Archive for May, 2010

Website Design and Search Engine Optimization | Web Design and SEO for Small Business

Marketing Practicality | May 27, 2010 in Internet Marketing, SEO | Comments (2)

Tags: SEO, Small Business SEO, website design

Website Design and Search Engine Optimization

SEO and web design are critical components of your company’s internet marketing – most small business should agree with that. So which is more important? Is one more critical than another? And does how does a small business best address website design and search engine optimization?

Web Design Rocks, SEO Rules

Well, yes and no. First of all – I am a search engine optimizer, not a web designer. That should not surprise you if you are on my website (you found it and you are looking at it). But this is about growing your business, so where do you focus your efforts. It is also geared towards marketing strategy – not a discussion about html validation, keyword density or the emotional influence of warm colors versus cool colors.

Web Design: If You Build It, They Won’t Come

In my experience, the typical business owner focuses on website design. Website design is more qualitative and is therefore subject to being driven by the opinion of the viewer. Many business owners make the mistake of focusing on website design because they can clearly deliver an opinion on it, whereas SEO requires technical knowledge. So unless the business owner understands SEO, it’s human nature to focus on website design. The problem is building a beautiful website means nothing if your target market can’t find it – and let’s face it, that means Google and high Google rankings requires SEO.

SEO for Small Business: One Piece of the Puzzle

Search engine optimization brings traffic to your website. SEO is one of the most cost effective ways to drive highly targeted traffic and prospective customers to your company’s website. But website design can’t be ignored, driving traffic through an effective SEO campaign is critical, but if your website visitors bounce off your website because it is visually or graphically unappealing, then you have a bucket with a big hole in it.

Good website design will be visually appealing to your target market, provide intuitive and inviting navigation, convey your company’s brand or image, and support your company’s brand and strategy.

Website design and search engine optimization are both important to your internet marketing strategy.

Website Design and SEO Are Both Important…

But resources are limited so where do you focus you energy and money? This depends on your business goals.

In the early stages of a business you need a quality website with good design and layout.

Quality content is always important.

As you develop your content, involve an SEO consultant or do your search optimization in house. Once you start developing quality content on a well optimized website your traffic will increase, the more you do this (while applying effective SEO practices) the more your traffic will increase.

Revisit your website design and search engine optimization frequently. Ask colleagues, customers and others for feedback – and review your website’s analytics so you understand what keywords are driving traffic and what improves bounce rates.

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SEO for Local Businesses | Tips for Local SEO | Improve Local SEO Results

Marketing Practicality | May 11, 2010 in SEO | Comments (1)

Tags: Local SEO, marketing tips, SEO, Small Business SEO

SEO for Local Business

Is Local SEO part of your overall internet marketing strategy? SEO for Local Businesses is an area that is increasingly competitive. Let’s cover some basic tips for local SEO and how you can quickly and effectively improve your local presence with the search engines.

Local SEO Result

Local Business Listings on Search Engines

First local SEO tip – claim your local business listings on the major search engines.

Google Places (formerly Local Business Center)
Bing Local Listing Center
Yahoo! Local Listings

When you create your local listing in each search engine there are a few things to keep in mind. Try to include the name of your product or service in the local business listing title. Categorize your business accurately in your local listing. Add your product or service to your business’ local description.

Local SEO Tip #2 – Local Search Listing Reviews

Now that you have created your business’ local listing it’s time to start building your online reputation. Successful SEO for local businesses requires gathering reviews for your local listing. Ideally you want organically generated, genuine , positive reviews.

Local SEO Tip #3 – Local Directories

I recommend you also add your business to several of the top local business directories.

Yelp, Best of the Web Local (BOTW Local), Yellow Book, Localeze and CitySearch are some of the more popular local directories.

On Page SEO for Local Search

Additionally, you should optimize your website pages for local seo. Let’s look at some simple things you can do to improve your businesses local search engine rankings.

Local Address on Website

Show your complete local address on your Contact page. This is important. Also, include a local phone number as well, even if you offer a toll free number.

Also consider including your business’ complete local address and local phone number listing on every page.

Use Regional or Local Names in Page Titles

SEO for local businesses is done effectively when you include the region (state, city, etc.) in your web page titles. Consider targeting your money keyword – one that you wouldn’t expect to rank for on a National level, and add your local qualifier. For example New Jersey Insurance Agency.

Additionally, consider creating individual pages that target your product or service and mention the actual town or city. A local SEO strategy I like to use is to target at high level on the home page (e.g. Product, State) and then creating pages which target more specific locations (e.g. Product, City, State).

SEO Tips for Local Businesses

If you apply these basic tips for local SEO, you should see an increase in long tail and local search traffic to your website. Local SEO for small businesses is increasingly competitive. As the web gets bigger, markets get smaller. The sooner your business includes local SEO in its internet marketing strategy the better positioned you will be.

Additional Local SEO Resources:

David Mihm’s Local Search Ranking Factors – 2009 edition of this collection of top local SEO minds

A great Local SEO case study by Aaron Wall of SEOBook.com – I’ve done a similar test of my own agree with Aaron’s results