Everyone wants to be listed first on Google, and why not? Google serves up billions of search results daily. Being on the first pages puts a lot of eyeballs on you, and can drive massive traffic to your website. The billion dollar question is:
“How do do I get my website on the first page of Google’s search results?”
The answer to this question has spawned a billion dollar industry devoted to SEO (That’s “Search Engine Optimization” for non-techies).
One of our previous clients, Eclectic Martial Arts in Plymouth, MN, asked us this question recently. We launched a site for them several months ago, and they asked us what they could do to improve their rankings on Google search results.
As with all online communications, the first step in forming a plan is to ask the right questions. The rest of this article will walk through some of the common considerations when beginning to think about SEO (and all online communications).
What are your customers looking for?
First, put yourself in the shoes of your prospective customers or clients. If you’re going to search online for the products or services you sell, what would you type into Google? Sure, you could type your company’s name — that pretty much always works (if someone already knows your name and it’s unique enough). If you type in “Eclectic Martial Arts,” it comes up on the first page of Google’s search results.
But what if the person doing the search doesn’t know your company exists? What if they just moved to the area and want to sign their kids up for a martial arts class?
Let’s look at some possible search terms that someone might use, and where EclecticMartialArts.com shows up on Google search results courtesy of “What Page of Search am I On?“:
Search Terms | Page Listed |
eclectic martial arts | Page 1 |
martial arts | Not in first 10 pages |
martial arts MN | Not in first 10 pages |
martial arts twin cities | Not in first 10 pages |
jujitsu plymouth | Not in first 10 pages |
kenpo plymouth | Not in first 10 pages |
jujitsu twin cities | Not in first 10 pages |
kenpo twin cites | Not in first 10 pages |
martial arts plymouth | Page 6 |
Allen Horner *He is the head instructor at Eclectic Martial Arts | Page 4 |
kenpo plymouth mn | Page 2 |
jujitsu plymouth mn | Page 4 |
martial arts plymouth mn | Page 3 |
children martial arts plymouth | Page 8 |
Keywords & SEO: Figure out what you want to be known for!
Only once did Eclectic Martial Arts appear on the first page of search, unless there name was in the search query.
Now what?
Check back later this week for Part 2, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
– BizzyVince
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