Inbound Marketing For Australian SMBs

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as been a major focus for marketers over recent years. Implementing the tactics to get on the front page of Google for keywords has been key. But with all the changes to Google’s algorithm, and the increase in social media –  how important is SEO for marketing success today?

Showing up in search results for your keywords is just as important today, as it always has been. What has changed is Google’s ability to reward valuable sites and penalize the sites using ‘black hat’ tactics trying to scam or pay their way to the top of searches, with schemes like “link farms”. Thankfully those days are over!

SEO today is about the user experience – your prospects, leads and customers. Here are a few simple tips to remember:

1.    Write content for your audience, not the search engines.
2.    Use keywords your audience uses.
3.    Publish content your audience will want to share.
4.    Publish content on your website regularly – weekly at a minimum.
5.    Make it easy for your audience to share content with their network.

Over the years Ive written several articles on SEO, the most recent covering the latest updates from Google. To make it easy for you Ive compiled a list of my top 5 articles - see list below.

Do you have any questions about SEO and how it can help your marketing? If so please use the comment section below.

From the recent webinars and research Ive been involved with, 2010 appears to be the year of the website redesign. If you're planning on a new website or a redesign in 2010 it's important to think about why? What are your objectives, what do you hope to achieve? Don't lose site of the fact that you're in business to make money, not to have the best looking website. Research shows that a good looking website doesn't equate to more traffic or more leads.

The most overlooked marketing tool that (almost) every business has is their website.  I continue to meet many business owners, especially in small business, who have a misunderstanding about the purpose of their website, and as a result aren't seeing the results they should and can get.

... the customer! Not YOU, not your company, not your brand, not your product nor your service.

A friend of mine sent me an email that she had received from an SEO firm seeking her business, several months ago. The email started with something like, "we tried to search for your business on line and couldn't find it, which means your prospects can't find you either."  It went on to say that they could guarantee top search rankings (for a monthly fee). It was quite a lengthy sales pitch but basically what they were promising was top search rankings for my friend's company, for what they (the SEO firm) perceived where the relevant keywords.  My friend thought this sounded great, so she presented it to her management team. After all isn't that what we all want, to be at the top of the search results and drive more traffic to our site?