Search Engine Optimization - Free Webinar!

SEO continues to be more of an art than a science, don't you agree? When you find a search expert who delivers measurable results, consider yourself lucky.

That's how we felt when RRW found Daryl Clark of Internet Search Marketing. He not only helped RRW rank higher with Google and the others, but he's the one who encouraged us to start this blog. Now, when you search for Direct Marketing Blog, our tiny firm consistently ranks in the top 5. Pretty cool!

Daryl is doing some amazing work with large and small firms. And, even better, he's offering a free webinar next week to share some of his SEO expertise. Check out his blog for more details.

Case Study: Small Business Website Optimization

As a small-business owner, I thought I would focus today's case study on a common challenge for small businesses. How does a small business boost website traffic, hence boosting overall visibility?

Your company website is the best way for prospective customers to get to know you. Plus, an informative and well-designed website can be a great equalizer. A small business is lucky in that if they are clever enough, and if they spend their time and money wisely, they can build their web presence to make them compete very effectively against huge corporations.

Today's case study is brought to us from Marketing Science, a marketing consulting firm that focuses on helping small businesses realize success. This case study and others can be found on their website. I like this story because it provides practical advice about how a small business can boost organic search results.

Client: Paage Et Cie Ltd.

Industry: Personal Management & Organization Services

Business Problems: Although a highly successful small business for 15 years, the 3 year old company website was receiving near ZERO natural (organic) search traffic.

The company's Internet presence was invisible to prospective clients. The website infrastructure (Meta tags, headings, keywords, etc.) was poorly designed from an Online marketing standpoint and was not optimized at all for search engine traffic or search engine marketing effectiveness.

Problem Summary:

• Site was designed to be visually appealing , but unknowingly at the expense of marketing performance
• No Meta Tags
• Used One Title tag for all 25 pages of website - a major "no no"
• Traffic was poor, only receiving referral visits by word-of mouth from a few friends and associates
• Very low keyword density

Goals: Management wanted to maximize growth potential Online by adding PPC (pay per click) search marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Client also wanted increase sales of a booklet Online from the website.

Marketing Solution: Marketing Science implemented a full service Search Engine Optimization and Search Marketing Campaign. Setup and optimized Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing accounts for pay per click advertising, including:

• Create and implement a website marketing plan (SEO, article marketing, content development strategy, etc.)
• Create website content that uniquely positions client
• Keyword research, keyword selection, keyword optimization
• Search engine optimization & search engine marketing techniques
• Integrated ecommerce shopping cart in client website to sell booklets from website

Results to Date: The results since the late summer of 2007 have been impressive. Website went from receiving roughly 50 unique visitors per week to an average of 42 unique visitors per day! Booklet sales have also increased by 330%.

Make Search Engine Optimization Work for You!

Over the course of the last few weeks, we've talked about many of the different tools that you can use in your direct marketing toolbox. Today, I'd like to focus on the topic of search engine optimization (SEO).

Prior to about a year ago, we didn't give SEO much thought. We thought it was only applicable to large corporations and some kind of cyberspace "voodoo" that lean and mean consultancy firms such as ourselves didn't need to be bothered about. Well, let me tell you, our opinions on SEO have done a 180 degree reversal once we met Daryl Clark of Internet Search Marketing. Daryl introduced us to the world of SEO by asking us a couple, seemingly innocuous questions, such as:

• What happens when people search on RRW Consulting in Google or Yahoo?
  
• If people are looking for smart and savvy direct marketing consultants, does RRW Consulting land in the top 10 on either of these search engines when potential clients type in general direct marketing keywords?

Unfortunately, before we hooked up with Daryl, the answers to both questions above were not very positive. In fact, when you typed in RRW Consulting, our website didn't even show in the top 10 on either search engine. And, we were not even on the radar when searching for companies with our direct marketing expertise. Can you even imagine such a terrible tragedy?

Well, thanks to Internet Search Marketing, I'm happy to report that we are now officially converted to SEO aficionados! Thanks to Daryl's good work, RRW Consulting now appears as number 1 in most search engines. You are also able to find us when typing in many direct marketing terms on the different search engines. SEO took us from the state of virtually invisible to highly visible. SEO has been an important part of our strategic marketing plan, and we highly recommend that you take a closer look to help your business achieve even greater success.