Feeling left out lately?
You’re not alone. Your competition for placement on the first page of search results is getting stiffer. Your direct competitors are getting better at SEO. The local directories like BBB, Yellow Pages, Angie’s List, Thumbtack, Home Advisor are gaining more prominence. Ad space is increasing for both Adwords and now even in the Google MAPS Local listings.
It’s not going to get any easier! Here’s what you need to be doing.

Perhaps because the small business owner is NOT a digital marketer, the necessary elements of effective internet marketing are not well utilized. The evolution of website maturity starts with "I need a good website". Then the realization sets in that a good website doesn't matter without traffic. Most businesses understand the need for ranking on the major search engines. That's the focus of most small businesses relative to their website today. It's not enough!

What happens when you've gone through these two stages? You've got a great website (by that I mean it represents your brand, is attractive and highlights your products and services). And let's say you're also pretty well positioned in the search engines. You're getting quite a number of hits to your website but you realize that those visitors aren't necessarily turning into customers. That realization is the difference between you and the digital marketer.

Reputation management is relatively new to internet marketing and it's already getting pretty sophisticated. But with that comes a cost and a price. Prices range from $500 to $5000 per year. Here's the thing... you may already have the tools within the scope of your web arsenal to do this without shelling out a nickel!

Search engine placement is more about understanding the rules. You can outwit Google even on the simplest of searches just by being smarter than what ultimately is a dumb robot. Here's how you can out-rank competition for searches when you're farther away from the searcher than they are... optimize for "near me".

I have several clients that want to have a mobile app for their clients. In every case so far, the APP development can be circumvented by showing the client (and his clients) how to use a simple feature accessible to everyone with a smart phone.

I know you've heard it - Blog to rank. Content is king. Rank on the first page or forget it. Well, forget all that for a second. Ask yourself, if I blog - how is my blog going to reach my intended audience? I'd like to flip that blogging for SEO strategy on it's head for a minute. I'm not saying that blogging won't get you SEO traffic, it will BUT, if your intent is for your information to get in front of as many people interested in your products and services as possible then there is a better way to use your blog. Don't assume that everyone is going to find your website. Worse, your current clients may not ever see it. This concept may change the way you blog, why you blog. It may even make you actually WANT to blog.

Our definition of selling:
Selling is the process of converting a prospect who needs your products and services into a customer.
If you consider your website to be an extension of your selling process, a blog should be considered the hub of your online marketing process. This will help you understand the role of the blog. We have a very simple definition of marketing:

Infographic by Advice Local. Google and Facebook dominant. Mobile dominates all other platforms.

This is NOT black-hat SEO. You may see some results, but your SEO company may not be doing you any favors. Some SEO practices are designed to keep you on-the-hook. When you stop using their services, your results go right out the window! What?

You know, it's kind of scary. And Dad, that plant looks awesome! I'm not sure how much we really want Google in our personal lives. Checking out Google MAPS for my parents and there's my Dad! It makes you wonder...