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Local Online Marketing: is your website optimized for your keywords?

by Jo Dodds on November 11 2009

in Local SEO

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I was called recently by someone saying, “your website, www.hythehandbook.co.uk, doesn’t come up very high in Google; can we send you a report showing you those results with some idea of how we can improve them for you?”.

Usually I would have explained about this business helping small business owners with their local online marketing and that would have been the end of the conversation, but on this occasion I decided to play along and see where it took me.

I said that they could send me the report at which point he asked me what keywords I want my website to list for in Google. I replied ‘advertising hythe’ and he went off to produce my report.

Funnily enough I didn’t hear from him again! I happen to know (because it’s my job to know!) that at the time of writing this I hold at least the top two spots on Google for those keywords, which may explain why I didn’t hear from him again – he didn’t have quite that much front.

What does that say about most small businesses?

But it did make me think about what that says about most of the business owners who he speaks to. Working on the basis that he is reasonably successful with his sales pitch, otherwise he wouldn’t do it, I will draw at least a couple of conclusions.

Firstly most local websites don’t list very well in Google; secondly it is time effective for him to assume that and phone everyone on his list without looking at their website first and try to make some assumptions about what the business owner is trying to do in Google.

And I make this assumption on the basis that the Hythe Handbook is a local community magazine in which I sell advertising to local businesses. On that basis I would say that most people would be able to guess at my main keyword phrase being ‘advertising hythe’. If he had done that and searched using those words he wouldn’t have called me as it would have been obvious that I didn’t need his help – unless, of course, I was actually trying to list at the top of Google for other more random phrases!

It is comparatively easy for local businesses to list at the top of Google.

Most small business owners don’t know what their keywords should be and are certainly not optimizing their websites for those words.

There is very little competition because most websites aren’t very well optimized and most business owners (and/or their web designers!) don’t know how to do it.

Most local websites are static, ‘brochure’ sites that don’t have fresh, relevant content, which is what the search engines are looking for.

Do you know what your keywords should be?
Is your website optimized for those keywords?
Are you adding regular, fresh, relevant content to your website?

If not, do you want to know how? Leave your questions in comments section below and I will answer them in future posts.

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Tagged as: Google, internet marketing, Keywords, small business, Web design, Web search engine, Website

  • I have spoken to some who have done no research into our business or website before phoning us, and who try to sell us optimization that we don't even need.
    On talking to some they were also going to optimize our keywords in our metatags which would have little effect anyway. It became apparent that they were complete amateurs-one of the worst even intimated that he worked for Google.
    Lots of cowboys in the SEO market.
    One even tried to sell us SEO for our website for repairing dishwashers nationally, I was quite patient in explaining that we are a small local business in East Kent and don't even repair dishwashers.
  • ok i read this site and here are more seo good think.
  • Again, a great contribution - thanks Andy. More SEO posts to follow!
  • custwin
    Totally agree with Rob Here. The amount of times I've heard "we get discounts from Google", "we're in with Google - they're our mates", and other such comments, it beggars belief. And of course, there are those sharks who pretend they ARE Google.

    Education is the answer here, which is why this post is so useful. People in business need to be educated that there is a certain process to go through when wanting to get SEO services and that process has to start with personal recommendations - the more we drip feed that message into the minds of people, the fewer casualties there will be.

    I recently took on a client that had searched for SEO services online, went with a company that was highly prominent in Google, and still got their fingers burnt to the tune of £thousands so even those SEO people who get themselves up high in Google don't necessarily deliver the goods, which is why recommendations are so important. A few weeks later, they're now back on track - that client came through personal recommendation but it was still challenging to gain the client because they still had burnt fingers and distrusted the sector. Unfortunately, the amateurs in this game are tarnishing the reputation of everyone and it's getting to the point where estate agents appear to be more trustworthy!

    Getting people we know signed up to blog postings and encouraging them to read them, will gradually help businesses to make the right decisions and over time, hammer those nails in the coffins of those less desirable people in our industry.
  • The cold calling and automated emailing of my clients from SEO (search engine optimisation) companies seems to be growing. It is all too easy for small businesses to be sucked in to various plans and promotion schemes. Sorting out who is the real thing is not easy.

    If you are looking for SEO services I would go for personal referral from someone who has got results from the services of company rather than accepting cold calls or unsolicited emails.

    Some of the scams I have come across from clients asking advice have included - Companies using temporary google paid advertising to show how good they are at SEO, companies whose main SEO effort on your site is to promote their business or other clients of theirs. Beware and take advice or as you point out Jo you can do some much yourself with a little knowledge and realistic expectations.
  • Thanks Rob. You've added some really useful comments especially about using referrals to find SEO services - much more reliable!
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