You spent weeks, months, or even years developing a website for your company. And once it’s launched, you’re ready to reap the rewards! After all, the Internet is the great business frontier - the promised land! You and your new website are ready to be exposed to an audience of millions.

You wait patiently … but the flood of new visitors and business never appears.

You’re not alone. We’ve seen it happen time and time again. You’ve spent all this time and money on a website, and once it finally launches, you ask your designer “so, people are going to find us on Google, right?” Unfortunately, the answer to that is almost always: “no, not necessarily.” Not unless you’ve specifically undertaken a campaign to make it so. That’s what we call Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!

There are hundreds of millions of websites in the world, with billions and billions of pages. Everyone wants to be number one, but there are only 10 spots on the first page of Google. What makes your website stand out from the competition? If the answer is “nothing” … don’t be surprised if you aren’t listed as highly as you’d like. A website without SEO is like a billboard in the middle of the desert (hint: no one will find it).

Traditional Search Engine Optimization

Traditional SEO involves promoting your website so it appears higher in the search engines for relevant key words and phrases. Sometimes that involves making changes to your site, and sometimes it involves getting external sites to link to yours. The goal with traditional SEO is to get your website listed higher in the search engines and thus more people coming to your site.

Higher in the search engines and more visitors? Sounds great. Sign me up!

The Problem with Traditional Search Engine Optimization

It would be great to appear higher in the search engines and have more visitors. But what does that really mean? The reality is, in most cases, it will mean more visitors will come to your site and… leave immediately. They won’t buy anything. They won’t contact you. They’ll remain anonymous in your world, and you’ll have no chance to establish and grow a relationship with them. It doesn’t sound so great when you say it like that…

SEO and Beyond picks up where traditional SEO leaves off. It’s a system (and a Book!) created by the founders of SEO Ann Arbor. As we said, the goal of traditional SEO is to get you listed higher in the search engines and get more visitors to your site. That’s great in theory, but not if those visitors don’t buy anything, don’t contact you, and don’t give you a chance to establish and grow your relationship. And to the extent that people do contact you, they’re unqualified leads that seldom result in a sale. Not good business.

By the way, we aren’t making this stuff up. The stats bear this out. That’s right – you can use Google Analytics and web stats to find out which pages people are visiting and how long they stay on each page. If people are coming but leaving right way, that’s not good. If your SEO company hasn’t even broached this subject with you, then it’s probably time to find a new SEO company.

SEO and Beyond – Getting Results

Our goals, with Warp Drive Internet Marketing, go far beyond traditional SEO.

Our goals include:

• Identifying your target audience.
• Getting you listed higher in the search engine for relevant terms.
• Getting more qualified visitors to your site (people who are actually interested in the products and services that you offer).
• Filling your site with original and truly useful and helpful content so that visitors to your site engage and stay longer.
• Enticing your visitors to either buy something or provide you with an email address so you can establish and grow your relationship.
• Test and measure your results – improve or remove.

Remember, not everyone is ready to buy right now. There are three types of Internet users:

1. The Learners
2. The Shoppers
3. The Buyers

“Learners” are people who aren’t necessarily in the market to buy, at least not right now. But they’re interested in learning more, and if you do a good job of engaging with them, they’re good candidates to become customers down the road.

“Shoppers” are people who are interested in buying, but are doing research to find the best solution for their particular needs. Sometimes it’s about price, but just as often it is about finding the best solution. Remember, price is what you pay, but value is what you get. Today, the best marketing is education, so do a good job of letting people know about the solutions that you offer (notice we said “solutions” and not “products and services”), how you can help them, and what makes you unique.

And of course if someone is interested in buying something now, you want to make it obvious and easy for them!

Of course there’s a lot that goes into doing all this properly (each step requires a deep understanding of the “best practices” for implementation). If you want to do it yourself, more power to you! We wrote a book on it, so picking up a copy would be a great place to start your education.

The magic formula is:

Strategy + Focus + Execution = EVERYTHING

• Some people stumble over strategy and focus, but, to tell you the truth, the place where almost everyone fails is in the execution. Search Engine Optimization for your Ann Arbor business needs to be done continually, consistently, and thoroughly. Execution is where things grow or die. If you’ve got the time and energy to devote to it, great! Go for it. But if you’re like most people, you’re going to need a little help.

We Can Help!

That’s where we come in. SEO Ann Arbor is your local and expert Internet Marketing Fulfillment Team!

Here’s what we bring to the table:

• We’re local
• We’re the experts (did we mention we wrote a book?)
• We use best practices and tried and true techniques
• We test and Measure – Improve or Remove
• We're strategic – everything is based on the Seven Fundamentals of Online Success
• We’re focused – we identify and focus on your unique strengths and your ideal target audience
• We see the “Big Picture” – We’re dedicated to helping you grow your business and improve your life!

As we mentioned above, the clients we work with are successful and passionate about what they do, but they just need a little help getting the word out. Running a business is hard work and most people don’t have the time, energy, or expertise to successfully promote their businesses online. If that’s you, you’re not alone.

That’s where we come in. We can help you with strategy. We can help you focus. And we can help you execute. All of that, taken together, is the key to online success.

Still not sure or just want to learn more? No worries. We’re here to help. A great place to get started is to sign up for our free guide – Seven Essential SEO Tasks You Can Do Right Now! You can also order a copy of our book – SEO and Beyond. It’s clear, concise, and affordable, and it will walk you through exactly what you need to do. We hope you’ll take it and have great success, but if you have questions or just need some help, please let us know!

Used with permission from Charly Caldwell II - Life & Business Success Group, Inc