Many businesses are busy with the process of selling their products or services but something that they sometimes forget to do (and this is so true of small businesses) is that they forget to find out what their audience needs.

No point in building a rack or pages on your website to sell red shoes if your audience is looking for yellow shoes instead!  That can be a costly mistake.  (Hence, that’s how all those shoes end up at the discount stores!)

Anyway – how can you know what your audience is looking for?  And now?

Well, Twitter is a “now” type of tool.  I mean, you see what people are typing in now.  So, it’s a great tool to find out what others are searching for.

Here’s how…

Twitscoop.com is a great tool to find out what people are searching for.  Here’s how you use it.

1) Type in a phrase (in quotes) about your services, in the form of a need or want.  For example, let’s say you sell Name Tags – here are some sample searches you can do…

a) “searching for” + “name tags” – no results

b) “searching for” + “nametags” – no results

c) “looking for” + “name tags” – got 2 results, one mentions celebrities and name tags (hmm – that’s an idea, create name tags using celebrity images)

d) “great” + “name badges” – got an advertisement from namebadgeworld.com – hmm – interesting and free way to market!  Also got links to other sites selling very different looking types of name badges.  Great ideas!

Get the idea?  This short survey on Twitscoop.com which took about 5 minutes, showed me that there is a need out there for unusual and different name tags.  People are admiring name tags and badges that are not the “same old same old”.  That tells me (if I’m selling name tags) that I need to get creative and begin making different name tags, ones that stand out and showcase today’s meetings and the desires of the people in those meetings.

This concept will not only show you what your audience wants or needs but it will bring you AND your audience together.  What a concept!

Tags: internet marketing idea, small business marketing, social media, target audience, trends, twitter

So often I find myself in an argument with a new client over keywords.  Basically, the scenario is usually…

They want to be found for a main keyword phrase.

And I want them to be found for keyword phrases that convert into sales.

What’s the difference you say?  Let me tell you!

1) It’s more difficult to get on the top 5 search results for a main keyword phrase than it is for a targeted keyword phrase.  So, although it can be done, more money and time are being spent on attempting to go for that main keyword phrase.  (By main keyword phrases I’m talking about generic phrases like “name tags” or “lawyers” or “care managers“)

2) The type of audience that are typing in these generic phrases are not in the “buying” stage as of yet.  They’re just looking.  Also, they’re not sophisticated enough to know how to look.  In other words, if I were searching for a lawyer on the Internet, I would want to search for a specific type of lawyer in a specific city or area.  As a website owner, of course you want to get traffic to your website but more than that, you want targeted traffic.  You want the kind of traffic that will convert into sales.

3) Think about it – if your website was a store and you advertised on your front window that you were selling “towels” but your store only sold Kitchen towels – you would receive a huge crowd of people looking for towels, but when they came into the store they would see you only had Kitchen towels.  What percentage of those people do you think will ask you if you sold other types of towels?  I bet a large percentage.  That takes up alot of your time and takes you away from the people who are buying the Kitchen towels.  So, why would you want to attract every person looking for towels when you only sell Kitchen towels?

Get my point?

In Summary – make sure your website markets specific keyword phrases and make sure you keep updating your website to keep up with your audience.  Know what they’re looking for and give it to them.  With Internet marketing and keyword research, it’s easy to do!

Tags: internet marketing, keyword research, keyword selection, seo, website marketing

Most of you know we cater to small businesses and as a result, we’re always on the lookout for creative Internet marketing ideas.  I found one today SmallBusinessSEM.com and thought I’d share it with you.

The idea was taken from AvanteGardens.com – basically what they did was to add a marker on a Google Map for each location where they’ve handled the flowers for weddings, special events, etc.  When you click on a marker it shows you the name of the facility and it also shows you a photo of the flowers.  Very clever marketing!

Not only are they letting you know who has used them (building trust and value to their brand) but they’re also showcasing their products!

It’s a great idea but how can YOU use it?

Let me know!

Tags: creative marketing, google maps, internet marketing, small business marketing

I’m reading this article “Small Business SEO: Costs, Expectations & Realities” by Matt McGee.  In it he talks about the wide range of costs many small businesses complain about.  I’ve had many phone calls with small business owners frustrated that one company will charge $75.00/month and others charge $1000.00/month!  And because of the techno-babble they get from the salespeople, the small business owner just doesn’t understand what it is that he/she is buying.

