Small Business SEO Stupidity
So how savvy are you when it comes to small business SEO?
If you are a business owner the true answer should be, not savvy at all.
Because unless you work doing SEO–you won’t really get it.
The good news is that you don’t really have to since you can hire a team to do it for you.
But as with everything on the web, if you are not educated about the process, you could fall for anything.
Recently, one of my mastermind buddies did a post on SEO (search engine optimization) and it got some good comments and also got me to pondering over a few things.
For instance, earlier in the year our team worked on a website that was optimized only after ages of keyword research.
The bad news was that the small business decided that it needed a review and asked for committee input at the business.
Input from people who do not know anything about an online presence or doing business online.
In their wisdom (sarcasm–in case you missed that) they collectively decided that they didn’t want the selected keywords and demanded changes.
Changes from the words people were searching and that they could rank for.
Ranking first for a term means you get 40% of all click throughs–so it matters.
Now the terms were selected after it was discovered that two large, well established companies had the same business name and were firmly entrenched in the top spots for the business name.
During my research, I actually discovered what terms his clients were using to find them–oh happy day!
But alas, they didn’t understand that.
*Sigh*
Do you argue or give the customer what he or she wants?
Exactly, but what is the point of doing optimization if someone destroys it?
Never mind, it is their money and their choice.
The next amusing project (so far anyway) is the person whose website was ranked using scandalous techniques.
Now we don’t slam the competition but to say the business was a scammer is probably an understatement.
When I checked the numerous back links, I discovered the former web design team created directory links from their domain.
Plus those links came from pages that contained NSFW (not safe for work) topics that would get traffic but that I doubt the business owner wanted to be associated with.
Also, the page content was sparse but the numerous keywords mostly ranked well–because nobody searches on the terms and so there isn’t much competition or traffic!
And of course, one of my favorites out in cyberspace was the design team that bragged about their SEO via social media.
Yes, I had to go look but discovered that the great rank was due to domain age, a couple of amazingly high PR (page rank) back links back to the site and a very low competition keyword.
Oy!
The problem with such efforts is that most people don’t know enough to determine what the differences are between good SEO and, as my mastermind pal calls it, “snake oil SEO.”
I am an avid elearner so I always go investigate, prod and poke, try new things, learn new things and then work to pass on that knowledge so it works to get the phone to ring.
My happiest moment this year (so far anyway) was the SEO gig where the client called within a week to say that his phone was ringing because of the website changes.
Yep, that is what we like. Traffic that converts.
Not all small business SEO is easy and there are too many variables to make guarantees since the web changes regularly.
Plus site owners tend to mess up now and again.
But, if you have a good team, you will get more targeted traffic and that is what the goal is–to be found.
What you do with that after you have been found depends on a lot of things.
But that is for another post!
Perhaps you have a small business SEO story to share? Leave that comment below!
Photo Credit: Igor
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Comments
As a fellow writer I have to agree with pretty much everything you said above. Many offline business professionals feel confident making decisions about SEO without realizing they have no idea what they’re talking about – they just assume their offline marketing experience should convert to the web easily. It simply doesn’t work like that. And yes, unfortunately, that leaves many businesses vulnerable to ‘snake oil SEO’ as you put it. The good news is, it’s the good writers who help their clients succeed who get the repeat business and thrive in the long run.
Thanks for chiming in. Yes, offline marketing terms and strategies do not usually translate over but it is hard to get new folks that come online to realize it.
I enjoyed your comment and would love to see your comments again but please read the comment policies first.
Hi Michel, thanks for stopping by. Nope, don’t feel bad at all. It is their business and their decision–but what a waste!
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Education is very much part of the process when it comes to SEO. It is 30% marketing positioning (they do learn about their own business), 30% cont ed, and 40% actual execution. In my experience, clients derived lots of value from the process, so don’t feel too bad even if things don’t totally turn the ideal way, you might still have done a valuable deed.