Social Networking and Your Business – PART 1

Blogs & Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In this series of articles on social networking we are going to help familiarize readers with each of the platforms available to businesses.  I have found in discussing the internet, networking, email marketing and search engine optimization with business owners that a few are very resistant to the idea, feeling that they are “invading” customers personal space by sending emails or “sharing” or “liking” them to their business or company information.  We would like to dispel some of these concerns in this series of articles.

The Internet represents a great untapped marketing opportunity for every business. The skills necessary to take best advantage of this opportunity, however, are different and will require time and effort to learn how to maximize its use.

The key to making the most of Internet marketing is to first create a marketing strategy for your business. Once you decide where you want to go, you determine what tools are available to help you get there. We will continue to describe some of the tools that are available here and in future posts. The sooner you begin utilizing these new tools, the quicker you will see your business grow!

Blogs
If you have been paying attention at all to the social Web, then you have probably heard about blogs. A blog is simply an online journal. Here's how Wikipedia defines the term:

A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog") is a type of Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Blogs have existed for a number of years and have become a popular source of information and commentary from a wide variety of people. There are literally millions of blogs written by all kinds of different people. A typical blog combines text, images and links to other blogs, Web pages and other media related to its topic.

A distinctive feature of a blog is the ability for the reader to leave comments in an interactive format. This is an important part of many blogs because it allows conversation between the bloggers and their readers. Providing focused information on a particular topic along with the ability to create a conversation with those who read the post is what has made blogs popular.

For a business, a blog represents a very interesting way to have an ongoing dialogue with both customers and prospects. For example, a blog posting can answer a common question that your business has been receiving.  Recently I noticed that a local insurance agency used its blog after a major ice storm to answer customers' questions about insurance coverage.  Linking the blog post directly from their website home page drastically reduced the number of phone calls coming in that day!

Blogs also are one of the best ways for an agency to increase its visibility to search engines (SEO). Constantly updated content helps a Web site move higher in search results. In addition, your articles will capture the attention of searches as stand-alone text which can then be used to send people to your website.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Studies show that more than 80 percent of Internet searchers never make it past the bottom of page two of a search engine results page.  Think of Northampton, MA which has a vibrant downtown with many different kinds of shops and restaurants. Think of Internet search results as being located on Main Street in downtown Northampton. Those businesses on Main Street receive a tremendous amount of walk-in traffic because they are visible to the people walking by. Internet search results are very similar. If your business shows up on page one or two of the search result, it's like being on Main Street and people will find you easily. Being further down in the search results is like having your business three blocks off Main Street--much harder for people to find you.

SEO is the science and art of getting your agency listed on the first search results pages. There have been many books written on the ins and outs of SEO. You should talk to whoever has designed and is maintaining your Web site to make sure your site is being optimized for search engine results.  Here at Your MarketingPlace we code each page of a website with strategic keywords, image and link text and page links in an effort to gain optimum rankings.  It does take time and each page of a website is usually unique in what is being said, sold, promoted or discouraged on that page.  We spend many hours customizing SEO copywriting for our clients.

Search engine marketing (SEM)

SEM is the pay-per-click or pay-to-post service (think Google AdWords) that a business can employ to get their business listed within the top several listings or side listings of the first few pages of search query results.  When products or services are very popular and/or competitors’ websites have been up and running for a long period of time, it can be very difficult for a business to get in the top rankings through SEO and using SEM can be very useful to get your name out there quickly.  Beware, this form of advertising can be very costly if not done strategically and within a budget your business can meet, but it is a great way to bridge the gap between the time you need to get yourself in the searches and when your SEO kicks in and your business ranks naturally in the top twenty.