Yesterday’s Part 1 SEO post got us started, so let’s pick up where we left off and finish out. Here are a few more cornerstone search engine optimization (SEO) concepts for you to understand about helping people find your website via organic search, such as through a search engine like Google.

• Link Building Works

Creating live links that direct back to your site is a great way to promote your site and get more traffic. If you leave comments on other blogs, especially high traffic, relevant ones, you will likely get traffic, and those comments will likely get indexed.  The thing to remember is to engage in the conversation, contribute to the point being discussed, and reveal your personality and purpose in your post comments. Don’t just pitch yourself – Use subtle, keyword rich comments that intrigue people enough to visit you at your site. (I use the free software package  CommentKahuna to find these high ranking relevant blogs. ) You can also trade links, provide articles, guest blog, and do many more things to get links. Get creative and reach out to the meeting places where your target audience hangs out.

• Spiders Don’t Have Credit Cards or Opinions
  

As much as it’s important to implement the suggestions in both Part 1 & 2, it’s even more important to remember that search engine spiders can’t buy anything – nada, nothing, zilch. Regardless of how many keywords you stuff into your copy,  how many links you have coming in, and how many meta-tags you have, it ultimately comes down to reaching people. You have to use full sentences, you have to appeal to human emotion, and you have to be likeable, or at least very compelling. You have to have something to sell, if you’re selling, or have a story to share if you’re working to educate or simply communicate. Don’t forget that the whole purpose of getting more traffic is to affect human beings.

• Traffic Doesn’t Equal Conversion

Another aspect of spiders not having credit cards or opinions is this -Just because you get visitors coming to your site doesn’t mean anything further will happen. You can perfectly design your site to rank #1 in Google for every pertinent word that someone might be using to search for you, but once a person gets to your site, what’s next? Do they sign up? Do they buy? Do they even stay long enough to read anything? Or, do you bore them, make it hard to navigate and click through, or maybe worse still, don’t provide targeted, relevant information that they were expecting to get when they searched in the first place? Become conscious of the limitations of the traffic trap – don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s a “numbers game”. It’s not – it’s an emotions game. Compelling and specific calls to action, moving stories that engage and encourage response, and reasons to return and stay loyal are going to make more of the traffic you do get more likely to benefit you.

• Nobody’s Perfect – Keep Trying!

SEO leads to authority in your marketplace, a great platform, and a solid foundation for your continuing success. It will take time and effort. This two part series is just the beginning. I am an internet marketing fanatic, so we will discuss this again, but there’s so much more to learn. You will find mistakes everywhere, you will find even big players and big companies not doing SEO right, and that’s ok.  Learn what you can and start chipping away at it. You will be in the top percentage if you do and that will set you and your business apart from the people who aren’t doing anything at all. Be patient, keep curious, and get help if you need it. These are some of our articles of faith as smart women and good entrepreneurs, so that’s what we’re going to do. I’ll be with you every step of the way, ok?

As a side note, just wanted to let you know that I am about to launch a SmartWomanRadio talk show, starting December 8th at 2 pm CT.  I’d love to have you join in. Come on over and call into the show!

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

I meet some remarkable people as I network for SmartWoman Guides. Although I enjoy nearly every one of them, once in awhile I get to know someone that really sticks out, that really shines in quality. Michael Martine is one of those types.

Michael Martine offers tons of free content and tips on blogging and internet marketing at Remarkablogger – and on Twitter. For your specific questions and to help you develop a winning plan for your blog, he offers one-on-one consulting and live group teleseminars.

Michael is an all around great guy. He coaches you on how to get more traffic to your site, but more importantly he teaches you how to get better traffic to your site. He works his magic using kindness, compassion and creativity, assisting you in developing a larger vision of what you can accomplish.

Michael talked with me about my blog and how I could use it to better achieve my goals. I agreed to let him record the session so you could hear how he coaches. It’s a great example of the insight and perspective he offers bloggers.

To listen to the interview, click on the link below:

Remarkablogger and SmartWoman Coaching Session

We talked about the purpose I desire for my blog, what I wanted the SmartWoman brand to be ultimately, and some practical steps to implement now and in the future to get me there. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I have already been implementing his changes. It’s a work in process but I am definitely applying what Michael and I discussed. I am excited about the changes and will continue to make them to better my brand and sharpen my focus.

