It is no great revelation that keywords are essential in getting your website to rank higher in Google search results. That said, too often not enough attention is paid to keyword research. Knowing the queries people actually use, is integral in getting the visitors you want to your website

Now, the folks at Google are going to tell you to just write good copy that your potential visitors find compelling, and your rankings will take care of themselves. While that is true in a perfect world, it isn’t quite that simple.

Of course there are may factors (Google’s Matt Cutts says 200+ “signals”) that dictate where your listing shows up on Google’s search results pages, and the keywords on your web pages are only part of it. The fact is, they play a very big role.

Why is keyword research important? Well, your visitors won’t get to your website so they can read your “compelling copy” unless it contains the keywords your potential visitors use when they do a search on Google, or other search engine. Your web pages may have “compelling copy” as far as you are concerned, but are you thinking about the same keywords as your potential visitors? Keyword research can help you figure that out.

Where to start? Write your compelling copy, and then read it out loud. How does it sound? Did you or your audience hear keywords you believe potential visitors would use to find your products or services?

Make a list of keywords you believe identify your products or services. Ask for input from co-workers, customers, friends, your barber, or hair dresser.

Take a good look at the list. Are all or some of those keywords on your website? Remember, Google sells relevance. Your pages should be product or service-specific, as should your keywords. The wrong keywords may get visitors to your website, but those visitors may not stay, because they were looking for something you don’t offer. Your goal should be to attract self-qualified visitors (leads, prospects) that want or need what you offer.

Okay, let’s see if anyone actually searches for your keywords. Google has a good free tool (Google Keyword Tool) for you to use. It is geared toward those who are using, or may use, Google AdWords. You do not have to have an AdWords account to use the keyword tool. It will show how much competition there is for your keywords, global monthly searches, local monthly searches, and more. You may do a simple search, or they’ll give you more options than you will care to deal with. Keep it simple. You just want to see if people really are searching using your keywords.

If your keywords have a lot of search volume, you should use Google Trends, where you can search for two terms, e.g. lake property, lakefront property, and you’ll see charts showing the relative search volume (more people search for lake property). You can filter the results by date, regions, cities, etc.

There are non-Google tools out there as well. A very good one is the Free Keyword Suggestion Tool From Wordtracker. Another is WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool.

There is a great deal more to say about keywords, and we’ll discuss them again. Hopefully, this will give you an understanding of the importance of choosing the right keywords. One of America’s favorite authors knew something about choosing the right words when he said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Oh, that author if you are wondering, was Mark Twain.

Go to work and make that keyword list today! Edit that compelling copy to contain your researched keywords, and get results!

If you have claimed your Google Places page, please feel free to skip the rest of this. If you have not claimed your Google Places page. Do it! Better yet, talk with the people you trust most with your web presence about why and how. That may be someone on your staff, your webmaster, or your web marketing people. Oh, by the way, if they haven’t been telling you to use Google Local Business Center (before it morphed into Google Places) for the last few years, you should ask them why not.

Why is claiming your Google Place Page important? On April 20, 2010, while introducing Google Places, they said, “One out of five Google searches is related to location.” Seven months later, the frequency of local searches has surely grown.

Google says, “More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so it’s important to make sure your business listing can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps.” They obviously believe it, as demonstrated by their blog post, “Place Search: a faster, easier way to find local information.”

After you claim your page, you may enhance the Place Page for your business by adding photos, videos, tags, hours of operation, coupons, and even real-time updates like weekly specials. One of the “features” is “ Reviews by Google users” which presents a compelling reason to “claim” your business Places page. Business owners that claim their listing may respond to negative (and positive) reviews. Here are some guidelines for managing your listing.

When is your Google Places listing displayed? Your listing will display when someone does a search on Google Web Search, Google Maps, Mobile search, 1-800-GOOG-411 voice directory search, or Google Earth. On any of these services, a search directly for your business name and city, will most likely display your listing. If your listing is well crafted, searches for your business category or services will trigger a display of your listing.

There is a lot more to be said, but I’ll just close, by telling you, this is the most important local business search-related action you can take. Google Places is free, and you can easily claim and enhance the listing yourself. Invest a little time, and do this today!

Learn more about Google Places, and remember, Don’t Lose Your Place!

As always, feel free to post a comment or question, or call John at 1-800-281-9993 or 608-822-3750.

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook! It seems everywhere you turn, you hear, read, or watch (TV & now a movie) about Facebook. Let’s talk a little about how and when a Facebook page can help a business.

Just as a website, a blog, or a Twitter account does, a Facebook Page requires effort to be successful. The social media world, in which Facebook is arguably the leader, requires regular attention. Your “Fans” will expect regular interaction. Giving them less than that is no different than one of your sales people totally ignoring a customer that is visiting your brick and mortar store.

Keeping your Facebook Page current doesn’t have to be an onerous chore. With the correct tools, your website, blog, or Twitter account can help generate fresh content to you Facebook Page.  As is the case with all social media, providing consistently fresh content and interaction are the secrets to a successful Facebook Page.

Here are few reasons why you should consider having a Facebook Page:

• It is another place people can find what you offer. In fact, Facebook has over 500 million users.
• Allows you to engage with your community easily at a cost only of time (of course, that is not to be dismissed)
• Drive traffic to your website
• Customer Service – Allows direct interaction with your customers, members, or prospects.
• Fans turn into customers, and attract more of the same
• Have an event coming up? Facebook is a great place to promote events
• It is a great place for event photos (with easy to use upload/editing tools)
• Offer fans discounts or specials
• Your Facebook Page can be customized with your logo and colors the same as your website
• For some people, Facebook is the web. They rarely go anywhere else.

Okay! Now, why should you not have a Facebook Page for your business?

• If you don’t have (or take) the time to regularly update your website or blog.
• If you have a Twitter account and rarely “tweet.”
• Your customer demographic doesn’t include many Facebook users (You don’t want to have 6 “Fans” when your competitor has 250.)
• You or your customers are not comfortable with Facebook privacy controls.
• You don’t feel the effort to get people to simply “Like” your business is of great value.

So, should you or shouldn’t you have a Facebook Page? It truly depends on your type of business and your circumstances. There are pros and cons to everything, including Facebook Pages. We would be happy to help you sort through them.

Feel free to give us a call at 1-800-281-9993 or contact us about helping you make the right decision, when it comes to having or not having a Facebook page.