The Keys to Optimizing Search Engines

Increasing qualified leads, not just page views

If you're shopping on Kimberly Corley's Website, CakeAndAPrayer.com, there's a good chance you'll run into the words “sold out' next to at least one of the products she sells. Corley, who launched her business in 2008, has learned enough about search engine optimization not only to drive traffic to her Website, but to drive customers there. That's a critical distinction that many small business owners fail to take into account when pursuing high search engine rankings.

Many companies have become consumed with the idea of landing on the first page of Google results for all relevant search terms. It's an obsession that Brian Chernicky, director of marketing for RealOnlineMarketing.com, says can be counterproductive because the focus is on increasing page views rather than increasing sales.

“It all comes down to targeting your market niche,' he says. Successful SEO begins when you define what your company offers and the audience it serves. “That's how you divide and conquer on the search engines. If you can get really tight with the market niche and market exactly to the people you're serving, you'll do better and you'll have a higher chance of showing up in the search engines.'

Corley's experience bears out Chernicky's advice. And her front-line tactic is one that requires no advanced technological skills. “One of the first things you want to ask that customer, before you take their order, is, ‘Tell me how you heard about us,'' she says. When customers say they found the company online, she asks which search terms they used to get to her site. “And so I've been able to refine some of the terms, some of the keywords, just from my own customers who have found me.'

She also uses Google Analytics to keep track of the keywords her customers are using to find her, and she compares those with the keywords her competitors are using on their Websites. At her request, her webmaster implemented a basic content management system so that she can modify content, page titles, meta titles, keywords and descriptions without having to become an expert in HTML and coding. One word of caution: “Make sure the CMS doesn't prevent Google from indexing your pages,' she says.

Chernicky adds that it's also critical to incorporate your marketing message, not just your keywords, into your Website content and to remember that, ultimately, SEO is just one component of a larger marketing plan. “That's the real challenge, creating something that satisfies the search engines and converts the visitors that are coming to the site into leads or sales.' SEO is not your company's message. It's a medium for delivering your company's message. Approach it in that way, make sure your keywords get coded and indexed properly, and SEO can serve as a means of increasing sales by turning more of your visitors into customers.