Looking ‘bigger’ or, to put it better, more professional is one of the best ways to have more influential customers, whether you’re a business-to-business or business-to-consumer company.
Here is a short list of ways to make your SEO small business look big:
First, show the world that you exist! You need to have a presence far beyond having a website and a contact form. You can go as far as putting in a phone number and making an email address. It would be nice if you get a toll free number and forward it to your cell phone. Having an office that people can search and find will help you have the presence you need. If you’re home-based, consider getting a PO Box that has an address instead of just a box number.
Get a good logo! All companies use logos or brand symbols on their products, business cards, blogs, everything! It tells people that you have class and that you are well established. If you don’t have a logo yet, you can design one if you’re good at photo editing or Photoshop, or you can hire people to make a logo for you at a very affordable price. Check with local design stores or try LogoWorks.
Clean up the clutter on your website! People generally like a site that is clean and easy to navigate. Make sure your website or blog site looks professional, elegant, and well done. Do not use clip art and, as much as possible, use original content. When blogging, use SEO to get more visitors online.
Make sure your company name is at the top! If a person searches for you online or employs the use of SEO, they should see your business name at the top of the listings. Don’t forget that Google and other search engines aren’t just made for online searches. They serve as dictionaries, calculators, phone books, maps, and just about everything else.
Link! When your business marketing site or blog site links to authoritative sites, it gives an air of appearance to your business. It means that you are among trustworthy shoulders and not just standing alone. In the case of business marketing and blogging, being with the ‘It’ crowd is everything. Not only does it give you the opportunity to attract some good clients, but it also gives you more and more exposure.
Interact with your clientele and show that you work with them. In the field of web content writing, our clients want us to remain as anonymous as possible, or simply ‘hint’ who our clients are. If your customers don’t mind providing your site with a list of who you work for, how long, how popular they are, etc. It adds to your presence and gives you what would be street credibility in the outside world.
If you have a blog or are interested in business marketing blogs, have a multi-author blog. Not everyone can do this, but if you know someone or are employing someone who is a blogger, ask them to do it for you. You don’t have to be constantly on your blog 24/7. Logging in once a week to update and reply to posts and comments should be enough for people to know that you really trade.
Lastly, use a PPC ad for your business name! It will cost you next to nothing, especially if you use their organic listing (#7). The advantage of this is that it tells your customers that you use pay per click, as any smart online business marketing company should.