SEO: 3 Steps to Sales from SEO

by Jackie Kiadii

There's more to success with search engine optimization than getting on the first page of Google or Bing. If you want your search engine optimization efforts to lead to more sales, make sure you follow these three steps.

Step 1- High Ranking Position

Positioning is what most people think about when they hear the work "SEO." It is, simply put, where your website shows up in search engine results. Most companies are happy with a placement on page one - I strive to have my clients show up in multiple places on the first page.

When it comes to positioning, there is something else to consider. You must make sure that you are positioned for the right keyword phrases. Unless 1,000 people a month are searching for your name, ranking #1 for your name, while good, will not maximize your sales. In order for your high ranking to lead to more sales, you must be ranked for the keywords your best prospects are likely to use when they search for your services.

Step 2 - Click-Through

So there you are, with your site on page 1 of all of the major search engines. Like 10 wallflowers waiting for someone to ask for a dance, the 10 sites on page 1 are waiting for the prospect to select one to click.

If a prospect does not click through to your site, there won't be a sale. So, the second step in garnering sales from search engine optimization involves making what prospects see in their search results so compelling, they cannot help but click through to visit your site.

Step 3 - Conversion

Once your prospect lands on your web site, what would you like for them to do? Are you going to go for a home run by getting them to immediately sign up for your service?

While going for this conversion goal might be the shortest route to a sale, you run the risk of turning away 99% of your traffic (longer term prospects). Would you rather offer them something of value in exchange for their contact information and permission to continue to market to them? This may be the savvier route.

As anyone who has studied marketing knows, it takes, on average, 7 touches to convert an interested prospect to a sale. While someone who visits your website for the first time may not be ready to buy immediately, they may be in the market a few months from now. In the meantime, they may be able to refer you business. To maximize your conversion rate, have a conversion goal and lead your prospects towards that goal.

For additional information

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About the author:

Since 2001, Jackie Kiadii has shown business owners how they can attract more traffic to their websites, and use that traffic to generate more sales. Her company offers 1-on-1 SEO training, group SEO bootcamps, as well as SEO services.

Event Promotion Mistakes - Top 5 Ways to Sabotage your Event Promotion Efforts

Event Promotion Mistake #1 - Not using the right keywords.

A critical component of any online marketing is keyword research. The purpose of keyword research is to find the keywords people who are interested in your event are likely to type in major search engines (Google, Bing, etc.). Once you've identified 2-3 keyword phrases, make sure to use those keywords in the title, as well as the description of your event.

Event Promotion Mistake #2 - Not Having a Web Page for your Event.

The biggest mistake I see people making is promoting their events by attaching pdfs or jpgs to their email messages. There are at least 3 problems with this approach.

1. In the majority of cases, these files are quite large and clog up their recipients email boxes.
2. Many corporations block email attachments unless they come from a trusted source, so your event announcement may not get through.
3. If the only notice of your event is an email attachment, you are crippling your efforts to promote the event via social media.

Fortunately, with services such as eventbrite.com, you can quickly create a web page for your event.

Event Promotion Mistake #3 - Starting Too Late.

In general, you want to begin your event promotion 6-8 weeks in advance. The higher the cost of the event, the earlier you should start.

Event Promotion Mistake #4 - Posting your Event Once.

If you think you can list the event once and never mention it again, you are wrong. Marketing research shows that it takes over 7 reminders to get people who are interested in your product or service to buy. Therefore, you must post your event multiple times, on multiple sites. My database of places to promote events, for example, has over 30 websites.

Event Promotion Mistake #5 - Not Leveraging Social Media

Social media presents a huge opportunity to get the word out about your event. Simply posting it to Twitter or Facebook once, however, is not where near enough. Can you think of at least 6 reasons people should attend your event? Create 6 short benefit statements and post them on Twitter, Facebook, etc. periodically to reach the largest audience possible.

Maximize your Event Registration

The next time you have an event to promote, maximize your chances of getting people to your event by avoiding these mistakes. I have used the steps outlined in this article to help clients attract 75-90% of the attendees at their events. If you need help promoting your event, ask us about our online event promotion services.

Access 2007/ 2010 Forms Tip - Creating Default Text Boxes, etc.

Access 2007/2010 Tip

Changing the formatting of text boxes and other controls on a form can be a time-consuming process. There is a way, however, to set up a default control so that any controls you enter on a form will have consistent formatting. This can be a huge timesaver.

Setting Default Controls.

To set default controls (text boxes, combo boxes, etc.)

• Create a New Form.
  
  
• Draw the control (text box, combo box, etc.) on the form.
  
  
• With the control selected, open the properties group (ALT ENTER) to make changes to the items. You can change the font, font color, background color, borders, and many other options.
  
  
• Once you've changed the properties, click the Design tab, expand the Controls group and click Set Control Defaults. (Make sure you have the control selected).
  
  
• The defaults you've set up only apply to the existing form.

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