Want More Web Traffic? 5 Make-or-Break Tactics to Help the Search Engines Find Your Small Business (Part 1 of 2)
By Caroline Melberg
Choosing effective small business keywords can be an intimidating task. Everyone knows that going to search for anything on a major search engine like Google can often return thousands of results. But does that mean defeat for your local small business? No!
There are a lot of things that can be done to get your local website noticed by your local customer base. Five of those techniques are invaluable in guiding you to success.
1. Use Phrases
Phrases can make a world of a difference in what can be found through search engines. Type in any single word and you’re bound to find literally thousands of results. Type in specific phrases and the results not only drastically decrease, but they become much more relevant.
For instance, a search on Google for “renovation” can bring back over 32 million listings. However, a listing for “bathroom renovation” can return less than 200,000. A search for “software” can return more than a billion results. A search for “custom accounting software” gets barely 25,000.
Many times people know what it is they’re looking for and can get fairly specific with their searches. However, if your local small business site isn’t geared to take advantage of that, it will either be lost in millions of listings or excluded from your customer’s more specific searches altogether.
2. Include Location References
Because you’re aiming to reach your local audience, including location references when choosing your small business keywords can also work well. This can mean including your specific city, metro area, well-known landmarks or even surrounding cities that you commonly provide services to.
By doing this, you accomplish two very different tasks. For one, you make your site known to the people who matter most to you. You can be found by your customers looking for you in their own location. But there’s an additional advantage to this.
When you include locations in your keywords, you eliminate a lot of unnecessary communication. With the abundance of people searching for products you may be offering, there’s no limit to how many customers you can’t help that may contact you for information. By including location, they know who you’re working for and can move on to companies that are less focused.
Next: Part 2 »
Entrepreneur and outdoor photography adventurer Caroline Melberg is President and CEO of Small Business Mavericks, a division of Melberg Marketing. She has over 20 years of experience creating marketing communications materials and writing copy for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Her small business columns are syndicated online, and she publishes the popular eZine, “Small Business Maverick Secrets.” Learn insider Maverick Marketing secrets you can use immediately to find new customers and increase your sales. When you subscribe, you’ll also get a FREE copy of her ebook, “Local Small Business Internet Marketing Secrets.”
