There’s a game many of us have played at a county fair called “Duck Pond”. You select a rubber duck from a group floating in the water. Writing on the bottom of the duck reveals the prize that you’ve won. It’s random and a game of chance.

Consumers use the Internet everyday to search for products and services. Unlike a carnival game, they do research to help them make an informed selection. They want to choose the business that will best meet their needs.

People have more choices than ever when they’re searching online for products and services. By creating a strong Internet marketing plan, you have the opportunity to standout from other businesses “floating” on the Internet. What makes your business better than your competition? Why should consumers choose you? Is it your superior products? Excellent customer service? Your low prices?

The first step in a successful Internet marketing strategy is to create a custom website that answers these questions and showcases your business. This is a great opportunity to enhance your brand and interact with potential customers. By providing relevant information about your industry you increase your chances of converting searchers into customers.

The next step is to create a marketing strategy that helps people find you. This may include:  search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click advertising, social media marketing and blogging.

Creating a successful online presence is critical to the success of your business. By developing a strong Internet marketing strategy you can standout from the other businesses in the “Duck Pond” and increase your customer leads.

Is your website SearchReady?

If you’d like more information about how to create a successful online marketing plan for your business, contact a professional Internet marketing company to help you.

SearchReady is a San Francisco Internet marketing company. Our services include website design, search engine optimization, pay per click management and social networking. Contact us today for your Internet marketing needs.

 

Blogging is the process of adding new material to your blog. It can include articles, videos, or other media.

Blogging allows people to interact with each other. It’s a great way for you to share information about your industry and business with potential customers.

Blogging is also a great search engine optimization (SEO) tool. Search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo, Bing) frequently visit blogs because of the updated content and visitor comments. Each new blog post can add another page to their index. This increases your chance of being found by people looking for information about your industry.

People search online for information about products and services everyday. They choose keywords related to the products or services that they’re interested in. Blogging on a regular basis gives you the opportunity to keep your website content fresh and relevant for their keyword searches. It helps potential customers find you when they’re looking for your products and/or services.

The key to maintaining a successful blog is to update it on a regular basis. You should post new information on your blog every week. The topics can vary from news about your industry, “how to” tips, or any other relevant information that would be helpful to your audience.

Get in the habit of blogging at least once a week. Pick a day to update your blog and commit to posting on that day each week. Blogging isn’t an obligation, it’s an opportunity interact with your targeted audience. By providing important information about your industry/business and answering their questions, you’re providing value to your potential customers.

If you want to add a blog to your website or would like more information about blogging, contact a professional Internet marketing company to help you.

SearchReady is a San Francisco Internet marketing company. Our services include website design, search engine optimization, pay per click management and social networking. Contact us today for your Internet marketing needs.

 

op·ti·mize

Verb: Make the best or most effective use of a situation, opportunity, or resource.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of your website in search engines in the “organic” or un-paid search results.

When your website ranks high on the search engine result page (SERP) and appears in the search results list often, you’ll get more visits by potential customers.

SEO takes into account how search engines work and the actual terms people use when they search. By optimizing your site to match the keywords that are being used by searchers, you increase your chances of being found.

Search engine optimization is an ongoing marketing strategy that builds equity in your site and helps improve your visibility. It includes both “on page” and “off page” activities that help make your site “search engine friendly”. SEO optimization activities may include:

• Keyword research to identify the terms people are using to find information about your products and/or services.
• Optimizing the coding on your site to make it easily accessible by search engines.
• Using alternate text to describe the content of your images for search engines.
• Submitting  your website to social bookmarking sites and directories.
• Blogging about your business adds pages to your website and increases your chances of matching keyword searches for your industry.

Potential customers are looking for your products and/or services everyday. If they can’t find you, they can’t choose you.

Improve your odds of being found by potential customers by creating an Internet marketing strategy that includes search engine optimization.

Your website can be your most important marketing tool. Optimize your site to make the best of this valuable resource and generate more customer leads. Now is the best time to start!

If you want to improve your organic search results but don’t know where to begin, contact a professional Internet marketing company to help you.

SearchReady is a San Francisco Internet marketing company. Our services include website design, search engine optimization, pay per click management and social networking. Contact us today for your Internet marketing needs.

 

Get a “fresh” start on your website in 2012!

One of the best things you can do for your Internet marketing in 2012 is to build or update your website. Your site is the hub of your online presence. You want it to represent the best of what you have to offer.

In past posts we’ve talked about the importance of being found by potential customers when they’re searching for your products and/or services. However, being found is only one part of your online strategy.

Once people find you, your site should provide the information that they’re looking for about your industry, products and services. People use the Internet to get answers to their questions and to find businesses that can solve their needs. Make sure that your website provides a great user experience that helps you convert searchers into customers.

A website is like a shark, it needs to keep moving to stay alive.

Keep the following tips in mind when you build or update your website:

• Create a custom website. Using a template to build your site may be less expensive, but won’t make your business shine.
• Add a blog. Blogging provides information about your industry and helps you engage with your potential customers.
• Put pictures and video on your site. This makes your site more interesting and can help your search engine optimization efforts.
• Update your content on a regular basis. By keeping your content “fresh”, you attract search engines and more potential customers.
• Add conversion forms to your site. Make it easy for people to contact you and you’ll increase your customer leads.

If you need help building a new website, or would like a redesign of your existing site, contact a professional website design company.

SearchReady is a San Francisco based website design and Internet marketing company. Our services include search engine optimization, pay per click management and social networking. Contact us today for your Internet marketing needs.