Small Business SEO Techniques
You have probably seen ads for website building services that promise to have a website up and running for you in an hour or less. These ads are common on television and, especially, on YouTube. The fact is that this is correct. Services like Squarespace, Weebly or Wix can in deed put up a webpage or two in an hour or less.
It may be tempting for small businesses or professional practices to turn to one of these providers instead of a professional internet marketing agency or local SEO company. Think about these ads for a moment; most of them feature attractive young people who have put up a website for their one-person creative enterprise. Lots of them are artists, musicians or other creative-arts performers or innovators. They have a presentable website, and that is fine.
However, a good website is not the key to a digital marketing solution. In fact, there is no one key to digital marketing solutions that actually work. Instead, there is a process that resembles turning a combination lock. The first number in the combination may be a website, but there is much more. How about:
- A branding strategy
- An outstanding logo, professionally produced by a logo design service
- SEO techniques and a SEO strategy, produced by a professional SEO services provider
- For most small businesses, local SEO services aimed at local customers.
- Strong content that is updated frequently
A cheap web design can get you the first combination number needed to unlock a really good digital marketing solution, but a lot will be missing. Developing a branding strategy and a local SEO strategy are the next steps (numbers in the combination) that will unlock your digital marketing solution. That branding strategy starts with a logo design service that produces a distinctive, memorable meme for your business or service and a tagline to go with it.
SEO techniques and a SEO strategy aimed at local recognition and access are the critical next numbers in unlocking that digital marketing solution that works for you. Local SEO services optimize your website to rank better for a local audience.
Actually, a website gives you the opportunity to target the entire (online) world, but for most professional practices or small businesses, the targets are in your local area or “nearby” (nearby is an important word in branding strategy, and SEO techniques). Those attractive young people mentioned above may be artists or musicians in Portland who are trying to sell music in Key West, but this is not the case for most small businesses. They need to optimize for zip codes, city names, address details and phone numbers. This is often called the NAP principle; you must make your name, address and phone easily visible to search engines.
But how do you do this? Where do you place code in the best way to call attention to critical elements of NAP and your branding strategy? Actually, this is a job for professionals. If you are struggling to find digital marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that make your business stand out, turn to Axiom. Your business deserves more than a cheap web design, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves.
Beyond local SEO strategy, there are combination elements such as social media presence and strong, useful frequently updated content. One of Axiom’s clients is the well-known OurSeniors.net organization. Click on their link to see their home page and then on the OurSeniors.net Blog that features timely, useful, senior-oriented content.
Our business marketing team and SEO strategy teams can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
What About Bing?
Search engines are constantly ranking the work of internet marketing agencies and professional SEO services. It seems only fair that once-in-a-while an internet marketing agency (like Axiom Administrative Services) should repay the favor and rank the search engine providers.
It is no surprise that Google dominates the search engine market. According to the website, SmartInsights.com, during 2017 Google produced between 70% and 80% of all search engine results. These queries came from desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and smart phones. In fact, the noun, ‘Google’ has been verbalized to become a verb meaning to search for. We now “Google a question” meaning, “to seek an answer or information.”
The bridesmaid of search engines is Microsoft’s entry, Bing. Bing may control only about 23% to 25% of the search engine market, but search engine optimization services, internet marketing agencies and professional developers of branding strategies cannot afford to ignore it. In 2017, it is estimated that worldwide, there were 1.2 trillion web searches done. Think about it – 23% of 1.3 trillion is still a huge market, one that all digital marketing solutions must consider.
Bing is helped by the fact that it comes as the default search engine for Microsoft’s Edge browser (the successor to Microsoft Explorer). All Windows computers come with Edge installed and with Bing set as the default browser for Edge. There are probably millions of Edge users who do not realize they are defaulting to Bing.
If you are trying to produce and maintain your own website, Microsoft is willing to help you optimize for Bing searches. The “Bing Webmaster Help & How-To” site (www.bing.com/webmaster) gives instructions on topics like, page load time (PLT), sitemaps, geo-targeting your website and other technical topics. As with Google’s help site (Google Webmasters), Bing gives some specific advice about things to avoid: duplicate content (plagiarized or cut and pasted text), keyword stuffing, link buying or link spamming.
