In the last newsletter I discussed the fact that there are potential customers searching online for your product every day.
The problem is you just aren’t attracting these searchers and are losing business.
I based that assertion on several companies- a few are listed below. Company Important Search Term searches/ month*
ETM Manufacturing “sheet metal fabrication” 27,100
Accutech Packaging “blister packaging” 9,900
Davico “direct fit catalytic converter” 1,900
Diamond Antenna “rotary joint” 3,600
*These are the latest up to date search numbers. Google has multiple data centers so numbers can differ month to month.
If you were to type in sheet metal fabrication in Google, ETM does not appear. In fact ETM does not appear for any of the 10 product related keywords I took directly off their home page. For most they don’t appear in the first 50 pages of results which means online, ETM is invisible to potential customers. ETM is not alone, none of the businesses above show up in Google for the keyword I searched for. This is LOST business.
Try it for your own business. Google the name of one of the types of product you sell (not your brand name- you want to reach people who don’t know your product name). If you show up on page 1, my congratulations …however if you don’t how do you correct this?
You need to give the search engines reasons to put you at the top of their results. The first step is to use the “Google Keyword Tool” to make sure the words on your site match what people are searching for and what Google expects to see.
And just to make sure we are all on the same page. A search term is the same thing as a keyword. These are the words searchers use when they search for something online. Your business should have quite a few you want to be found for. In my example ETM (based that on the products they sell on their website) would want to be found for the keywords/search terms….sheet metal fabrication, sheet metal machining, telecom enclosure systems, sheet metal machining etc.
Put in a “seed” keyword into the box. I used sheet metal fabrication
Enter the captcha code to prove you are not a computer and click search
A list of keywords related to sheet metal fabrication will appear (see below) & the # of monthly searches
Systematically put in your most important keywords into the software.
Export each list into your computer.
Sort them for relevance and select keywords to include based on their search volume.
Start rewriting your website! However make sure it is written well and not a string of keywords.
Start with the home page and do a page a week. It will pay off and help you to be found online.
Let me walk you through an example using “sheet metal fabrication”. This is what you see at step 3.
The first line shown is the search term used. Global searches is the average number of monthly searches worldwide and Local searches is the average number of US monthly searches. Unless you are international use Local Searches.
In the far right column Local/US searches you can see:
27,100 US (local) searches every month for “sheet metal fabrication”
12,100 US (local) searches every month for “sheet metal fabricator/s”
9,900 US (local) searches every month for “sheet metal fabricating”
That is just 3 keywords and it is a lot of searches 49,100 a month … all of which could be potential business.
And while you may think it doesn’t make any difference because the keywords are so close…think again. Google knows these search terms are related so they fully expect that they will appear on a truly “relevant” site. By not having them, it means you are less relevant than a site that has them …so you don’t get shown.
So while you may have “sheet metal fabrication” in your copy, you are missing out on the relevance boost and the potential new customers “sheet metal fabricator” and “sheet metal fabricating” could bring.
Look at the other keywords though. There is an opportunity to show up for the 720 people who search for “precision sheet metal fabrication” every month? Or even the 480 people who look for “custom sheet metal fabrication” every month?
More help and tips to come in the next newsletter however I would much rather answer your specific questions as I think that will be more valuable to you. Do you have a specific question about anything online (or off for that matter): your website, advertising online, Facebook? Please ask and I’ll answer.
Email me here or call 781-405-6772.
