Milwaukee Search Engine Optimization

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So you want to be the top dog! Want to be number 1 and get clicked on the most. How do I get to the top of the organic search rankings? Here is a simple 5 step process which can vault you to the top of the local search!

1. Good keyword research. You need to have the proper keywords to get a high ranking. We don’t want general search and "let’s get information" type words. Car, computer, i pods, cell phones, insurance, and credit cards are all examples of generic terms that are used for research. These are not buying keywords and are not easiy attainable for the top. You want to break things down like Milwaukee ford dealers, Milwaukee used cars, Milwaukee computer stores etc. are what people search for when they want to buy. They also can be dominated by new web sites.

2.  Content, new content, good content. I think you get the idea that you must have really good fresh content on your site. Potential customers want to know that you are an expert and the best way to show them is through your writing and information you give away. I also mean for you to submit well written articles linking to your site which drives the rankings and will also bring traffic.

3. You shall use social bookmarking. to gain links and traffic. When linking you will use a locally optimized keyword like Milwaukee watch store which only has 3 local stores listed and no sites with a high PR at the top. Take you niche break it down to long tail keywords and add a local qualifier. What’s "Long Tail Keyword?" check back in the next couple of days I will be explaining it.

4. Publish to directories. Not just any directories and not with an auto submitter either. Spamming directories doesn’t help your rankings. Submitting your site by hand is the way to go and make sure each directory is a high PR directory. Also make sure it has a relevant category you fit in. If the directory is only for Christian sites and you don’t have Christian content don’t submit it there. Find directories that match what you are selling so when someone does see your site they will come too possibly buy.

5. You will use Rss feeds when possible. Don’t have a blog? Doesn’t matter you can create your own Rss feeds with your web site. You can also post your links on free blog services and get traffic and back links from them. There are many ways to use Rss feeds and I will help later on but make sure you start using them. They can jump you up rankings almost faster than anything else when the other steps are taken.

There you have it. Nice simple, fast, and effective way to the top of the local search engines. Good luck in your quest.

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It doesn’t matter what your service, product, or business is, if you are selling it you must be online. To many potential customers search for information and look for local businesses to give them what they look for.  Almost all large corporations are targeting local buyers. Why? Because they know that people spend 80% of their income within 20 miles of home… and that consumers are turning to the Internet to research products and services before they buy. How can you compete with their ad budget?

The easiest way is to organize local businesses together and form a business group. Make sure that one of the people in the group is a web design person and every other member should be local small businesses. This group will then develop a local web site for locals to shop at, get information, and see the products and services. This web site becomes an Internet mall and contains everything that local shopper needs. They can get hours, get prices, etc all at the click of a button and it will have every item a Walmart has and more.

Remember I said make sure you incorporate the computer guy? They will be able to design and host this mini mall and for doing so get front page space for advertising. You then can have listings for the businesses, local news stories, and articles posted. The news and stories are divided up by the actual businesses that are part of the business group. Each one takes turns and generates some good content. it will be constantly updated and will fly up the Google rankings.

The businesses should then pool their money together and get advertising to direct people to this mini mall. With the pooled resources and only one web site to get them to go to you really get the most advertising for your buck. Once the customers land there you have a unique page for each business and also a link to their web site. Yes, those natural inbound links Google loves, yet another advantage. With the traffic and great content the PR Rank of the mini mall will be very high and will pass that page rank to each owners web site getting them to rank higher also.

As you can see getting a business directory going is not that hard. It is a great way to pool advertising money and take on the big boys of retail. Really the only question is who will take the first step. If it’s  you give me a call and we’ll get the ball rolling.

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When I tell people that I work on the Internet the most common response I get is "good time to be selling on the Internet with prices skyrocketing and everything". This is true but not for the reasons most people think. A vast majority of people don’t actually buy on the Internet because they don’t trust it yet. Just because you can get a better price is not going to be a justification for them to fork over their hard earned dollars to someone on the other side of the computer. I still believe that now is the most important time to be on the Internet and dominating local searches. Let me explain why.

