SEO Tips for Your Business

How to SEO Your Business

Ready for some news that’s both surprising and yet not-so-surprising? Nearly 70 percent of adults in the United States “rarely or never” use the phone book.

That’s according to a recent study by Harris Interactive.

Instead of the phone book, people are turning increasingly to the Internet to find a product or service. Judging from the stacks of unopened yellow pages, most people probably will nod and agree with the overall trend.

But, what does this mean for businesses, many of which still advertise in the old-fashioned phone book?

Well, it means your company is advertising in the wrong place. And it means your competitor is probably grabbing your market share.

It wasn’t that long ago when yellow page advertising was one of those necessary evils. Like most other business, if you wanted your phone to ring, you had to pay to play. And it wasn’t cheap.

Now, all that’s changed and we business owners — regardless of whether we like it or not — must be willing to change, too. The fact is your prospects are more likely to be sitting in front of a computer screen, tablet PC or a smart phone, using Google, Yelp and Bing. They want immediate results. And they’re not willing to spend a lot of time and energy searching for it.

This means your company must develop its online footprint and ensure that your potential clients can indeed find you easily online. The easy solution is click-thru advertising.

The smarter approach, though, is to optimize your web identities, like your website and social media profiles, for higher organic rankings. In the geek world, we call it SEO, or search engine optimization.

SEO can be segregated into two parts: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Both are important.

On-page SEO refers to the things you can do to ensure that your website is properly recognized by the search engines. Search engines regularly send bots (software) to scour the Internet and catalog what they find. You want your website to “sing” your targeted keywords while making it easy for the bots to “read” your website.

If you’re an attorney practicing employment law, you may want your website’s content to include relevant keyword phrases like: labor attorney Hawaii, labor attorney Honolulu, labor law Hawaii, labor law Honolulu, employment lawyer Hawaii, etc.

At the same time, you need to make sure your website is coded in a way to facilitate the search engines’ abilities to understand your website’s actual content.

It gets a bit technical here. But your rankings will improve if you take the time to do it right.

Below is a list of some of the things you should address. Give the list to your web head and get a fixed-price quote for what it will cost. Larger sites having more pages will obviously take longer and thus be more expensive. In general, market pricing typically will range from $500 to $1,500 per website for on-page SEO, depending on the scope of work.

Here is a quick guide towards good on-page SEO (source: www.seoco.co.uk):

• Internal linking: Make sure that all of your web pages can be indexed by search engines, and make sure that they all have at least one link from somewhere on your site.

• Unique content: Make sure that you have unique content on every page. Simply bold and underline your target keywords present in the content. A word of warning: Do not overdo it. You don’t need to bold and underline all target keywords present in the content, only a few.

• Page title: Your page title tags and description tags should describe the content of your different web pages. The page title tags should be less than 68 characters and the description tags more detailed but less than 148 characters.

• Meta tags: Make sure that your meta tags are arranged correctly. Meta description should be used to describe the site and Meta keyword should be used as a list of words that inform viewers about the main focus of the page.

• H tags: Make sure you label the different headers on your web pages using H tags.

• SEO-friendly URL: Make sure that your web page URLs are SEO friendly; use mod rewrite for Linux and Apache hosting or use IIS redirect for Windows. Ideally, make it so that the URLs describe your content.

• Complete links: Make sure that the links within your site are complete.

• Right image names: Make sure that you use descriptive URLs for your images.

• Alt tag: Make sure that you label all of your images with descriptive alt attributes.

• Meaningful anchor text: Make sure that you make good use of anchor text links within your content — if you have a page about blue widgets, use the phrase blue widgets in the text that links to it.

• Unique website: Make sure that there is only one version of your site.

• Unique homepage: Make sure that there is only one version of your homepage.

• W3C validation: Make sure that your code is valid; in some instances bad code can lead to search engines not being able to properly read a page. Use the W3C validator to check your markup.

I know. The above list is full of geek-speak. But your web head should know what to do.

Search Engine Optimization & Internet Marketing Services

Next week (Thursday, May 13th), Pacific Business News will host a breakfast tech seminar for managers, executives and business owners.  I will be one of the panelists and we will discuss how your business can leverage technology to stay competitive.

As part of my presentation, I will explain a checklist of items every business can adopt and implement right away with little or no upfront cost.  The point is to get-going on the latest market trends to ensure your company’s mid to longterm viability.

By the way, it’s not too late to join the event.  I am confident you’ll find it relevant and useful.  For more info: http://bit.ly/bdM9Rv

Here’s my checklist for making your business tech-ready:

• Nuke your website. If you’re like most businesses, you spent a good chunk of money on a nice website…a few years ago.  Well, times have changed and as a result the site is probably dated in terms of design and features.  Your website is your most important face to the world.  It should also be your best salesperson.  Enhance your site using WordPress, which is a free, open source, content management system.  WordPress is easy to use, fully featured and search engine friendly.  It will also give you everything you need to start blogging.

