SEO for Small Business: 5 Simple Tactics to Generate LeadsKELLY SHELTON, VP OF MARKETINGTwitter: @kellyshelton32

OVERVIEW1. What is SEO?2. Is SEO Right for your business?3. How SEO Works4. Tactic 1: Google My Business 5. Tactic 2: Build Online Profiles6. Tactic 3: Dedicate Website Pages to Answering FAQs7. Tactic 4: Add a Blog to your Website 8. Tactic 5: User Experience: Enhancing Code & Content9. Where you can learn more10. Q&A

WHAT IS SEO?(Answer: it’s search engine optimization)

GOOGLE’S SEARCH GOALS

Google’s Business Model for SearchDeliver the best result possible to searchers to keep them coming back.

WHAT IS SEO?

It is the process of making your website as visible and prominent as possible in a search engine’s results.

The main goal of SEOis page one rankingson SERP.

What is SEO?

Local/Maps

Organic

PaidAds

WHAT IS SEO?

Onsite• Technical Code

• Sitemap• Robots.txt• Title tags• Meta Descriptions• Schema Markup• Alt Tags

• Content• Load Time & Mobile Friendliness• User Experience• Conversion Optimization• Keywords

Offsite• Business Profiles• Directories• Content Marketing / Link “Building”

• Articles• Blogs• Infographics• PR• Useful Content that people Like,

Share and Link back to• Social Signals• Overall Online Footprint

EARNING LINKS & BUILDING AN ONLINE PRESENCEEvery article, press release, blog, video, or any other content you publish online should include a link back to your website.

IS SEO RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

WHY SEO AND IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU?

Why SEO?1. When consumers are ready to buy, they search2. Generates ready-to-buy leads3. Supports all other marketing efforts

Is SEO Right for your Business?4. Do people search online for what you do?5. Are your competitors online?6. Do you get customers from Yellow Pages?

HOW SEO WORKS

SEO

HOW IT WORKS

Your Website

ContentSource Code Authority

Credibility

RELEVANCE TRUST

<title tag></a>

12

SEO Math

REFERRALSBEST ANSWERTRUSTRELEVANCE

TACTIC 1:BUILD & OPTIMIZE

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PAGE

TACTIC 1:

Why Google My Business is important for your business:1. Edit your business info on Search, Maps & more2. Share news & updates with customers3. Respond to reviews4. Discover how customers find your business

TACTIC 1: GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

TACTIC 1: GOOGLE MY BUSINESS TIPS

1. NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) – Address and company name should match exactly how it shows up on your website

2. Photos are #2 most important info after NAP – Social media and biz profiles are closely related

3. Reviews – Encourage your customers to leave reviews4. Fill out EVERYTHING – Categories, logo, link to other Google

accounts, etc.5. Keep descriptions keyword free – It appears spammy6. Personalize – Include pictures of staff and storefront 7. Get rid of duplicate accounts – You just want one so claim one8. Verify/Claim your listing – by phone is best9. Call Google with questions – they are typically very helpful

TACTIC 2: BUILD CONSISTENT &

COMPLETE ONLINE PROFILES

TACTIC 2: BUSINESS PROFILES

Why Online Business Profiles:1. Relevant traffic to your website (leads)2. Builds online footprint that can help improve

rankings3. Builds link to your website4. Builds a trusted brand

TACTIC 2: ONLINE PROFILES (Top 11)

1. Google http://www.google.com/local/add2. Bing http://www.bing.com/businessportal3. Apple https://mapsconnect.apple.com/4. Manta

http://www.manta.com/profile/my-companies/select5. Foursquare http://foursquare.com/add_venue6. Yellowbot http://www.yellowbot.com/7. Kudzu https://register.kudzu.com/8. Merchant Circle http://www.merchantcircle.com/ 9. Local.com http://advertise.local.com/10. Yelp http://biz.yelp.com/signup/new11. Mojopages http://www.mojopages.com/biz/signup

TACTIC 2: BUSINESS PROFILES

Best Practices1. Consistent & Complete2. Keep up to date3. Reviews / Messages4. Promote your profiles

Best Places for Reviews 5. Google6. Yelp7. Sitejabber8. Facebook 9. Review sites that show up in search results when you search your

business name

TACTIC 3: DEDICATE WEBSITE PAGES

TO ANSWERING FAQs

How• Write down 5-10 most common customer questions• Create a Blog, white paper or web pages with answers• Revise your FAQsWhat• Non promotional / Non Salesy• Great, detailed information• Make your headline a question (How do I know... ? Who is

best…?)Why• Leads to a better user experience• Generates more social shares• Can help generate traffic, trust, and improve rankings

TACTIC 3: ANSWERS & SOLUTIONS PAGES

TACTIC 3: ANSWERS & SOLUTIONS PAGES

TACTIC 3: ANSWERS & SOLUTIONS PAGES

TACTIC 4: ADD A BLOG TO YOUR

WEBSITE

TACTIC 4: ADD A BLOG TO WEBSITE

Study shows the power of an onsite blog

TACTIC 4: ADD A BLOG TO WEBSITE

Best Practices1. Inform, educate, entertain, be a resource2. Resist temptation to sell and promote3. Keep SEO in mind4. Be valuable to your customers even when they are not ready

to buy from you 5. Content doesn’t need to be about your products or even

about what you do6. Make content sharable7. Include a comment section8. Post to social sites & email to subscribers

TACTIC 5: USER EXPERIENCE:

ENHANCING CODE AND CONTENT

TACTIC 5: USER EXPERIENCE

Clean Code1. Clean code is commonly referenced as the most critical

ranking factor2. Make it easy for Google to crawl your website3. Robots.txt is a common error we find that has caused a

website to drop in rankings4. Makes it easy for users to navigate through you website

How You see your website: How Google sees your website:

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOURCE CODE

TITLE TAGS/META DESCRIPTIONS

TACTIC 5: USER EXPERIENCE

Useful Content1. Pages clearly state who you are, what you do, and

what the user can do2. Load time3. Does your page match the searcher’s intent?4. Can users easily find what they are looking for?

Customers want information fast.5. Is content easy to read and well organized?

TACTIC 5: USER EXPERIENCE

TACTIC 5: USER EXPERIENCE

Q & A