Michigan Blog - Featuring Michigan Shopping, Travel, Business & People

I debated on whether I was going to post call this post "SEO on a shoestring" or "Selling online, how to get started" and I chose the latter, because if you are truly getting started online - you may not know what SEO is.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it is the process of getting your website on the search engines (in particular Google and Yahoo who own much of the online traffic).

There is a common fallacy circulating that makes people think "Build it and they will come". As much as I liked that old baseball flick, it just does not ring true for an online store (or any website for that matter)

It takes time to develop customers online, hard work and relationships. Since you can not change the "Time" aspect, it is best to start with hard work and relationships. Developing relationships is similar to how you would network offline. Find websites that are related to your website, but not in competition to you and ask them if they would like to exchange referrals. Some SEO professionals would call this link exchanges, but it should not be just a link exchange, it should be a relationship.

I have many clients that ask me "How should I do this". Quite simply, do it like a human being. Do it exactly the same way that you would organize a car pool with someone on your kid's soccer team. Call them up, talk about your businesses and each of you should agree that you will promote each other online. If you are a real estate agent, you would develop relationships with mortgage consultants or moving companies, or home inspectors. Think that way online!

Join online directories like The Michigan Business Directory if you are located in Michigan. This
directory is free to join. If you have a pet-related company - Join The Free Pet Directory at Petazon. If you offer Free Shipping - Join the Free Shipping Directory. You can join Merchant Circle - which is a local directory for Free also.

Dmoz is a free directory that is a must also.

Secondary listing ideas that may include a monetary fee:

• GoMyLocal - Free and Paid .. good for all small businesses
• Lead Connect - Local Leads ... this may work better for accountants, construction workers etc...
• US Directory (free for 30 days .. after that a monetary fee)

Write about your products and services

Unless you have a pretty niche product(s) - chances are others are competing with you to sell the same product. How can you set yourself apart? If all things were equal -- price, shipping cost, in stock or not, tax etc..., then you have to differentiate yourself. Giving
your visitors knowledge will give you an edge. Write about your product - talk about the advantages, disadvantages and why you have chosen to sell this product or product(s). People believe people, they do not believe web servers ... so make sure that you write in an honest and open manner.

Remember - you are trying to act like a human.

If you plan on writing allot, think about getting an Article Submitter Software Program to help you get your information dispersed across the Internet.

If you do not have the ability to maintain your website yourself OR do not have the funds to pay for web maintenance, consider using Blogger for writing your articles. (that's what blogging is, writing good articles that people want to read)

Finally, once you start getting some income flowing in, consider supplementing your online marketing with Pay-Per-click strategies like Adwords or Yahoo Search marketing (formally Overture). Secondary PPC advertising to consider (that may be less expensive) are: Miva
or Enhance Interactive. Search 123. These concentrate on smaller engines that have lower PPC costs - but less traffic.

Worth mentioning quickly is the value of PR. Press Releases can help your company get more exposure and ultimately more traffic. Learn how to write a press release here. Consider using PR Genie for your releases. Michigan PR.net offers Free Release and syndication. PRWeb
is the Grand Daddy of online Press Releases and is worth the money if you want
to send out a good release.

Labels: Search Engine Optimization

posted by The MBD  # 3:23 AM