Month: October 2012

The Increasing Importance of SEO in Non-Online Businesses

If you are one of those who think SEO is necessary or beneficial only for online businesses, you are sadly misinformed. SEO or search engine optimization may be a term and a practice in the online realm, but the entities and causes that can benefit from it extends beyond the World Wide Web.

It’s now considered old-fashioned for a businessman to eschew the chance to promote his services and products on the Web in favor of traditional marketing tactics like handing out flyers, paying for radio, paper and television ads, and hosting promotional events.

Let’s face it though: these marketing moves are already too clichéd that consumers who are instinctually leery of promotional efforts would no longer bite your proffered bait. Besides, there’s now a much more cost-efficient method of promoting one’s business, and that’s through search engine optimization.

Notice that it has become customary for a large company to hire a reliable SEO company to create its official website and promote its services over the Web. Even the owners of SMBs (small to medium businesses) are actively going online to promote their businesses too. They have lesser resources than large companies though, so they often use free platforms like Blogspot, WordPress, and social media networks.

So why do today’s businessmen and entrepreneurs turn to online channels when it comes to promoting businesses? Why should those who haven’t jumped into the bandwagon yet do the same thing?

SEO = Effective & Efficient Business Promotion

One of the first things people in marketing and promotions do is find out where they can reach a large percentage of their target market. This usually means sending people to the malls and sidewalks to distribute flyers, hand out free samples and the like—which would all work to a degree because people do frequent these public places. However, you can also capitalize on the fact that the Internet is just as widely populated—perhaps even more so.

Consider the following:

  • Almost every person in the civilized world today is using the Internet on an almost daily basis, be it for leisure or for work.
  • Customers are now researching online about the products they are interested in first before actually going to the stores to buy them.
  • Besides researching product descriptions, customers are also looking for reviews and customer feedback to reinforce their decision on buying a particular item.
  • 70.30% of Internet users in the United States have bought at least one product or paid for a service in 2011.
  • It is estimated that in 2012, the percentage of US Internet users who will end up purchasing items/services through this medium at least once will go up to 77%.

Based on these statistical data and simple analysis of consumer behavior, it is clear that the Internet is also a commercial ground where you can, metaphorically, hand out leaflets and flyers to potential customers. Now this is where SEO comes in.

business seo
SEO your business. Make your business become visible online.
Source: http://www.techwench.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Branding-Small-Businesses.jpg and http://bigideassmallbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/SEO.jpg

To define SEO, it is the process of making a website become visible to search engine users—specifically, by making their websites appear in the first results pages.

It is easy to understand how this benefits a business that’s looking to attract more customers. If your website is on the first three spots on the SERPs, you have the best chance of getting clicked on by users. There have been so many studies conducted over the years regarding this matter, and the statistical results vary. According to Chitika network, 34.35% of Google users only click on page 1 of its search engine results. 16.96% click on page 2, and 11.42% click on page three. The values continue to decrease for the succeeding pages.

traffic from google
This SERP click-through study was conducted in 2010.
Source: http://chitika.com/research/uploads/Traffic-by-Google-Result.png

It makes a lot of sense to utilize SEO, especially if your target market is of the younger age demographic. You can be certain that they will probably do some research on the Internet to satisfy their curiosity about your product/service or your niche in general. If your SEO campaign is successful, you might just be able to generate conversions. Of course, there’s also the added benefit of being able to generate a profit from your website itself by virtue of pay per click (PPC) advertisements.

What About Cost?

We’ve mentioned how efficient SEO can be in promoting a business, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be spending a buck for it. You’d be hard put to get an exact cost for SEO services though. If you’re going to ask various SEO companies or expert SEOs how much they charge for their services, the common answer would be, “It depends.” It is difficult to pin an exact value because there are many things that must be considered.

Yes, SEO will cost you money. The good part is it is also an investment that can give you excellent returns in the future. There’s this excellent article written by Trond Lyngbo at SearchEngineLand.com where he discusses the cost of SEO in conjunction with its value. He gives a perfect analogy for SEO: that it is like an iceberg whose value may appear small on the surface but its benefits are in fact 90% greater underneath. He adds that just like icebergs though, there are also huge risks involved in SEO, and it should therefore be entrusted to experienced search engine optimizers.

iceberg
There’s more to SEO than meets the eye.
Source: http://pastormojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/iceberg1.jpg

Concluding Statement

Using SEO alone to promote your business definitely won’t guarantee you huge sales. Its effects may not even be immediate since it takes time for SEO tactics to actually bite and be reflected in the SERPs and your website statistics. However, it doesn’t remove nor diminish the fact that consumers are becoming highly dependent on the Internet for product research. The number of online shoppers is similarly increasing, thanks to the ease and convenience that online shopping presents. It therefore makes sense to make the most out of the Internet for your business—and SEO is instrumental for that.

About the author: Emma-Julie Fox writes for Pitstop Media Inc, a top rated Vancouver SEO company that provides services to businesses across North America. If you would like to invite the author to guest post on your blog please contact www.pitstopmedia.com

Promoting Your Small Business On A Budget: 5 Tips For Success

As a small business owner, you’ve probably struggled with ways that you can promote your business without a huge amount of outlay. While “traditional” methods such as advertising in print directories and magazines are still viable today, there are several other options you can promote your business, especially if you utilize the Internet to your advantage.

social media apps
Image by Jason A. Howie

Tip #1: Using Social Media

With the rise of Facebook, Twitter and various other social media outlets – many businesses both large and small have seen the advantage of being able to readily connect with new and existing customers online. If you have a Facebook page or Twitter account for your business, you can easily push out updates to your audience by using a quick Facebook update or tweet to announce a new product you’ve just released or a deal you’re offering. If customers like or retweet your updates, that’s even more advertising for your business since they’re likely to have friends or followers who will see the update, resulting in a potentially unlimited chain of exposure for your business.

