One of our customers just created this amazing video testimonial about our services. We were touched by his kind words and impressed by the quality of the video. Thank you Gary and everyone at the Bohringer Creative team!
When people ask me what I do, I’m always unsure of what to tell them. The truth is I do SEO, which means search engine optimization. But most people have no idea what “SEO” is by that name. So if I say “SEO” the usual response is a furrowed brow and a “huh?” To which I respond “SEO…search engine optimization. I help small businesses get their website higher in Google.” At this point whether they understand or not, people usually say “Ohhh. How interesting.” and quickly change the subject.
After going through this for so long I’ve found myself doing a quick mental analysis whenever someone asks me what I do. How internet savvy is this person? Do they really want to know or are they just trying to make conversation? Depending on how I perceive the asker I may just tell them I do web design just to avoid confusing them. I never thought it would be so hard to tell someone what I do.
The people who do understand what SEO is usually remark at how they get the idea but they have no idea how on earth it gets done. They think of it as a Herculean effort that will cost tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours. But really, it’s easier and less expensive than you probably think for local businesses to get to the top of Google.
The reason is very simple: lack of competition. Most of your competitors aren’t actively pursuing SEO. The people you see ranking on Google are there mostly by a happy accident. They didn’t do anything to get there. That’s why small business SEO is easier than you think. With a little effort and help from someone like me, you can be ranking in no time and reaping the rewards. So let’s get started!
I need to figure out who said this so I can give them proper credit, but the saying goes something like this: “We do business with people we know, like, and trust.” Seems like it was Dan Kennedy who said that. And even if it wasn’t, it’s something he could have said. That’s right up his alley.
The point is a good one. Think about the last person you hired to do something for your business. Did you take a minute to at least sort of get to know them? Did you like them? Did you trust them? Odds are the answers to those questions are all “Yes”. If one of those hadn’t been true, you probably would have found someone else. So what’s the take away? Find out how your business is being presented on the Internet. The first question is whether people can even find your business. Do you even show up? If not, you need us to help you fix that problem.
If you do show up, how are you presented? Do you have any customer ratings? Are they good or bad? Do you have a nice website? Is the address or phone number listed with your business outdated? What kind of picture are you painting in the customer’s mind? It might sound like a lot of work to manage all that, but there is no question it’s worth the effort. Most businesses don’t bother with any of that. So if you take the extra time to fix it, you will stick out like a sore thumb (in a good way, of course) when it comes time to decide who to call first.
This tactic is called Reputation Management. It’s something large companies have been doing for a long time, and now thanks to the Internet, it’s something small companies can do with relative ease. Take advantage of that and I promise you’ll reap the rewards over your competitors.
More Paying Customers is devoted to helping small and medium sized businesses turn their web presence into cash. It takes more than just traffic to get more customers. It takes the right KIND of traffic. Let us show you how.