A little homework that many of you may turn up some SHOCKING results

[abbot]

Hello everyone,

I have some homework for you. Here is what I want you to do.

- Go to Google.com
- Type YOUR businesses keyword(s) + your City.
- ie. "Landscaping (your city)" "Landscaping Service (your city)" "Lawn Maintenance (your city)"

Any keywords users would search for to find you. (not your business name)

Is your business showing up in the first page?

- Now go to Google's Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS#search.none)

- Type in the same keywords you used before
- Enter the captcha and click the search button

- You will turn up a list of results. It will show your keywords and how many people are locally searching for your type of business in your area.

To summarize what we just did:
We searched in google to see if your business is listed for local search terms. We then went and looked into how many people are searching for them same terms.

You may be surprised to see that your business is NOT listed for any of the key terms. This means you are missing out on TONS of potential customers.

Google has released something called "Google Places". This is an opportunity for local business owners to promote themselves locally. You might have noticed when typing in the key phrases in google, there was a mini-map on the right hand side of your screen. This is the google places map. Google gives a LOT of weight to listings in google places and puts them at the TOP of the search results (if optimized)

I won't make this a long sales thread but I encourage you to check out this page: http://webchoppers.com/google-places-optimization-package

I started an Internet Consulting Business approx. 8 months ago. We have now grown to a full team of 16 and manage hundreds of business owners online content and marketing campaigns. This should tell you something. INTERNET OPTIMIZATION IS IMPORTANT!

We do not offer cheapo services. I'm all about making a business money so they see large ROI's. We currently work with about 9 different Landscaping Companies in Northern Michigan alone. This is a great time to start optimizing to prepare for the summer demand.

I invite you all to contact me, but I encourage you to read our service page first. We offer a VERY powerful ongoing service and you will see what all we do by reading that page.

Contact me at

info@webchoppers.com

or call me (231) 392 6302 (I hardly ever give this number out, especially to a public forum) but this forum helped me start my first lawn care business when I was 17. It's now very healthy and run by my brother and guess what? We are listed in the #1 spot on google for several search terms! :rolleyes:

So email me or call me, I will be glad to answer any questions.

[jymie]

Here's my results

[mark123]

Here's my results
Similar results here. I get calls from guys promising me better search engine results. I always ask "how much better than first place can you do?" :p

[abbot]

Way to go guys! Now your next task is to expand. Optimize yourself for more keywords. Try to rank #1 for a minimum of 10 keywords.

[Steve]

Mitch,

For those guys just getting started, are there any tips they should be following when it comes to improving their search engine optimization?

[marks500]

I have people calling me all the time offering to do this for me, Put my name on the first page of Google, Yahoo etc. Does this do the same thing?

[abbot]

Mitch,

For those guys just getting started, are there any tips they should be following when it comes to improving their search engine optimization?

Steve,

Yes. First things first...On site SEO. Though it is not a necessity, It's recommended for long term results (especially in competitive areas).

The simple way to explain this is make sure all of your pages meta, H1 tags are optimized. Make sure all of your images have alt tags. When creating any articles, try to at least make them 400+ words long with about 2% keyword density. Interlink your pages using anchor text.

Now this may seem overboard for a lawncare business. But there is a way to make this look legit. BLOG, create a blog and write articles, tips, updates, about the landscaping industry, and link these to the inner pages of your site, optimize their titles for the keywords you are going for, etc...

As far as google places optimization for beginners, well you can list your own business for free of charge. But actually optimizing it? You need citations (backlinks).

When you hire us, we don't just create a plan to get you listed on the top page. We develop a plan PURELY to beat out your competition. So we don't just start throwing backlinks and hoping to climb to the top. We start at the top and work our way down the chain when planning your campaign. Very powerful stuff.

So, moral of the story...weather you outsource your web design work, or do it yourself, make sure you are optimizing your site every step of the way. It will pay off in the end.

I have people calling me all the time offering to do this for me, Put my name on the first page of Google, Yahoo etc. Does this do the same thing?

Yup. In a different way. You don't even need a website to be #1 on google nowadays...go figure....:rolleyes:

[Steve]

As far as google places optimization for beginners, well you can list your own business for free of charge. But actually optimizing it? You need citations (backlinks).

When you hire us, we don't just create a plan to get you listed on the top page. We develop a plan PURELY to beat out your competition. So we don't just start throwing backlinks and hoping to climb to the top. We start at the top and work our way down the chain when planning your campaign. Very powerful stuff.

I think a big reason it can be difficult to sell seo is because no one knows what any of this means.

For instance, you mention the need for citations (backlinks) for google places, but then say 'we don't just start throwing backlinks and hoping to climb to the top. We start at the top and work our way down the chain.'

What does all that mean? LOL

I think the more people understand what you are selling them, the easier it would be for them to buy into it.

[abbot]

I think a big reason it can be difficult to sell seo is because no one knows what any of this means.

For instance, you mention the need for citations (backlinks) for google places, but then say 'we don't just start throwing backlinks and hoping to climb to the top. We start at the top and work our way down the chain.'

What does all that mean? LOL

I think the more people understand what you are selling them, the easier it would be for them to buy into it.

Very good point you make Steve, I should have been more clear.

The point I was trying to make is we start at the top. Your top competitors, analyze them, figure out exactly what they are doing. Then In simple terms, we develop a plan to "one up" them.

We find out what kind of quality their links are and what we are up against competition wise.

Most SEO talk is a forign language to most. And I personally have a hard time remembering that.

But I will summarize what I was trying to say by saying this.

"We don't just try to get you on google, We develop a plan BASED on your competition and present long lasting results rather then a temporary fix. The entire campaign is revolved around your competition in the top spots. Once we accomplish this "plan" you should be sitting pretty :cool:"