Stop The Big Hands?
It seems that there are new SEO agencies/business’s springing up every day. There are a boat load of WSO’s, webinars, Facebook pages and Linkedin groups all talking about Local SEO/Offline SEO . Every business I have spoken to has had at least one call (and a million emails) from someone offering to get their site to rank higher in Google.
I no longer tell anyone that I do Local SEO, and I do not tell them I can get them to rank higher in Google. Why? Because they are burnt out on hearing it for one thing, for another a lot of them just don’t understand what SEO means. Now I say that I do Search Engine Marketing, which will include…………
They understand the word Marketing, and they normally know what a search engine is. This at least gets them to listen to me, they know that more marketing = more business and that is good for them. Now comes the next problem..
Stop Telling Business Owners you can make them rank higher in Google
Because there is a good chance you can’t, or if you can today you may not be able to next week when Google change everything again. It is an old script and it has worn thin with most business owners. Take into account that the results you see and the results I see (for the same search string) will be different (sometimes very different). Add in the fact that Google are often adding so many ads to the top of a page that no one sees anything beyond them and you can see Organic SEO is going to be having more issues rather than less in the future.
Instead why not talk about your “Be everywhere” marketing strategy which is perfect for their business.
Google+
It is not massive yet but it is growing, I can almost guarantee that the business does not have a G+ page. So make one for them
Facebook
Do they post regularly? Do they vary what they post, do they do anything at all to engage their followers? Offer to either do it for them, or to go and train their staff how to do it. If you can’t get the monthly fee for posting from them then the one off payment for training is the next best thing. It can be as simple as using Meme Samurai to add info to photos of the company products and posting them.
Competitions
This is one that I am just using now and it is very popular with the client. Everyone loves to get something for nothing, and they like to share the chance to win with their friends. They are cheap to set up – the plugin I use was $37 -Contest Software – and the set up was very easy. You can see what the competitions look like http://krumpetsdecor.com/halloween-contest/ (and if you are reading this when I post you can enter)
You can build a list from them (for the client) , get tweets, Facebook likes and even some Linkedin action.
Videos
Everyone has heard of YouTube – so tell them how simply you can come and take photos of them at work and create a video for them. You can use Animoto or purchase a one off payment video tool like http://truekat.com/ You could do a video a month for their special offer. You can then use the video on FB and G+, and even their website. One item with multiple uses.
SMS Marketing
I do not do this myself, but I know of two local companies that specialize in it. They do not do anything else, so they are not looking to steal my work and they know their business better than I do so let them do it.
Email List Management
Many business owners either do not have a email list, or they have one and never use it. Usually because they are scared or just don’t know how to. Be the go to person for it.
Specialize in Ecommerce
This may reduce your potential client base but if you are the only person in town who is knowledgeable about ecommerce marketing then you have an automatic in. Learn a bit about the most common platforms and then you can honestly tell them that you know the system they are using.
Stop The Race to the Bottom
Racing against others to offer the cheapest SEM services in town is not a good idea, offer something that other’s don’t and you will be assured a better price.
You are a business and if you are just offering the same as every other business (and if it is “higher rankings” you may not even be able to keep your end up long term) you are going to be in trouble. Selling your services just on price is also a bad idea (I for one find it hard to price out SEO work) as there will always be someone hungrier and willing to work for less.
So what are your thoughts on offering local SEO/SEM services, do you offer it at all? If not why not?
