SEO NYC

If you own or operate a business in New York City (or anywhere for that matter), then you know that the competition can be tough and the margin for error can be small. You've got to wear thirty different hats at a time, from operations, to sales, to finance. No one ever said running a business is easy.

I've set up this hub to briefly address just one of those many hats that business owners are forced to wear - Marketing - and specifically how you can make this particular aspect of running a business slightly easier on yourself. I personally have many clients who are business owners, and whether they run a restaurant, doctor's office, or construction company, very few of them got into the business that they're in because they wanted to spend a lot of their time marketing their business and getting new customers. But the reality is...

Your business lives and dies according to your ability to bring in customers.

There are countless ways to bring in customers, but I would argue that, currently, none are more powerful or efficient than good search engine optimization (SEO), and SEO in NYC is particularly powerful because of the huge customer base.

When you hear "SEO" or "Search Engine Optimization", you likely have one of 3 reactions:

• You might have heard of it, but you don't really know what it means, what good it does, or how it works.
• You have an instant aversion and think that it means sending out millions of spammy links that will eventually get your website banned from Google.
• You already know and harness the power of good SEO, and your business is thriving because of it.

If you're in the 3rd category, then congratulations. I really want to address business owners who fall into the first 2 categories, however. SEO can mean a lot of things, but what it really should mean is structuring your website, your general online presence, and your relationship with other people and organizations in your area of business such that your website gains more prominence and importance in your area of business. If you do this, then Google and other search engines will gladly rank your website higher in their relevant searches, because you will have created a resource that potential customers already want to visit, even if they don't know it yet.

Thinking about SEO in this way, whether in New York City or elsewhere, is both powerful and safe. You don't need - and frankly shouldn't use - any form of spam to bolster your search rankings. It may work in the very short term, but it will eventually come back to bite you. Rather, you should start with some of the tips I've listed below, and move on from there, likely with a good SEO firm.

Before I get to the tips, though, I want to address the power of great SEO. The most obvious and most powerful benefit is that you simply get a lot more traffic to your site, typically very relevant, so that you can convert that traffic into more customers. The less obvious benefits, though, are potentially even better in the long term. By building your brand and your relationships with both customers and others in your industry, you will eventually find that opportunities constantly open themselves up to you, and you likely will have little need to find more customers, since they'll be seeking you out. This is the beauty of great SEO, and that power is, as I said previously, magnified in a large and relatively compact city such as New York City.

Simple Tips to get Started (this is clearly just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, but it's a good beginning):

1. Figure out what your potential customers are searching for. You can use Google Adwords or consult an SEO firm, but either way, you need to know what your customers are searching for. This will inform both how you structure your website and hopefully how you structure your product or service, so that you can provide a better and richer customer experience.
2. Optimize your website for the search terms you want to target. Forget putting that search term on your site 10 or 20 times (you probably do want it on there once or twice, though). More importantly, structure your site so that you provide great content and information with respect to your product or service, and tailor that information to someone who would come to your site through that search term. This way, you'll ensure that once they get to your site, they find what they're looking for.
3. Reach out to others in your industry, specifically including trade organizations and similar groups. Hopefully you've already done this, as many of these organizations help you in a myriad of ways other than SEO, but often, they will also link to your site, giving you more credibility and authority in your industry. Every little bit helps, and every relationship is important in the long-run.

I love to write about search engine optimization and online marketing in general, but I think one of the pitfalls of many businesses is that they think that online marketing is somehow entirely different from traditional marketing. This couldn't be further from the truth.

If you want to succeed at any form of marketing, the same rules still apply. You must establish and provide value for your clients or customers. They must see you as a credible (backed with real results and social proof). AIDA applies as much as ever - capture your audience's attention, spark their interest by describing the benefits they will experience, make them desire your product or service by convincing them that it will meet their needs, and then urge them to take a specific action.

You've heard these principles countless times before, but they really never fail, and nor will your business if you follow them.