I’m not into outing businesses so I won’t name the business but it amazes me that in 2008 there are still businesses who don’t bother to reply to sales enquiries submitted via their website contact form. And this was a sales enquiry that was in response to an email marketing newsletter! What a waste!
I wonder how many businesses are throwing away money and loosing business by missing such simple things.
You’ll often find web designers and search engine marketers telling you you need content on your site to help you rank highly in the search engines. Unfortunately many website owners find it hard to work out what sort of content they should add to their site - or focus too much on adding content for the search engines and not their users.
I came across a great use of content that should benefit both the search engines and visitors on Specsavers recently. Specsavers sell glasses so what better content to add to their site than a guide to frame choice. Admittedly they haven’t optimised it for the search engines (and are no doubt missing out on valuable traffic) but as far as visitors go it’s a great way to attract prospects and convert them into customers. It can also be used to get people to refer their friends to the site and encourage repeat visits.
So the next time someone suggest you add content to your site step back and think of what you can add to benefit both the search engines and your visitors.
Kalena Jordan from Search Engine College has written a great article titled “Secrets Your Web Designer Isn’t Telling You”, in which she asks:
If I was to ask you right now “Are you absolutely certain that your web site is optimized for high visibility in search engines?”, what would you say?
Sadly the vast majority of websites have not been designed with the search engines in mind, and worse, many business owners have no idea that’s the case. And with so much traffic coming from search engines, it’s like being cut off from your air supply.
What to do?
If you already have a website, do some research to see if your site is listed in the search engines — especially Google. A quick way of doing this is to type your business name and/or website address into the search engine to see what results are found. Ideally you should be listed at the top of the results.
As well as making sure your site is in the search engine it’s important to see if your website ranks for keywords related to your business. So if you are a motel located in Bondi, for example, try typing “bondi motels” into the search engine and seeing what is returned. Ideally your website should be prominent. Repeat this for a variety of phrases.
If you are listed and ranking for relevant phrases good for you, however if you are one of the majority who is no where to be found, it’s a good idea to get some outside expertise to help get things sorted.
If you are about to start building a website, it is a good idea to discuss your search engine strategy with your web designers. If they don’t have one, or have no idea what you are talking about I’d suggest firing them and finding someone who does know.
Remember: Having a website that’s not in the search engines is like having an unlisted phone number.
References
Secrets Your Web Designer Isn’t Telling You by Kalena Jordan.
Website Health Check Report by ThinkProspect
Interesting article in The Age about the changing face of advertising:
The advertising universe is being turned on its head with the explosion of the online world, creating the highest levels of choice and fragmentation of audiences we’ve seen.
It’s a good read although not particularly surprising for many - heck we’ve been saying this for years. 
Here’s a list of current International and Australian directories we recommend you evaluate when undertaking a link building campaign.
