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Sandi Sannes
Needful Things
Over the years we have worked with many clients to help them market their businesses. SEO is always at the top of everyone’s list and rightly so. It is a very powerful and cost effective tool for marketing your web site. In recent years I have seen that only a small number of business owners understand how to market a business (not just on the web but in general) and what role SEO plays in an overall marketing plan. For those people SEO often becomes a one size fits all solution that is used in lieu of a proper marketing plan. Below are some thoughts to consider if you are a local or regional business working on your marketing plan.
SEO is not necessarily better at reaching clients than another form of advertising. It also does not replace traditional marketing methods (print, TV, radio, business cards, newsletters, signage, etc.) in all applications. As you are going through your day, take note of how often you see the Internet giants like Yahoo, eBay and Bing advertising their wares on TV and in your favorite magazines. This is no accident, it is a necessity. SEO should be viewed as one of the many tools to market your products and services. Find the right mix of tools to reach your target audience.
Most businesses have a target market that is local or regional. They also have specific products or services that are their main focus. To market these products and services effectively requires identifying what they are, who wants to buy them and where these people are. While this sounds straightforward, this focus is quite often is lost when planning an SEO strategy.
I like to use the comparison of the Internet to a phone book. The Internet is worldwide by default which would make a phone book that is many, many feet thick. How useful is that really? Are you trying to sell to people in Honduras or Denmark? For most, probably not. You certainly wouldn’t send out thousands of postal mailers out to people in countries around the world just because you can. SEO really is no different, it’s just easier to do and therefore people do it and don’t think about it.
Getting back to my phone book comparison… You need to focus on getting your name in a local or regional phone book that is inches thick not multiple feet. Once you have and keep that focus it is easy to understand how SEO plays an important role but needs to be used in a similar manner to the traditional marketing methods.
SEO like any other marketing medium requires cost and time to work its magic. Because the Internet is a living organism of sorts, your SEO strategy will need to continually evolve and is an ongoing commitment to stay on top of everything. Analyzing keywords, statistics, writing and revising content, etc. are required to stay on top of the competition. Just remember, if you are doing well in the search engines - someone else will be studying your SEO methods.
SEO as a marketing tool is generally a distant form of marketing. It does reach more people, but is almost always brief, truncated or generic in manner and seldom provides an opportunity for imagery and in-depth descriptions. Typically your information is displayed as a brief overview, small ad, or a mere link unless you are doing ads of some kind. If your products are more defined this may be enough but most of us have much more complex offerings that require time to differentiate ourselves from the competition.
In closing, don’t forget the value of the other marketing mediums and their individual benefits. To effectively brand and market your business you will need to utilize all of the tools to get your message out and reach to largest possible audience. Please contact us if you have questions on this article or need help putting together an effective marketing strategy for your business.
