Most Effective Search Engine Marketing Strategies to Get More Leads and Customers
Today, over 95% of Internet users use the major search engines – Google, Yahoo! and Bing – to find the products and services they need. Internet Marketing is not just for big business anymore – the Internet is increasingly used to look for local businesses.
The Kelsey Group, a market research firm, reported that in 2008 “83% of U.S. households used the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services… the Internet will soon surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource.”
The Number 1 Challenge for Businesses Online
While the volume of Internet searches continues to increase, businesses who want to tap into this marketing opportunity face some significant challenges online. First, the web has become an increasingly competitive space. The number of websites has proliferated over the years and according to some estimates there are now over 180 million websites and about 9 billion indexed pages on Google.
In addition, web browsers have become increasing sophisticated users of the Internet. 84% do not even go beyond the first page of search engine results. Indeed, a Cornell study found that online searchers focused primarily on the top 5 results on the first page with the top 3 Google results getting 79% of all clicks. Given these two factors, the number one challenge facing all businesses today is getting found online.
Getting on Page One of Google
So how can your business be found by searchers looking for what you have to offer? In order to tap into the huge volume of local searches each month, your business website must appear ideally on the first page of the search engine results to get noticed and to get clicks.
By appearing on page one, your offerings will be placed right in front of prospective clients at exactly that key moment when they are actively searching for your service. Since Google is the dominant search engine (with 65% of the search market vs Yahoo and Bing), lets take a look at the 3 major ways in which your business can be positioned on page one of the search engine results.
1. Local Business Listings
The cheapest way to get on page one is to create your business listing using Google’s Local Business Center. This service is free and should absolutely be a ‘must do’ for all business website owners. Because Google is placing these local business listings first in the search results (i.e. before showing other web matches), it is critically important that you create your listing and position your business in the top 7.
This can be done with proper use of keywords. When setting up your Google local listing, be sure to select the right category for your business. In addition, inserting the keywords or search phrases that you want to rank for in your business listing (especially in the title) will also improve your search rankings.
2. Pay Per Click Advertising or Paid Search
Pay per click (PPC), also known as Google AdWords, is the quickest way to get on Page One of Google. Paying the search engines for top placement gets fast results and generates immediate traffic to your business. Unlike the Yellow Pages and other forms of print advertising, business owners pay only for results (when their ad is clicked), can measure the ROI on their advertising dollars, and can track results efficiently.
3. Search Engine Marketing or SEO
The 3rd way to be found on page one of Google, and the best way to generate high quality leads online, is by having your business appear in the top 10 search results. Search Engine Optimization (SEO or organic search) is aimed at achieving the highest possible search engine results page (SERP) rank for a web site/page. SEO is an art not a science as the algorithmic elements that comprise search engine rankings are constantly being adjusted by the search engines.
Boosting Your Search Engine Rankings
Keywords and links are two of the biggest factors in terms of boosting your search rankings. “On Page” SEO refers to the optimization of your website page elements and content so the Search Engine can find your webpage for your targeted keywords.
“Off Page” SEO refers to the text and “inbound” linking from other web site pages to your web site pages. Since it takes time to build links in an organic way and to show results (usually several months depending on the competitiveness of your keyword), SEO is a longer term investment relative to PPC. Compared to traditional print advertising, SEO still offers a higher ROI especially for businesses that have high customer lifetime values.
By effectively combining these 3 lead generation strategies (local listings, paid search, and organic search) you can create a dominant presence for your business online. Your enhanced web visibility will allow you to capture active prospects, improve brand awareness, build a loyal following, and be recognized as the eminent authority and leader in your local market.
Google Local Business Center
Google has made a significant change to its Local Business Center listings.
As you can see in the image below, instead of displaying the top 10 local business listings, Google is now only showing the top 7.
This makes it just that much more difficult for local businesses to show up on the first page of a local business search in competitive markets.
This change also re-emphasizes the importance of optimizing your business listing so that you can improve your business’ local search ranking position.
Make sure you use the appropriate categories and keywords in your local business center descriptions and try and get additional citations from local directories as well.
It looks Google made this change in order to free up real estate on the first page for their new Local Listing Ads service. For a flat monthly fee, Google will display your business ad in the sponsored search section as shown below.
This service is currently only available in San Francisco and San Diego.
You can learn more about the Google Local Listing Ad service in the video:
Local Internet Marketing – Must Do’s for Business Owners
According to some statistics, there are over 10 billion searches done each month in the United States and more than 40% of those searches have ‘local intent’. This means that there are approximately 4 billion internet searches for local businesses and services monthly!
Improving your business’ ranking for local internet searches has therefore become very important. In a previous post on boosting your local search rankings, I pointed out that at a minimum, business owners should create a listing on Google’s Local Business Center. This is easy to set up and the service is free. You can sign up for it here.
In addition to creating a Google Local listing, you should also set up a business listing at Yahoo Local. The process is very similar and its also free.
Microsoft also has its Bing local search engine, so consider creating a listing there as well.
Having multiple listings and additional citations should give your local search rankings a definite boost.
Local Search Ranking – Top 3 Factors for Ranking Well
What are the Key Factors for Boosting Your Local Search Rankings?
Following a previous post on the overall basics of search engine optimization, I thought it might be relevant here to focus on local search rankings. What determines how well a website does in the search results when someone conducts a search related to their city or town?
A recent survey of search engine experts by David Mihm sheds some light on the key factors for ranking well for local searches. 27 experts were asked to rate a total of 49 factors in terms of their importance in determining local search rankings.
The top 3 factors that were ranked as being most significant in positively influencing local rankings were:
1. Having a local business listing within the city of search
If you look at the search results for “online marketing bethesda” in the image above, my company’s local business listing shows up prominently along with the local city map and location. Because Google is placing these local business listings first in the search results (i.e. before showing other web matches), it is critically important that you create your listing using Google’s Local Business Center. This service is free and should absolutely be a ‘must do’ for all business website owners.
2. Being cited by other local portals, associations, or groups
According to the experts surveyed, listing your business with local online directories, portals or associations can also help your local search rankings. Examples of such sites might be infoUSA, Yellow Pages, Yelp, City Search, Merchant Circle and even local chamber directories. These sites usually have high page rank and authority, so creating a listing which links back to your business website should give your rankings a boost.
3. Using proper categories and keywords in your local business listing
When setting up your Google local listing, be sure to select the right category for your business. In addition, inserting the keywords or search phrases that you want to rank for in your business listing (especially in the title) will also improve your search rankings.
The survey goes into negative factors affective search rankings as well. These include negative customer reviews, using an 800 telephone number in your local listing, and having multiple listings with the same business name and phone number. The full survey can be seen here.
