When it comes to their business website, too many small business owners still cling to the false notion of, “If you build it, they will come.” The idea is that having a web presence will get the job done. Put up the site, get the products on there, slap the logo on it and watch the sales roll in, right?
Once upon a time, when the concept of a business website was fresh and exciting, that may have been true. But times have changed. You can’t crank out any old website and expect customers to magically line up like the cars leading to Ray Kinsella’s remote baseball field.
As humans we are always looking for the quick win, the magic pill, the painless success. It’s got to be built into our DNA–conserve resources, achieve the most survival with the least expenditure of energy. So it comes as no surprise to me that my SEO clients continually want to take shortcuts with their SEO or their online marketing in general, but specifically with their SEO efforts.
“That is why search is powerful. You do not hunt for your customers, they hunt for you. You pick the keywords and the customer picks you. You not only “sell what your customers want,” but you also sell it “while they are actively looking for it.”
- Aaron Wall, SEOBook.com
I’m reading the Aaron Wall’s SEOBook and he’s talking about a marketer who is selling baseball cards the old-fashioned way. The guy spammed people. He interrupted them and tried to get them to buy from him.
Rather than annoy or talk people into buying from you, how about you just find out what your customers are looking for and position yourself so they’ll find you? Using a combination of paid search (advertising) and SEO (building trust in search engine so your web site can be found by potential customers) your business can grow. No matter what size it is.
Why do so many businesses think they cannot afford internet marketing services? Businesses of all sizes and with small or large budgets can benefit. After all, what’s a fair price for unlimited distribution?
I saw this story today about how one YouTube video flooded a small business with thousands of orders for a DVD. It illustrates perfectly how internet marketing can impact a business. The web site www.a-cappella.com, a business with just two full-time employees sold 5,300 copies of this DVD. In the past their record sales were selling 100 of one DVD in a year. That’s what I call great ROI.
I can see that they could do better with their SEO and web site marketing (I’d post that video and highlight the group on the front page of their Christmas section for starters). Also, I’d start a blog and highlight the other YouTube videos of groups they carry.
Here are some web site marketing strategies from Search Engine Watch. Lots of clients want to be on the first page of search results for the key terms relating to their business. They want it fast. This article talks about things to consider.
First the honesty. We can’t read the algorithm’s mind. No matter how good you are there is a lot of unknown or things beyond your control. The good news is the payoff is big and if you implement sound search engine optimization, you’ll see an impact over time. Normally over several months, depending on the competition.
Clients and readers often ask why a site that’s younger, smaller, or just plain “uglier” outranks them. There really isn’t a simple answer. More than a few times I’ve had to say, “I don’t know.”
What Matters for Web Site Marketing:
Publish quality, original information on your site that establishes you as an expert in your industry. Blogs are a great way to do this. Each blog entry is like adding another web page of information to your site.
A larger more established web site will generally rank higher than smaller separate sites. It pulls more weight.
Get quality, relevant links from a variety of sources.
Set realistic expectations – if you want to rank for the words “internet marketing” it’s going to take a while. Or, you may not have much of a chance. It’s a general term and a lot of other web sites want to rank high for it. Also, your competition may have been around much longer with many links, great content, and trust built in search engines.
I like to think of web site marketing as a relationship – it’s something you build over time. Since many clients like to see results faster, paid advertising in search engines can fill in the gap. Notice the difference – one is running an ad, the other is building a relationship. Sure you pay for every link, but it’s quick. That’s why doing both is key.
