Sylvia Huang

Lately I’ve come across a lot of small business websites and am quite surprised in their lack of SEO efforts.  I definitely think that small businesses have a little bit of an edge when it comes to optimizing their site for search engines.  For one thing, the structure of their site is usually pretty simple unlike large ecommerce sites who have a lot of dynamic content.  With the site being simple, it is a lot easier to implement some very basic SEO strategies.

There are a few easy things to implement which are good not only for SEO but for the customer or visitor experience as well.  Simple and worthwhile SEO tips:

Page Title - This is probably the most basic thing that every website should have to tell the visitor where they are located and what the page is about in a few words.  I see many sites not filling in the Page Title or having something very vague like “Home Page”.  For example, the home page can list the company or site name and have a few keywords in relation to what the page is about or what they sell.

Meta Description - This is not seen by your site visitors but is instead important for search engines to know what your site is about.  This is an area where you can elaborate on the page and go after any keywords you want to target. Try not to make it too long, I like to stay around 2-3 sentences.

Site Map - Create a text site map which links to every section or at least the main sections of your site.  This way the search engine spiders will have a sure-fire way to reach all areas of the site.  Also, if your visitors can’t find something they’re looking for, a site map will point them directly there.

Content - Content is extremely important as it is what search engine spiders read to determine what your site is about.  Strategically placing keywords within your content is a good way to get ranked.  Keep the content on the page focused on few topics in order to not confuse your visitors as well as to show the importance of the topic for the page.

In terms of SEO, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it is definitely a good place to start.  Implementing these few tactics can help make at least your company name or website name visible in the search engines if not more.  From what I’m noticing with small businesses, even just having their site get indexed is a big deal.

Keep reading for more SEO tips for your website.

I believe that people who work in the marketing field have an edge when it comes to grabbing good deals.  It’s not that they have all the secrets about special deals and promotions, but rather they are more aware of how things work and how they can use something like that to their advantage.

Earlier this week I had posted about Circuit City’s cross-selling tactics.  This week I was able to use my experience and my knowledge about marketing to help my friend snag a much better deal than she would have originally received.

My friend was on a hunt for a new digital camera.  She wanted to have it in a few days so she could use before her trip, so buying something in-store was the only option as express shipping prices wouldn’t have been reasonable.  After a little bit of research, Circuit City came out on top as having the lowest price.  As she was about to purchase her camera online, I just remembered the 10% off special you get in-store when you go and pick up your order that you placed online.  I asked if she was planning on buying a memory card too and she said yes.  Perfect!  I told her that she should purchase the memory card online for in-store pick up and then purchase the camera in-store for 10% off!  That was exactly what she did and was able to save an extra $20.

I think that even if someone didn’t work in the marketing field, they would still recognize on how to effectively utilize such a deal.  However, I still think that constantly focusing on marketing helps us identify these opportunities more often.

About 2 weeks ago, I purchased something from Circuit City online and opted to pick it up in-store.  As I gave the guy my receipt, he went on to explain that since I purchased something online, I could now purchase anything else in the store for 10% off.  I thought about this for about 5 seconds and told him that I would pass this time.

My thoughts were, well I don’t need anything else, and 10% off really isn’t that much.  Little did I know that I would fall for their cross-sale the second time around.

Last week, I purchased something else from Circuit City online and the same thing happened where the guy offered 10% off.  So this time I was like, okay I’ll go look around.  As I walked around, I really didn’t see anything that I needed or really really wanted.  I saw some stuff that I might want, but I didn’t think 10% off was that good of a deal.

But what do you know?  I walk out with a CD.  A CD that I would not have bought otherwise.

So, I guess cross selling does work!