Eight Great SEO & Web Marketing Tips for Business Owners

The recession is no excuse for local and small businesses owners to experience marketing depression. In fact,it's a great time to take advantage of your network of contacts and your geographic location. Small businessowners can actually take advantage of economic downturn and learn new marketing strategies to sustain thefuture of their organization. Here are some simple Web marketing tips for small and local business owners totry so they may boost their Website's search visibility and to build Web marketing buzz. The key is to stopselling and start serving your consumer.

Tip #1- Define Your Optimized Key Phrases

Focus on key phrases before any search optimizations are executed. Define keywords that describe your business, product(s) or service(s). Next, marry those descriptive keywords with city or county locations.

Remember this equation: Business or service + Location or region = Optimized Key Phrase.

For example:

Business or service: Wardrobe consultant + Location or region: Santa Barabra= Optimized Key Phrase:

Wardrobe consultant Santa Barbara

The power of targeted phrases pays off when you begin to optimizing page titles, meta tags, site content,internal links, and external links with the accurate, descriptive key phrases you have developed. These willhelp attract targeted search results and bring the right customers to your site.

Tip #2- Be an Educator. Teach to Build Trust and Credibility

Business owners are usually experts in their field and have a great deal of passion for what they do. A business owner can offer value with educational materials, content and tips. Being an educator via onlinecontent can help you go from being experts to AUTHORITIES and that is where credibility and buzz kick in.Utilize the social media networks, blogs and micro blogging as a platform to reach consumers and educatethem with your expertise.

Tip #3-Craft Valuable Content that Also Communicates Location

The slogan "content is king" still holds true. Define your key phrases and weave them into all your content.Content such an important element to Web marketing because it:(1) Fuels search indexing,(2) Builds indexed pages for a Website,(3) Serves customers, and(4) Boosts visibility.Local businesses can maximize their search visibility by crafting content written with geo-specific key phrases. Once that is accomplished, try adding it to online press releases and blogs and sharing the contentin social media communities.

Web Marketing Therapy315 Meigs Road Suite A358, Santa Barbara, CA93109(888) 702-8993help@webmarketingtherapy.comhttp://www.webmarketingtherapy.com1

Here are examples of headlines with geo-targeted key phrases that could be used in press releases or blog posts:

Local Ventura Dog Trainer Volunteers Studio for Humane Society Rescue Day

Beverly Hills Wardrobe Consultant Event March 31st

Tip #4-Build Links with External Websites

Increasing links back to your Website boosts search engine visibility. Local businesses can maximize linksfrom other sites by taking advantage of their tremendous assets: contacts and community. Use your connections to initiate:

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Links in a local directory

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A link in the local Chamber of Commerce directory

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Links to your site in the blog roll of local bloggers

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Partnering with non-competing local websites to exchange linksWhenever possible, request the link back have one of the key phrases you are targeting.

Tip #5- Get on Low-Cost/No-Cost Local Search Opportunities

Businesses that operate or have a mailbox in a geographic location can add their listing (usually at no charge)to Google Maps, Yahoo Local, MSN Live, SuperPages, Yellow Pages and other local sites. Some local searchengines require a call or will mail a postcard to verify address, but with most all you need to do is add your business online.Since Google, Yahoo, and MSN often include local businesses above other listings in their search results,local businesses can often leverage their geographic edge to get top listings.Online phone book sites offer paid options that are worth exploring, as well. Another approach is to ask your clients or customers to post comments about your business on local Internet listings to boost credibility andawareness.

Tip #6-Place Contact Information and Place-Names on Each Page of Your Site

The simple act of adding contact information to every page of your site can boost search visibility. If youserve multiple cities, give your address, then a descriptor such as: "Serving the Tri-Counties, Small BusinessBank for Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County."

Tip #7- Re Purpose Your Marketing Assets and Collateral Online

Videos can be edited and hosted on video-sharing sites, photos can be posted on your blog, and great contentcan be re-purposed on your website and shared on ezine sites, newsletters, blogs, sites like eHow.com andmore. If you are in the news, populate your press page with news and write your own press releases thatshare company news, awards, events, new services and push them out to free PR wires. You can use whatyou already have to build buzz and boost credibility and content = search results. No need to reinvent thewheel, be creative and recycle marketing collateral!

Web Marketing Therapy315 Meigs Road Suite A358, Santa Barbara, CA93109(888) 702-8993help@webmarketingtherapy.comhttp://www.webmarketingtherapy.com2