Search Engine Optimization for the Small Business Owner

Day472
I wanted to share a great article by Gary Hughes. It will be helpful to every small business owner. Please read his bio at the end for information on his website.

You've worked hard to design and develop a website that will promote your products and services to the world. You've spent hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars to get your site online. But where are the visitors? I mean, you've always heard, "If you build it, they will come."

Why Aren't Customers Lining Up To buy?

That's the largest problem faced by small businesses attempting to do business on the internet. Larger companies have the resources to pay for traffic. They can advertise on the busiest sites on the net to attract potential customers. They can promote their sites through multiple channels including radio, television, and event sponsorships.

How Can a Small Business with Limited Resources Compete in
This Arena?

The best way to drive traffic to your new website is through the use of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Traffic from search engines will usually yield higher conversion rates due to its targeted nature. Individuals performing a search for a
particular product or service have already demonstrated their motivation to obtain what you have to sell. You just want to be sure you're optimizing for the correct search terms and that you're following all the rules.

Liberal Use of Keywords

You may have heard that on the internet "content is king." This is because search engines can only determine the value of a site based on the textual content within the pages of that site. Search engines can't see pictures or video. (There are methods to assist them to do so, but that's beyond the scope of this article.) To rank highly in the search engines for a particular word or phrase, your selected target phrase should be used throughout the content on your site.

How Often Should You Repeat Your Keywords?

The various search engines operate slightly different in this regard, so it's a little tricky. Here are a few general recommendations to get you started on the right path:

1. Use your selected keyword or phrase near the top of the page. Search engines assume that a site that includes content that begins with a specific keyword should probably rank highly for that term.

2. Use your keyword or phrase in a headline tag (H1, H2 HTML tags). If you aren't familiar with HTML tags, do a web search for HTML tutorials or pick up a book on HTML. Most website editors will allow you to easily define headings. The key here
is to use the keyword in a heading to emphasize the fact that your site is targeting that subject. Just be sure not to overdo it. If the word or phrase is repeated too often, some search engines will consider this "keyword stuffing" and penalize or ban your site. You want to be sure to avoid this.

3. Repeat your keyword or phrase within the content of your site. Again, you want to demonstrate that your site is a good resource for the selected topic. You don't want to go overboard. Search engines may think your site content is keyword spam and ban you from their listings. A general rule is to maintain a keyword density of around five percent. Keyword density is the term used to refer to the ratio of keywords to total words on a page. For example, if your content was 100 words in length, you would want to have your keyword repeated five times throughout the page. Keep in mind that many search engines can now determine word or phrase variations. To keep your site content
interesting, you should probably try to use variations of your keyword. This may actually help to boost your results since your content is less likely to be considered spam.

4. Use your keyword or phrase in hyperlinks. Another way to add your chosen keywords to your content is to include them in the links on your page. This includes both inbound (links to other pages within your site) and outbound (links to external sites)
links. Using your selected keywords in inbound links helps to emphasize the relationship of your site to your chosen keywords. That's because a link that includes your keywords demonstrates relevance of the site content to the chosen topic.

What Are Some Other Search Engine Optimization Strategies?

Beyond the use of keywords within the content of your site, there are a few other things that must be done to rank highly in search engine results. The most important is to increase the number of sites linking into yours. Why is this important?
Search engines assume that a site with a higher number of links into it will likely include content of interest to their users.

There several methods for increasing the number of links into your site:

1. You can locate and join forums that are relevant to the content of your site. These forums will usually allow you to sign your entries with your name and website address. This will be counted as a link into your site. Be careful to read the rules of each forum before posting because they are often different. Also be sure to make your postings relevant to the discussion of the forum. Don't sacrifice your online reputation
by becoming known for spamming forums. Using this method correctly can actually position you to be viewed as an expert in your chosen field.

2. You can seek out sites with complimentary content and offer to exchange links. This is usually a win-win situation because both sites will benefit from an increased number of links. The drawback is that you're giving up a link from your site. You really want to have more inbound links than outbound since search engines typically have a formula for determining site value that favors higher numbers of inbound links. Outbound
links count as deductions from the count of inbound links. They're good for another reason, though. The other site's visitors may locate your site on their links page. This will
increase traffic to your site in much the same way that search engines will. And again, these are targeted visitors since they arrived from a site that offers products or services that are similar to your own.

3. You can write articles and publish them to article distribution sites. This is a great way to increase traffic to your site. It can help to position you as an expert on a
particular subject, readers that have chosen to visit your site have already been partially qualified (they are interested in what you provide), and one article can potentially provide
multiple inbound links. This is because the article can be picked up by many others and used to increase content on their own sites. Since you are allowed to include a link to your site in the author details section of the article, your link will be maintained as it is distributed.

4. Another good way to increase links into your site is to produce content that visitors will want to share with others. This may include funny stories, comics, funny or informative videos, etc. If you include a way for site visitors to easily link to your site content, they very often will. This is a great way to get large numbers of inbound links quickly. You will also have the positive side effect of increased traffic from word of
mouth that doesn't even depend on the search engines.