• Use analytics for everything. Knowledge is power.  You need to know how many people are visiting your website.  You need to know what interests them.  The more you mine  the data, the better you can serve your clients.  Add Google Analytics to your site.  It takes just a few minutes.  I will gladly do it for you free of charge.  Also, go to bit.ly and create an account.  It costs nothing.  You can use bit.ly to create smart URLs, so you can measure what’s popular and what’s not.  The link in the third paragraph of this column in one of those smart links.  It will tell me how many people clicked on it and from where.

• Poll your customers, employees and vendors. I wish I had learned this one in high school.  If you want to know something, just ask!  Too often we business owners feel we must operate on instinct when the truth could be just a click away.  Go to SurveyMonkey.com, create an internal survey, and ask your employees what they think about you.  The survey is anonymous, so fasten your seatbelt!  Equally important, solicit feedback from your clients.  You can automate the whole process so every customer receives a thank you note and has the opportunity to give feedback. The info is gold.

• Use Google Alerts. Google offers a free service called Google Alerts.  You tell Google which keywords or key phrases interest you, and Google will email you a report every day summarizing where those keywords and phrases hit the internet.  Use Google Alerts to monitor your brand, market trends, your competition, and new opportunities.  Brilliant.

• Socialize your business. This is the boat you don’t want to miss.  Social media is here to stay.  Create accounts for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.  Use TweetDeck.com, HootSuite.com and Ping.fm to help you manage all those accounts.  You don’t have to understand social media, you just have to start using it.  You’ll ‘get’ it soon enough.  Don’t let your competitor eat your lunch.

• Use a reader. In the old days, newspapers printed what they considered news and we took what they gave us.  Now, you can create your own ‘channel’ of news and selected topics of interest.  Using Google Reader, you choose the content you want to read everyday and Google Reader will pull it all together for you into one convenient stream of info.  You are in the driver’s seat.  Google does all the work for you.  Free. You will need to stay on top of market trends so you can make blog posts and interact with others.

• Do webinars. I absolutely love GoToWebinar.com.  From the convenience of my home,  in my pajamas (!), I can give timely, relevant online presentations to my staff, to my clients, and to potential customers.  It’s a terrific way to keep your base informed and it’s a very effective sales tool: http://bit.ly/bcc35I

• Start a Wiki. Our mission in business is to make a difference, to make the world a better place.  This is what drives us.  Ultimately, though, we also want quality of life.  We can work hard when we’re in our twenties and thirties, but at some point we value freedom from schedule, the ability to affect change through philanthropy, etc.  If you run an organization, your most important tasks is to capture on paper your wisdom and knowledge.  In other words, you want to map out critical operational issues like policies, proceedures, and expectation, so in the event you get hit by the proverbial bus, your business has a playbook to use a guide to keep things going.  I highly recommend Zoho Wiki.

• Use Google Docs. This one is a no-brainer.  Microsoft Office is expensive; Google Docs is free.  using Google Docs, you can do Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. You can import ‘old school’ files from colleagues who haven’t yet migrated to Google Docs, you can work off-line, you can store everything online, you can share the same doc with others so it becomes a dynamic file, always getting updated, always current, etc. The sooner you move to Google Docs, the better.

• Do targeted advertising. There’s been a neat shift in the way we capture leads and convert prospects.  Conventional advertising like display ads and direct mail, for example, is alive and well. We do it religiously at SuperGeeks.  But we also use new weapons, like click-thru online advertising.  What’s really powerful about new media is I can target a very specific demographic, say engaged, college educated women living in Hawaii who speak Spanish, and I can present that well-defined group with a very specific advertising message.  Moreover, I can send that click-thru prospect to a custom-tailored webpage, full of analytics, so I can measure how many people actually purchase or take some kind of action, like request a free consultation.  This has completely reinvented the way we advertise and has given us extremely valuable metrics on what works and what doesn’t.  It’s both effective and a lot of fun!

To learn more about these and other tech tips, join us on the 13th: http://bit.ly/bdM9Rv

A friend of mine is opening a new law office.  It’s an exciting time for him -especially since this will be his first business.
But as you can imagine, it’s also a risky time for him.  He’s not well funded and will need to bootstrap the startup every step of the way.
He asked me for advice about what to do for his IT systems.  For now, his office will have only 3 employees, including him.
Here’s what I recommended to him:

Don’t waste money on fancy hardware.
Computers are like screwdrivers: Old ones work just as well as new ones.
Because he and his staff will use the computers primarily for documents, internet access and email, I told him to skip buying anything new and just re-format his Windows XP computers.
By reformatting his used PCs, he wipes out any malicious software which may be hiding on the machines. Reformatted computers also run faster. It’s win/win.
I did advise he buy nice 22” LCD screens from Office Depot.  One shouldn’t compromise on what he/she looks at all day long.
(Savings from opting for used hardware: $1500)

Go Google.
Microsoft Office is so old school.  It’s expensive and it’s bloated.
Instead of Office, I told him to signup for Google Docs.  Google Docs does everything Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  It even looks and feels similar to Office.
The beauty of Google Docs, though, is it’s free.  Moreover, the files can be shared online with other employees.  This means improved productivity.
In addition to productivity software, Google also offers free email and free calendaring. No need for Outlook nor Exchange Server.
(Savings from opting for Google Docs: $2000).

