Do’s and Don’ts for Search Engine Marketing

Let’s take a look at some intuitive -- and not so intuitive -- ideas for improving your search engine marketing approach.

As far as the “do” column goes, do make sure to include relevant links in your site. You can approach the best ranked sites in your industry and ask to be included as an informational link. Don’t be shy about requesting this service -- after all, as a up-and-coming small business with relevant services and info, the “big fish” sites can generate even better rankings by forging a relationship with you.

In addition, do create really strong SEO copy that informs visitors about your site and avoids plagiarism. Sound SEO copy can be difficult to write -- particularly in bulk. If you don’t feel like you have the verbal tools necessary to communicate your small business mission to others, hire a specialty small business SEO firm, or contract the work out on a freelance basis.

Finally, do develop potent pay for performance campaigns, through sites like Superpages.com. Creating free directory listings will get you instant complementary exposure to potentially tens of thousands of customers. A Pay Per Click and Pay For Calls campaign coordinated with your SEO copywriting program can boost your small business web site’s exposure and give you insights into how you should develop your marketing approach and how you should modify your web site for easier use and faster/more efficient conversions.

As far as the “don’t” side of the column is concerned -- don’t overstuff your small business site with irrelevant links or keywords. If you try to fool the search engines into thinking that you’re a legitimate source of content and information, you might get away with your ruse for a short period of time, but over the long haul, you will get busted, and your ranking will be slashed accordingly.

On top of that, you could get booted off of the search engine rankings completely. Even if you just fall down a few “pegs” in the rankings, the results can be devastating if customers can no longer find your small business site.

Finally, don’t link to irrelevant or sketchy sites. So-called link farms have been cropping up all over the Internet. These sites, which ostensibly exist to help up-and-coming small business and entrepreneurial sites get noticed, can actually get you penalized by the search engines. Make sure that your links are fresh, your content is original and articulate, and your PPC and PFC campaigns are optimized, and you should see real results with your SEO campaign, even if it takes a few weeks or months.

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