With over 8.5 billion web pages on the internet and growing by 250,000 new pages per day, you may be wondering how your website will be found by potential customers in this sea of information. No matter how you plan to publicize or market your website offline, it is likely that you will need to rely on search engine traffic to help drive targeted customers to your web site. Search engine optimization (SEO) is necessary to ensure that your site can be found.

Search Engine Optimization is the process of making your website as visible as it can be to the search engines and ultimately to your customers. A website created without SEO is like opening a new business but not telling anyone about it – and just hoping customers will eventually find it.

Businesses launched in this manner often fail and so will a website that doesn’t employ at least some basic SEO strategies. SEO is a combination of strategies (a few of them are listed below) that when implemented together enable a website to rank well for its targeted keywords in the search engines.

1. Define your target audience. Take the time to think like your customer.  What does your customer want? What are they afraid of? What is important to them? What challenges or issues have they encountered before when purchasing this type of product/service? When you write the copy for your web site be sure to show your understanding of what your client wants and needs and show how your product/service can be the answer to their search.
2. Do keyword research. Anticipate and brainstorm the keywords your customer will be using when searching for your products/services. Use a keyword tool like Google AdWords Keyword Tool to identify other related terms you may have not considered and collect real usage data on your keyword phrases. The keywords and phrases that you identify should be relevant to the products/services you provide. Once you’ve determined a comprehensive list of possible keywords and have arranged them by most searched to least, then you can use this information to optimize your website.
3. Write unique title & description tags for every page of your site. Every page of your site is different so every page of your site should have a unique and descriptive title and description tag, found in the Head section of the HTML code of every page of your website. Title and description tags are also great places to selectively incorporate your targeted keyword phrases. Search engines use website title and description tags to feature your website link in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Make sure your title and description tags accurately convey what is found on the page and are compelling to your potential customers.
4. It’s not all about you. When writing your website copy, speak to what your customers need and want by using customer-focused keyword-rich copy.  Find ways to create memorable and unique copy that makes an emotional connection with your potential customers. And don’t forget to incorporate your targeted keywords naturally into your copy and headlines.
5. Build links to your website. Inbound links to your website are considered by the search engines to be “votes” for your website. If you feature well-written, valuable content on your website finding link partners will be easy. Always choose quality links from directories and relevant partner/ally websites and stay away from link farms and linking schemes, which can do more harm than help.

For more information on search engine optimization, contact Michelle Harrington at (808) 823-8051 or visit www.EmagineWebMarketing.com.

1. Email Signature – Create an email signature that is included in all of your email messages. Your email signature should include your name, title, and all of your contact information. And when we say all, we mean all the ways to contact your business, including any social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, etc.) avenues your business uses to communicate with customers. Make sure all that your email addresses and all web addresses in your signature are hyperlinked, so that anyone can click on the link and be automatically directed to that site.
2. Contact Info on Every Website Page – Sure, every business website has a Contact Us page. But,  from any other page on your site, that adds one more click your customer has to take to find this information. We recommend placing your contact information (again, email and web addresses in hyperlink) on every page of your website. It doesn’t have to be big and take up a lot of space. Small font on the bottom of the page is fine. You just want to be sure that once an individual is convinced to do business with you, they don’t have to look much further to contact you. Bonus: As an added benefit, multiple listings of keywords such as your city name or state name on your website can help with your search engine optimization (SEO).
3. Map it! -  In the Contact Us section of your website, have a link to any online map service so that customers can click on it to see where you are located, add in their own location to map out driving directions, and then print it up to use on the road.
4. Business Hours – Business hours are often overlooked as critical information for consumers to know. Business hours should also be on every page of your website, prominently listed on your social media sites and profiles, and on any other place that your contact information appears. Bonus: Posting your hours on your daily timeline on social media sites from time to time is an excellent reminder for current customers and info for potential customers.
5. All Printed Materials – Sure, we all know to include contact information on brochures and similarly marketing materials, but what about printed materials that don’t normally leave your location, such as menus for restaurants or in-store signage (in dressing rooms, at the cash register, etc.) for retail companies.  Business hours and website addresses are great for these pieces.
6. Voicemail – Voicemail is another great place to leave your contact information, especially your business hours, email address, and website address. Listing other ways for people to contact you will help reduce the messages and inquiries left on your voicemail for you to return.
7. More on Hyperlinking – We’ve talked several times about hyperlinking above, and we can’t stress enough how powerful a tool this is. Whenever possible hyperlink. In email messages, electronic documents, estimates, websites, blogs, social media, and more. Hyperlinking also enhances SEO.

Implement these tips and whoever is looking for you will surely find you. This is the first step to making your next sale.

By Michelle Harrington
This post is brought to you by Emagine Web Marketing, an associate of Fujita & Miura Public Relations. Emagine Web Marketing is a development and marketing company that helps small businesses expand their reach and increase sales online through innovative and effective web marketing and optimization strategies.

Growth is an ever-present, integral part of a successful business. Like a well-tended garden, the growth of your business will remain vital and able to withstand the ever-changing landscape in market and economy. Your website is no different – the success of your website relies on the quality of attention and maintenance you put into it.

Think about the ways your business has changed in recent years. Maybe you’ve re-designed your logo, added staff, moved to a new location, added new products, expanded your service area, or won an award. Your website should reflect the growth and evolution of your business by offering current, relevant, and valuable content for your customers.

The design of your website should work in harmony with the images and copy to create an “online ambiance” that makes a memorable and aligned impression of your business. This can include professional photography and copywriting, new testimonials and customer reviews, video, links, and downloads of any press or media coverage on your business.

To be most effective, your website content (text and images) should be updated on a regular basis. There is no strict rule as to when you should update the structure (programming/coding) and “look and feel” (design template) of your website, however, every couple of years it’s a good idea to consider your websites’ overall effectiveness and its compliance with progressing technologies and new browser versions.

When it’s time for a major re-design, be sure to consider the valuable feedback your website visitors have provided over time, find better ways to organize your information, review your website analytics for insight into areas needing improvement, and make sure that the search engine optimization (keyword research, title/meta tags, link building, etc.) of your website are being reviewed and updated as well.

Whether you do these tasks in house or outsource them, your website is a marketing tool that can “work” for you 24/7 – IF you keep it updated, current and fresh.

For more information on search engine optimization, keyword research, or website consulting contact Michelle Harrington at (808) 823-8051 or visit http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/