Visit Michael at Remarkablogger and follow him on Twitter. He will help you and he is generous with his knowlege – get to know him.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

For our monthly theme of generating and converting web traffic, here is a short checklist to help you do a health check for your blog or website. If you don’t have these items, your business is missing out on sales.

1.  Do you have a web presence (blog, website, sales page)?

Some new entrepreneurs don’t believe it’s important to get this done immediately. They think they should build up their business a bit before they pay the expense to develop a website. They think that they need to make sure their idea is going to work before they get that “serious” about it all. This couldn’t be more off base. You need to have a web presence now, before the day is over. I know it’s Sunday, but I don’t care. Today. Sooner rather than later.

Consider this: Even if you are a complete novice, for about $20 and a few hours of your time,  you can create a blog. Better yet, with a bit more money and less time, you can have a high school student create one for you. For less than a dinner out, you can be in communication with the entire world, letting them get to know you and maybe even hire you.

Your blog is going to tell people about you, give your phone number and business location, highlight the benefits of doing business with you and collect potential clients’ names so you can keep in touch. How much would you pay an employee to do that? A lot more than $20 bucks, I bet. And, that employee would not be working 24/7. Your web presence happily does that.

Get online now. I can’t say it more directly or firmly or loudly enough. Do it, no excuses.

2. Do you have an opt-in easily visible above the fold?

Websites are a bit like newspapers. People notice the headlines and they most easily see the stories “above the fold”. In web lingo, that means the content that is visible on their computer without any scrolling down. It is the first initial shot of your site.

An opt-in is a way for people to give you their name and email address for further updates. They “opt-in” to your mailing list. It can include a special free offer to sweeten the experience, like an ebook the client can download, but even without this, you need to give them a chance to stay in touch with you. If people like what they are reading, even without a free offer, they will likely subscribe.

Your job is to make sure it’s super easy for your web visitors to opt-in. Don’t make your sign up too small to see or located at the bottom of the page so it’s hard to find. It’s not an after thought. It’s one of the primary purposes of having a web presence. If you can build a list of targeted clients and prospects, you actually build a business asset, even one that can be included in the value of your IPO someday. Without it, you are lost.

And don’t hesitate to ask directly. You can use wording that asks them to take action or even, depending upon your personality, tells them to. They won’t do it if they don’t want to (ha! we only dream we have that much power! LOL!). Remember that your goal is service and communication. You are not badgering these people to let you bother them, you are offering to continue to give them valuable information in a convenient manner. Take on the role of trusted advisor, not checkered jacket sales bozo. I know you are trustworthy. It’s important that you believe you are worthy of that trust.

3.  Do you have a clear call to action?

What do you want your web visitor to do? This is your desired call to action. This is how you will either make sales or further the relationship. It’s the one thing you want your visitor to do upon meeting you the first time. In some businesses, it’s rarely completing a sale, but it’s something. Know what that something is for your business. 

Are you a consultant who wants people to call for an initial appointment?  Do you want them to come physically to your retail location? Do you want them to pre-screen themselves so you only get emails from qualified prospects? Your website plays a major role in accomplishing these things. Get clear on your goal. Make it as singular and easy to complete as you can.

If you want clients to call, make your phone number large and easy to find, above the fold and obvious, not in tiny text buried somewhere in your “about me” page at the bottom. I can’t tell you how many people don’t do this. Same for your address. If you want them to show up, give them the address and maybe even a link to a map site that gives them step by step directions, with your operating hours nearby so they know you’ll be open when they get there. Don’t force people to be curious and investigative to connect with you. It’s your job to help them, not them to help themselves.

Please keep in mind that I am starting basic here, but if your web presence doesn’t already include these basics, you need them to. Sure, there’s work to do here, plenty of it. Don’t let overwhelm stop you. Just get going. I believe in doing one thing. Deciding to learn is one thing.

If nothing else, make the clear and decisive commitment today that you will have the basics in place by the end of the month. Commitment is an action and it shifts everything. You can do this. I know you can. You showed up to read this. You are already showing commitment. Congratulations. Now, we just have to keep going, ok?

If you aren’t sure how to do what I recommend, tune back in tomorrow. We will walk through it. In the meantime, go get and read John Cow’s ebook about building a business not a blog. It will take you step by step and get you going. We’ll visit some more about this on Monday.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman