PRstore | Marketing. Simplified.

SEO Consultants, Voodoo and a Plumber

Let's say you're Bob the Plumber from San Francisco. You've heard of this "SEO," but you're not exactly sure what it means or how it will help you. So you bring in a few consultants (is everybody a consultant these days?) to give you the skinny.

After a heavy dose of phrases like "off-site optimization," "keyword density," and "backlinks," you realize you're out of your element. You play eenie-meenie-miney-mo, choose a consultant, and wait.

And wait...

And wait.

You check Google every few hours, expecting your Web site to magically vault to the top. To the top of what, you're not sure, you just know it should be "at the top." Customers should be pouring in. Any minute now.

A month later, you get a bill for...oh, I don't know...$3,000? You're three grand in the hole and still can't find yourself on Google. But at least you can tell your friends you had your Web site SEO'd. That and a dollar...

So, where did everything go wrong? Let's take a look:

Unrealistic Expectations
Everybody wants to rank high in Google. Only one pony gets the inside post, though. I did a Google search for "plumber san francisco" and got 497,000 results. Let me save you $3,000: Jumping from obscurity to 1st result of half a million is next to impossible.

Keyword Confusion
What search term do you want to rank for? If you do a Google search for your company name, there's a good chance you'll be in the first page of search results. That's because nobody else has your name (we hope). The broader your search term, the less likely it is you'll rank at the top. And yes, while a broader keyword phrase will reach a larger pool of searchers, they're searchers who haven't narrowed their search. Translation: they're probably not ready to spend money yet.

Half the Package
SEO generally includes two parts: On-site SEO (content, images, HTML code) and off-site SEO (lots of respected websites linking back to your site). An SEO expert who only gives you one or the other is like...well, like a plumber who removes leaky pipes but doesn't install new ones.

Measuring the Wrong Thing
You finally got to the top of Google. So what? Did anybody click on the link? Did anyone visit your site and become a customer? Ranking high in Google means nothing if searchers don't convert to customers. Make sure the description of your company that appears on the search engine results page is relevant and compelling. Same for your home page; if it's not compelling from a marketing point-of-view, visitors will move on without buying.

Aren't You a Referral Business, Anyway?
The biggest mistake most business owners make is putting too much emphasis on search engine marketing. Is yours even a product/service people search for? If most of your business comes from referrals or advertising, why would you invest so heavily in search engine marketing? Put your ad dollars where they make the most sense.

25 Things to Do with a Press Release

1. Put it on your Web site for customers and prospects to read.
2. Disseminate it on the Web via a newswire; the links to your site will boost your SEO.
3. Include it in your sales folder...you do have a sales folder, don't you?
4. Publish it on your blog.
5. E-mail a copy to bloggers you've built a rapport with.
6. Submit it to your industry's trade journals.
7. Post it on your Facebook page...you do have a Facebook page, right?
8. Send it to small publications; tiny suburban newspapers are always fishing for stories to run.
9. Set up a Twitter account and tell your story in 140 characters or less.
10. E-mail it to your Congressional delegation -- always good for power brokers to know you.
11. Share it with your employees via a company intranet or e-mail.
12. Write it as if it were a story so editors can plug it directly into their publications.
13. Make an origami swan.
14. Publish it in your print newsletter or e-newsletter.
15. Time it to coincide with a pay-per-click campaign; the release can boost your PPC traffic, too.
16. Convert it to talking points for a speech by your CEO/President.
17. Skip the newswire: send it directly to columnists, reporters and editors you know personally.
18. Send it to publications your target audience is reading.
19. Share it with partner organizations -- work your alliances!
20. Bring it to trade shows and conventions.
21. Send it to me...I may feature you in the PRstore blog!
22. Recycle! Your old news may be more "newsy" and get a second life in a future news cycle.
23. Piggyback on your events -- include your press release with your invitations.
24. PDF it! It'll make a handy hand-out when someone requests info about your company.
25. Track it by creating a Google Alert to notify you when your company is mentioned online.

Logos in the Clouds

After a few days of much needed R&R at the Hepburn family farm in Madison, New York (yes, there are cows), I thought I'd talk about fluff.

From USA Today (the gold standard in fluff) comes this story about SnowMasters, an Alabama company that has developed technology that floats soapy "clouds" in the shape of corporate logos into the sky.

I know...cool, right?

After seeing a video of the "flogos," I was sold. PRstore's logo over New York City? I floated the idea to the higher-ups. No-go on the flogo. Way to burst my bubble, boss. Maybe next year...

Mixed Bag: Twitter-ers and Bloggers

I thought it would be a good idea to share some new marketing tools I discovered this week. Maybe you can use them to grow your business. Beginning with...

SendOutCards.com
I met Robert Hill of SendOutCards.com via Twitter (@RobertHill). Perfect for business owners and busy sales people, the program lets you send a printed greeting card in 60 seconds. I spoke with Robert this week and he showed me how to set up alerts for birthdays, anniversaries and more. Once you've loaded your contacts into the system, you can send Thank You notes to anyone in your database or your whole list in just a few clicks. And speaking of thank yous...

Mustard & Relish
Thank you to Bo McDonald of Greenville, South Carolina. Bo, a.k.a. The Grumpy AdMan, is one of the principals at Mustard & Relish, a full-service ad/pr agency that blends the best of two great PR guys. Bo wrote a blog post calling out PRstore and questioning whether the system works. I submitted a comment and we had a great dialogue. Kudos to Bo for his follow-up post giving some love to PRstore. Besides, how can you not love an agency with a name like Mustard & Relish? And speaking of the perfect blend, how 'bout...

SmartMarket Movie
If you blend savvy marketing with Hollywood-style movie-making, you get SmartMarket Movie, the creative brainchild of Eric Guerin. Eric's another Twitter-er (@eric_guerin) and I spoke with him last week. The concept: Why make a ho-hum TV ad when you can make a cinematic masterwork? SmartMarket Movie can produce anything from a 30 second TV spot to a 3-minute "trailer" for your company and more. Eric and business partner Heather Riley can write a script to suit any strategy. And speaking of strategy...

MC Think Tank
For competitive marketing strategy in the scenic Idaho hills, check out MC Think Tank. I called principal Ardith Lowell after she caught my attention on the Lip-Sticking blog, which focuses on marketing to women online. Ardith is a consummate PR maven with a focus on helping clients position themselves in the marketplace.

Hope you find something useful in these links. And, as always, share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Home Depot Spin Cycle

From the lips of Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News come these words:

Let's say you're Home Depot. Aside from announcing you're closing 15 stores, how else do you say you're cutting back in a bad economy, cutting your spending on stores by $1 billion over the next three years, without exactly saying that?

Well, here's how they put it today, in what is a work of art for corporate press releases, announcing they are updating their square footage growth plans: "Home Depot will "remove 50 future openings from the new store pipeline."

Glad we cleared that up.

Classic. Purely classic.