Teaching All Staff to Contribute to Solid SEO

Most businesses aren’t fluent in the “language of SEO and HTML” and, quite frankly, unless they’re in the Internet marketing industry, there’s no need for them to be. However, because driving traffic to your website is so critical, it is important that you—and your staff members—know some simple things that you should be doing on a regular basis to ensure that people are finding your site, learning about what you have to offer, and making positive and proactive purchase decisions.

Even if you’re outsourcing your website development and SEO work to a vendor, it’s still important that you understand the basics. Main Street ROI has organized some key SEO tips into four easy to remember categories: Research, Relevance, Reputation and Revenue. Let’s take a look at some of the top items in each category that can help your staff ensure that your efforts are serving you well.

Research

The first step in effective SEO is understanding the word and phrases that your target audience is likely using when they’re searching for businesses like yours. SEO can be “scary” for some but it’s really a very basic, very intuitive process. Here’s what you need to do:

Brainstorm the words and phrases you think people are likely to be using

•         Find out what the real search volume is for these words and phrases using a (free) tool like Google’s AdWords planner.
•         Check out what your competition is up to by looking at their title tags, and keywords. You’ll find some great tips for doing that here.
•          Organize your keywords into categories.
•          Prioritize your keywords based on search volume and your own goals and objectives.
•          Test your keywords with pay-per-click (PPC) to see if they work.

It’s not a difficult process but, yes, it does take time. It’s important that you set aside the time to think carefully about your audience, and your competition, as you determine which keywords are likely to perform best for you. Remember it’s about how they are likely to be searching for businesses like yours and not about the “buzzwords” that people on the inside tend to use.

Relevance

Once you’ve identified the keywords that are likely to work best for you, the next step is using those keywords on your website. You’ll want to make sure that your keywords are used throughout your website in a variety of places: title tags, meta description, body copy, headers, your URL and images.

Keeping your content up-to-date and refreshing it regularly can definitely help with SEO. One relatively easy way to do this, while keeping content top-of-mind is by adding a blog to your website. WordPress is a great tool to use here; get into the habit of updating your blog at least once a month (once a week is best).

Finally, create a Google+ local profile, verify your listing and make sure to incorporate your keyword into Google+. 

Reputation

Reputation in the world of online search is all about links—when other reputable Internet sites have links to your content that’s a signal that you have something of value to offer. The highest quality links come from trusted websites that have used “editorial discretion” in their selection of sites to link to. Try to get links from domains that are related to your business, that come from a wide range of other domains and that link to multiple places on your website—not just your homepage. Directories are a good starting point for attaining links. Submit your website to major national business directories, local directories and industry-specific directories.

Social media is a great way to get links back to your site. Consider which channels (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, and others) make the most sense for you based on your target audience. Then develop a presence by creating an account, reaching out to potential followers and publishing content that is useful to that audience.

Revenue

When it comes to effective online marketing, generating revenue is what it’s all about. Once you’ve taken steps to get ranked in Google so that people can easily find you online, you need to make sure that those clicks turn into customers. That requires a combination of developing compelling copy that results in some desired action and carefully evaluating what’s happening online so you can continually improve your results.

When writing content focus on these seven key factors:

1.       Attention-getting headlines

2.       Customer-focused copy (it’s about them, not about you)

3.       Unique selling proposition (what makes you different, and better?)

4.       Irresistible offers

5.       A clear call-to-action (what do they need to do to buy your product?)

6.       Social proof (testimonials and endorsements)

7.       Credibility indicators

Track results through tools like Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools and Firefox RankChecker. Effective SEO is an ongoing process of continually trying new things, determining what works and making improvements on an ongoing basis. The beauty of online marketing is that it is so measurable. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be constantly discovering new ways to boost traffic, engagement and, ultimately, sales.

Finally, one important consideration: choose your Internet marketing vendors carefully. There are many out there; some are very good, some—unfortunately—are very bad.