As you can see, getting visitors to your site requires some effort. But it is definitely well worth it. Global Internet traffic is growing rapidly and will probably continue to do so
for the foreseeable future. Doing a little extra work now to secure your place in this marketplace will be very rewarding for many years to come.

Gary Hughes is president of Imparadise LLC, a software
development company that specializes in developing custom
business software to improve organizational efficiency. He also
provides instruction for small business owners to assist them in
promoting their products and services on the internet.

Small Business Web Solutions (http://www.completesolutions.com)

Driving traffic to your website

Day469
This is a great article written by Kelly K. Spors in the Wall Street Journal called ‘In Search of Traffic as a Small Business’ It covers getting more traffic to your website using search engine optimisation, more quality content, links, ads and people who can help you with this if you can’t or don’t want to do it yourself.
It’s an interesting and very helpful read to anyone starting an online store:

Driving Traffic to your website

Good business advice

Day356
I found a good article today that I want to share. It’s really too long for one blog post so I’ll print the author’s first 5 suggestions today and his last 5 tomorrow.

It’s called “Make more money online with less customers” by Roy King.

Most website owners are on the Internet to ultimately earn money. Internet marketing, traffic building, and search engine optimization has become a difficult challenge for all who seek the financial rewards from their ecommerce ventures.
There are many ways to direct traffic to one's website, a few are free, but most will cost you time, money, and patience to gradually develop.

Many experts who have carefully analyzed Internet traffic patterns admit that your website visitor will give you between 5 -10 seconds to influence them to stay.
When you actually think about this, 5-10 seconds is a very short time to convince anyone about anything.

Now you are expected to reassure a new client that has for the first time visited your site that your site is relevant to their immediate demands and desires, and will provide them with the primary solutions to their problems. How can this be done?

Traditionally an acceptable online conversion rate for Opt-in clients versus buyers is about 1-2 percent. Simply put, one out of 100 visitors will possibly purchase from your website. These are just terrible odds.

The vast majority of the ecommerce community seem to willingly accept these percentages as a part of doing business online. Most website owners constantly spend tons of money developing SEO tactics along with paid advertisements to lure bigger volumes of prospects to visit their website with no regards to super weak conversion ratios.

New traffic should always be a priority, but persuading prospects to buyers should rank supreme.

Let's say for an example that your established website incorporates 10,000 opt-in clients. The traditional conversion rate is about 1.5 percent. These figures equal a potential sum of about 150 buying customers out of 10,000 clients.

Now let's raise the bar to a 10 percent conversion rate. We now have 1000 consumers that have purchased from us, that's an increase of 850 buyers from the same opt-in list.

Well you say, ok, but who actively produces a conversion rate of 10 percent?
The answer is site owners who really understand their clients!
Here are 10 steps to help you make more money online with fewer customers....

1. Evaluate your website.
Simplicity is the key here. The simpler the better. Review the biggest revenue bearing website on the world wide web today... Google.com. This site is as simple as it gets, that's the way the web visitors like.

Simple navigation to destination articles or products should not be a difficult hurdle. Just click on a subject or title and you’re there, period. A maze of links and clicks turn visitors off. Make it simple and to the point.

Article or product links should be within 2 clicks. Your client should not have to thoroughly search your site for the pertinent information that they may desire. Remember you have less than 10 seconds to convince that client that this is the place for them, or else, click, they’re gone!

2. Clearly present what your website is all about.
Your main header (headline) should clearly state what your website has to offer. Your potential customers should not have to guess or get frustrated while trying to determine the relevance of your site. Your customer is there to seek solutions to his or her problems; it's your job to resolve them, not to create another problem.

3. Establish your website with statements of confidence.
Your website presentation should carefully place confidence into your visitors mind as a trusted authority of facts, information, or for products in demand.

4. Using Power words, Phrases, and Emotional Triggers.
Compile a list of intelligent words that interact with your customer and your website peaking your customer’s interest.

Power words are the essential ingredients to a successful website. These words respond with the mindset of your customer's needs and the fundamental reason they are there.

Power words further develop curiosity in your customer's mind. Can this product or informative article resolve my problem? Power words relate to the primary resolution of their problem, concerns, or desires. The more frequently you can establish a mutual relationship between your client's problems and the different ways you could possibly solve them, the more sales you will ultimately make.

5. Establish a Perceived Value to Opt-In.
New clients will not give their email addresses out willingly to just anyone. Most customers already have flooded e-mail boxes with junk e-mail. Customers do not like receiving worthless junk mail that is annoying and consuming their time.

Never try to sell your customers anything with your e-mail messages. Emails to clients should be committed to establish complete confidence and curiosity within your valued client. Email should be used as a tool to credibly connect the message that your website is a realistic resolution to their problems or desires. You definitely desire your customer to be eager to open your e-mail having them feeling confident that you will be helping them. Remember, this is your invitation to your website.

Simply stated, these types of emails are called pre-sells. Making your client aware that your their trusted friend, and are here to help them. Concentrate your efforts for a long-term relationship. Your main goal here is having your client enjoy receiving your emails and visiting your website.