I'm not an expert in SEO but I am an expert in growing businesses and so lately I've been listening and learning and last week , with the basic insights I've gathered from others I took a company from the back forty on Google …possibly page 20 page or so to page 4  and this week with the client's tenacity we've skyrocketed to page one.

Now; I need to do this for all my clients because as I began reviewing their sites I am appalled at how many of us, me included, have overlooked basic online principles and tactics that dramatically impact  online presence.

Yes…I need to do all of this for myself…too; but first I'll share it with you…because that's what I do.

I''m the seattle business consultant who has built multi-million dollar companies and revenue streams and even sold them for a profit, think about that a consultant, team member whose actually done it not just consulted on it???!!!! I"ve also done start-up and had my share of strikeouts along the business journey. I live this stuff,; business; it's in my dna …my blood.

So here's my latest learning…

But first a little about my philosophy;  Marketing to me is all about story, it's all about integrity, being truthful and it's all about connecting with  clients both internal and external. (The tribe)

 It's not about tactics and strategies, its about the truth and telling it in a way that allows your tribe to connect. Your website is one of the ways you tell  your story, your social media tools and your social networks are all elements of your communication platform; your story. We have entered the age of engagement it's not about pushing something on uninterested parties, rather its about engaging your tribe in dialogue, in conversation, in storytellling. So whether you are uploading something on a facebook fan page, tweeting, optimizing your website, submitting articles remember ; its all about telling the truth, about telling your story, about engaging your tribe…don't get confused  internet optimization or page rankings is NOT the goal; the goal is telling your story…effectively in the mediums you choose.

SEO for dummies
10 things you can do to dramatically improve your on line marketing!

1. Local Listings
Google, MSN and Yahoo all have free local listings. You can attach video and or photos if you' d like

2. Google Trends and Google Keyword tools
Your story and brand= words; the words your clients are using when they are searching on line is critical. Review google trends to see what combination of words and which words are being used by your target market. Remember to think local and specific

3. Story; Brand = keywords you want to own-
Once you know the words people are searching on line review the Google pages and look at the competition on these pages. Ideally, we want to get you on the first page and high, in the first three lines or so – but what is the competition like? If page one for your key word is full of international organizations and large social network sites we might want to consider some new key words, localizing the words or narrowing the categories we are competing on.
Words matter.

4. Now take each keyword – each word that is essential to your marketing and create and optimize a page for every word.

5. Optimize your page by:
Using the keyword in the page title
In the Meta Keyword and description
IN the Heading 1 tag
And use the keyword in the body copy- but don't over do it or Google will smell a rat!

6. Don't use over 5 words in your page title it reduces the search effectiveness. If you need more words you need a new page.

7. City Search and Yelp are your friends
GO set up an account and write up a request for reviews, with examples provided, and send it out to all your satisfied clients. Make it easy for them to post reviews on line.

8. Links drive page rankings. Optimize your website with internal and external links to highly credible and highly trafficked sites.

9. The three best ezine subscription sites I've found for events, articles and videos are:

Events; www.eventlinks.com
Articles: www.submityourarticle.com ( not submityourarticles.com)
Video: www.trafficgeyser.com

10. Narrow and localize keywords

11. Content! Provide innovative, high value content…always give more than is asked of you and then send it out, share it; on twitter, digg, facebook fan pages, delicious and all your ezine engines..

Now if your interested in further growing that business of yours give me a shout and let's chat!

SEO for dummies: 10 things to improve your on line marketing

Pam
pam@pamhope.com
www.pamhope.com