JUMP Internet Marketing

Don't Put All Your Eggs in Google

This was going to be my easter theme post... eggs, Google, get it?  All kidding aside, my point is this: Google doesn't own ALL of the market share even though the latest numbers, globally, are amazing.  Check out this trend report here.

While Google is the big fish you'd like to hook, don't dismiss the importance of your listing in the other engines.

Have you checked your positioning in search engines like Yahoo lately?  If not, you may not be happy with how your listing is displayed in the search results.  Remember, positioning is not enough. Conversion is the golden ticket.  (Now I'm thinking of Willy Wonka.)

You might be horrified to discover that your navigation is being displayed instead of your USP. 

If you've been myopic about Google, I encourage you to spend some time in some other engines this week:

• Yahoo
• Bing
• Ask
• AOL

There is a world outside of Google (even though it seems to be getting smaller by the month.)

While you're at it, check your listings in local directories and Yelp.  If you aren't there, why not?

Happy Hunting,

Denise

For Small Business Owners: Are You REALLY Sure About Your Website Content?

For small businesses, juggling website content management and tracking search engine positioning as well as overseeing operations and accounting can be an overwhelming task.  Over the years we've spoken with many small business owners who had made a good first phase effort in building a website. However, when looking at their target customers as they are represented by keyword phrases in search, we often find a HUGE disconnect between the small business owner's assumption and the reality of his site content.

Most often, the keyword phrases simply aren't there.  There may even be several pages of topically similar content on the site but the words contained in the phrase aren't there.  No matter how you slice it, if the message isn't there then you're getting nowhere with that target.

Here's a worthwhile exercise for small business owners to assess how well their content is aligned with their goals:

Take your top ten keyword phrases (highly targeted phrases that actually represent a buyer) and go to Google.  Type in your domain in quotes "www.[name of your domain].com" and then type in one of the phrases.  Google will tell you whether or not it finds that phrase on your site.  If you want to know if the exact phrase appears on the site enclose the phrase in quotes as well.

This exercise assumes your site is indexed in Google to begin with.  (If Google doesn't see your entire domain then you have a bigger problem.)

The results of this assessment will probably surprise you.  Most of the time we find big gaps and missing content.  

Through September 30, 2009: Be sure to click the free download link on this page.  This download is from one of our most popular seminars.  It addresses key concepts and disconnects that lead to missing website content.