Digital marketing solutions and branding strategies that make your business stand out are the same for Bing, Yahoo or DuckDuckGo, as well as Google. If you are really into technical subjects like “web crawlability,” XML sitemaps, navigational structure or title and meta-description tags, Bing’s webmaster site is an honest, straight forward attempt to help you. Most of the advice that applies to optimizing for Google’s search engine applies to Bing as well.
Good SEO techniques, strong content that is relevant to the viewer and kept current, branding strategies and digital marketing solutions that address viewers’ needs will work for Bing as well as Google. At Axiom, you will find the small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves in Bing as in Google. Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
What is Organic SEO?
Most internet users have heard the term, “SEO” and possibly “organic SEO.” Are you sure that you understand these terms? Knowing the ins and outs of SEO strategy and how to execute good SEO techniques is an essential part of digital marketing. Let’s make sure that we understand exactly what we are trying to accomplish.
SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is a very basic concept. It is the process of managing a website’s code in a way that makes it most visible to search engines. Although the process seems clear and simple in the abstract, executing actual SEO techniques and the development of a good SEO strategy can become quite complicated. In truth, this task is best left to full-time professional SEO services. Still , it helps the small business person, service provider or professional to know the vocabulary and some of the basic concepts of SEO techniques and SEO strategy, and how this fits into your overall branding strategy.
Let’s start with the difference between organic SEO and paid SEO. SEO techniques that lead to your webpage ranking highly in Google, Bing or other search engine results without purchasing AdWords (from Google) or Bing Ads (from Microsoft) constitute organic SEO.
Let’s take an example, say the search term, “plumbers in Daytona.” Entering that exact search term in Google and Bing will yield two different pages of search term results. At the top of both pages, you will see results that are labeled as ads. Here is an actual example –Ad · www.mrrooter.com/DaytonaBeach . Directly below, is the Google or Bing map with a graphic representation of locations. You need to toggle down a bit to see the organic SEO or the unpaid results. This is where good SEO techniques can place your web ranking without any ad expense at all.
This pattern is repeated for almost any search term related to a business, product or service. Try it with the term, “medical clinics in Daytona.” You can see that this applies even to professional practices like medicine. The advantage of using professional SEO services from an internet marketing agency like Axiom is that your page is more likely to be found on that first results page.
If you struggle to find digital marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that make your business stand out, turn to Axiom. Your business deserves more than a cheap web design, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves.
Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Axiom can help your non-profit with SEO
Why do “Do-Gooders” sometimes fail to do well? Almost all non-profits have good intentions, but those intentions alone are not enough to fulfill your mission. The principals and rules that apply to professional practices, service providers, and for-profit businesses also apply to non-profit organizations. It is no longer enough to merely have a webpage. The page must be mobile device friendly or “responsive,” there must be good web design, SEO (search engine optimization), utilization of video formats, and management of social media marketing platforms.
Not-for-profit organizations like churches, charities, NGOs, or social services operate on limited budgets. Often, there is no room in those budgets for an on-staff IT manager or an internet specialist. But without those services, the non-profit is at a significant disadvantage. Potential volunteers and contributors, as well as the people who need your services, will be less likely to locate or even be aware of your organization. Today, the ‘net,’ the ‘cloud’ and mobile marketing are the keys to a non-profit’s success, just as they are for giant companies. Learn how AXIOM can help you fulfill your non-profit’s mission by clicking INTERNET MARKETING FOR NON-PROFITS.
Keyword research is important for SEO
You may know that keywords and key phrases are an important part of search engine optimization, but how do you know which words and phrases are really important. Well, believe it or not, there is actually a field of study called “Keyword Research.” Read about it by clicking the link.
What can SEO do for your website?
Search Engine Optimization or “SEO” is a buzz word in the world of internet marketing. Do you really understand SEO and what it can do for your website? Read a full explanation at our blog article, “What Is SEO and What Can It Do For You?”
How can SEO help your organization?
You have probably heard about Search Engine Optimization and what it can do for your local organization. An important part of SEO is knowing and correctly placing keywords and key phrases. Learn about this important topic by following the link, KEYWORDS AND PHRASES.
