Why Content-Driven Sites Win in SEO

Search engine optimizers are meant to engineer websites that have a lot of stuff on a lot of different pages. By stuff, I mean the words, videos, and images that (should) make up the the majority of your website. Search engines love this stuff, and it’s a SEO’s job to marry the search engine spiders with the content on your webpages. Aside from the SEO, there are a lot of benefits to having a content-driven site.

Let’s start with awareness and how it comes into play with the shortened selling cycle. These days you are expected to have a website if you plan of selling products or services. The majority of consumers who are in the market to buy will most likely start their search online, instead of picking up the phone. Your business is more likely to be found if you have a website, propelling the consumer even closer to the point of sale. In many cases, rich content-driven websites establish trust between the customer and the company before people even meet you. A lot of people will buy based on the authority and trust of your website.

Click to read more ...

Get Found Online in Your Town (Pt. IV)

Get listed, cited, and mentioned. Citations are mentions and discussions about your business that appear on other websites. Often, search engines use conversations about your business to verify that you are actually a local business, something that can mean a whole lot when it comes to search engine optimization and reputation management. If you read yesterday’s post, you learned that claiming your business on review sites can help your online position and reputation. It’s time to take it a little deeper.

Click to read more ...

Get Found Online in Your Town (Pt. III)

Get involved in the online ratings and reviews game. This is pivotal to your online success, especially if you're a restaurant, hotel, airline, or any other company who deals with customers on a more intimate level. The majority of St. Louis online business directories have rating and review systems established. This give your customer the ability to review your business on a variety of different platforms. Did you know that one negative review can hurt your chances of getting new business? It’s true, you may be losing business because of one bad review on Yelp, Google, or Yellow Pages.

Click to read more ...

Get Found Online in Your Town (Pt. II)

It’s easier to get found online if you localize your business and tailor yourself to those who live in the metro St. Louis area. Continue your local renovation by building out your local search profile. The local search directories at Google, Yahoo!, and Bing want your to list and create an information-rich local profile. This process helps the search engines show people your business when they’re searching for products and services they want. If you haven’t done it, go here now:

Click to read more ...

Get Found Online in Your Town (Pt. I)

Search engines have become one of the primary ways that people find products and services in your town. This growing medium increases the need for small local businesses to master local search. In fact, your business should be found on the first page of search results when people type your town plus something they want, like St. Louis Lawyers. Although search engine marketing/optimization is growing, it isn't effective in every industry but makes up a large chunk.

It's important to conquer the search game before competitiors because online authority and trust means a lot to search engines. The next few blog posts will be dedicated to a few steps you can take to get found in your online town. 

There are a few ways to make your web pages more localized. This is one of the variables in getting search engines to understand the area in which you operate. Start by adding a physical address to your location, essentially putting your business on the map. Your customers are using Google Maps to find businesses in your area. Make sure your enter you business information on these networks. 

Click to read more ...

Steroids. Cocktails. Social Media Marketing.

How did you hear about your doctor, lawyer, or financial advisor? How did you decide on a restaurant, hotel, or car service? Social media marketing is a cocktail party on steroids, and people are talking about your company on social platforms and review sites. Word of mouth has been one of the most credible forms of marketing for small and mid-sized businesses, and a consumer's opinion is strongly based on the influence of others. Below are a few reasons why to consider engaging these online customers instead of being a wallflower.

Click to read more ...

Search Engine Advertising + Optimization

Paid search marketing is the short-term solution to search engine optimization. You should be running ads on Microsoft and Google networks, ensuring your business gets in front of customers when they are searching for terms related to your product or service. EMarketer predicts that online ad spend will top $39.5 billion in 2012, a 23.3% increase over 2011 and a figure that tops traditional print advertising.

Click to read more ...