This is the first post in my series: Simplifying SEO for Small Business Owners.
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As a small business owner, do you freeze or put your head in the sand when you hear “you should work on your website?”
I did too. So let’s simplify things.
What does it mean to “work on your website?”
By writing posts for your website that answer web searchers’ questions, Google directs searchers to your posts bringing free traffic to your website. This is called, “SEO” or “Search Engine Optimization.”
Bonus: If searchers want answers in your area of expertise, they’re also likely in the market for what you sell. Getting them to your website allows them to get answers and (hopefully) buy from you.
What’s does it mean to “write a post” or “blog?”
Think of a blog post like a magazine article that sits on your website.
Let’s look at a real Google Search:
But wait Paige, you said SEO was “old-fashioned?”
When I was small, my dad owned a tiny picture framing shop in our town. When customers would ask him, “Do you know a good painter in our area?” or “Who’s the best children’s photographer?” he’d pull out his Rolodex (now that’s old-fashioned) and serve up answers to his customers. He did this as a way to provide an extra bit of expertise and service to his customers.
Back in the 1970s, in his frame shop, my dad was acting as a “Human Google,” directing people to the businesses that could solve their problems.
So how do I know what answers people want?
Let’s go back to my dad’s frame shop. If my dad were working on his picture framing website, he’d be wise to write a post about what his customers were asking him in person.
This is an important point that’s worth repeating:
The questions your customers are asking you, are the same questions they’re asking Google.
In my dad’s case, today he might write a post on the cost to frame a keepsake, how to frame a pair of leather gloves, or the role a mat plays in keeping artwork protected.
So start right there – writing the answers you’re asked over and over again by your customers.
It’s really that simple.
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SEO For Rookies, Day #2 is here.
Are you a CertaPro colleague of mine? I have a subsciption bonus just for you.
LuAnn, my mom Pat and my dad Bruce at the Mt. Kisco Frame Shop in the 1980s. This shop was my home most days after school and on Saturdays.