Extending Your Reach With SEO

In order to grow in business, we know that it is most important to extend our reach to as many potential consumers as we can. It only makes sense that the further your reach, the greater number of prospective customers you will bring through the door.

Take for instance the maple tree. It is such a massive tree that it wouldn’t make sense to drop its seeds right at its side. The shade it provides covers a large area around the tree, which would inhibit any growth close by. Mother nature found a way to fix this problem by putting wings on the seeds so they would fly away from the tree in the wind.

It wouldn’t make too much sense to start yelling out the back door of your business to let people know you are there, much like it would not make sense for the maple tree to drop it’s seeds at it’s side. Anyone that can hear you yelling out your back door probably already knows you are there.

So how do we extend our reach? One way is through search engine optimization. SEO (search engine optimization) is a great way to open your business up to limitless amounts of potential customers.

How do we do this? Well, there are several ways we can do this. Probably the most important is being keyword rich in all of your content and having a presence on multiple platforms on the web.

How do we word our content to be keyword rich? Start by answering these questions:

· Who are you?

· Where are you located?

· What do you offer?

When people search for something on a search engine, they will typically search by a location and a service or industry. We have now provided search engines with that key information in our business description.

A great example of this is from Go Green Express Home Services. They have addressed who they are (Go Green Express), what they do (green plumbing, heating and HVAC) and where they are located (Hudson Valley).

In today’s market, most businesses are on several platforms on the web from websites to business listings and to social media. Your key words and phrases should be in all of your online content. It is also important to link all of your online content to each other creating your own web of information on the Internet. When you link your different platforms, it keeps readers viewing your content longer.

There are more technical ways to improve your SEO, through meta tags, meta names and meta descriptions which are embedded in the html code of your website, but most people are not familiar with working in html. Being keyword rich in all of our online content is one of the best things that a business owner can do to improve their SEO. Also be sure that your online content varies slightly between platforms to give your potential customers something new to discover about your business as they are conducting their online research.

We Still Love our Cars!

In my first April post, I flashed a beacon of hope for realtors that there was still hope and that people were still planning to buy homes (http://www.businesscardcontacts.com/2009/04/realtors-homebuyers-are-still-out-there.html). So, it is only appropriate that in one of my first posts of May that I flash another beacon of hope. This bit of encouragement is for those in the business of selling cars.

According to an online survey conducted by R.L Polk & Co., more than half of consumers in the U.S are planning to purchase a car within the next two years. Although many consumers are wary of buying from American automakers, this is still a good sign for auto retailers.

The percentage of people looking to purchase varies among regions. The survey results show the Great Lakes as the region with the lowest percentage, but even they have 51% looking to buy cars within 2 years.

So, for car dealers in the Hudson Valley, and even those looking to sell their own car, the auto market is not frozen. More than half of consumers are still shopping for cars and planning to make this purchase within the next two years. Make sure that you have the kinds of cars that they are looking for in their inventory. They want reliable, affordable, efficient vehicles. And the Eco-friendly trend is here to stay.

June Bisel
BBG&G Advertising and Public Relations
BusinessCardContacts.com
845-695-1880
smartstrategies@bbggadv.com

More thoughts on coupons

While social media is currently attracting the most industry attention, it is not the only way for businesses to target younger people online. And, it still has not proven itself to be a profitable means for advertisers to target and engage consumers. A new study from Information Resources, Inc shows that online coupon offers are still a very effective means of prompting young consumers to make purchases.

Half of 18 to 24 year olds reported that they would be very likely to use online coupons. Older age groups reported only up to 40 percent that would take advantage of online coupon offers. Newspaper coupons were reportedly dominant than their internet counterparts among all age demographics, the biggest margin being in demographics of 25 and over.

I still want to caution you on the consequences that moderate to heavy reliance on coupons can have on consumer perception of your company. Your product offerings must bring value to younger consumers in order for your online coupons to bring lasting profitability to your business. (Read the downfalls of frequent coupon usage in my March 12 post, http://www.businesscardcontacts.com/2009/03/other-side-of-coin.html).

Use coupons sparingly. Only with the proper implementation can internet coupons boost your sales to younger audiences and bring long term benefits to your business.

June Bisel

Partner, BBGG Advertising and Public Relations

BusinessCardContacts.com

Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

Sometimes, the key isn't who you know, but if the people you do know trust you and respect you. A key ingredient to success in business (so important that I had to say it 3 times in the title) is your ability to develop positive relationships with people. For those in retail settings, the first step is showing consumers that they are of great value to you. 

But the importance of relationships transcends your company's dealings with customers. It's people that make businesses tick, and your company's relationship with those people can either help or hurt your business.

It is important to your business that positive relationships are kept between your company and its vendors, manufacturers, and any other entities that your company has contact with along the supply chain. When the economy is as bad as it is now, many businesses are looking to cut costs. If your clients trust you and feel that they are valued by you, then your company is less likely to be cut when budgets tighten. 

Find ways to establish trust and credibility to your corporate relationships such as making calls to ensure quality or being insightful in your offerings of new services. Don't make others feel that you are offering a different service just to fill some type of quota for the month, but rather because they will actually benefit from it. 

And enjoy your business relationships. After all, if you're like most of us, you spend a good amount of time doing business.

June Bisel

Partner, BBG&G Advertising & PR

BusinessCardContacts.com

Research-The Unsung Hero of the Marketing Program

Research s key to any successful marketing program. Often it's also the main reason behind why other programs fail. We've all heard the phrase, "What you don't know won't hurt you." And as we all know, this phrase is usually used by someone trying to avoid telling you something that is going to hurt you. The same applies to marketing.

Read my latest article published in the Hudson Valley Business Journal describing ways to make the most out of your marketing program through smart research strategies.  

http://www.bbggadv.com/Research-Hero_of_Marketing.htm

June Bisel

Partner

BBG&G Advertising and Public Relations