When I was working as a freelance copywriter for a particular ad agency a few years back, we worked with an office supply company in California. This company had a great looking website that I would guess cost them a solid $20,000. The only problem was that no one was going to it. No one was going to it because no one could find it. No one could find it because the name of the company was…Office Supplies. That name, along with being a good subject for an old time comedy routine, is a really bad name for a company trying to get hits to their website from Google or Yahoo. (We got them to change their name after a much longer explanation of Search Engine Marketing)
The first thing I was forced to do was introduce the idea of Search Engine Marketing. A lot of companies make the mistake of thinking a website is enough to draw people in, but with the multitude of websites, pop ups, and everything else on the internet, just having a website isn’t going to cut it. A website is a necessity in this day and age. (Most franchises are starting to factor the website into the start up cost.) Search Engine Marketing is what is going to get you on the front page of Google and get customers to your website. It might seem like using the internet for local advertising is like using a canon for an alarm clock but there are some easy techniques that can help you use the internet for local advertising.
Keyword embedding was the first thing we implemented to draw in people. We changed the name to something that would come up on a local search and added taglines that were full of keywords used when people search for office supplies. (service, technology, delivery, etc) One trick you can use is embedding keywords in the coding of your pictures. Just don’t be one of those people that adds random words so your site will show up in every other search. It’s tacky and you might turn off people. Think “relevancy.”
Beyond that, setting up a message board can draw people in and get you some good reviews in the process. One of the things I did for another company was stimulate message board conversation on a daily bases for over a month. It might take some time to get the ball rolling, but if you can get a serious message board going you’ve got a huge advantage.
If you aren’t afraid to pay a little extra for guaranteed service you can get one of those sponsored links on Google. You should get results pretty quickly and it can be a great way to build your web presence in record time. If they do it right you should be able to cut those sponsored links after a few months to a year.
Like my office supply company a lot of people dismiss the idea of search engine optimization for local businesses. But 7 million people every hour look at Google and Yahoo! and there really is no reason why your website can’t get a piece of that action.
Last 5 posts by joshuasinason
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