Hey, it’s one thing to have a website, but it’s another thing for people to be able to find it.
I like to use this analogy. You can have a beautiful carved sign hand-made for your business, but if it’s up in the mountains on the back of a logging road, nobody will know it’s there. You need to get your sign in front of people right where they are, and right where they are looking for it. Obviously, it’s the same for your website. And that is why search engine optimization is the key.
In this blogpost, I’m going to be revealing some SEO secrets for local business, and the keys to not only getting on the first page of Google, but at the top of the search results. So that people can find you right when they are looking for what you have to offer.
First thing I want to address is “Why SEO”?
You might be wondering why you should invest time and money into search engine optimization. The answer to that question is that…
- 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (Search Engine Journal).We all know that most of our experiences online start with a search engine.In fact, I have seen people actually type into the search bar of Google the name of their business so that they can find their own website. Just the other day, I was consulting with a local business, and instead of just typing in the URL into their web browser, he went to Google, opened up the search engine, then typed the name of his business, and then clicked on his website. I thought, “Wow, it surely is true that 93 percent of online experiences start with a search engine.”Of course, I didn’t say anything to him about it, but I made a mental note, that we are using the search engines all the time for just about everything online, even finding our own websites.
- Now the second thing you need to know, and this is even more important than that first statistic, is that 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. (Search Engine Journal)The majority of search is done on the three main search engines, Google, Yahoo, and Bing. When you begin doing your search engine optimization you want to focus on those three search engines, and primarily on Google. Google has over 60 percent of the search that’s being performed out of them all.
- Notice this fact. 75-80% of people choose the organic listings, over sponsored listings.You might be wondering what is organic about search engines? Did you think that organic was only at farmer’s markets? Well, “organic” in digital marketing terms just simply means “not sponsored”. In other words, if you pay Google to put your ad on the first page of the search results, that would be considered a sponsored ad.However, if you perform SEO and get listed on the first page of Google without paying Google a dime, that would be considered an organic listing. This statistic is telling us that 75-80% of folks choose the organic results over the sponsored results.Let’s look at an example:So if I type [personal injury lawyer Seattle] into the Google search bar, these are the results …The top three listings on the left, and lower right of the page are paid for. As soon as they stop paying Google then those ads will be taken down.But for the organic search results you are not paying Google, but performing certain strategies of optimization to get your listing on the first page of Google.And that is what we mean by “Organic”.Another interesting fact is that there is a 25 percent higher conversion rate for those who click on the organic listings. And so it is imperative that you are in the organic listings so that you get the 80 percent who are clicking on the organic listings, and you get the 25 percent higher conversion rate when they click on your listing.
Now how does it all work. How does SEO, or search engine optimization really work anyway?
Obviously that is the million dollar question, in another blogpost, I will show you some tips and tricks and strategies to help you understand it a little better.
This blogpost is an excerpt from our latest book Digital Marketing Secrets for Small Business. It tells about the latest in digital marketing and what you need to know to grow your business.
Would you like to own a copy of Digital Marketing Secrets for Small Business? Find it here.