THE SMALL BUSINESS SEO & PPC BLUEPRINT 6 Quick & Effective Ways For Small Businesses To Improve Search Rankings & Drive Leads
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 4 8 12 13 Introduction It Begins With SEO Maximize PPC, or Lose Business Conclusion About G/O Digital 13 Contact Us #WinLocal 2
Introduction Did you know consumers use, on average, 7.9 different media sources when shopping for products or services? Gone are the days when the path to a sale was singular and dominated by TV commercials. It just isn t that easy or fast anymore. The path to the allelusive sale takes longer, is more complicated and typically involves multiple devices, platforms and channels. And the more complicated and lengthy that path becomes, the more challenging it is for small/ local businesses to convert casual browsers wherever they may be searching into loyal, repeat customers. But where does that path first begin? For most, it starts with typing in keywords and phrases into search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing. That first search can mean the difference between customers walking into your store and consumers buying goods from your competitor if your business doesn t show up on the first page of their search results. It s not good enough to simply have your business appear anywhere in search rankings. To count and sustain your business in the form of foot traffic and sales your business must appear high enough in search rankings to be seen by your potential consumers. #WinLocal 3
IT BEGINS WITH SEO There s a joke in the digital marketing world that says the best place to hide a body would be on page two of Google s search results. That s because page one receives 91.5 percent of all traffic that clicks through to a website. Clearly, it s not an easy feat but if you tackle it with the steps we re outlining, you ll have a better chance of making it onto the first page of search results. Only 8.5 percent of online search traffic ends up past the first page of Google search results. Chitika, 2013 Making it onto the first page of search results is just the first step. It s equally important to ensure your website ranks in at least the top three spots of search results. Why, you may ask? The answer is simple the farther down the page your business is listed, the less likely it is that consumers will click on your website link. And that failure to click can cost your business a great deal of money. Average Traffic Share Based On Search Ranking Chitika Insights, June 2013 Rank 6 4.4% Rank 5 6.1% Rank 4 8.1% Rank 9 2.6% Rank 8 3.1% Rank 7 3.5% Rank 3 11.4% Rank 10 2.4% Rank 2 17.6% Rank 1 32.5% Av #WinLocal 4
STEP 1 CLAIM & CLEAN UP YOUR ONLINE LISTINGS While some may scoff and say nothing is free, that isn t always true in the world of SEO. According to Conductor, 47 percent of website visits originate from organic search results. One of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your SEO is by claiming your business s local search listings. Google My Business, Bing Places and Yahoo Local all provide small businesses with the ability to create profiles that appear in search engine results when someone looks for their business locally. Once you ve claimed your business across all these listings, the next important step is to completely fill out each listing with your business name, address, website, store hours and phone number. This will not only help consumers easily get in contact with you when your business pops up in their search results, but it will also increase your online credibility something that is very important on search engines. In addition to easily providing contact information for consumers looking for your products or services, claiming your online listings also allows you to share photos of your business, provide a link to maps for directions and directly respond to customer reviews. An example of what claiming your listing on Google looks like. #WinLocal 5
STEP 2 INCREASE CREDIBILITY WITH LINK BUILDING Link building can be compared to running for political office. In the same way candidates seek endorsements from well-known politicians to bolster their credibility, small business websites perform better in organic search rankings when more established websites link out to them. This is because search engine algorithms recognize that trustworthy sites tend to link to other trustworthy sites. The best way for your local business to get other sites to link to your website is through earned media that is, when local news publications and TV stations write and produce stories about your business. How does this help your local business? It provides added credibility. Getting your customers to share your website on their social media platforms, and, if possible, working with local bloggers who can give your business a shout out in their blog, are also effective ways to improve your link building. See How G/O Digital Helped Zarley Law Firm Increase Business With SEO 35% 286 Increase in page views Visits per month 10 Top keywords on Google #WinLocal 6
STEP 3 DITCH THE KEYWORD STUFFING; BUILD OUT QUALITY CONTENT A few years ago, stuffing your website s content full of relevant keywords may have helped your site shoot up to the top of search rankings. However, rightfully so, Google and other search engines recognized that these sites weren t necessarily the most helpful ones to serve to search engine users. As a result, they changed their algorithms to reflect this SEO model. Now keyword stuffing can actually hurt, rather than help, your website rankings. Keyword Stuffing = Bad. Quality Content = Good. Instead, what search algorithms are looking for is quality, relevant content. Therefore, you will want to include some relevant keywords in your content, but you ll want to do it in a way that flows naturally with what you re talking about. You will also want to update your content often, which is why having a frequently updated blog is important for any small business owner. #WinLocal 7
