I frequently have business owners talk to me about their confusion regarding search engine optimization or SEO. They are typically faced with making a decision regarding how much money they should spend. They know that they should be marketing on the internet but they are not sure how. They don’t know the difference between SEM (search engine marketing,) SMM (social media marketing,) and SEO. But what is one buying when they buy SEO services? Most business owners can’t tell me.

Here is what you are buying when you buy SEO: 10 Things Every Business Owner Needs to Know About SEO.

1. Keyword research. Good SEO providers will discuss this with you. What are the keywords you want to be optimized for? These should be the words/terms that your customers and prospects use when they do an internet search for your services. Most businesses need a list of around 20-25 keywords, although you may use more depending on the size of your website. Good SEO providers will show you both the “long-tail” and “short-tail” keywords. They will also tell you the search volume and competition ranking for each. If your prospective SEO provider is not willing to have this conversation with you, my suggestion is “move on to the next prospective provider!”
2. Page Title Optimization (sometimes referred to as the HTML Title.) Probably the most important part of SEO is making sure you page title is keyword rich. This is the title you will see when you hover your cursor over the browser tab at the top of your webpage. Your title should be no more than 70 characters long and the first words should be your primary keyword search term for that page.
3. Meta Description Optimization. You will not see this on your website but this is the description you will see on the SERP (search engine results page) when you do a search for your company. This description should be well-written marketing copy with no more than two keywords. And it should be less than 160 characters, with your keywords as early in the description as possible with it still reading well.
4. URL Optimization. Each page on your website has a unique url. This url should contain the first keyword of your page title since that is the primary search term for the page.
5. Content Optimization. It is important to have good content on your page that is keyword rich. The most important thing is to have content that is beneficial, interesting, and engaging. Don’t diminish the quality of your content by trying to artificially add keywords. However, good SEO copywriters will help you edit this so the few keywords are incorporated into the text in a natural, readable way. Ideally, it is best if the keyword(s) are early in the content.
6. Heading Tags. It is very valuable to use headings and sub-headings in your content. Your SEO provider will show you the “H1” heading and the additional sub-headings on each page (i.e. H2, H3, etc.) Search engines pay close attention to headings so this is an important part of optimizing your content.
7. Images Optimization. Relevant pictures and images enhance the appearance and readability of your website, but they also offer a great tool for optimization. Each picture will have a file title and alt text. This file title and alt text line should contain your primary keywords.
8. Internal Links. It is also valuable to have hyperlinks within your text. Depending on the length of your content (always have 300 words or more) you should have 1-3 links on the page linking to related pages. A good SEO provider will also focus on using keywords as much as possible as the anchor text for these links.
9. External Links. It is desirable to have at least 3 external links linking to the page you are optimizing for. However, these links should come from legitimate sources. Beware of link farms! Sources that are not credible will not help you, and in fact, can harm you in optimization. Be sure to discuss this with your SEO provider and have them show you where all external links are coming from.
10. Meta Keyword Optimization. These are not a part of Google’s or Bing’s search algorithms so they are not as important as the previously mentioned tactics. However, some smaller search engines still use them. So you should have 3-5 keywords from your page listed in the meta keyword area.

My suggestion to business owners is to print this out and use it as a checklist when having conversations with your SEO providers. They will probably share more tactics with you (if they are good) but this will be a good starting place so you can have peace of mind with regards to what you’re spending money on.

What is SEM?

Almost weekly I have one or more conversations with small business owners who are wrestling with the decision to spend money on internet marketing. When I ask them what they know about search engine marketing (or SEM) they typically get the deer-in-the-headlights look and say something like, “Well, it’s where you pay somebody you don’t know a lot of money to do something – but you don’t know what – that get’s you business from the internet – but you don’t know how.”

But does it have to be that mysterious? My answer is “No!”

Most owners have an intuitive sense that they need to be marketing themselves on the internet but they don’t know how! Unfortunately, this makes them prime targets of unscrupulous vendors who want to take advantage of them.

Now there are a lot of reputable SEM companies today and they are worth every penny they charge for their services. However, I have seen many business owners taken advantage of, and that’s why I’m writing this! Let me start with a simple definition.

SEM is an umbrella term used for multiple forms of internet marketing including:

• Search engine optimization (SEO,)
• Pay per click advertising (PPC,) and
• Social media marketing (SMM.)

Some people use the term SEM in contrast to SEO, referring only to pay-per-click advertising or some other paid component. This creates confusion in conversations so be sure you both are speaking about the same thing. However, most professionals view SEM as a comprehensive term (see: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/SEM.html.)

The goal of SEM is to increase your visibility on the search engine results page (or SERP.) Good visibility along with a good website (e.g. attractive, clear call to action, and good content) will result in new business. Companies or people who do this professionally are referred to as search engine marketing management (SEMM) professionals.

