Why don't we show up on Google?

For many small businesses, this is a popular question.  They have created a website, now where are the visitors?  "People often misunderstand search engine marketing because there's a slew of SEO firms that make it all seem so darned complicated" (Scott, p. 398).  With little understanding of what it actually takes to get better search engine rankings, businesses often fall prey to firms that overpromise and under deliver search engine results.

The key to better search rankings is content. "True success comes from driving buyers directly to the actual content they are looking for" (Scott, p. 399). Let's say you have a lifestyle and recipes blog and you want to drive traffic to your perfect margarita recipe because your are endorsing a new brand of tequila. If users are looking for the best place in their city to get a margarita, your blog is not the place they want to be.  If they are looking for a margherita pizza recipe, your blog won't be of much help either.  Attracting this type of traffic will only increase your bounce rate and won't sell any of that tequila either.

To attract the right visitors, you need to be strategic in your choice of keywords. "Keyword phrases should be as specific to your company as possible and have an easy, conversational sound not a marketing vibe. Just consider how you search for things online" (Demers, 2014). You should strategically sprinkle keywords throughout your site and the landing page you are attempting to direct traffic to.  If paying for optimization through Google Adwords, be careful in your choices. In the case of your margarita recipe, when trying to optimize your landing page, you might want to avoid general search terms such as "best margarita" or "perfect margarita," and consider more specific search terms, such as:

• homemade margarita recipe
• best margarita recipe
• make your own margarita

Do your research.  What is already coming up in these searches?  How can you do better? Using a long-tailed, specific approach will attract the right visitors to your site and lead to conversions, rather than bounces. "You don’t have to spend money on an SEO expert to dramatically improve your search visibility. Simple steps can achieve major SEO boosts. In the end, SEO is all about improving the usability and user experience of your website" (Demers, 2014).

Also, be sure to make sure your landing page is inviting and ready for conversions, as Meredith highlighted in her recent blog post.



References

Demers, J. (2014, Sept 29).  7 Advanced Ways to Improve Your Site's SEO. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237819

Scott, D. M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing and PR (5th ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.