Affordable Small Business SEO: 5 Common SEO Errors and How to Fix Them

Don't put the cart before the horse.

You can't do SEO (optimize your web site for search engines) until you've researched keywords. You can't research keywords without a clear view of your target market, your prospect types, and how your offerings fill their needs.

Affordable Small Business SEO

Affordable small business SEO not only uses the same old business and marketing basics, but also leverages the depth of accessible metrics for creating increased online traffic and better web site ROI.

When small business people ask me how their web site could be improved by SEO, I give them some version of the following list of questions. When you know the answers to these questions, you're much less likely to waste money on SEO efforts, and more likely to succeed online. You might even pull off some of this stuff yourself- and that'll save you big in consultant fees!

To find the right keywords to target with SEO and/or PPC, consider the following?

Goals: How much monthly traffic and sales do you get now? Where would you like these numbers to be? What are your most wanted responses- what do you want your ideal prospects to do on your site? (e.g. buy something, sign up for your ezine, etc.)

Market Segmentation: Who's your ideal customer or target market? If there is more than one group, characterize each.

Keywords that work: How do people find your site? What search phrases show up in your web logs?

PPC Metrics: Do you already use pay per click (PPC) advertising? What are your conversion rates? Are your bids profiting, or at least breaking even?

Getting more traffic is pointless if your site isn't an efficient sales machine.

Profit Margin: What is your online profit margin for each offering?

Conversion Rate: What percentage of your offline prospects make the purchase? (to gauge expected conversion rate for your services and find disparity in online results)

Customer Loyalty: How many people are on your ezine list? How often do you email them? What do you send them?

5 Common Critical Website Errors and How to Fix Them

About 75% of the web sites I've seen make all of these mistakes. As a result, their rankings and traffic suffer, and they lose potential sales revenues.

No Sitemap. No matter how well your pages are designed and no matter how nice the graphics are, every site need a good 'sitemap' page for search engines to index it more easily. This is a simple page of links- no frills except perhaps a bulleted outline structure. Even better, you can use the new Google sitemap xml template, and upload it to Google to increase the chances they'll index your whole site.

Insufficient Search Engine and Directory Submission. In the ideal cyberworld, you wouldn't have to submit your site anywhere- it would just get indexed and put where your prospects could find you. The reality is we still have to meet these services halfway. There are only a half dozen super-big sources of traffic (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.), but you have a better chance of showing up in them if you've submitted your site to the 100-200 minor directories and search engines. Also, there are niche directories that will help you rank on your best keywords and attract more prospects directly. Submit your site to these places with a free tool like WebCEO.

Mysterious Website Owners. Your visitors want to know, "who are the people behind this website? Can I trust them?" Unless you have a particularly snobby target market, put your picture and brief bio on the very first page of your site (if not every page). Let them know who you are. This might be taboo in offline marketing (not really- look at Ben & Jerry, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, etc.), but online, genuine personality is a competitive advantage. It fosters trust, creates credibility and emotional bonds, and bridges the cold gap of cyberspace. You can do it appropriately for most target markets. The real question is: are you ready for the prime time?

Confusing Site Structure. Does your site confuse people? Do you know where they want to go, what they're really looking for? Where do you want them to go? Good site structure both guides your various prospect types to the places you want them to go and satisfies their needs. Get some of your target market to sit in front of you and use your website- watch what they do- it'll surprise you. And put a search engine on your website that gives you reports on what people search for- you'll get clues about what else to put online.

Ezine Neglect. The ezine signup form isn't prominent on some sites ? make it obvious and 'sell' your visitors on signing up. Tantalize them into ezine subscription with a free bonus. Why? Not everyone will become your customer the first time they reach your site. They may like your offerings but not trust you enough yet or be ready to buy. They may have questions. Once you have them on your list, you can sell them on you and your stuff (by helping them with tips) every week or two until they buy.