I am going to use my parents as an example. They live in rural Wisconsin and still have dial up, so when they are going to buy something they come here to do so. I get to monitor their online habits as they want to use my high speed. What they used to do was put in a term they wanted and searched for information. They would do a general search like cars and get the detailed information. From their they would look up car dealers and take off to visit them. They would drive from dealership to dealership and check prices etc. The process generally took a day and they seem to be like a lot of people with their shopping habits. Now fast forward to last week.

They decided to buy a new couch when they got into town. They looked up the generic couches to do some research of the different brands and get some reviews. Once they had a brand of couch narrowed down they decided to do a local search for Milwaukee furniture stores. They then went the extra step of searching and shopping online till they found what they felt was the best store. It was at this point they drove to the store and shopped till they decided exactly which one and bought it. Where did they find the store? Local search! People are not as willing to drive around anymore with gas prices as high as they are. They also did two layers of search first comparing brands then comparing stores locally. It is the true buyer that does the second step and also the most qualified. As a small business what type of buyer do you want? The answer is simple and that is why local search engine optimization is crucial to finding the local buyer. You may miss some shoppers by narrowing your focus but you will gain actual real buying customers cash in hand.

I really believe that local stores that know how to rank highly in organic search are going to reap the benefits of that knowledge in the next few years. Customers are looking more and more toward local search when they are ready to purchase an item. The question is will they find you?

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Search engines have become a fact of life on the Internet. A vast majority of Internet users turn to the big payers like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask time and time again. We now see more and more shoppers using the Internet to fulfil their shopping needs. How big of a market is it? Just look at the fact  that all the search engines now own shopping stores. These companies realized that the way Internet search is done may not be the best way to market merchandise online.

The problem for most site owners is they need content oriented sites to rank well in these search engines. If your focus is content, it is not exactly easy for your shopper to shop at your web site. You must vary your optimization to help these customers find what they want. You also need to look at how these shopping stores set up their sites to sell. Categories is the main theme that is used. For example they may break down a stereo by make model price, or ratings. The question then becomes how can we compete and still rank high for our store. Diversification of search optimization is the key.

You have to have multiple strategies carried out over different pages to compete with the large online stores. For instance you can optimize each page with categories as key words. Each page with a separate item optimized heavily to rank when that item is searched.  This not only works well for an optimized page but can really help for adwords or pay per click advertising. The other big factor you have is localization. You can have the opportunity to put local areas in the optimization because you are only selling locally. The big companies can’t break it down that far as easy and complete as you.

Is this a perfect system? No you can’t get every customer and the ones you lose will most likely be un-loyal price shoppers which you will have no margins or profit. The key is groups of products or categories first then local keywords so that loyal local customers can find you and buy from you. At this point it is your job to make sure they come back and buy again!

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When you are optimizing your site you have to take many things into consideration. Google says it has a number of factors they use to rank a page. They don’t make their algorithms publicly known so no one knows for absolute fact how to rank highly. We use educated guesses as to the proper way to rank we sites highly. It is because of this there is way to much information or should I say misinformation on the web today about search engine optimization. The bad news is someone researching the topic will not know who or what to believe. With that said I would like to cover a few of these mistakes waiting to happen because of misinformation.

Who reads your web site? People do, correct? First and foremost write your copy for your visitors. Don’t write for search engines last time I checked they don’t buy anything from you. How do people read? They actually skim or scan your site and about 20% or so read it word for word. Web users have a hard time reading from screens rather than paper so it slows them down by 25%. Most web users are then impatient because they are searching for something specific. You must write your site for this type of customer using headlines, subheads, and bolding important points. If you get their attention then they will put more time into what you have to say.

Content is king has been said more than a few times. It really is the truth when it comes to the quality balance between optimization and providing information for your future clients. I have always maintained that you worry about giving out top notch information and Google will recognize this and reward you. Don’t put together a site and try to scam the search engines that is not SEO it is spam. The basic foundation for search optimization is the same basic foundation for marketing your business. First get known locally, get to be liked by your prospects, and of course earn their trust. People do business with people they like and trust. Giving away good content and information shows you are knowledgeable, likable, and trustworthy. Being local just enhances those feelings and will drive them into your local store.

Remember that you have your web site up for your customers not the search engines. Give good information, write for the customers benefit, and the search engines will reward you with a top ranking. On top of that you will become liked and trusted and that is the best thing that could happen for your business!

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