Search Engine Optimization is a Google Popularity Contest. (Updated 11-20-13)
This blog has been updated and moved to :
http://salesjumpstart.net/blog/seo-is-just-a-google-popularity-contest/
Mike Bayes
Do it yourself local SEO.
As promise, here are the key tactics to make sure your local business is visible for local searches.
First, make sure your web site and business is listed in the major search engine local directories. A great resource for this is www.getlisted.org. This will allow your site to come up on the Google local maps, and the yahoo and Bing local directories for search terms that relate to your business.
Make sure to completely fill out your local directories. Pay careful attention to the categories you choose. Each directory offers different opportunities, so take your time and fill them out with all the information they request. This process should take about 90 minutes all together, and it’s the best 90 minutes you will spend on local search engine optimization.
Second, make sure your local address is prominently displayed on your home page, with your phone number. Add it to your contact page as well. Also, you may want to search on Google for your business to see if you have any old listings online with an old address or phone number. If so, do contact the site or directory and ask then to either changed it, or delete it. Search engines hate conflicting information. Only use an actually physical address. Google doesn’t accept P.O. boxes.
Third, make sure (as in all SEO), your title and description meta tags have your main keywords in them. Also add your keywords to your headline of your home page. Don’t over do this, make it natural. It’s important that the search engines understand what your site is about.
Now you have a good start! It’s time to get “votes” for your site with the search engines. Votes are when other sites link back to, or mention your business on their sites. As search engine optimization becomes more and more competitive (lets face it, more businesses are paying for it then ever) and there are only 10 or so sites listed on the first page of a search, and the top three get the vast majority of the traffic, in many cases you are going to need a lot of high quality votes.
The first place to look is with associations you belong to. The B.B.B. is a great link, and so are many chambers and associations. Check and see if your listing has your web site on it.
After that, add good local directories. Go to Google and search Your City Directories. You will find a ton, and many will have categories that fit your company well.
Plan on spending about 30 minutes a day linking for a few months, and maybe a lot more. Yes, that’s what it’s going to take.. I could write a book about link quality (the type of links that pay off) and how to research for them, but if you are doing your own SEO, this is a great start. If you want several excellent researches you can subscribe to www.seomoz.com , or SEObook.com
I do want to leave you with two additional thoughts. A great start for back linking is www.metasocialweb.com You can add your site, plus your blog, and all your social sites. It’s a powerhouse SEO, Social media tool. Yes it does cost money, but you may find that many valuable sites do, because they are human edited (A big plus) and they have to pay to keep the site up and running. We built Metasocialweb.com to help small business with Social media, and it turns out to be great for SEO too!
If you want a jump start on links every month you can subscribe to our Do It Your Self SEO package that provides the information on 20 quality links we have already researched. Or our starter SEO packages where we do the linking for you.
SEO tips for Denver Colorado web master s and business owners.
Recently Matt Cutts, the voice of Google for SEO , has been talking a bunch about the recent Panda changes at Google. Here is what all this comes down to for SEO and business owners. Google says if someone will “book m,rk” your site, your in good shape for better rankings, and then they add a hundred other things. But, to me, if we can focus on just that one aspect, the rest will fall in line quickly.
Here are some tips to get you thinking about why someone would book mark your site:
You don’t have to spend a ton of time linking other sites to yours if your site naturally attracts visitors through interesting and unique content.
Let us know what ideas work for you.
For businesses in Denver and throughout Colorado, who are interested in promoting their services utilizing the Internet, this weeks news that Bing + Yahoo is now over 30% of searches should not go ignored.
The Bing Yahoo combo picked up over 6% while Google fell 3% in Search traffic. These are big numbers, but they still represent the “gross” numbers. We will be watching to see if we can get more industry specific statistics. It should be noted that on a very small scale we have seen Bing searches (Clicks) pick up in the home improvement area last month, but, far to little data to make a definitive statement.
What to do? Check your Bing SEO rankings. Make sure you read information (specific) on Bing optimization. Make sure you use the Bing web master tools, and have your local company listed in Bings local program.
If you are using Google exclusively for pay per click it may be time to divide the budget and spend 30% with Bing- Yahoo. Or add 30% and use them.
We will follow up with a few specific tips on SEO on Bing for Denver and Colorado Businesses over the next few weeks.
Search Engine Optimization Denver Tips:
We talked about getting your site and company listed on the local directories (Google, Bing, Yahoo). Now What?
Here is a simple process that makes sense from a marketing and SEO stand point. Search the main keywords people will use to find your service or product. In the results you will find a mix of sites. Some will be competitors, and some will be directories. Go to each site and see if there is an opportunity to add your web site under your category.
You should be able to find 3 to 6 good linking opportunities with in the first few pages of results.
And… have you asked your favorite vendors and suppliers if they would like a testimonial from you to put on their web site (with your company information and web site). Remember, the BIG SEO companies focus on two things, content on site (interesting and unique) and linking from other relevant sites.
I will talk more about good content later this week. under Search engine optimization Denver. There are some great blogs out there on the subject as well. It should be noted this tip works in any city.