Before you jump out and spend a lot of money on something you don’t know much about, educate yourself! As a business coach, helping my clients make wise, strategic decisions is one of the most valuable services I provide for them! Make sure your marketing dollars produce new business!

Monday is for Marketing

Branding is often a mysterious concept to small business owners. When I ask groups what a brand is I typically hear answers like “a logo,” “a symbol,” or “a name.” While those things are usually part of a branding process, they are not what define a brand.

A “brand” is the emotional and psychological relationship you have with your customers.

Strong brands elicit thoughts, emotions, and responses from the customer. They are rooted in the “promise” and the “experience” customers have with the company, product, and/or service.

What do people think of when they think about you and your company? What do they feel? What actions or behaviors do they engage when they encounter you? That’s your brand!

When a brand elicits a strong response it is considered valuable. Some of the most valuable U.S. brands include:

• Google – Valued at $48.2 billion
• Apple – Valued at $39.3 billion
• Microsoft – Valued at $39 billion

(These values were taken from the September 2011, Brand-Finance Global 100.)

How do you brand your company?

You must start by asking, “How do my customers perceive and experience our company?” It takes courage to talk to them and ask them this question because you may not like what you hear. But do it! Find out how they really perceive you.

Next ask yourself, “What is my promise?” What do you promise your customers? What kind of experience do you promise they will have? How well do you fulfill your promise? What do you need to do to improve on your promise and your customer experience?

Many small business owners want to quickly start working on a logo, a design, an advertising campaign, or a website. Colors, fonts, and symbols are important but first you need to get clear on your mission, your promise, and your customer experience. These are the things that create an emotional and psychological relationship with your company.

Major on these things! And if you do, your visual elements (e.g. logo, design, etc.) will simply be a reminder to your customers about what they think and how they feel about you!

Friday is for Friends

Today in my Friday is for Friends feature I have a great friend, Camille Rodriquez, writing about the Social Media Ladder. Camille is the Founder and President of Polka Dot Impressions. She shares some extremely helpful information for business owners here. Enjoy and learn!

Have you heard of the “competence ladder?”

There’s some debate about who originally came up with this concept, but the idea is that there are stages of learning or competency that we can choose to move through when learning something.  We start from a point where we “don’t know what we we don’t know,” and we move to a point where we “just know it” and it’s easy – if we are willing to learn.

Learning how to use social media is included in that ladder of learning. Most business leaders, and often the marketing efforts they employ, fall into one of the levels that may be familiar to you from this model. Depending on where you fall on the ladder, you may find social media marketing difficult or ineffective. Let’s look at how this relates to social media marketing so that you can make some decisions.

Unconscious incompetence is the starting point. You understand that social media will help your business, but your understanding is limited. You only know what you have heard others say. As mentioned, you don’t really know what you don’t know! Conscious incompetence suggests that you have decided that “they” are right, but you have no idea where to begin. Conscious competence, the next stage, occurs when you have taken steps to educate yourself on the process or things that you can do, and you are even doing them. But these steps take a great deal of your attention span or focused energy. And finally, unconscious competence is reached when you are following the best practices of social media marketing instinctively, and doing what you’re doing is second nature to your marketing composition.

Why does the competence ladder matter?

The first step in effective social media is to determine whether or not you want to climb the learning ladder. If you don’t, you may want to hire someone to handle social media marketing for you (but not until you’ve considered the issues below).

If you are interested in learning more, then you are going to need to take some specific steps towards educating yourself. Like so many things, there are best practices for social media, and there are a variety of platforms – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, etc. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. The strengths of each of the platforms are only part of the equation, however.

The other element that has to be considered is your goals. I’m talking about your specific goals for social media marketing. Some common goals are:

• Creating a community-like place for customers to share knowledge and information
• Increasing sales
• Becoming a valuable resource or thought leader
• Engaging with a specific audience to better understand their needs
• Directing traffic to a website
• Enhancing SEO efforts
• Combinations of the above

Your goals will drive the approach you use in social media, but there are some common threads.

How does social media work?

All social media activity can be summed up in a three-step process.

1. Content Creation – Decide what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. As you do this, do it in ways that are meaningful to your audience, not necessarily just faithful to your sales script
2. Attentive Behavior – Pay attention to who is responding to your content, when they’re responding, what they are saying, and what they are not saying
3. Strategic Responding – Develop a system for responding to your audience in an interactive way. Social media should be social.  Essentially, social media is 24-7 networking, but if you fail to respond or interact, you might as well skip everything else you’ve read so far!

If you give your goals, your willingness to learn new systems, and the time necessary to implement them careful consideration, you will be well on your way to an effective social media marketing plan. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 281-762-1120 or review the many free tips on my website.

One of the people who has mentored me in social media through his books and talks is Chris Brogan. Here in this short video Chris talks to business owners to help them understand how to get started the right way using social media for business.