Not only do they need a free bonus to stimulate them to sign up, they also need to know what kind of thing you'll be sending them, that you'll keep their email address private, and that they can unsubscribe anytime. And I'd suggest using double opt-in to avoid spam- that means they sign up (you don't add them), and they confirm via email before they ever get an email from you.

Since 1999, San Diego SEO Consultant Brian B. Carter, MS, has reached more than 2 million readers online. His most popular site ranks in the top 1% of all major websites. Brian's second book, "$1000 Keywords: How I Made as Much as $1,200.64 a Day Online With My Secret Keyword Analysis Techniques" will be available in July, 2005.

---

Google Takes Care of Idiots Too

There's an old saying that goes, "God takes care of... Read More

7 Search Engine Resources You Should Be Using Now

Ask any business person who's website is at the top... Read More

Commonly SEO terms and Jargon used by Search Engine Gurus

What does all this SEO jargon mean.Have you ever been... Read More

Optimizing For Visitors Not Search Engines

Most people feel that optimizing is to target the search... Read More

What is Google Pagerank?

PageRank is one of the factors that Google uses to... Read More

Why Top Search Engine Placements Never Move?

#1 question when it comes to web advertising is how... Read More

Keyword Targeting Strategy In Your Site

Once the keywords have been decided for the site one... Read More

SEO Tips for Google

Getting a high ranking on Google is a big achievement.... Read More

The Secret Benefit Of Search Engine Optimisation: Increased Usability

A higher search ranking is what many website owners dream... Read More

SEO 101

SEO (search engine optimization) is a booming businees these days.... Read More

Ranked #1 at Google for Invisible Entrepreneurs But No Traffic?

I am ranked #1 for that silly phrase at Google.... Read More

21 Search Engine Terms Every Web Marketer Should Know Part 1

1. Search Engine - Is a database of web sites... Read More

Optimum SEO Keyword Density ? A Real-Life Case Study

So you've built your website, you know what keywords you... Read More

Do the Search Engines Know Your Website?

Are you considering a search engine promotion campaign to improve... Read More

How to Avoid Being Dropped by the Search Engines

For websites, one of the most important things in their... Read More

Building Link Popularity with Topical Articles

One of the important factors in ranking high in search... Read More

Google Rankings -- Achieve Top 10 Rankings with Free Tools

In order to get a top 10 google ranking it... Read More

Link Exchange Tips, No Tricks

Use text links, avoid image links. Anyhow, if you... Read More

Build Link Popularity The Smart Way

A Brief Introduction To Link PopularityAs webmasters research various ways... Read More

Page Rank - A Quick Overview for Beginners

Page Rank (PR) is a specific value for a website... Read More

10 Ways to Tackle Keyword Research and Selection

You need to be extremely careful with keyword research so... Read More

The Google Sitemap For Idiots

I don't mind admitting that every time some new fangled... Read More

The Unethical SEO Myth

"The use of black hat SEO techniques are completely unethical."... Read More

Beginners - Getting Listed In Search Engines

Once you have your web site complete and ready to... Read More

What Size Body Section Ranks Highest?

This is another one of the controversial questions in many... Read More

How to Get Tons of Top 10 Rankings Guaranteed

Okay I admit it. I was kidding. I can't guarantee... Read More

Valid HTML code is crucial to Search Engine Optimization

Why valid HTML code is crucial to your web site's... Read More

Search Engine Saturation Tool ? A Must Have SEO Tool

Search Engines have become the soul of the Internet. They... Read More

Its All in the Title

Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. You may... Read More

Local Search Optimization - A Guide to Getting Started

While searching the web these days, it's hard not to... Read More

How To Conceal Your Website?s ?Fingerprint? From The Search Engines

The internet marketing industry is now flooded with various page... Read More

How to Succeed with the Search Engines

The Cold Hard Facts?..One of the most important factors in... Read More

PPC Advertising ? The First Step In A SEO Marketing Campaign

Often, sites view seo and PPC marketing as exclusive marketing... Read More