How SEO Is Like An Old Phone Book

Search engine optimization is much like an old phone book

Ahhh, phone books. You do remember phone books, don’t you? You know, those big fat books with super thin pages bound in torn and tattered yellow covers.

They got used for pretty much everything including booster seats, door stops, and as proof by body builders that they were strong. I still don’t know how they tore them up into pieces. Oh yeah, and people used them (regularly) to look up phone numbers to contact you or your business. Inside those well worn yellow covers you could find anything or anyone.

Phone books were pretty useful. It was how people and business got found. Everyone used them and even if you didn’t want to advertise, you still had to be listed. It was the price of doing business.

Well, today’s Search Engine Optimization is kind of like an old phone book. You may not like the idea of having to go through the trouble of optimizing your website, but it is today’s cost of doing business, and it’s what you have to do to ‘get listed’ on search engines.

Just like the yellow pages though, you have to optimize your site, and then keep doing it again at regular intervals to stay current. You couldn’t just pay for a yellow pages advertisement once and then get it listed forever, right?

If you’re just starting out with search engine optimization, think of it like the yellow pages in those old phone books. You weren’t listed under every category out there, just the ones that best described your company in general. For instance Al’s Masonry would be listed under Masonry. That same approach works for search engine optimization.

General phrases can work best for the home page. For the interior pages, use product lines or service categories to help people find the things you carry, or what you do. That’s the equivalent of paying for extra listings to be printed under multiple categories.

Although it sounds a bit more complicated than the old phone books, it’s worth it. Find and work with an SEO consultant that you know and trust. They’ll use the right SEO tools and offer a number of different SEO packages to suit your needs.

After all, if you’re not listed, you can’t be found.

3 Ways to Increase Your Company’s Online Presence Without Starting a Blog

We all know that blogs are good. You could say that they’re becoming a marketing best practice for small businesses. In fact, in a previous post, ActiveEdge identified what we felt were some of the Top Benefits of Business Blogging.

But what if adding a blog to your site just isn’t in the plan? Maybe you don’t have time to actively dedicate to creating and maintaining it. Maybe you think you’re not a great communicator. Or maybe you have all the best intentions, but realize you’re just under-staffed to do it in-house and under-budgeted to pay for an outside vendor to manage it.

What can be done then, to earn some online link love? Here are just a few ideas guaranteed to enrich your online presence without adding a blog.

• Book Reviews
• Blog Comments
• Post Photos

Does Paid Search Work?

Lots of small businesses are struggling with questions around online marketing.  Questions like “should I move my advertising to online paid search” and “does it really work”?

The short answer to both questions is a resounding yes. But wait, read on.

The first question – should I move my advertising online? According to a July 2010 eMarketer article, quoting the “State of Small Business Online Advertising Q2 2010” report from WebVisible, small businesses bumped their 2010 second quarter search spending by a whopping 159% over the same quarter last year. That indicates that small businesses are confident that moving to an online advertising spending format is a popular option.

The report further indicated that small businesses are purchasing more keywords as part of their PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns. Our guess is that Read more »