Search Engine Optimization Expert + Local SEO Specialist
Search Engine Marketing essentially consists of two larger parts: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC):
Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization involves a number of content management techniques that make your website as easy as possible for search engines to find and filter. These techniques include proper keyword targeting, title tag and meta description specificity, consistent site architecture, and a number of linking strategies both within your site and between your site and others like it.
“Our small firm was quickly receiving client contact which related into bottom line revenue that easily exceeded 10X the original web site investment. I recommend David 100 percent to any firm considering web site optimization and enhancement.”
--Scott Stone, AEGIS Realty Partners
Google and a number of other search engines publish suggestions that will help give your site higher rankings, but typically it takes an experienced consultant to propel your site into the top five results, where approximately 70% of all clicks come from. Search Engine Optimization involves a relatively high initial investment but can reap an enormous number of "free" clicks if done well.
If you're considering a website redesign or restructuring your website in any way, it's critical to bring in an SEO consultant like myself as part of your small business' internet marketing strategy.
Clients for which I have provided SEO consulting services rank extremely well for searches related to their target business: Custom Logo Apparel, AEGIS Realty, MVP ATM, Matt Heafey, Flagstone Homes, Michael Jones Photography, and Melinda White (MFT).
A Quick Word about the Importance of Local SEO...
As of January 2008 all of the major search engines, including Google, began to display a separate interface at the top of their search result pages for locally-targeted keywords and keyphrases (like "Pizza in Portland, OR"). This new interface features a map and a combination of either three or ten text listings (known colloquially in the search marketing industry as a "Local 3-pack" or "Local 10-pack"). They also show these listings for selected product & service-based searches without any geographic modifiers. Sample screenshots from Google and Yahoo are shown below.
These are the default #1 search results for businesses that depend on geo-targeted search traffic.
As the creator of the authoritative Local Search Ranking Factors document, I am one of literally a handful of consultants in the world with specialized expertise in Local SEO. If your business gets a significant amount of traffic from geo-targeted searches, even a brief strategy review or hourly consultation with me will bring you significant ROI.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaign Setup and Management
Ever wonder where those funny little haiku text ads come from when you type a search into Google or another search engine? Each ad is created by the companies advertising and served to you through a program called Adwords (Google) or Overture (Yahoo). Which company appears in which slot is determined by a transparent, auction-style bidding process, with some adjustments based on the quality of the ad and the particular keyword being searched.
Approximately 10-12% of all clicks on search engine results pages are directed towards these paid advertisements. This is not huge, but it is a significant number, particularly when you consider this is targeted marketing at its best: the user is actively seeking out companies from which to purchase.
Pay-per-click campaigns can be tremendously effective when done creatively and effectively, and I can help you get up and running with a campaign of your own. A number of my clients' campaigns are self-propelling (generating enough immediate revenue to pay for continued spending), even ignoring repeat business. And perhaps the best part about pay-per-click: if it's not working, you can switch the keywords on which you're advertising, or turn it off altogether, with no up-front investment to worry about.
Beyond the Search Engines...
I'm not an Economics major, and I don't have an MBA, which is precisely why I'm a good marketer. I am a creative but rational thinker. I can provide you with a number of unique, targeted marketing strategies to build buzz around your product or service--including how to use Twitter effectively, and I can help you with key insights on how to harness the power of the Internet for your startup (or even established) business. Remember--you don't choose the perception of your brand; your customers do. Make sure you don't handicap that perception from the beginning.
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