Chris Brogan on Social Media Starter Tips

Monday is for Marketing

Last night was a very enjoyable Super Bowl game! Not because my team won (I really didn’t have a team in this one,) but because of the quality of play and the closeness of the match up. However, I think this year’s Super Bowl 2012 also had some outstanding commercials!

Super Bowl commercials have become almost as entertaining as the game itself (some might say more so!) This year was one of the best. I found myself going to YouTube and watching the commercials even before game day! Then I was watching them again on YouTube last night after the game. Very entertaining!

But why do companies put so much into these commercials and why do they spend so much money on them? Do you think their sales increase after the Super Bowl? Do you think they get a good R.O.I. from them in terms of sales revenue?

I have read some reports in the past about companies getting an uptick in sales after the Super Bowl, but I have a hunch this is not about direct sales R.O.I. at all. It’s purely about branding! And I might add, it’s a powerful medium & concept for that purpose! But what about the small business?

Should small businesses try to spend significant portions of their revenue on branding?

My answer to that is a definitive NO! These strategies are great for Chevrolet, Honda, and Doritos (a few of my favorite from last night!) But most of what large corporations do in marketing is not right for small business! When small businesses try to market and brand themselves like national or international corporations they typically get into a lot of trouble. Why?

Small businesses do not have the resources to buy a brand!

There are 2 ways to create a brand. You can buy a brand and you can earn a brand. Large corporations have to do both! Large corporations that buy a brand but don’t back it up by their product and/or service performance don’t last. Large corporations that simply earn their brand often get lost and forgotten in the national or international arenas because there are so many players. This is one of the most challenging strategic decisions that large companies have to make – and they have to make it month after month after month.

Small business owners make a mistake when they try to market like large corporations. Don’t do it! It’s tempting to try, almost seductive at times. But you can waste a lot of money and get very little return by trying to emulate the big boys. Small businesses should focus on earning their brand.

How do you earn a brand?

You keep your word. You fulfill your promise to your customers every time! You fall in love with your customers and as a result you give them time, attention, and extraordinary service. You create a community around your brand (see Seth Godin’s book Tribes.) You turn your customers into loyal, raving fans who are excited to tell others about you and give you referrals. The best small businesses earn their brand everyday, one customer at a time. They become the buzz of their local communities.

And when they do spend money on marketing it is almost always direct-response marketing. In other words, they want a specific dollar return on every dollar they spend. They track and measure everything they do in terms of marketing activity and cash R.O.I.

As a business coach, one of the first and fastest ways I find that I can add value to new clients is in helping them become more efficient and strategic with their marketing activities and their marketing budgets! If you’re a small business owner like I am, watch and enjoy the commercials, but spend your marketing resources on taking care of your customers and your community!

Friday is for Friends

Today I welcome Mike Dobert with HR in Alignment as my Friday is for Friends guest blogger. Mike has some helpful insights for us around this topic of internships. Thank you Mike for being a contributor.

A common question for many business owners is with regard to the use of interns and whether or not they have to be compensated? With business looking for ways to control labor cost and individuals sometimes offering to work in positions for free to build professional experience and perhaps earn the chance of the internship turning into an offer of regular employment, unpaid internships have become a focus of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

In many cases, unpaid internships are illegal. This past year, the U.S. Labor Department issued a very specific ruling  regarding unpaid employees resulting in a six-point checklist on the use of interns and how far an internship can go before requiring a business to pay up by at least offering minimum wage.

The six criteria a business must meet in order to allow unpaid internships are:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern – and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Internships which do not meet the above criteria should be considered compensable and must meet all wage & hour law considerations including, but not limited to minimum wage and overtime as applicable. It is also important to note an individual is not allowed to forfeit their rights under wage & hours laws – even if the intern offers not to be paid, observe all employment labor laws!

If a business is determined to be not paying its interns, penalties may include back pay, unpaid taxes not withheld, social security, unemployment benefits, interest, attorneys’ fees, and liquidated damages (double the unpaid wages).

For more information contact Mike Dobert, S.P.H.R. at HR in Alignment, LLC. @ 281.494.2985 or mdobert@hrinalignment.com  You may also visit www.hrinalignment.com.

Sharpen Your Unique Selling Proposition

When you meet someone new at a networking or community event, and they ask you what you do, what do you say? Typically I hear “I’m a CPA” or “I’m a financial planner” or “I sell flowers” or “I’m in insurance.”  Get the picture? That’s about the most uninviting, non-engaging, boring way for you to position yourself! Isn’t there a better way?

Yes there is. It’s called a unique selling proposition or U.S.P.

