If you are selling a product to strangers and you want to attract a new market then you must consider Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

If your product is not traditionally sold to strangers but is best sold by word of mouth or referral then maybe you don't need so much emphasis on SEO.

Often people get carried away with search engine ranking when in fact it does not strictly apply any benefits to their product or service.

BioView, the Professional Speakers marketing tool, for example, wants absolutely no ranking since it is a closed site that delivers into other sites. But those sites DO want ranking since they compete directly with others with the same product (speakers).

So you really have to figure out "Do I actually want ranking and how much am I prepared to pay for it?"

Your SEO can be effected by a number of methods as listed below.

Pay per click

Pay per click is where you tender an amount that you are prepared to pay each time someone clicks on your ad which will appear on the right hand side of the page display. This seems to be the only way to actually guarantee that you will come up where you want because the amount you are prepared to pay directly determines your position. And you can set a maximum amount you are prepared to pay for a month so you can control your expenditure.

Free listing

This is the more difficult area to control and the ranking here is decided by a complex algorithm that Google have set up (and change from time to time). Basically it works like this:

The more people who like you the more Google thinks you must be likable. There are three ways you can tell Google that people like you:

1. FIGJAM. (F*&k I'm Good Just Ask Me) Tell others how good you are. That would be using words and phrases on your site called meta tags and meta descriptions that are read by the spiders that visit your site while you are asleep. In Google terms this probably ranks just above doing nothing. This is what I call internal SEO and is the only thing you can do on your website that directly effects your site SEO. These days the Google algorithm likes to look at the meta title which is the text that appears on the tab of each page on your website (have a look at the tab on this page). The Let's Do It web structure allows you to change all three items on every page.

In addition Google (and other search engines) like to see sites that are updated often. Google is able to see differences in page content when it views your pages. The Let's Do It structure has a unique option called random advertising, that ensures every tome a page is displayed it looks different. They like pages that change.

2. FYGASAI. (F*&k You're Good And So Am I) Pat each other on the back. This would be by way of reciprocal links. I will say that you are good if you say that I am good. That smacks of collusion and the spiders tends to see that as such. I suppose you might have a very large loop of people all patting the guy next door on the back and you might fool the spiders but I would not be so sure. This method (reciprocal links) ranks better that item 1.

3. FHAJGF. (For He's A Jolly Good Fellow). Create a situation where a whole lot of people want to tell the world how good you are. This is referred to as a back link. Google likes that. The more people link to you (without reciprocation) the better your ranking will be.

So, now, assuming that you do want ranking what are the things you need to know.

Well first you have to figure out what questions people are going to ask the search engine that will lead to your site?

If you are a Speaker and you mention that fact to a stranger invariably they will define you as a Motivational Speaker right? So right there you know what strangers are going to enter into a search engine to find someone like you.

Speakers Bureaus know that because they spend many thousands of dollars getting high ranking on the words "Motivational Speaker". So you stand little chance of beating them using that term.

However there is a man in Australia who does best them all. He's Craig Harper and here is his secret.

Back links

Back links are essentially item 3 above (FHAJGF) Craig has spent some time writing many articles that he has submitted to other sites (like Wikipedia etc.) and each of these contain a link back to his site. The articles contain real value so they are approved by the holding site and that makes one back link. That's a great way of grabbing ownership from a generic terms such as "Motivational Speaker"

If you are not keen on trying to beat Craig at his game then you have to think of some other way to get the ranking. Its nice to be able to think that my speaker site gets top three ranking on the term "Ian Harvey" and that is because my site is www.ianharvey.com.au but the reality is that strangers (the target of SEO) don't know my name and therefore will not be using that term to find me. (However, I just got another back link didn't I).

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc

One easy way to get back links is to use social networking services like Twitter and LinkedIn. Here is what you could do.

1. Write an article, such as this, and place it as a download on a page on your website. Make sure that page requires the reader gives you certain information (like email address and name) before they get the report.
2. Add a post to your blog with cursory information about the subject and a link to the page on your website.
3. Send a tweet to all your Twitter followers with a compelling headline that will send people to your blog.

So the tweet sends people to your blog, the blog sends them to your website and the website harvests the email address which then allows you to market to them. It may also encourage the site visitor to look around your site for other gems.

For an example of how this works check out his twitter tweet.

The biggest mistakes speakers make with Bureaus. Read this http://bit.ly/2I58kn

Change your site

Another factor that Google considers is how often a site gets changed. If you want good SEO then make sure you regularly change the content of your site. That is why blogs do so well on SEO because they are constantly being updates and it is relatively easy to do so. The Let's Do It! structure also makes it very easy for you to change content or add new content and will even do it for you with the random advertising option.

Be Pro-active not Passive

SEO sends people to your site right? So effectively, in that scenario, from your website point of view, your marketing is passive. Your site is just sitting there waiting for someone to arrive. Try being pro-active! Use your newsletter system to drive your marketing directly to people who know you and, especially if you provide real value, to those people who sign up to your newsletter for more information from you.

What's it all for?

There is something even more important that most people fail to see. A good search optimisation program that will send people to your site must be accompanied by a great site. One that does what it must to allow you to captialise on site visitors. That is the subject of another article. Read it here

And if you would like to talk to someone about getting a good website together, talk to us. Call us on +61 7 5571 5335 or fill in the form below.