Get a simple website.
Simple does not mean crappy.  As a business, your ‘face’ to the public must be smart, clean and professional.  A ghetto website screams: “Our company does not get it!”
Don’t ruin a potential client’s impression of your organization.  Get a nice site.
Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to have a successful site.  Take a look at WordPress themes.  Google it.  Find a theme you like and have it customized.  You won’t regret it.
Note: Not all WordPress themes are created equal.  Email me for a list of good ones.
(Savings from insisting on a decent site: priceless.)

Create accounts for Google Maps, LinkedIn and Facebook.
All roads lead to Rome.  You should think of social media in the same way: links to your website.
Now, those ‘roads’ leading back to your website need not be sexy.  They can even be ‘dirt’ roads – provided your company’s website looks great.
I told him to focus just on Google Maps, LinkedIn and Facebook for now.  It’s enough.
Cost: free.

Define your tech policies.
Most companies skip this step and they ultimately pay for it in the long run.  I told him to spend 1 hr and list what’s acceptable computer behavior and what is not.
For example, is it OK for the company’s computers to be used for personal things like chatting, downloading bootleg stuff from file sharing sites, watching porn, etc?
How about storing confidential info on laptops used in the field?
These are important policies and if they don’t exist somewhere in written form, then essentially the company has no policy.
I told him to create a working doc using Zoho Wiki and ask employees to contribute to it on a regular basis.  His practice will be worth more as a business.

Backup the important stuff.
Businesses can lose everything in a blink.  Fire, flood, theft, viruses…It happens all the time.  We see people in tears nearly every day, having lost everything, and no backup.
I told him to designate one computer as a file server and configure the network so all files are automatically stored on that computer.  I also told him to use two external drives for daily backups and rotate the drives weekly so there’s always one good backup offsite at his home for safekeeping.

You worked really hard on your business. You mopped the floors, prepared a business plan, and hired top-notch people to help you grow it. You did everything you were supposed to do: got the perfect location, professional business cards, great signage and a decent-looking website. Sometimes you wonder if you are working too hard and if there is anything (anyone) out there who can make it easier on you.

In fact, there is. Your website, if properly configured, can be an invaluable help. It can take some of your tasks on, including attracting new business and retaining existing customers. In these stormy economic conditions you definitely need all help you can get. Yes, it’s simpler to ignore it and continue to rely on a phone book and other traditional advertising to connect with your customers. However, traditional advertising is costly and its results are difficult to measure.

Optimizing your website will allow you to capture all of the customers who rely on Google or Yahoo to search for a product and service. Customers increasingly rely on uncle Google for advice. Who haven’t you seen piles of new phone books in an apartment complex’s mail room? As an experiment, try Googling a service that your company provides and locale, e.g. “dog grooming Honolulu” or “food catering Hilo” and take a look at the results. Is your business showing up anywhere on the first few pages? Is your competitor’s?

We often hear from local businesses: we get our business from existing customer referrals. That’s how we get most of our business too and it is truly a Hawaii way. However, no business has ever suffered from having too many customers. If your website brings additional (probably younger) customers, there is nothing wrong with that.

There are free and inexpensive ways to improve your company’s website’s performance.

Improve your content and design. Make sure your website is adequately educating your customers about services and products you offer. The language should be clean and free of technical terms. The layout should be nice and easy for reading. No giant blocks of text and ugly neon colors. As with a house you are trying to sell, the colors should cater to the public (think neutral) and not to your personal preferences (hot pink or chartreuse). Try to be very specific about what you offer. “We offer best personal care products in Honolulu” does not tell your prospective customer much. You need to specify what it is and why it’s better than another store down the road. Finally, lower the barrier to entry – offer free consultation, money back guarantee, or good FAQ section.

Make it easier for search engines to find you. Search engines are designed to look for a relevant and popular content. Thus, your site should be current and contain links and articles relevant to your line of business. For example, if you are in floral business, your site should have tips on flower arrangements, links to other websites with interesting information regarding flowers, and any upcoming festival which uses your leis. Participate in local forums and social media providing links to content to your website. Make sure you are on Yelp (or if you are in tourism industry – on Trip Advisor).

Leverage your connections. If you have a partnership with another business or group of businesses – exchange links to each other’s websites. For example, if you are a piano studio and provide lessons in one of the private schools – provide a link to the school on your site and ask them to do the same. Do the same for any professional organizations you belong to – bar association, Rotary, Small Businesses Hawaii, etc.

To evaluate the quality of your current website, go these sites: www.websitegrader.com or www.validator.w3.org. They will list some of the things you can do now to help turn your website into a sales monster. Get started today!