SEO for Small Businesses at a Reasonable Price: The 5 Most Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Put things in the proper order.

Doing search engine optimization (SEO) requires first identifying relevant keywords. You can’t conduct adequate keyword research without first defining your market, prospect categories, and how your products or services meet the needs of your target audience.

SEO for small businesses at an affordable price

Low-Priced Micro-Enterprises SEO not only employs tried-and-true business and marketing fundamentals, but it also makes use of a wealth of readily available metrics to boost website traffic and return on investment.

Any variation of the above questions is what I provide to small business owners that ask me how SEO could help their websites. Knowing the answers to these questions will make your SEO efforts more effective and save you time and money. You can probably do Some of these things on your own, saving you a ton of money on consultants.

To zero in on the best keywords for search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising campaigns, you should…

Objectives: What is the current monthly traffic and sales volume? In what range do you envision these values existing? What actions do you hope your ideal visitors will take when visiting your site? (Sign up for your ezine, make a purchase, etc.)

Market segmentation involves identifying your ideal clientele. Identify the different types of groups if there is more than one.

Successful search engine optimization strategies and keywords. Which key phrases do you find in your server logs?

AdWords KPIs: Have you tried PPC (pay-per-click) marketing before? Which conversion rates do you have? Are you making money, or at least not losing money, with your bids?

Increasing your site’s traffic is useless if it doesn’t convert visitors into buyers.

What is the internet profit margin for each of your products?

What fraction of people who express interest in buying offline go through with it? (to determine the variation in online results and the conversion rate forecast for your services)

Loyal Customers: Just how extensive is your Ezine’s subscriber base? How frequently do you send them emails? Which item do you send them?

Fixing These 5 Critical Website Errors

In my experience, over 75 percent of websites have at least one of these problems. As a result, businesses lose visibility online, traffic, and, ultimately, money.

Site map not available. No matter how professionally created your pages are or how attractive your graphics are, every site needs a good sitemap page to help search engines index it more easily. This is a simple list of resources with no extras beyond a bulleted outline. The new Google sitemap xml template can boost the likelihood that Google will index your entire site.

Submitting to not enough search engines and directories. In a perfect digital world, your website would be automatically indexed and placed where potential customers could find it. The truth is that we still have to put forth effort to make use of such offerings. Submitting your site to the 100-200 smaller directories and search engines will increase your chances of being included in the half-dozen primary traffic sources (such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.). Additionally, there are specialized directories that can boost your rankings for targeted keywords, thereby bringing in more targeted leads. Use a free service like WebCEO to submit your site to these directories.

Strange Website Admins. Your site visitors are curious about “who is behind this website.” Do I have faith in them? Unless your intended audience is pretentious, your photo and a brief biography should appear on the homepage (or every page, at the very least). Share your identity with them. While being yourself may be frowned upon in traditional advertising (though not always; see Ben & Jerry, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, etc.), it can provide you an edge in the digital sphere. It warms up the icy divide of the internet by fostering trust and building credibility and emotional ties. Most of your intended audiences will find it suitably done. Is your readiness for prime time the actual question?

Website Organization Needs Work. Is it hard to navigate your site? Do you know where they intend to go or what they seek? Where do you suggest they go, exactly? A well-organized website serves all your potential customers’ needs by leading them where you want them to go. Try having a few people who will likely become customers utilize your website in front of you as you observe their every move. Also, have a search engine that provides data on user queries to help you figure out what else to post.

Journal Ignorance. Some websites hide their ezine subscription form deep within site; if you want people to join up for yours, you must sell them on the idea. Use a freebie to entice people to sign up for your ezine. Why? Not everyone who visits your website will end up buying from you. They may be interested in your offer, but they aren’t ready to commit to a purchase. Possibly, they will have queries. Once you have them on your list, you may sell them on you and your products every week or two (by providing helpful tips) until they purchase.

They need to know what they’ll be receiving, that their information will be kept confidential, and that they can unsubscribe at any time, in addition to the gift you’re offering to get them to sign up. To prevent spam, I recommend using double opt-in, in which the recipient must first confirm their subscription by responding to a confirmation email before they begin receiving messages from you.

San Diego-based e-business, copywriting, and Google AdWords expert Brian B. Carter, MS (http://adwordsman.com/) have a Master of Science in the field. He is an AdWords Qualified Individual who consistently provides excellent customer service. Check out his AdWords advice site here: [http://adwordsman.com/]. Or check out his Web advertising weblog.

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