That’s so frustrating to me!  To all the SEO firms out there who love to throw around words that THEY KNOW are not common to non-seo folks, STOP IT!  That doesn’t sell the service, it turns people off.

Anyway, back to SEO costs and this article.

Matt makes some points in his article that I would like to address…

1) “The price you’ll pay for SEO depends on the consultant’s business model.”

This is very true.  There are several business models out there and depending on what model the SEO firm uses, well, that will impact the price you pay.  So, when you’re looking for an SEO firm, find out what will they do for you?

a) Will they just be consulting you and giving you a written “how to” so that either you or your web designer will have to do the work?

b) Will they be going in and making the changes to your website as well as the SEO work.  Some companies will do a complete re-design of a website in order to optimize it.

c) Do they base their fees on a percentage of the revenue that you bring in?  This type of model is great for websites who sell physical products but it’s risky for the SEO firm.  After all, the SEO firm can get the people to your website, but the sale is up to the business owner.

2) “The price you’ll pay for SEO services sometimes depends on geography.”

I thought this was interesting.  He basically goes on to say that an SEO firm in a smaller town can charge less than an SEO firm in a larger city.  I would love to see a study about this, if it’s true.  It makes sense that it would be, but it would be great to find out if it is.

3) “I generally wouldn’t trust an SEO company that only charges $300/month.”

This one, I don’t agree with.  Our SEO Services here at Eckweb are $135.00/month and we’re very proud to be able to offer this for our small business clients.   Matt reports that the $300.00 fee is more an hourly fee for an SEO consultant, not a monthly fee!  He goes on to report that if an SEO firm is charging less than $300.00/month then they aren’t “doing much for you.”

Hmmm – I beg to differ.

Here’s what we offer at Eckweb Designs, Inc. –

a) Initially, we provide you with a proposal which outlines the steps we need to take to optimize your website.  The proposal gives you multiple options.

• You can choose whether we do the work on your site or your designer does
• You can choose whether our copywriter writes the content for your site or you do
• You can choose to simply purchase our written consultation
• You can choose to manage social media programs or let us help you with it
• You can choose the level of participation you want to have in your Internet marketing campaigns

Average time: 30 minutes

b) Once the proposal is approved we move ahead and if you chose for a full SEO package then we begin with a comprehensive keyword research on your website – this means we research what keyword phrases your target audience is typing in to search queries.  We don’t just use Keyword tools for this, we also research your Internet competition.  We then give you the list of keyword phrases that we have found and ask you to remove the phrases that are not appropriate.

Average time: 2-3 hours

c) We restructure and recode your website so that it is as streamlined as possible for the search engines.  This sometimes requires a complete re-design of the website (although we do try to keep as many graphics as possible from the original site).  If an SEO firm tells you that the website that was created 5 years ago doesn’t have to be changed in order to be marketed on the Internet, hang up the phone immediately.

Average time: 1-2 hours per website page

d) We then go through the process of the actual on page optimization which means placing the keyword phrases in strategic areas throughout the website pages, creating internal links, altering meta tags, and optimizing graphics.

Average time: 45 minutes per website page

e) In between these stages are emails and phone calls determining the plan that the site will take.  But in reality, the majority of this plan is already written in the proposal acceptance.  Many of our clients will call us with questions about the proposal and it is during this time that the plan begins to formulate.  Matt includes planning as part of his time in his $300.00/hour estimate and I can see how that would be true if he was dealing with a 500 + page website but the truth is that the great majority of small business owners have a 20 page (or less) website and there simply isn’t much planning required for those small websites.

f) Once all the initial work is done we then begin the monthly marketing – which we only charge $135.00/month for.  This monthly work entails…

• Manual submission to 5-10 directories which were chosen based on who your competitors are linked to
• Manual research for link exchanges which are also chosen based on your competitors
• Review of your website analytics mostly to review what pages are not working as well as they should
• Tweaking of a low ranking page which can include either changing a keyword phrase or adding an additional page for this theme (there is an extra charge of $60.00 for adding a new page)
• Creation of multiple reports including traffic analysis report, new keyword phrases report, tips and ideas report, and others.

Average time: 2-3 hours per website

Are our costs low?  Yes – they are lower than the average SEO firm but we’re not the average SEO firm.  We cater to small and home based businesses.  Our goal is to serve small and home based businesses.  We work very hard to streamline as much as possible the work that we do and we work VERY hard to keep our own costs low so that we can keep our prices low.  There’s no magic, there’s no special program we use, it’s just plain hard work.

