Why is SEO So Important for Your Business?
It’s amazing that as long as the internet has been around that many companies are still asking “Do I really need to be concerned with SEO?”
The answer to that question is a resounding YES! Today more than ever, businesses need an online presence. This is a great way for a business to market their products and services to a whole new market regionally, statewide and even internationally. For the “newbies” who finally now have a website, marketing that site becomes a marketing priority. Having a website doesn’t mean you’re maximizing your businesses exposure. If you don’t market you business website then you are merely at a standstill and going nowhere.
Utilizing the power of SEO is as important as your traditional marketing efforts. While traditional marketing is excellent in it scope, it only works in a very specific area or region. Not to mention it’s expensive to market nationwide or even worldwide. Cost can be a huge factor with traditional marketing however with SEO it’s not only necessary but cheaper as well. Your ROI (Return on Investment) is also higher when utilizing SEO.
A website offers your customers so much information in one location. So with traditional marketing you may have a brochure for one thing, a postcard for another thing and a flyer for something else. With your website you have one main source for all the information your customers will need.
By utilizing the power of SEO, you can optimize your website and make it easier for search engines like Google to find you. SEO uses things like keywords, key phrases as well as meta tags to enhance how search engines find you. It allows your website to easily found by your target customers. In other words, your website is like a bicycle and SEO is the chain that moves it ahead.
San Diego Marketing Round Table – Starting the Conversation
At this month’s Round Table, we discussed blogging and how to most effectively use it as a tool to market your business. One of the attendees, Jessica Barna of Kitchens Resolved, wrote and typed up notes that I thought would be good to share. Enjoy!
Topic: The Art of Blogging – Starting the Conversation
Blogs:
Can’t just be all the wonderful things you do
Must provide some type of useful or entertaining information
Helps develop trust with potential customers
For best results: should use an integrated system of blogs, video, email marketing, etc.
Cannot get the full benefit from a blog without using other social media marketing
Need to use all the tools available to us
Portray yourself through your blog
Get involved in a person’s thinking
Can be demanding, blogs require constant updating
Common practice: Offer services to influential bloggers, hope that bloggers talk about your product/services.
RSS Feed allows you to subscribe to blogs, can create reader accounts and have your selected blogs update your reader page automatically.
Takes 6 Touches to get business – use blogging to start touching clients without much time or money from you per touch.
Don’t be “salsey” in your blog. No one wants to be sold, but everyone likes to buy.
Video Blogs:
Idea: Provide a video “power tip” on You Tube. Post a new tip daily, to keep people coming back.
Develop your own You Tube Channel
Mike recommends having out more than 100 videos. Start with 20 or 30, and daily update.
With so many blogs nowadays, how do small businesses create a blog that competes with others?
Placement,
Comment on blogs in your field,
Always provide a link to your website,
Make your blog useful every post
Takes time and effort.
Hire Marketing help.
Optimize your blog for people to find you when they search, SEO.
Cross-pollinate with other bloggers to get exposure to their readers (What is right name for this practice?
The Art of Blogging – the four E’s
- Education
- Engagement
- Enrichment
- Entertainment
Organizing your blog for search-ability: can have keywords for each of your posts, can have a search feature so people can find your writing about any subject you blog about, really good blogs usually have search features.
Blogs used for marketing businesses usually have 1 or more of these 6 goals (adapted from a list by S. Gardner):
- Inform or educate the public and your current customers
- Provide customer service, or help to use a product or service
- Convey a sense of company personality and culture
- Entertain readers and customers
- Drive readers to take an action
- Encourage dialogue with customers
Tools and references:
4 Square – condenses various social media outlets
Alltop.com is a blog directory
Next month topic: Guerilla Marketing
Why Build Your Brand?
Building your brand has never been more important than now. The economy has taken a slump and now businesses are in pass or fail mode. Your “brand” is the name for your products and services. Your brand is the heart and soul of what you do. It is your representation to the world of who you are.
The business world is very competitive. There are probably a few other businesses that are in the same market as you; selling the same products and services. So what sets you apart from them? That’s simple – Your Brand! While technology is changing; your brand stays the same. While the economy may be fizzing; your brand stays the same. Your brand is the one constant thing you have in the business world. Your brand will have value. For example, Nike is a brand. So while their shoes have value, it’s the name (the brand) everyone knows. It’s the name that has value.
There are three types of brands:
- Primary Brands – This is your main brand; the core of who you are. It’s the umbrella under which other brands can fall.
- Secondary Brands – This is a second line of branding and doesn’t have to have its own brand name. The brand can be an extension of the primary brand. So for example, Johnson and Johnson is the primary brand. Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder is the secondary brand.
- Tertiary Brands – These are brands that don’t really generate revenue the way the primary and secondary brands do. This could be a generic line developed by the company.
Once you have developed a brand you must then think of how to market that brand. However, general marketing will not do. How people perceive the brand is going to make a huge difference to the success of that brand. Take for instance Geico Insurance. While they boast cheaper prices than their competitors, they have marketed wisely and in a way that people perceive them as a truly competitive insurance company. Their slogan “15 minutes can save you 15% or more on car insurance” is catchy and unforgettable. Combine that with the marketing gimmick of the Gecko and you have a brand that is memorable and perceived well by the public.
This is the heart of what branding is and can do for you. If you haven’t developed a brand yet – “what are you waiting for?” Each day that passes is another day in which your company is losing money to the competition. So get started today!
Lisa’s Liquor Barn
Lisa’s Liquor Barn, a discount wine and liquor store in Rochester, NY, has only been with Score Consulting a few short months and has already seen some pretty impressive results. They came to us with a full e-commerce website already designed and needed to start to expand their market share beyond their local town of Penfield. Score Consulting is currently working with them on optimizing their site to be found in Rochester, Webster and Fairport, as well as Penfield. We are also monitoring and managing their online reputation.
Whalen Organizing and Consulting
Whalen Organizing and Consulting is led by Professional Organizer Lisa Whalen and provides virtual assistant, lab management and professional organizing services to small business owners in San Diego (President’s note: She’s worked wonders for me already!). After performing an ISWOT Analysis on her Internet presence (with a focus on her website), we decided that optimizing the content on her site and re-purposing her website to focus more on converting visitors would help her business greatly. We also handle the tracking of her website and are currently developing a blog.
