Search engines can help small businesses too

While dealing with small to mid-sized businesses, we get a lot of questions like: I know search engine optimization works, but will it work for me? The truth is, search engines optimization actually benefits small businesses more than large corporations. Large corporation are already branded and known so most users are not out there searching for them. Smaller stores are like diamonds in the rough, and search engines can help customers find them. In order to attract customers as a small online store, a slightly different method should be used:

• Find out what specific advantage you have over larger companies
• Figure out who would appreciate it
• Optimize your site accordingly

Here is an example: Joe owns a small online shop, JoesPetBoutique.com, which sells unique and trendy fashion items for dogs. His inventory is filled with cool dog apparels from Spiderman t-shirts to NFL jerseys as well as some more formal-wears like sweaters and jackets. When Joe opens up his online shop, he automatically assumes that his customers will be searching on Google for the keyword phrase dog clothes or dog apparel. After months of adding the word dog clothes and dog apparel throughout his site, he finds out he just cannot compete with larger websites like TerrificPets.com or PetSmart.com in terms of search ranking. Joe realizes that he is doing something wrong and he tries to figure out what he can do to benefit from search engines. The benefit of having an online shop as opposed to having a physical store is that you automatically open up your doors to the World rather than just to the people of your local town. Your customers are out there looking for your products. You just have to know how to make them find you. Consider the following scenario: When Jenny from Lost Springs, Wyoming is throwing her first Monday Night Football get-together, she desperately wants to show off her puppy Oscar by dressing him in a Denver Broncos jersey. Since there is no store in her neighborhood that will sell the jersey, she turns to Google for help. She types in “Denver Broncos jersey for puppies” and Voila! The first result that comes up is JoesPetBoutique.com. She clicks on the link and it goes directly to the page with the title “Denver Broncos Jersey” For Dogs and Puppies. She adds the item to her cart and browses through the site and finds that there are many other outfits she just has to buy for Oscar. How did this happen? Joe went through all of the pages on his site and optimized the keyword phrases specific to that product. Whether you type Denver Broncos jersey for puppies or Spiderman t-shirt for dogs or Tuxedo for dogs, JoesPetBoutique.com has a page that will come up on Google. It’s useless to target broad keywords such as dog apparel because the competition is too high. When you target more specific keywords throughout the site you are more likely to get ranked and the customer is more likely to buy since they were specifically looking for that product. To find out how you can have an effective online marketing strategy that fits your business, contact us for a free consultation.