Alberta Marketing Strategy Magazine

 

Take a few minutes to read David Howse's explanation as to why Google is so important to your business. First, I want you to do these four steps:

(1) Open a new tab in your internet browser.

(2) Go to Google.ca

(3) In the search bar type the town and your business's category and click Google Search.

(4) Find your business on the first page.

Of the 13 businesses listed on the first page of Google for Edmonton Car Repair, only eight of them are car repair shops in Edmonton. Five businesses are directories who know the value of SEO and are just cashing in on your businesses lack of presence on the internet.

This trend in similar in Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer and pretty much every other town and city across Alberta.

Other than your actual business' name, people search by location and category. They also search by location and problem/need for a solution.

Click Calgary Social Media for a list of what goes in to SEO planning.

Here are some of the basics of how to get your website on the first page of Google:

(1) The domain name: a domain name that is an exact keyword (a keyword is the term used for the words people type in to Google) search. For example, www.edmontoncarrepair.com gets an extra point in Google's search listing. [Google has a search algorithm that determines what website gets listed in a particular ranking]

(2) Don't change your domain name just to get one that has the exact search. If a lot of people already know your website address then don't confuse them by changing it. Get a second domain and build a simple one or two page website on it that points to your main site.

(3) Make sure you enter relevant terms in the page's Title and Description Tag.

(4) Start the site content with a H1 tag that contains relevant terms.

(5) Make sure the images are tagged.

(6) Make sure your site is more than one page.

(7) Don't build a site that is heavy on Flash.

(8) Make sure the navigation links that allow people to go to the other pages of the site are based on keywords.

(9) FIll out every field of the Google Map (this is separate from your website).

(10) Install Google Analytics and use the data to improve your website.

(11) Register your website on the Google, Yahoo, and Bing  Webmaster tools. This will give extra data.

(12) Get good backlinks. Have thousands of websites link back to your website using keyword rich hyperlinks.

(13) Make sure every page has relevant content that is at least 250 words.

(14) Watch the press release videos from Google regarding SEO. Implement their suggestions.

There are probably another 14 tips that could be listed here but this should be enough to get your Alberta business listed on the first page of Google for it's location and category.

Remember, SEO is a marketing function. Having a web guy or an I.T. guy handle your SEO will generally end in a website that isn't optimized for consumer behaviour. If you are starting a new website, have a marketer work with the web guy to ensure the site's design conforms to selling and making the customer experience pleasurable. The bottom line of marketing is to increase revenue and hopefully that happens through sustainable transactions. Your website should be a big part of those transactions simple because that's where the majority of your potential customers look to solve their problems.

Contact David Howse at 403-991-8863 for more information.