Major search engines are to websites as Oprah’s Book Club is to novelists:  Once you’ve made the short list (ie: Rank on the first Search Engine Return Page, or SERP,) the odds for success tilt greatly in your favor.  Adwords, or keywords, will boost your Website’s visibility when used correctly, and scare off all your business when they aren’t.

Business Websites have to focus on customer service, but the big caveat for online marketing is, who exactly is the customer?  Your website is brokered by search engines.  Websites have to work almost as hard to please, or optimize, search engines as they do the end consumer using their product or service.  Treat those search engines like you would a good customer who you want to leave happy, come back often, and bring their friends.  Users are impatient.   Yahoo is competing with Google, who is competing with Bing, who is…  They naturally favor (rank) websites that are easy to reach, and fast to load. But they must also be interesting in order for engines to showcase them to their searchers.  Their SERP is their portfolio. “Look at all the lovely websites WE carry!”

This is where keywords and phrases work as your public relations team.  Keywords are maps for search engines.  Use them strategically; In the URL, meta-description, bold headings, and as needed when they contribute to the natural flow of your copy.   Think of a meta-description (title tagline) as an employee in a chicken suit distributing flyers to passersby.  They must be unique if you want users to remember you.  Don’t describe yourself using the same keywords everyone else is using.  Accurately portray the page the tag links to.  Misled patrons rarely convert to satisfied customers.

You control the accessibility of your website through copy (content.)

Keyword Spam Is Bad Customer Service

Text and images on your pages should be designed to build relationships with customers virtually entering your store.  Users enter a search for a reason; they might need a product, service, they are bored, or simply curious.  If your website meets their needs, you have gained their trust.  Don’t ruin that trust by using gimmicks.  Searchers are already wary of anything resembling spam because it offers no benefit to them, and wastes their time.  Satisfy your customers with the content on your pages.  Help them problem solve.  Make them laugh.  Teach them something new.  Copywriting is your tool for building these sustainable business practices.  A concise yet compelling page screams professionalism, just as a comfortable, well designed waiting room gains the trust of real-world clients.  C’mon in.  Relax with your feet up and admire the ambiance of our efficiently run business.  Make them feel good about their decision to do business with you.

There’s a lot of hooey on the Internet.  Use every opportunity to show users you are the real deal.

It’s Unethical.

Keyword Stuffing is the modern version of subliminal advertising.  Users are quick to catch on.  Even if you are in the market for a certain service, are you likely to buy it from the telemarketer who tricked you into answering your phone with a blocked number?

Keyword density costs your website consumer’s trust.

It’s Illegal.

It adds no value to your rankings.  Keyword spam is the blatant attempt to dupe search engines into listing a webpage.  They know this.  Do it, and SERP’s will ban your website from their pages.

Text space is high rent. Don’t waste resources diluting your content with keywords.

Keep Your Website Competitive.

SEO = Xtreme competition.  The shorter (or more common) the keyphrase, the higher the competition.  Don’t unwittingly add more competition.  First, narrow the field to your specific target market with long-tailed keywords.  It’s nearly impossible to rank well for the same one word used by millions of websites.  If you sell leather convertible sofas in Lawrence, Kansas, don’t use the broad-match single word “couch” or “sofa.”  Your market isn’t everyone who Googles the word “couch.”  Your market is people looking to buy leather convertible sofas in Lawrence, KS.  You need to be relevant to the people exposed to your ad.   A website overloaded with accidental tourists slows down functionality for other users who really do want to buy your sofa.   The influx of traffic may also increase your bandwidth or your Cost Per Click budget.  Don’t use a shotgun. Well-aimed keywords (followed up with good copy) are what keep your company on top of all the flotsam and jetsam being caught in this World Wide Net.  Quality returns.  Yes, I’m repeating myself.  Now your keywords don’t have to.

You know who your market is, but do your keywords?

Regardless of your web presence, online strategy, social presence, etc. you should be registered with Google Places. Registration is quick, painless and it will only help you.

If you do not have a physical location and/or you work from home and don’t wish to put your home address out for the world to come knocking on your front door, they’ve got you covered. You can input a service area and hide your street address.

There additional perks that are easily executed such as pictures, YouTube videos and more. If you get lost, need a little help, or want to brag about your amazing listing contact us and we’ll be happy to either be involved or simply praise your brilliance.

Want to see our listing? Check it out here.

Case Studies From Google Places