In talking with several business owners over the years about increasing business, some have their own ideas of how to increase leads, but they just need the find the right mix. That’s actually the best mindset to be in to determine the next step. The business owner is the closest to his or her business. They’ve gotten to know their customer’s mindset over the years and tapping into that knowledge to figure out the next step is critical. Some business owners have expressed a desire to start SEO, but the SEO they are picturing may be different than the SEO in the marketers head. To tell the truth, SEO has many facets that can be used to generate more visibility, but that doesn’t mean that each facet needs to be implemented equally. So what type of SEO do you need? Do you need a mixture? Where are your ideal potential customers hiding out? Let’s take a fast look at 5 facets of SEO.
Keyword Optimization – This is all about owning a word or phrase that people are looking for: “Toilet Repair,” “Best Tax Software,” “malware removal,” “pet medication,” etc.. While it’s the most ambitious and competitive, it’s about crafting your site to be the site that is known by the search engines as the authority on this subject. This website is not bound by location, but able to provide services and/or products wherever. While the most obvious of all SEO facets, its also one of the most difficult. Aiming for this facet relies on many traditional SEO tactics to rank your website higher.
Local Search – This is about being the one company in a designated area that is the authority of your industry. Pizza, appliance repair, seafood, lumber, etc are keywords paired with locations of city, state. By providing key locations and local events in your website copy, you enhance the local interest of your site. Local search techniques are all about being within your community more than any other facet of SEO and though your site might not pop up on regular keyword searches, it’s not necessary.
Social Media – Social Media and SEO were once viewed as two different types of animals, but when you consider that SEO is about “visibility” then it fits in very nicely. Being visible in facebook status updates of your fans or active in the twitter hash tags that are relevant to your audience is key to being “top of mind” in the subjects that your business is concerned about.
News Wire – Think of this as Press Releases on steroids. While press releases are fine to get info out there, it’s still at the whim of editors to choose to pick it up and report it. If you are able to leverage any publicity to spin meaningful stories of relevance, the more you’ll be able to get 3rd party sources to pick up your story and help you tell it on TV, Radio, online news aggregators and submission sites or even print.
Blogosphere – Much like the newswire facet, entering the blogosphere can have wide exposure though you could get lost in a sea of other blogs. Meaningful, helpful information provided frequently is a labor of love and can help gain a loyal audience. It’s not for every business and it requires cultivating. If you are passionate about your industry and want a platform to establish yourself as a “thought leader,” blogging is a probable course of action. Blogging for SEO requires certain techniques to remember in order to make each blog count.
If you were able to read this an picture where your business could fit in to find where more potential customers might be lying, research it more and take it seriously. You may find that you don’t need to dive into all 5 all at once. You may need a lot of Local Search with Social Media or you might just reside in the blogosphere. It’s about finding the right mix to maximize your visibility.