4) “Focus on ROI, not costs.”

This, I agree with and I always tell my clients to focus on the ROI.  My focus is on conversions, not necessarily being on page 1 of Google for every keyword phrase we’re marketing.  The latter, we can do.  But if the keyword phrase isn’t bringing in clients who convert, what’s the point?  The average ROI for Eckweb clients is 200% and I think for small businesses, that’s very good.

5) “No SEO can guarantee results.”

Absolutely true.  How can a company guarantee results when their work is based on another company’s actions?  Think about it.  I can do the most amazing optimization job on your website, I can then submit the website and Google, Yahoo, and others will pick it up.  But my optimization process is dependant on these search engines.  If the search engines change their algorithims (their rules on how they rank websites) then the optimization I did may not work.  So, how can I possibly guarantee that your site will rank for a certain number when I don’t have control over the company that’s doing the ranking?  So, again, if an SEO firm tells you that they guarantee results, hang up immediately.

So, yes, I know, SEO is and can be very costly.  If the SEO firm is also participating in PPC on your behalf, then yes it’ll cost more.  If the SEO firm is writing articles and press releases and submitting them for you, then it’ll cost more.  But small businesses cannot afford these “extras” and if they could, we can also accomodate them but the reality is, many businesses are still learning about the Internet and it’s impact.  I know, they’re late but they’re coming around.

So, SEO costs don’t have to be out of reach.  As a small business owner, you can participate in Internet marketing and do well.

Tags: internet marketing, seo costs, seo marketing for small businesses, seo pricing, small business seo

Found a really great tool that works on Firefox browsers.  If you haven’t yet begun to use Firefox, I have no idea what you’re waiting for.  I couldn’t possibly do my SEO work without some of the great extensions that Firefox offers.

Anyway, Mani Karthik wrote a great little script that you can install onto Firefox so that when you do a search on Google, you not only get the Google results but you also get the top 5 results from Twitter!  Now, that is pretty cool!

You’ll need the Greasemonkey Extension already installed (but you should have that anyway!)

So, how does this script help you?  Well, let’s see…

1) It provides more exposure.  Let’s say you’re a divorce lawyer in Colorado.  You can Tweet about “divorce laws in Colorado” and you’re also marketing that phrase on your website.  When someone does a search for “divorce laws in Colorado” not only will your website come up (if it’s optimized) but your Tweet will come up as well!  So, you basically end up with 2 listings on the Google search.

Yes, I know, this only works IF the person has this extension installed on their Firefox and it’s true, it may be a small percentage but the concept is that it’s an easy way to get extra exposure.

2) For researchers (such as myself) it’s an added bonus to have an additional source of information on my search results.  In addition, the Twitter information is real time so it’s more updated than the search results on Google (at least, potentially).

So, give it a try.  You just might like it!!  And if you do, pass it on!

Here’s the link to the full article – http://mt-hacks.com/20090302-realtime-twitter-search-results-on-google.html

Tags: extensions, firefox, google, greasemonkey, twitter

I speak to many small business owners every week and one thing that strikes me is how many of them rely on others to promote them.  When I talk to these business owners about writing blogs or tweeting on Twitter or any type of self promotion the usual answer I get back is “Well, I don’t have time for that.”

What?

I know when I first started Eckweb I attended every single networking group within a 20 mile radius for 3 years.  I wrote as many blogs and articles as I could, I searched for every available type of self promotion that I could find.  I mean, it took time, yes but it also helped me to find the words that I needed to give my presentation.  It gave me the opportunity to see how others saw the SEO services industry.  This insight was my education on how to speak to my potential audience.

So, it’s no wonder that when I speak to small business owners about adding content to their websites – they don’t know how.  They don’t know what to say.  They can speak the language of their industry, but they can’t speak the language their customers are speaking.  In my humble opinion, you can’t sell if you don’t know what you’re selling and if you don’t know what your customers are looking for.

So, the next time you’re given the opportunity to take advantage of some self promotion, go for it!  It will pay off in the long run!!

Tags: internet marketing, seo services, small business marketing

I’m reading this article about Twitter and local news.

http://www.localseoguide.com/is-twitter-a-better-source-of-local-news-than-google/

I’m sure you’ve seen your local news station providing you with IReporting (essentially, news from everyday folks like you and me) sent to them via cell phones, video cams, twitter, facebook, etc.  It’s interesting that in today’s age of Reality TV where television seems to have been taken over by the general public looking for a way to get on tv – that the same thing seems to be happening in news media.

