Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Marketing Basics - the Internet - Being 1st with Google (Part 2 of 2)

In Part 1 of this 4 part article I talked about the importance of being purposeful about your web/social media presence and the first step in that process is understanding who you are targeting.  I shared that the more you know about the person (demographics) sitting behind the computer you want to target the more success you will have attracting that person through your internet strategy.

I then wrote about the importance of knowing what’s going on in the head of the person about to do a web search – at that exact moment in time.  Is he searching to make a purchase or is he doing research or could it be both?

Today I will share with you why you should care.

First and foremost you should care because you want your website to be a valued resource to potential customers.  Why? Simply put, because this translates to qualified leads.

If that alone isn’t motivation enough then do it because Google and Bing (Microsoft) care.  After all it is their mission to interpret what the customer has entered into their search window and send him to a site that best addresses those needs. You want Google to like your site because if they like you they move you to the front of the line.

Why is that important?

Here are some facts about what it means to be the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd site on a Google search page:
  • Websites ranked number one received an average click-through rate (CTR) of 36.4 percent; 
  • Number two had a CTR of 12.5 percent
  • Number three had a CTR of 9.5 percent. 
  • Being number one in Google, according to Optify, is the equivalent of all the traffic going to the sites appearing in the second through fifth positions.   

I am not qualified to tell you all the algorithms Google uses to evaluate your website and rank you but what I can tell you from personal experience (Allegro is the first site for “Atlanta Business Consultants”) is if your are genuine and sincere about being a valued resource for your target audience Google will reward you with higher ranking/placement.

So how do you determine the content you should include in your website and what other social media outlets your company should spend time working on?  I will answer that in Part 3 of this series on internet marketing basics.

About the author. Mike Gomez is President of Allegro Consulting, a growth specialty firm helping turnaround businesses wrestling with stagnant growth. He grew his very first client’s business from $8M to $35M in just two years. Mike is also a prolific speaker, writer, three-time marathoner, a former military officer and pilot of both aircraft and helicopters. www.allegroconsultant.com