linkedin swag
Image by Sheila Scarborough

Tip #2: Free or Inexpensive Promotional Items

T-shirts, bumper stickers and other small items like promotional coffee mugs are always a big hit with customers. This can be especially true if you tie them into another promotion you’re running, such as offering a free T-shirt to any customers who simply sign up for a free trial of a product or service you offer. T-shirts and bumper stickers in addition have the advantage of potentially being seen in public by thousands of other people.

business networking
Image by Jodi Womack

Tip #3: Connect With Other Businesses In Related Niches

If you offer a product or service in a specific niche such as home improvement, look at how you can connect with businesses that offer products or services that naturally complement yours without directly competing with you. For example, a home remodeling company might want to use their website and social media presence to help promote a building supply company that they personally use for tile and other related products, in return for the other company agreeing to promote them in turn. It’s a win-win situation for both sides and builds confidence in both company’s brands as well as exposure.

blogging
Image by Maria Reyes-McDavis

Tip #4: Guest Blogging

Guest blogging has seen rapid adoption in recent times and this can be a very handy tool for increasing your potential exposure to new customers. Connecting with other websites related to your niche and lending your expertise on a given topic is a win-win situation: The website you’re guest blogging for will have value added to their site, while you can demonstrate your authority and know-how about your products and services, giving you exposure for your company and often even a link back to your site that readers can follow if they want to know more.

google places
Image by Craighton Miller

Tip #5: Use Google Places

This is a free service that allows any brick-and-mortar business to set up a listing with Google that is specific to their local area. What this means is that when customers search for a given search term such as “car repair San Diego”, your business can pop up in the local Google Places listings for that particular search term – allowing your potential customers to find you much more easily and give you a leg up over the local competition. Google Places also offers the ability to include basic information about your company including hours, your physical address, services offered and your website address, should they need additional information about your company.

About the Author: Sara Fletcher is a professional blogger who writes on a variety of topics, ranging from business, SEO, and social media. She loves to learn about small business tips, and is always looking for the next writing opportunity.

Do not chase people – tips to persuade people to opt for your service

Everyone wants to have the gift of convincing people to do certain tasks. And probably this is the reason why people still go as far as trying black magic in the hope of controlling their future or getting a person under his control. But here I am not going to reveal the secrets of black magic. Sorry dude, rather here I am going to tell you some secrets that can help you convert people into paying customers. Ok, I can feel that you just cannot wait right? Ok here they go:

dont be shy

Do not be a shy Guy: I remember a saying – “When You cannot convince people, just confuse them”. Yup, this may sounds a bit naughty but this really works when you are into the domain of sales and marketing. When you are into the middle of audience who seem to disagree with what you are saying, you need to try a technique. You should be talking fast, giving little scope to them to disagree. When you are speaking fast very fast, listeners need to ignore obvious flaws in the argument. However, when you are talking to agreeable audience, you need to slow down, tone down a bit and give the audience some time to agree with your views.

Ok, ok you want to have the persuasive power right. Ok, in that case you need to master the art of talking with confidence. It may happen that you are not sure about the accuracy of a subject, but do not let that make you feel down. You need to show supreme level of confidence while speaking to prospective customers. Since you know your products very well, you should be speaking with confidence. To be able to persuade others, we need to communicate confidence to others. So, please do not be a shy guy. Get out of your closet and have some serious fun.

dont swear

I Swear: I personally do not believe in any such theory that swearing a lot can help you draw some attention but the thing is that they do seem to help in persuade people. But the word of caution – do not go overboard with this swearing thing because it will lead to the loss of credibility. Use of mild curse words while addressing an audience may help you but the intensity should be checked carefully. Don’t be offensive, speaking lightly and friendly way.

i agree

Make People agree with you first: If you want make people buy your theory and your products of course, you need to say something that they will agree with you. It is not necessary that you should be always talking something related to your products or service. You can start off with anything that people can easily agree with you and then move the topic smartly to something that relates to your product or service and you will see people, in most cases, will be agreeing with you are saying.

upsell

Upsell Things but with Plan: If a customer has decided to buy something, he has already put faith in your service. So, this is the perfect time to sell more. But do not be in a hurry. Be nice to customers while giving him some awesome offers. Now, if a customer has bought a pair of shoes, you should be wasting your time persuading him buying another one (please, he does not have four legs to use them) rather you can offer some kind of especial discount for him on Socks or something of that kind. He will be more than delighted to redeem that discount. So, finally you will be able to persuade that guy into buying products and he will be happy enough to accept this since he is getting value for the money he is about to spend.

boring

Do not make people bore with data, tell a nice story instead: People love listening to stories and which is why you should be putting more weight to stories while persuading people to opt for your service rather than stuffing them with raw data. For say, if you are running a campaign for flood victims, you should be using only data to gather donation. Rather you should give the entire thing a personal touch. You may use image of a small girl in difficulties and asking for help of others. This will make people instantly attached to the campaign. Now, things may not turn in your favor, if you focus only on data and data. Help your audience get connected with the campaign emotionally and probably, this is the reason why you need to learn how to narrate a story.

vulerable

Make Leaders Feel Vulnerable: You cannot argue with powerful people, I mean you cannot make them buy your theory unless you make them feel less powerful. The only way, you can make this happen is by getting them outside of their areas of expertise and show some of your brilliance and you will see marked difference in their approach. They will be less aggressive and more amiable in approach. So, rather than showing your gentle side, you need to dominate while speaking and believe me you will be rocking.

Author Bio: Michael Evans is a passionate writer and social media addict. He is helping business owners having a prominent online presence. You can contact him if you wish to make a website with Site2You.