Monday

Your Business Name Should Not be Your Website’s Only Keyword

“We have a web site and people can find us on the Web.”

When it comes to web design and Internet marketing that’s what you can hear from many small business owners. Guess what? Most of the times there are talking about “people being able to find them on the Web” it’s about using their business name as a search term. It’s simple – you type your company name in and see the results. Bam! You’re number one in Google!

Little consideration is given to the fact that their business name is unique- so there are no direct competitors for that particular search term. In other words, people must know their business name to be able to find it on the Web. Somehow they have to be aware of your company’s existence before they start looking for your website.

That’s ok for some companies that are not looking for online exposure. There are using their websites as marketing collateral – just to educate potential clients about their business. However, most companies need to go far beyond that and use their web sites as an effective tool for finding new clients. In this case, bidding just on your company’s name as a search term is not enough. You have to stat building up you online presence.

1. Identify the most relevant keywords. Be specific. Be very specific. Using just general keywords won’t do anything but waste your time and resources. Put yourself in shoes of your potential customers. If you were looking for a business like yours what keywords would you use? If you are a local business, don’t forget to put your location in your search terms as well.

For example, if you own an Italian restaurant in Greensville, OH – your keywords should be “Italian Restaurant Greensville, OH”. Not just “Restaurant” or “Italian Restaurant”

1. Be committed. If you start a SEO or SEM campaign- don’t stop until you reach the first page. Research shows that first place in the search results gets almost half of the organic clicks. Second 10-15%. Third 5-10%. The remaining around 3-6%

People tend to think that Search Engines place the “best” companies first so they trust them more. If you’re not on the first page- consider yourself lost in the vastness of the Internet.

You can also determine your placement yourself if you’re using a PPC campaign. Google AdWords is a good place to start. It might take some time to get yourself familiarized with the interface but it’s not that difficult to use.

However, it might be a quite expensive proposition if you’re bidding on competitive keywords.

Also don’t forget local searches. Google as well as Bing are now offering Local Search Results that are placed prominently above all organic listings. It’s the best real estate for advertising your company before clients’ eyes.

1. And finally, monitor your progress. Use web statistics. Your hosting company might offer you such services. If not, you can always use Google Analytics. It’s free and pretty easy to use. This way you’ll see who your visitors are and how they are finding you on the Web.