Small Business search engine optimization is an interesting opportunity. There are so many different business categories in any large city that it mind boggling. The only issue is the actual search volume pumping through those ever so important keywords.
I have been running an couple experiments with some small businesses by getting them to the top of search engine rankings. I have discovered that getting on the first page is rather easy but the problem lies in getting conversions or database adds and/or sales.
Ranking #1 in the search engines for small businesses was the first step of the process and I followed a simple formula, local keywords, content, bookmark and ping!
LOCAL OR SMALL BUSINESS KEYWORDS-
If you are like most beginners and are starting out by just posting your site and expecting people to just drop by then you are more than likely sadly mistaken. One of the first thing that any small business needs to do to search engine optimize their sites is to find those keywords that people search that best represents their business.
I like using Googles Free Keyword tool and I won’t go into great detail here on how you use the tool but the information you can find within the data surrounding your local business is invaluable. You will know which keywords are getting enough traffic to support your website and quite possibly if there is enough traffic in general to make search engine optimization your focal point or if you need to revamp your thoughts all together.
Here is a great detailed explanation on How to Use Google Keyword Tool - Thanks to Wordplay who writes about making money online using HubPages (http://hubpages.com/hub/make-money-writing-hubs)
Keyword Research
Keyword research is the most critical aspect if you want to make money writing online or in any form of Internet marketing. In a nutshell, keyword research will tell you which keywords (they're called that but they're usually actually "key phrases") people are searching for in Google. Other search engines use keywords as well but Google is where most of the traffic comes from. That's why I recommend using Google's free AdWords keyword research tool. For best results, use it before you even create your hub (Website/BLOG).
Using the AdWords tool
To use the AdWords tool, click the "Google's free AdWords keyword research tool" link in the previous sentence and enter words and phrases you think describe your hub. Don't worry at this point whether they'll be profitable; the AdWords interface will give you that information
Once you enter your keyword ideas and fill in the anti-spam code, click the "Get keyword ideas" button and then select "Exact" from the pull-down menu. Selecting that setting will give you the most accurate results.
The first column will give you Google's suggestions for keywords related to your topic. The second column contains green bars that indicate how much advertiser competition there is for each term. This is a critical component, because Google AdSense ads are one of the key ways you can make money writing on HubPages. AdSense will be explained further down on the page, but suffice it to say at this point that the more green in the bar, the more money that keyword will be worth.
The first column will give you Google's suggestions for keywords related to your topic. The second column contains green bars that indicate how much advertiser competition there is for each term. This is a critical component, because Google AdSense ads are one of the key ways you can make money writing on HubPages. AdSense will be explained further down on the page, but suffice it to say at this point that the more green in the bar, the more money that keyword will be worth.
CONTENT-
Now the content is ever so important and is a factor in the conversion process as well but the content needs to speak to the specific need of individual searching. More specifically, focusing on the keyword and providing content that surrounds that keyword is crucial to the underlying success of an online marketing campaign.
HINT- use your main keyword in your title and your level of success will drastically increase even if this makes for a long title it’s worth it!
Here are some Keys to Content Creation for an Online Marketing Campaign for Small Businesses!
Now once the keyword specific content is created it is SO IMPORTANT to post that content to various sites that search engines like to pull content from. WHAT? Ok, let’s simplify that, you need to be posting content on sites that rank high with the search engines already because they are more likely to trust those sites than a stand alone page.
These sites are commonly referred to as Web 2.0 websites because the users of those sites determine the content. Example would be wordpress.com (NOT .net) Blogger, Wetpaint etc.
Actually writing the content is another story. I did some research and found some excellent content on content generation at make money online with seo. Ben does an excellent job going into detail with article spinning and outsourcing.
Here are some highlights.
What does an Article Spinner Do? Simply put it take the text of a completed article and changes a few select words throughout the body of the article to create a similar yet original article allowing you to write one article and produce many!
There are basically two types of spinning: single level spinning, and nested spinning. Single level spinning can make the article pretty unique, unique enough to get indexed by Google. Nested spinning adds a whole other dimension and can really make the article unique.
Here is an example of single level spinning:
The {best | top | most efficient way} how to {get rid of | eliminate| cure| stop} cancer is to not {smoke| inhale| puff} cigars.
Basically, everything enclosed in { } are a choice. Each time software converts spin notation to text, a random selection is made from the words in the { }. When you write an entire article in this format, you get a fairly unique article.
With nested spinning, you basically something even more unique. Here is an example of a nested spin:
{The {best | top | most efficient way} how to {get rid of | eliminate| cure| stop} cancer is to not {smoke| inhale| puff} cigars | {Get rid of | eliminate | stop} your cancer by not smoking}.
