Small Business News: Harnessing Google for You

Posted By Small Business News
With all the talk about social media these days, you might think that the key to marketing your business and even driving sales lies entirely with sites like Facebook and Twitter, but, if you market your product or service online, harnessing the power of Google for your small business is still important. By this, of course, we mean search marketing, the general focus of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and, while there are other search engines to consider, SEO expert Aaron Wall reckons Google still makes up about 75 percent of the search market. Here are some things every small business owner planning to market online should know to capture it.

SEO Basics

Why organic traffic is still the most valuable. The first thing you ought to know about marketing online is that not all traffic to your Website is created equal. According to Aaron Wall, who is, of course, in the SEO marketing game, the difference between paid traffic and organic traffic is simple. It comes down to a question of value. Read Aaron’s full explanation of why he believes SEO traffic for your online business is the most valuable traffic online. SEO Book
Why search engines are still important, even in a Facebook world. Google may not be as important as it used to be, but that’s not to say you can leave Search Engine Optimization out when marketing your online business. In fact, the four key concerns web developer Jon-Mikel Bailey often shares with clients about building their Web presence and the traffic that should follow are about equally divided. Can you add anything to his analysis? Wood Street Inc.

Techniques

Do you believe in paid search? Organic traffic, that is visitors who arrive at your site due merely to the relevant search terms and generally the ease with which your site can be crawled and indexed via search engines like Google, may still be the best traffic in online marketing. But if you doubt the value of paid traffic, usually through pay per click ads and the like, a simple experiment could change your mind. Search Engine Guide
Blogging: Still the best search marketing strategy. Creating a blog has long been considered one of the simplest and best ways to engage in simple search marketing for your online business. Creating a blog for your brand or adding a blog to your Website will improve your Search Engine Optimization. Alastair Kay explains six reasons why. SiteStream

Online Presence

Creating a credible Website. With all the key wording, site navigation improvements and other Search Engine Optimization tips and tricks that go into creating an easy to index Website, the majority of these techniques won’t be any good at all if when visitors arrive they find a site that is less than credible or provides information that cannot be trusted created by people we don’t know and cannot contact. Search Engine Guide

Resources

What small businesses told Google. In a recent “Google Wishes initiative,” small business owners and entrepreneurs shared dreams and aspirations for 2011. Google has long been in the business of encouraging entrepreneurship as a major part of its mission to create tools that enhance online business efforts. Here, Anita Campbell gives an overview of what the initiative found and a link to more. Small Business Trends
Google Apps become more accountable. Besides the Web search for which Google is unquestionably best known, the company also offers a variety of other technology tools for small business including its Google Apps with both business and education versions. Up until now, these tools have functioned to an already high 99.9 percent uptime standard. But Google announced today increased accountability by beginning to log every moment of downtime and count maintenance time against its guarantee. Yahoo! News

PPC

The other side of the Google AdWords equation. As explained earlier, paid traffic including Google AdSense may make money in the short run, but what does the pricing structure of pay per click ads say about their long term sustainability for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs marketing online? Read this post about what Google’s AdSense business model says about the likely increasing cost of the service for those on the buying end. Konnessi

Opinion

The state of SEO: A blogger’s perspective. Ana Hoffman gives her thoughts on Search Engine Optimization from the perspective of a small business blog owner. Far from big operators, a substantial number of online entrepreneurs have launched blogs not as a way of promoting a business but as businesses in themselves. Ana talks from her own personal experience, growth and knowledge as a small business blogger and what lessons learned could mean to you. Traffic Generation Cafe

Other Tools

Are you using Google Trends? This Google tool allows you to search for trends in your industry throughout the year and even determine how to plan offline marketing including mailing campaigns based on these trends. The tool can also measure changes based on unexpected events by tracking how these events impact overall online search in your market. Sprike