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Small Business Blog
I Want My Site To Appear In Google Aug 24 2009
section: small-business :: search-engine-marketing || tags: seo, sem, search engine marketing, search engine optimization
Q: I want my website to maintain top rankings when someone searches for key phrases related to my business. How do I accomplish this?
A: Before we answer this question with practical tips, you need to remember that search engine marketing is a process similar to exercise; in order to stay fit, you have to keep working.
That being said, here are some detailed tips about how to maintain top search engine rankings:
Use Key Phrases!
- Choose no more than 12 key phrases that are relevant to your business.
- Ask three or four clients and three or for non-clients (ones that wouldn't necessarily know the terminology or jargon of your field) - briefly tell them what your business is and then ask them to write down a dozen or so key words they would use to find you.
- Start small and revise these key phrases to attack a small niche. For example, instead of "website design", we use "portland oregon website design". This way we're less likely to compete with corporations, but rather local businesses.
Write a blog!
- Write a blog that not only uses relevant key phrases, but write one that is truly useful to your reader. We recommend you do this once a week. For example; here at The Portland Website Design Company, we write one article on simple techniques our clients can use to improve their website and search engine rankings.
- When writing a page or article (blog), choose one of your key phrases and use this key phrase as often as possible in your article.
- To prevent your pages or articles from annoying a reader due to over saturating it with key phrases, write your article without key phrases in mind, then, re-read it and implement the key phrases of choice everywhere you see relevant. Additionally, we recommend asking friends, family or co-workers to read through your article and provide feedback.
Write an eNewsletter!
- Include a tip that is relevant to your work.
- Include a coupon, special event, or gift of some sort that they're not likely to get anywhere else and is useful to them. For example: "If you reference us a client who signs for more than $450, we'll pay you $50 cash!" Or: "On October 1st, 2nd and 3rd join us for a free Search Engine Marketing Seminar at the Sherwood library at 12PM."
- Include a hook. A hook is something that will make the reader want to visit your website. This can often be accomplished by asking a leading question. For example: "According to SaveTheInternet.com big businesses like Comcast and Verizon are trying to pass a bill that will allow them to moderate what you can and can't view on the internet, and charge you a fee, like a toll on a highway, based on this content. What do you think about this? Reply and we'll submit your opinions to Senator Wyden!"
~ Though these tasks all increase your visibility to search engines, make it a habit to design, deploy and redeploy revised campaigns using these techniques. ~
Use AdWords!
Try establishing an AdWords campaign with a budget of at least $300 a month.
AdWords campaign with a starting budget of $300 (this is a one time cost, separate from a $300 monthly budget) will enable us to set your links to the maximum cost per click (CPC is the amount you pay Google each time someone clicks your link) in order to gauge the CPC of your competitors.
After this analysis has been completed we will provide you with top competitors and the approximate amount they are paying per click. From this, we will recommend a monthly budget for an AdWords campaign that will help ensure you out rank your competitors
AdWords campaigns are not, necessarily, the most effective way to create a ROI
~ ROI is the amount of money you earn from whatever form of advertising you do. For example, you pay $100 for a newspaper ad, and you get $1,000 in business. Your ROI is $900 ~
And because we can guarantee top ten listings for AdWords campaigns; the the amount of traffic you website gets, as a whole, will increase - boosting your organic results and maybe eventually eliminating the need for an AdWords campaign all together.
~ Organic results are websites that appear in Google that are not paid positions, but rather are "earned". ~
Get Listed in Yahoo!
For $349 a year your website can be listed in Yahoo's directory. Compared to Google's free listings it's steep, but unfortunately Yahoo is a major player and getting listed in their results is greatly beneficial to even your ranking in Google.
Hire a Web Copy Writer!
Hire a professional copy writer, who has extensive experience in writing for search engines, to revise and optimize your websites content. Here at The Portland Website Design Company charges $120 per 250 words. We strongly recommend this be done for at least your home page. And for most small businesses this only needs to be done once or twice a year. We also recommend hiring them to do the same for your blog, as proper key phrase saturation is mui importante!
~ Key Phrase Saturation describes how many times a key phrase occurs on any given page within your site. For example: if your home page uses one of your key phrases 10 times in 250 words, it would have a high saturation. ~
Okay, So Let's Break It Down...
We took the time to breakdown the overall initial cost and the overall monthly costs for you below. We recommend a first month's budget of $2,000, then $1,000 every month thereafter. As we mentioned before, online marketing isn't always the best option for small businesses to advertise, but, like any form of marketing, if you plan carefully and invest consistently, it pays for itself.
Up Front ($949)
- Copywriting $120 per 250 words (recommended for at least the home page plus $45 per page for Project Manager to review). $165 total.
- Yahoo Inclusion $349 (plus $45 for The Portland Co. to setup) $394
- AdWords $300 (plus $90 for The Portland Co. to setup) $390
Monthly Fee's ($975)
- AdWords $300 typical recommended minimum. (plus $195 For the Portland Co. to monitor and revise daily). $495 total.
- Copywriting for Blog $120 per 250 words. (If we write you one blog a week that's $480 a month). $495 total.
Lastly, we recommend, above all else, before making a final decision on optimizing your site, be sure to research the guys who set the standard. So read up on what Google says it takes, or HubSpot. Both are renown and respected authorities on the topic and offer excellent assistance to web surfers and web developers alike.
Contact Us!
If you're interested in our services please, let's go for coffee >>
What Is A Blog Roll? Aug 18 2009
section: small-business :: questions || tags: blog, blog roll
A blog roll is a list of links recommended by someone. For example, on our resources page you'll find links to several of our clients such as Erin Donley of Marketing Your Truth and musician Sean Thomas.
Reference: Wikipedia
Business License Aug 14 2009
section: small-business :: legal || tags: the portland website design company, business license, oregon
The first step to starting your business, and starting it right, is getting a business license and a tax identification number, also referred to as an employer identification number (EIN). Having a license to do business in your state costs $50 and provides a major benefit to businesses, especially during tax season.
Once you've decided what your business is, what it offers and a name for it, you visit Filing In Oregon (which is a state website) and follow the straightforward instructions to register your business and obtain an EIN.
Why do I want or need a business license?
Firstly, because our government wants to ensure you are a legitimate business operation and that you pay taxes from the money you earn. But there are several benefits to having a business license such as:
- You can start a business bank account.
- You can register with the Better Business Bureau.
- You can accept payments online and have the funds directly deposited into your bank account in less than 48 hours.
- You can write off any business related expenses
The most beneficial of these, perhaps, is the ability to "write off" work related expenses. The government wants to aid small businesses in growing by reducing the amount of money we have to pay taxes on by allowing us to subtract the amount of money we spent on our business from the amount of money we earned that year.
For example, if you earn $25,000, that puts you in a tax bracket of 15%. Meaning; you pay the government 15% of the $25,000 you earn that year. But if you spent $1,000 in gas driving to meetings or other work related things, than you would only have to pay 15% of $24,000.
Make sense?
If not, just contact us and we'd be happy to answer your questions!
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