It looks more complicated, but what happens is that software will look at the first set of choices (in this case, the two full sentences that are serrated by the “|”)
{ sentence 1} | {sentence 2}
And fore each of those sentences, the software, spinner, or whatever will look for spin notation {}, and if any spin notation is found for that specific sentence will select from the choices enclosed in the {}. Basically, you get something really unique. It’s not that hard to figure out how article spinning works if you spend a few minutes playing around with it.
Now, the downside of spinning is that it takes a long time. If you are fast, you probably can do a 1st level spin of a 400 word article in about 1-2 hours. If it’s a nested spin, it can take 4-6 hours for a 500 word article (I know, I’ve done it.).
Thanks Ben for the great info. on what an article spinners does!
Once you have all this content you can post these articles to the Web 2.0 sites I mentioned before ore see my long list of sites to post articles to get links and increase your search engine exposure.
Here are some great examples of Sites to Post your Content to for greater Search Engine Optimization - http://www.go2web20.net
BOOKMARK -
Bookmarking is simply explained as a place to store links to your favorite sites online. It’s an easy process and is one of the single most important activities you can do to help you get traffic to your sites. These sites are trusted by search engines and are optimized to get front page results on search engines. It's all about the backlinks baby!
Now to understand how the process of optimization works, the more links to your site you have the better the rankings or the better the search engine optimization. This is only the tip of the iceberg but it’s very important that you understand the relationship between incoming links(bookmarks), content you create specific to your keywords and local search engine optimization.
I had a little local search engine marketing experiment.
I offered to take some videos and upload them into the various video networks like Youtube and Metacafe. Once I uploaded them there I then bookmarked each page with the various bookmarking sites that are out there.
I was shocked at my little local search engine marketing experiment’s results.
Not only did I get to the top of my keywords search results page but I had done it within 2 hours and with more than one link. Now 3 months later I still am number one and have anywhere from 3-6 pages rank at given time.
Now the traffic for this keyword is minimal and the relative traffic is low but I did prove that I was able to rank in local keywords and in one niche specifically. Since doing this little experiment I have approached one business in that niche and they are now wanting me to do what I did for a smaller site for them. Result was about $6000 in my pocket and another test case that I can write about.
Check out a list of Bookmarking sites and Bookmarking Software Programs http://www.socialmarker.com
PINGING -
Pinging your website or BLOG is so easy a cave man could do it! If you are using wordpress blogging platform you can set it up so it automatically pings a set number of sites letting those site and search engines know that there is new content out and that they should stop by the site and check it out. The pinging process is nothing more than that, letting other sites and in turn search engines know that you posted new content.
If you have a stand alone site or want to ping the sites manually, I use www.ping-o-matic.com and it pings several sites for you all at once. There are other sites out there but this one is a one stop shop for pinging your site.
PAGE SETUP-
It’s very important to consider the on page attributes that will enhance your small business search engine optimization. Using the keywords throughout the page and within your meta tags and description is an absolute must.
Meta Tags and Description -
A vast majority of you will have your business name and some sort of tag line listed within the meta description. You meta tags will be some keywords you “think” will drive you traffic but your keyword research should have revealed to you the new keywords your should be targeting.
Some of the best advice I ever received about keyword targeting is to target only one keyword per page. BLOG’s make this extremely easy to do and often times take care of the meta tags and descriptions automatically for you. This will free your time up for other marketing efforts.
KEYWORDS WITHIN THE URL -
Now if you have a home page and you are trying to send all your traffic through your home page then you are going about this process incorrectly.
I am a big fan of BLOGs because they do a whole lot of the tough HTML stuff for you by getting all the meta data and URL stuff correct up front. Not to mention if you get your settings right and load your BLOG with the right plug-ins then you will have a leg up on the competition.
Now getting the URL right means you need to title your article properly. If you use the keyword in your article then there is a very good chance the keyword will be in the URL. Now it’s easy to change the URL while creating a post to ensure the keyword is in there so take some time and figure that one out. HINT: Just look above the title in wordpress and you will find what you are looking for.
WRITING FOR SEO SUCCESS -
Just a couple notes on this point, you first need to include your keyword only a few times within the text of the actual page. There is no need to stuff the page full of your target keyword to get the search engines to recognize your page for your given keyword if you have things correctly in other areas.
To help the search engines out bold your keywords within you page to direct some attention to them. This is a simple strategy that has yielded me some very good results and it should for you as well. ( you can see that I have done that in this page)
BACKLINKING-
Most people figure there is some secret formula to getting on the top page of search engines. The reality is that if you have the basics down for the on page factors all that is left is to get other websites to link to you. Easy right? Well try for a whole day to get sites to link to you and you will see exactly how tough that can be. Getting the links is most important and if you find a partner to help you are in luck!
I hope this overview is helpful in getting your small business some website traffic. I know handling all of this on your own can be difficult and often times you will see other people telling you many different approaches to handling small business search engine optimization.
What have you been doing to get some traffic?
Where do you still need help?
Leave your comments below.
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