MAXIMIZE PPC, OR LOSE BUSINESS Local businesses are able to use PPC campaigns to target a hyper-local audience that is actively looking for their product and services. By utilizing geo-modified search query techniques and other targeting methods, a local business can generate a regular flow of qualified leads and sales for their business. Many small/local businesses who turn to PPC advertising often make the mistake of thinking they are saving money by running their campaigns themselves. They don t realize how complex PPC adertising is. Although the search engines may make it easy to start a campaign, it requires small businesses to invest a great deal of time, technical know-how, and optimization techniques that an average SMB does not typically possess. This lack of technical skills, resources and time could very well cost more money in wasted advertising dollars than it would cost to hire an experienced PPC expert or agency. With the massive amount of searches being performed on search engines each year, the reach and capabilities of PPC ads will continue to evolve alongside how users are performing those searches and reacting to the results provided. Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines and PPC advertising providers will continue to innovate and find new ways to connect businesses and their searchers together in highly targeted ways. This means continued improvement to the return on investment for advertisers, as they are able to reduce wasteful spending and generate additional clicks from a qualified audience. #WinLocal 8
STEP 4 OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE, OR LOSE CUSTOMERS Everywhere you turn, people are using smartphones and tablets to simplify, speed up and improve their shopping experience no matter where they may be. The reality is that we re living in a mobile-first world. Just look at the numbers Search Engine Journal reports that one in four searches are conducted on mobile devices. In fact, the average American spends about two hours a day on a mobile device (smartphone/tablet), making it a necessary platform for online advertising if you want to reach as many potential consumers as possible. This means that your PPC ads must also be optimized for mobile. 1 in 4 online searches are conducted on mobile devices Search Engine Journal Mobile PPC optimization includes: SHORTER COPY Since there is limited screen real estate to work with on mobile devices, keep your headline copy to only about four words and include top keywords for your business. AD EXTENSIONS These allow you to make your ad more interactive for mobile users, which makes it perfect for those needing to contact your business on-the-go. MOBILE LANDING PAGES If your PPC ad directs consumers to a site that is not optimized for mobile devices, you risk losing both new and returning customers. Instead, direct them to a mobile landing page with click-to-call buttons and an easy-to-navigate page layout that will make it easy for them to learn about your business and contact you directly. #WinLocal 9
STEP 5 REFRESH THOSE KEYWORDS Set it and forget it is not a phrase you want to associate with your PPC campaigns. In order to ensure that you are getting the most out of your PPC ads, you ll want to monitor your keywords often to see which are performing better than others and switch them up as needed. It doesn t make sense to continue to put ads behind a keyword that s providing little return on investment. You ll also want to keep ads updated based on the season to capture the most relevant search queries. For example, an HVAC company shouldn t be using keywords for air conditioning in the winter, as their relevant customer base won t be needing A/C repairs during the cold seasons. Instead, that HVAC company would be better served by investing more ad dollars behind keywords that are actually relevant during the winter, such as heating repairs. Where does your business rank in search results compared to your competitor? Find out with our free digital marketing audit! #WinLocal 10
STEP 6 USE AD EXTENSIONS Google AdWords allows you to use Ad Extensions to optimize your PPC campaigns to better direct consumers to your site. This makes it easier for mobile users to call your business or get directions to your location. On desktop, they allow you to make your ad stand out amongst the clutter by giving you the ability to add links to social sites, show ratings/reviews, and more. With the limited amount of copy available in PPC ads, ad extensions help you maximize the ROI from your ad spend. Best Ad Extensions for Desktop: Sitelinks Review Extensions Seller Rating Annotations Social Annotations Best Ad Extensions for Mobile: Call Extensions Location Extensions App Extensions #WinLocal 11
Conclusion Although SEO and PPC ads are two distinct marketing techniques, together they produce a complimentary and cohesive approach to search engine marketing. The most obvious benefit is that businesses will receive, at minimum, double exposure on search engine result pages by including a PPC advertisement plus their organic website listing achieved by an SEO program. According to research from Google, 50 percent of clicks generated from PPC ads are incremental clicks to the business s website when they have a top organic ranking. This means those additional clicks would not be provided if their PPC ads were not on the search results page alongside their organic website ranking. This is where it is of tremendous value to hire a PPC management company for one very simple reason it has the know-how and resources to deliver impactful returns for your business (sales). Because your marketing budgets, staffing and resources are nowhere near the size of multinational brands, it s more effective for you to focus on growing the bottom line and leave the tactical work to the experts. #WinLocal 12
About G/O Digital The G/O Digital Vision: To Transform Local Marketing and #WinLocal. For Local Businesses, G/O Digital, a Gannett company, is one-stop shop for local businesses looking to connect with consumers through digital marketing, from search to social and everything in between. For National Brands and Agencies, G/O Digital delivers local digital activation at national scale with push-button simplicity powered by G/O Digital brands Shoplocal, BLiNQ Media & Key Ring. G/O Digital partners with more than 5,000 of the nation s top brands and retailers, including P&G, Target, Walmart and Walgreens and leads digital marketing programs with thousands of local businesses across more than 110 local markets. Contact Us FOR MARKETING, PLEASE CONTACT: Annie Wacker, Senior Director of Marketing G/O Digital, A Gannett Company (GCI) Tel: (602) 444-1741 Email: annie.wacker@gannett.com