How to Search Engine Optimize a small business site (10 part series)

One of the challenges facing a small business owner that is trying to get their business online is that they do not know where to start. What I am going to do over the next 10 posts is provide a BASIC guideline of best practices for small businesses as they drive their businesses online. PLEASE notice that the planning for a site begins WAY before any code is ever written.

Most SEO companies ASSUME that you have this already done, but the truth is that most sites do not, so let’s start at the start.

I  also thoought “why not use a REAL example?”! So that is what we are going to do! I have been contemplating creating an online newspaper for Southern Indiana for LLOONNGG time.  I think it will be a solid vehicle to drive business into our community and help others in the process. I like the idea of using websites to garner revenue for our local, hometown folks!

STEP 1: What is your business? An online newspaper that provides LOCALLY focused, interesting stories, a positive outlook and derives revenue from the advertising of small businesses in the Southern Indiana area.  (25 words or less- you need to be concise here)

STEP 2: Who is the target audience for my site? Who do I want to frequent it?  The online newspapers target audience is 24-48 year olds in Southern Indiana who want a place to visit for current events, style, places to go, news, school events and news without the negative tone that the local papers offer.

STEP 3: What keywords would the target audience use to search for your site? Don’t know? In my next post, I will help with some links and resources to find out who is searching for what and how. Please keep in mind that we are looking for MANY different search terms. Rarely is there just one or two terms… For example, the real estate site that I work with locally, pulls only a VERY small percentage of its traffic from “Louisville Real Estate” (even though we are #1). The rest comes from the long tails (industry speak for smaller keywords that are searched infrequently, but are fairly easy to optimize for…). In part two, we will pick the KWs for our new paper.

See you then!