A Smart Search Engine Optimization Strategy Can Help Economy-Proof Your Business
Don’t Put All Your Keywords Into One Basket
Last week, we met with one of our construction clients, and the CEO of the business was in the meeting. While online marketing is not his thing, he honed in on something that really stood out in my mind. In a nutshell, he said that their business, like most, fluctuates based on the economy, so he wants to make sure that they are visible for the complete range of their offerings in all of the geographies that they serve. He doesn’t want to put all of their eggs in one basket. Just like it’s good to diversify your financial investments, the same is true with your search engine optimization strategy. Smart search engine optimization (SEO) allows your business to be visible for everything you offer, everywhere you offer it.
Even in today’s Google-driven world, there are companies, and not just small ones, that haven’t scratched the surface of online marketing. While they dream of the idea of being found online and not having to hunt business down so aggressively, figuring out how to actually do this is put on the back burner year after year. The truth is that effective SEO is a lot of work. You need someone who knows what they are doing. And, you’re never done with it. To reap the benefits of being found online for what you do, where you do it, requires a big picture strategy, a monthly plan and weekly efforts. That’s the hard reality. But the upside is that if you get this machine in place, it can be one of the best ways to economy-proof your business and keep opportunities coming in from all different angles.
Where do we start with a search engine optimization strategy? First, we focus on understanding a client’s services and offerings. Then, we gain insight into the vertical markets that they target. Next, we define the geographic areas that they want to be visible in. Finally, we research their top competitors.
We then take this information and run it through various software tools that we use for keyword research to hone in on the keywords and terms that present good opportunities for achieving visibility. There is an art and a science to this effort. Using the findings from our research, we start by identifying a primary list of keywords to architect their website around and then develop content aligned with these keywords. This is the heart of the search engine optimization strategy.
Once a site is optimized, we use other keywords from our research efforts to begin spinning a web online. This is done by creating additional pages within the site as well as blog posts. We use monitoring and analytics tools to keep an eye on the performance of these keywords and continuously create new pages of keyword-focused content aligned with the client’s business and visibility goals. The spinning of the web never ends, but it works. Within months of getting this effort rolling, opportunities start coming in more regularly due to increased visibility online.
Your company’s website is your most powerful marketing tool. Invest in it with a smart search engine optimization strategy, and you’ll keep business flowing during the inevitable ups and downs in the economy.