Not only is the public going to be just questioned about certain events by an attractive local reporter, it seems that the public will not be taking over the job of the reporter and just doing the reporting themselves.  Hmm – I haven’t decided if this is a good thing or not.

I mean, it’s great that people have the opportunity to show the world what’s happening around them (as in the case of Iran) but how do we know that the person doing the reporting doesn’t have a hidden agenda?  Of course, we don’t really know that about professional reporters either but the IDEA is that they’re supposed to be unbiased and non judgemental towards the news they report (Yeah right!) – anyway, I haven’t decided if it’s a good thing or not.

What do you think?

Tags: ireporting, news, reporting, social media

Just this past weekend I spent some time with some friends and as has been happening for quite some time now, they asked me about Twitter.  They asked me “…what is it?” and “…what does it do?” and “…why should I use it?”, etc.  In the midst of my explanation the inevitable comment came…

“…I don’t want my kids using all that stuff, it isolates them.”

What?

With what’s been happening in Iran lately with the Internet Revolution – I don’t see how anyone can say that the Internet isolates anyone!  We now have the opportunity to not just know the people in our neighborhoods but to get to know people from other parts of the country and the world.  When, in history, has this ever been possible?  In my humble opinion, when people say they think the Internet isolates people, what they’re really saying is that they don’t understand it and they’re scared of it.  If they’re scared of it they can’t control it.  I don’t know anyone who uses social media and thinks it’s isolating.  If anything, it’s liberating.

But, with the liberation comes responsibilities.  You can’t just say what you want, we all still have moral responsibilities to express ourselves thoughtfully.  Being angry and mean is the same whether you say it in person or online.

And, parents have the added responsibility of teaching their children how to behave and what to watch out for on the Internet.  It used to be you could just tell your children to “…look both ways before crossing the street” and “…don’t talk to strangers.”  Those days are over.  The list of things to watch out for is long for children these days and I for one, applaud those parents who take on this responsibility to teach their children how to interact in today’s world.

But, back to the social media and Internet.   The recent events in Iran showcase to everyone the absolute power the Internet and social media can have on a worldwide basis.  Imagine if the people in Darfur had access to this?  Would they still be suffering as they are?  I doubt it.

If you’re still in the back of the room wondering if you should join a social media group and begin interacting on the Internet, stop scratching your head and just do it.  Begin with something you enjoy, like a hobby or something and you’ll soon find out how easy and how fruitful it can be to join these groups.  It doesn’t matter how you start.  Whether you start with Twitter or Facebook or Linked In or any of the many, many social media groups.  The point is to start using it.

Tags: facebook, internet revolution, social media, twitter

I found this great article at http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/7-minute-seo-guide and it’s perfect for small business owners who want to try and understand what exactly is involved in the SEO process.  If you’re in the SEO business, you’ve probably heard a million times something like, “Can’t you just market my website?  Why do we have to change it?”

If I got paid a dollar everytime I’ve heard that, I’d be retired now!

Anyway, the author of this article breaks down the SEO process into 3 major steps…

1. Structure – the web language used, navigation, and rich media all have an impact on whether the search engines are able to crawl and understand the theme of your web site.

2. Content – search engine spiders are really quite dumb. Your web content needs to match-up with the user’s query or your site won’t be found.

3. Links – the search engines look at the quantity, quality, and relevance of the links pointing to a web site.

He then breaks down each step into the smaller components of what needs to be done in order to get each step corrected.  It’s really a great article, give it a read!

But to just interject my own personal thoughts on this article…

I think it’s important that website owners understand that there is no program that does all of this for anyone.  It’s not as if an SEO webmaster can enter in the website address of your company’s website into a program and then magically the website is corrected and links are coming in and keywords are found and placed.  All these factors are done manually, by a person (or persons) and they take time.  It’s not unusual to spend 5-10 hours on keyword research.  It’s not unusual to spend 30-40 hours on re-creating a website structure and it’s not unusual to spend 1 hour per day on link exchanges.

SEO is not brain surgery, it’s not difficult.  But it is time consuming and that is the reason many businesses give up on performing the SEO themselves.  It simply takes up too much of their time.  After all, they have a business to run!  But make no mistake, the ROI from SEO services is very, very, very good!  So, the next time you talk to an SEO professional think about the time that’s involved in the process of the job you’re asking them to do.  This may help you when they give you their price.

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo, seo services