A U.S.P. is a simple statement about the value you bring, what makes you distinctive or “unique” from your competitors, and one that is interesting enough to invite the other person into a conversation with you about what you do.  If I’m given the opportunity to tell someone what I do, and I answer “I’m a business coach,” – well, how boring is that? I have discovered that there are several ways I can answer which are much more interesting and engaging like:

“I help small business owners significantly improve the performance of their businesses.”

“I help business owners slow down, reflect, and map out the critical changes they need to make in order to take their businesses to the next level; then I hold them accountable to achieve the results they want.”

“I help business owners work smarter not harder, so they can make more money and work less.”

I’m not suggesting that these are the best U.S.P.’s, but they are a whole lot more interesting and engaging than me saying “I’m a business coach.” And they typically open the door to a conversation where I can learn more about the person I’m talking to and where I can pique their interest in what I do.

So how do I create my U.S.P.?

Take a short, strategic retreat, and ask yourself these questions:

• What is the value I bring?
• What is an obvious, compelling benefit (WOW)?
• How am I significantly different from others?
• How can I say this in an interesting way that causes others to want to know more?

It is worth the time to “craft” your U.S.P. This should be the springboard to your 30 or 60 second commercial. Try it out on others and watch their reaction. Ask for feedback. Tweak it until you’re happy with it, and then broadcast it everywhere – presentations, signatures, brochures, literature, website, voice mail, fax transmittals, invoices, news releases, packaging, everywhere!

I need for you to convince me (and convince me fast) to do business with you! A powerful, well-crafted U.S.P. can do just that!

Small business owners talk to me weekly about why their business is “stuck,” why it is not growing. Of course there are several possible causes for this, but one common cause is what I call “System Bottlenecks.” These bottlenecks will keep your business from growing, preventing you from taking it to the next level.

It is helpful to view your business as a large system.  This large system has many “sub-systems.” The 5 core sub-systems of every business are:

• Marketing
• Sales
• Customer Fulfillment (or Delivery of your Products or Services)
• Admin/Back Office
• HR

Every business has to address these 5 issues and develop systems for each. Any one of these systems may contain multiple bottlenecks that prevent your business from growing. Sometimes the business owner is not even aware of how each of these systems is working in their business. But it is important to realize that your system is perfectly designed to get what you are getting!

So if you want to get something different from your business, you must change the business systems.

Enlist employees or team members to help you assess how these critical systems are actually working in your business. Have someone write it down, maybe creating a flow chart with the steps that are being followed. You may want to engage an outsider like a business coach to help you look objectively at your core systems. Where could there be potential bottlenecks? How could you improve in each of these core areas?

It is not uncommon for one relatively small adjustment to open the gate for dramatic growth! One small change could be a huge point of leverage. This is one reason system bottlenecks often go unnoticed until there is an intentional and objective assessment.

As a business coach I am continually trying to encourge and inspire my clients to be the best they can be.  I encourage them to take action to improve their quality of life.  I encourage them to build strong, systematized businesses that can be a valuable asset for them.  However, one of the big challenges that I encounter is the lack of internal motivation.

Everyone “talks” about building a great business or a great life; they talk about improving their health, they talk about spending more time with their family, etc.  But it takes deep, personal motivation to do the hard work necessary to accomplish these things.

What I’ve discovered is that people do not accomplish significant things unless they have a “Big Why.”

The “Big Why” may be a life purpose, a goal or vision that one is passionate about, or simply an important need.  Without a “Big Why” we eventually lose motivation to do the work necessary to accomplish great things.

Gary Keller, the Co-founder of Keller Williams Realty, illustrates the power of the “Big Why” when he talks about the “day-before-vacation miracle.”  He says it is amazing to watch people work the day before a vacation.  No matter how they approached the previous days, on the day before vacation they become a model on how to get things done.  The reason is that they are about to reward themselves with some significant play!

The day before vacation we often become models of time-management.  We don’t sit around idly surfing the internet or chitchatting with fellow workers.  We screen our calls, ignore trivial emails, and toss out junk mail with abandon.  Maybe we even eat lunch at our desk or on the run, and by the end of the day we’ve accomplished more than we ever thought was possible in a single day.  And then we still have time to pack, drop the dog off at the kennel, and get someone to take care of our mail.  It’s simply incredible how much we get accomplished in such a short period of time.

The reason we can do this is because we have a “Big Why.”

Let me encourage you to search your heart.  Take some time to reflect and discover YOUR “Big Why.”  Ask yourself questions like:

• Why did I go into business to begin with?
• Why do I want to stay in business for myself?
• Why do I want to grow the business and increase my personal income?
• Why do I want to improve my health?
• Why do I want to systematize my business?
• Why do I want to create an organization of excellence?
• Why is all this so important to me?

When people get honest with themselves by asking these questions they begin to discover a deeper meaning and purpose in their business and their life.  As a business coach this is one of the most gratifying things I do – helping men and women discover their “Big Why.”  And once that happens, watch out!  Amazing things are going to happen!