Keys to Successful Internet Marketing
Most of my Internet Marketing clients always ask the same questions: Where is my site? My keywords are easy, why am I not ranked? Why is my site lower than my competitors? Here are the answers to all of these questions and more.
Why do some sites rank better than others
Google currently uses over 200 criteria to determine where your site should fit into their rankings. This is a combination of Page Rank, Inbound Links, Link Quality, On-page Optimization and many other things. For each search term, Google assigns a ranking based on all criteria. Any one item will not get your site to the top of Google.
Keywords
Often I get approached by a client that sells watches, for example. Naturally, the client wants to be ranked #1 for the keyword watches. It is always difficult to explain to the client that their site is simply not going to be #1 for this keyword. The cost involved with attacking an extremely competitive keyword is always just too much for any small or medium sized business.
A much better way to gain traffic is to target keywords and phrases that are narrower in their focus. It may be better to go after the watch maker or even the model #. Indeed, if the client really feels that the keyword watches is the only way to go, this plan will put us on that path. This way the client receives traffic everyday until the main keyword climbs to the top.
One more quick thought on keyword selection. It does you no good to be ranked at the top of a keyword that nobody is searching for. Often customers “know” what their users are searching for to find them. It is not uncommon to find zero searches for any given keyword in Google. When this is the case, being number one will not matter at all!
Why bother with Search Engine Marketing
Some cliens look at the Internet in the wrong way. They try to compare it to traditional marketing methods. People that are still living in the 80’s actually think the best marketing they can do is the local yellow pages. They really think that people still look in the massive phone book to find local businesses. The customer you want is a customer that has already made up his mind on which product to buy. When you go to the grocery store to buy a can of soup, you ARE going to buy a can of soup. You will never leave the store without one. The same can be said for a customer that is searching for a very specific product. When the client searches for something very specific, he already made up his mind. If he clicks on your link and you have the product, the sale is totally up to your price, terms and delivery options. The individual is not shopping for watches, he is shopping for a very specific watch.
