Search Engine Optimization 101
You’ve probably received more than one phone call from someone claiming to specialize in search engine optimization. For anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to thousands a month, this specialist will get your website on the top of Google for keywords relevant to your business.
You know the old ways of advertising aren’t working as well as they used to. You know the Internet is where everyone now goes to find what they need, including services provided by local businesses. Perhaps you’ve known that you need to improve your online presence for some time.
Search Engine Optimization simply means having an online presence that is easy for the major search engines to find. When the search engines can find you, so can Internet users looking for what you offer. Your online presence consists of your websites and all online content you create.
You don’t have to be some big Internet marketing guru to improve your online presence. This article will tell you about a few very simple things you can do (or have one of your employees do) that can make a big difference. It will also explain how you can use your ability to contribute to the NCCB blog to help improve your visibility and traffic.
1. Build a website Make sure that any professional developer you work with understands SEO. There are certain ways pages and blog posts can be named to help them rank higher in the search engines. If the developer doesn’t get it, keep shopping.
If you are not prepared to hire a developer or take the time to learn how to build it yourself, there are some free and easy options that you can start with. You can use your NCCB directory listing as your website if you want. You can add pictures, embed videos and it even has a built in contact form. You can build a Facebook fan page at no charge, and you can use it as your main site as long as you include all the important information. It even has a place to fill in your store hours and location and a description of what you offer.
Other free options that can serve more as a traditional website are Blogger and Squidoo. They are both free to use and allow you to create pages or modules, upload pictures, insert videos, text and graphics. You can easily create a very nice site for your business. In fact, even if you already have a website, creating a site on Squidoo can really help.
2. Create pages that target keywords people are likely to search when they need your services
You can use the NCCB blog for this, as well as your own if you have one. Let’s say you are an auto mechanic in Fort Collins. When someone’s car breaks down and they don’t already have a mechanic they trust, do you know what they do?
The type in their city and then “auto mechanic” or “car repair” in the search box. People in Fort Collins looking for an auto mechanic will type in “fort collins auto mechanic” or “fort collins co auto mechanic.”
To show them (and Google) you exist, simply create a page named after one of those keywords. A page you create on NCCB might have a url like this: http://ncobarter.com/03/2011/fort-collins-auto-mechanic. You get this type of url by filling in “Fort Collins Auto Mechanic” in the title field of the blog post editor. Then you write the blog post.
When you link to your post, create a hyperlink to the words “Fort Collins Auto Mechanic.” This tells Google that the page you just created is relevant to the keyword “Fort Collins Auto Mechanic.” Depending on how many other people are targeting this keyword, when a visitor enters “fort collins auto mechanic” into the search box, they are likely to see your blog post.
If you have a website, create a post or page on your own site with the same title and hyperlink it in the same way.
The great thing about using the NCCB blog to build your online presence is that I will post links to your content on the NCCB Facebook fan page as well.
3. Build links to your search engine optimized page This is where having a Facebook fan page and Twitter profile comes in handy. You can also make great use of free sites like Blogger and Squidoo. Create a link to your new page using the keyword (in this example, the keyword is “fort collins auto mechanic”) and post it to your page. The more links you create, the more Google sees that your page is relevant to that keyword.
4. Rinse and Repeat NCCB places no limits on the number of blog posts you can create, as long as each one is unique and helpful–yes it does have to be a real article. You can share tips on winterizing your car, how often you need an oil change, how to fix a flat tire, anything you want. Give your other posts titles that target other keywords, such as “fort collins auto repair” or “fort collins car mechanic,” and so forth. Then post links to those pages wherever you can.
The more content you can create online and the more you link to that content, the better your online presence will be. It’s really that simple.
Last Updated (Monday, February 28, 2011 — 12:51 AM)
