TOP TIPS FOR USING KEYWORD STRATEGY

by Thomas R. Reich

SEO for Small Business? Blogs, Directory Listings, Social Media, Link building, the list goes on and on. How does any of this make your small business Blog and Web Site better? What does a Keyword and a Search Engine have to do with the creative substance of the article and the message your business wants to get across?

The answer is simple: nothing and everything! SEO for Small Business – Keyword Strategy or Search Engine Optimization and the use of Keywords, H1 tags and URLs have little or nothing to do with your creative content. However, they are all part of the process and when the article is published in a blog and as part of your website on the broader blogosphere and a potential customer is looking for that information through a search engine, that article, your blog and your web site will never be found without the proficient use of SEO for Business – Keyword Strategy (search Engine Optimization), H1 tags, URLs and the rest of the package so often over looked by small businesses.

To play in today’s Web Arena, you need to learn the tricks and follow the rules. On one hand, your business can now publish an article and haveitviewed by millions of people without ever being “Published” in the traditional sense. In the old days, you would need to make the kind of news that interested business journals or industry rags. To do this you would have to smooze the writers, perhaps hire a Public Relations Agent familiar with your target market, maybe place adds in the target publication and hope the article would be “spun” positively in the direction of the message you were trying to convey. Even if all went as planned, even if the article was a great big add for your key product, even if your company name appeared over and over, the readership or “Unique Impressions” may have only been 80,000 and of that, how many unique readers of that publication actually read your specific article? How many would even know that that article withjust the information the potential customer needed to know, was there?

Today the rules have changed, but the game is the essentially the same! An innovative company must get an article featuring a unique product or service read by as many “Unique Impressions”, who are actually looking for that product or service, as possible. However, today the Public Relations agent and the hard copy publication salesman is replaced with Search Engines and SEO for

Business – Keyword Strategy! If Keywords are used correctly and SEO for Business – Keyword Strategy, Search Engine Optimization, is maximized, that same article can be picked up by thousands of unique on line blogs and publications allowing it to be exposed to millions of “unique Impressions”. It takes work, expertise and investment to do this correctly, but like I said “the rules have changed, but the game is the same”. We are going to deal with Keywords in part one of this series on SEO. You, as a company must ask “Who is this company?”, “What what does the

company really do?” What unique service does this company provide?” SEO for Small Business – Keyword Strategy or Search Engine Optimization revolves around Keywords and Key phrases. Decide who you are as a business and what your target market is. Who is your target audience and what “Keywords” will “Find” that audience. In future articles we will deal with Keyword Placement, SEO for Business – Keyword Strategy and URL utilization to maximize search engine results. In the final segment we will reveal super secret tricks to take what you’ve learned and truly maximize your exposure!

 

 

Finding the ideal Keywords is a process, one your company must master! Let’s have some fun with a Keyword list. First open a Word Document and record every word or phrase that you think fully explains your business, the services or products you provide and that

special element that makes you “Unique”. Keyword = A word or phrase that pinpoints what you are uniquely about. Additional Keywords = a word or phrase that targets your industry or

market segment. Here comes one of those tricks I promised! Go to Google while visiting the Internet through Internet Explorer. Search for your key competitors within the industry you operate (Local, National and International). Go to the home page of one of the web sites of a respected and top rated competitor. On the right side or “Ribbon” of that Web Site Home Page, Right Click your mouse, a menu will appear, highlight and then Left Click on “VIEW SOURCE” about half way down on the pop up menu. You will bring up a new page, you are looking at the actual HTML code of you competitors Web Site, don’t worry it is OK!

 

Look for Part 2 to find out what you can do to Maximize your SEO for Small Business.

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LIST OF LISTS!

 

By: Thomas R. Reich

In the jungle of 2012, Small Business Local Resources are hard to come by.  Today let’s look at several lists of FREE Small Business Local Resources.  Let me be clear, these are national small business local resources available to local small businesses anywhere in the US.

Let’s start with the companies that are the ten best local search marketing companies based on a meticulous evaluation of their history of quality services, customer satisfaction, and a dedication to providing SEO services which reach local markets and provide small business local resources:

1)      Performics Inc.

2)      SoVi Digital

3)      TopHatRank.comLLC

4)      HigherVisibility

5)      Marketable Media

6)      Crexendo, Inc.

7)      Web Ranking SEO

8)      Get Found Local

9)      Reach Local

10)  eLocal Listing

 

 

Top 5 Small Business Local Resources to help build your building:

1)      Google.  Google offers a few cool options for locally based small businesses;

a)      Google Places (Formerly known as Google Local Business Center)  Listing your information in Google Places allows online searchers to                       find your local business listing within the search engine results making it a Small Business Local Resource to be investigated!

b)      Google Maps.  Google Maps works with Google Places to get your customers to your front door.

c)      Google Latitude. Google’s latest foray into local deals and couponing.

 

2)      Yahoo Local.  On the heels of Google, there is Yahoo Local.  This services is a business directory organized by category and geographic                       location.

3)      YellowPages.com. Much like the Yellow Pages of old, this Small Business Local Resource draws a crowd of users seeking basic information on local retailers and service providers.  The most basic sign up is free, but you must sign up to be listed.