How Do You Know What Keywords and Key Phrases Are Important?
Believe it or not, there is actually a field of study called “Keyword Research.” Keyword research is a method used in search engine optimization (SEO) to determine which actual search terms people enter into search engines. Professionals in SEO use this information to attain improved rankings in search engines. There are several keyword suggestion tools that aid the process, including Google’s “Adwords Keyword Planner”, the “Bing Adword Planner” and numerous SEO strategy consultants who offer thesaurus and alternative keyword research suggestions. These companies can do in-depth research and analysis that relate specific keyword usage to a country or region, even down to a given zip code.
If you are a typical business person engaged in local trades and services, a professional practice, a ministry or non-profit organization, the choice and positioning of keywords and phrases is critical to your webpage search ranking. This is good news for small business, local non-profits and professional practices. By choosing a search engine optimization company that has the time and resources needed to research keywords and phrases, these local small businesses, professional and non-profit organizations can actually outrank national giants in local results.
This is a critical point for small business and SEO. If you are a local plumbing contractor, a small business operating in a given area, you do not have to outrank Kohler or Home Depot in national rankings. You are only interested in getting to the top of the rankings for “plumbers” or “plumbing contractors” in your zip code and surrounding areas. By matching keywords to the other data available to search engines (such as the user’s location, past search history and cookie library), an SEO strategy professional can vastly improve a webpage ranking.
Sometimes this is not very obvious. In the broad search engine topic of “plumbing”, how often are the words “faucet” or “drain” or “leak” used? The tools mentioned above can give you an evidence-based answer. Let’s take a specific example. Consider a person living in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area who is looking for an assisted living facility for themselves or a loved one. The search engine they are using knows their location and has a cookie file with their past search history. Using the two terms, “assisted living” and “retirement homes” turns up very different search results.
Using the keyword search, “assisted living” turns up:
- Daytona Beach, FL Assisted Living Facilities | SeniorLiving.Org
- Assisted Living in Daytona Beach, Florida | Caring.com
- Assisted Living: Facilities in Daytona Beach, Florida (FL)
- Senior Care Assisted Living Facilities near Daytona Beach, FL
- Riviera Senior Living | Holly Hill, FL – Assisted & Independent Living
- 100 Assisted Living Communities in Daytona Beach, FL.
The keyword phrase, “retirement home” yields:
- Daytona Beach Retirement Communities | yellowpages.com
- Retirement Communities in Daytona Beach, FL | Homes.com
- Daytona Beach Area 55+ Active Adult Retirement Communities
- Retire in Daytona Beach, Florida | topretirements.com
- 55+ Community Central FL | Retirement Homes Ormond Beach
- Senior Communities Daytona Beach
These are completely different results generated by keyword search terms that could be easily confused by a typical consumer. The same browser and search engines were used. That is why it is critically important to have data specific to the keyword and keyword phrases unique to your particular product, service and location. If a small business owner or non-profit administrator has the time and the skills needed, he or she can search publicly available sources from Google, Bing and others. More specific data can be obtained by subscribing to SEO software from proprietary sources.
Knowing the best keywords for a specific situation is only part of the solution. The placement of those keywords inside the website is also important. Good SEO technique places keywords and phrases in strategic places like page titles and the ‘metadata,’ a part of the website that is unseen by typical viewers but is very important to search engines.
For most small business people, professionals like attorneys or realtors, or non-profit administrators, this is a task better left to SEO professionals. At Axiom Administrative Services, our staff is proficient in traditional skills like graphic design and webpage technology, but also in the professional SEO services, like keyword selection and effective local SEO optimization.
If you are serious about your website, about finding good digital marketing solutions for your small business, non-profit or professional practice, you probably need the professional SEO services of an organization like AXIOM. AXIOM understands the needs of small businesses, professional practices and non-profits. Please visit AXIOM’s small business services page by clicking this LINK or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
How can SEO help you?
We keep coming back to a very important concept: What Is SEO and What Can It Do For You? The answer is, “It can do a lot for you”, so click the link to read more.
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