.

Most local businesses want more customers to come into their physical location. As one friend puts it, “boots in the door.” With that goal in mind, you want to focus your web presence on getting local search results.

If you don’t have a website yet, this is the ideal time to get it done right. A website is not just about looking good. It is about being found, and that requires the right structure. It takes some planning, but really is a pretty logical process. You can take this on yourself if you have or get the right training. Otherwise, hire someone who specializes in websites for local search results. This is a very important distinction to make when having your site built.

Already have a website? No worries. You can tweak what you already have to get found more easily by Google. If you don’t know how, give us or another local search company a call to improve your results.

The tools of the trade to get results: website structure, optimizing each page, using tags properly, and adding keywords, links, and metadata.

Social Proof is in the Pudding

Social proof is a common catch phrase these days, but what does it mean?

It is being suggested by many “experts” that social proof is something new, something that business people didn’t have to think about before.friends talking

Perhaps I just think of social proof more globally than some other internet consultants, but I think that idea is crazy. Social proof is not a new local business marketing concept at all, but how it works today is quite different from the past when it was neighbors talking over the fence or over a beer.

Businesses have always relied on social proof in one form or another. It is just that the form changes and now we have a convenient label for it.

Word of mouth advertising has long been the standard for social proof, and is most certainly not a contemporary construct. Businesses large and small have long known that if they can get their happy customers to tell other people about them and recommend them that it is the least expensive and most successful advertising campaign they have.

Social proof has always been about customers indicating their support for your business. That has not changed.

What has changed is HOW they demonstrate their support.

Today your customers are online every day. They get most of their information from the internet, more than the television or radio, more than print publications. And this trend continues to accelerate as we are seeing the millennials and younger folks ever more tied to their electronic devices.

Whether shopping locally or buying something across the globe, more and more people are relying on the internet to gather information before making a purchase.

Social proof has always been part of that research process, it is just easier to get these days. You no longer have to talk to lots of different people to learn their opinions and experiences–it is all there online.

What is social proof in current terms then? It is how your business is supported online. This can be done by customers posting a review on Yelp, Angie’s List, or any number of other review sites. It can be comments left on your blog or your Facebook or G+ page. It can even be that someone links to your business website on their blog or Facebook page, or that someone shares a post that you have written.social media icons

How do you get more social proof for you business?

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but you have to get social. Nope, you don’t have to do it all. Unless you have a lot more time on your hands then most business owners I know, you can’t anyway.

Learn a little bit about the various types of social media and pick one, give it a go and see if you like it. I’m a firm believer that if you enjoy it, you will have better results. If you find you aren’t enjoying it, you can try a different avenue.

If you are a visual person or you have a visual type business, then Pinterest might be a good choice for you. If you naturally talk in sound bites, you might try Twitter. If you are in a B2B field, or are looking for professional connections, check out LinkedIn. Facebook is gaining ground on the major search engines and gives businesses some more flexibility in their posts and pages. These are just a few of the many options that are available to your local business.

There is no one best social media, one that works for every single business in every single market. Find where your customers are online and start there. Then dive into that online “pudding” and get some social proof.

Internet Tips for Your Local Business Photos

paparazziPosting photographs online of your the work you do is a great idea.

But can it help you with getting more customers?

Yes, if done properly.

Here are some internet tips for using photos for your local business.

Use Original Photos

In other words, don’t use stock photos or rely on photos from “corporate” if you are part of a chain. Sure, include pictures of products as part of the items that you offer at your store–and those can be stock images–but be sure to include pics of your crew making a local delivery, a happy customer making a purchase (with their permission, of course), and even the items in your storefront or showroom.

Titles & Tags

Title and tag the photos to include what work was done and what City it is in. So if you delivered a new stove to Greeley, you want to be sure to label the photo something like “Greeley stove delivery.”

Spread the Wealth

Put your photos on all your different web properties. That means you should upload them to your website, your Facebook page, Google+ page, Twitter account, LinkedIn, and any review sites that you have built out such as Yelp and Angie’s List.

Tell the Story

Sure pictures are worth 1000 words…but be sure to include the words. Tell a little bit of the story of your business. Let potential customers get to know you and the work you do.

Mix it Up

When you are posting those images around the web be sure to use different wording. If you use the same titles and stories on all the sites you are at risk as being seen as posting “duplicate content” which can ding your results!

Be Real, Be You

Whenever you post photos or stories about your business, make sure it is accurate. Don’t try to be someone you are not. Let your personality come through. You want customers who will resonate with you, your staff, your products and services. That won’t be everyone–and that’s okay. Remember, there’s plenty to go around as long as we aren’t a bunch of Stepford Wives!

All Work Makes Johnny a Dull Local Business Owner

fishingGo ahead and have some fun with some of your photos. Maybe you want to add shots from your company picnic or customer appreciation day–that’s cool. You can also include photos from things outside of work that you don’t mind making public. Do you love going hiking in the mountains? Does going fishing give you the peace of mind to be a better lawyer? Do you like restoring old cars? Are you an animal lover with a goofy dog or cat? Posting a picture that has nothing to do with work once in a while is just fine. People want to do work with those they know, like and trust. Don’t be afraid to let them know you–at work and away from the shop.