4)      Ask City.  This Small Business Local Resource is provided by Ask.com and culls user reviews and editorials from several popular search                      and business review sites  including CitySearch, Yelp.com, and Insiderpages.  The 5 star Ask City ratings system is taken from the Best of                    Citysearch listings, which are in turn based on user reviews.  You can see more information about these ratings at CitySearch.com.

5)      Windows Live Local.  Microsoft’s entry in the online local search arena combines Bing Maps and Google Maps with bird’s –eye imagery,                      traffic conditions, and driving directions, with the Yellow Pages and other local search tools.  You can also view and get directions to local                businesses making it one of the best new Small Business Local Resources.

Enough lists for now, but we will add more in coming weeks.  Check out these Small Business Local Resources, you will find, when building a small business, Free is always good!

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SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK; MAKEING IT WORK FOR SMALL BUSINESS

By Thomas R. Reich

Why do Businesses Fail?

1) Not enough people know they exist, little or no social media networkingusinesses Fail?

2)   They did not do enough to get the word out

3)   Did not work hard enough for brand recognition

4)   Did not remind the customer daily through social media why the business matters

A successful business must have a daily promotion habit, do at least one of the following each day:

1)   Write or post a new blog

2)   Tweet a timely question

3)   Do a radio interview

4)   Do a webcast

5)   Post on LinkedIn

6)   Write a letter to the editor

7)   Link and share pictures on Facebook page

8) Do at least one thing that will publicize your product each day through social media networking

Other things to do on a regular basis:

1)   Contact 5 people a day that could help you publicize your product

2)   Give the social media network a hook to use to grab their audience (in the end you and your product do not matter to that media outlet, to the organization giving you the publicity, it’s how you can add interest to their show or blog, even their tweet stream, remember this!)

3)   Research what various factions of the social media network can put in their heading or intro;

“Coming up________” that will help their audience to stay tuned in or check back.  What about you or your product would cause this reaction think of catchy phrases, make it easy to promote you or your product.

4)   Again, you need to come up with hooks, what makes this social media network member or blogger or interviewer’s audience tune in to his or her show or blog.  If it pushes you or your product at the same time, that makes it a win win, that is what we are looking for!

5)   Hook = “Could you go to jail for linking the wrong website?” or “have you checked your Facebook picture for malware, XYZ co knows why you should” or “Is your health drink, healthy?”

 

5 Ways to Create a Hook for the Social Media Network

First: create interest

1)   How to do; “How do you Tweet a Question?”

2)   Counter a Myth; “Parents want a quick fix to poor study habits-could drugs be the wrong answer?”

3)   Make a prediction; “Why the US will soon experience dramatic food shortages” –or—“Why food prices will continue to rise”

4)   Ask a Question, “Can you give the media a question they can use?” or “What are cats thinking?”

5)   Give them a timely hook, a reason they need to have information about your product now; Tax advice at tax time, new business start up advice in January, new kind of tomato plant in the spring

 

Create an effective publicity plan

1)   Who is your core audience

2)   What does that core audience read or watch

3)   When will your topic be timely; time of year, anniversary, create a holiday around your product, look in the book Chase’s Calendar of Events for listing of 10,000 holidays

4)   Is there a predictable news event that can be spun to your product and sent to the social media network, release of a movie, elections, release of monthly employment figures or farm reports

 

Avoid the “I’ll wait till it comes out to publicize the product” approach

1)   When a new or updated product is released, the publicity must already be in place, The Social Media Network; Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn announcements kicking for weeks before the product hits the street.

2)   Again do interviews blogs and email blasts, and consistent social media network exposure before the release date as well, to create anticipation of the new or improved product.

3)   Listen to your core interest group, you may find improvements or hooks you never thought of before the product even comes out.

 

 

You want the influential bloggers

Get publicity and exposure on blogs that reach your core audience, not just your personal blog. The top 500 bloggers sites have over 100,000 visits per month, this is a resource you need to tap into!

 

Main ways to get valuable coverage on blogs:

1)   Offer to write an article, this is called a “guest Post” free.

2)   Offer the blogger the opportunity to interview you

3)   Offer the blogger mention or a posting on your blog

4)   Offer the blogger a free product so they can review it

5)   Offer to run a free advice column in their blog

6)   Offer copies of your product as prizes

 

Find blogs that get a lot of traffic

1)   Give them timely hooks

2)   Always get a plug in return for the appearance

3)   www.technorati.com to find blogs to contact in your field

 

You Need a YouTube Strategy

You must have a strategy, YouTube should part of any social media networking plan

1)   What could your core audience be looking for?

2)   How can you set up your video so your core audience can find you?

3)   Video must be no longer than 2 min.

4)   Better to have 40 videos, each 90 second tips than to have 6 videos, each 15 min speeches.

The YouTube videos should contain:

1)   Hi I am _____________

2)   I am important to you because _______________

3)   Here is what we are doing for you

4)   End with find me here and follow me on twitter

5)   Ask for a response from them through your social media network

 

If this seems like too many questions for you to answer alone, we can help.  T Roblin Reich Company now offers a full range of Marketing services, beyond our normal business serves.  We can help set up your social media network and blog to work with your Website.  We can even help with videos and building a digital image.

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