WSI Internet Franchise Blog

I get questions all the time about how to get a website to show up on the search engines. Typically the person wants some specific words or phrases that they want to show up for. Sometimes they give me a list that includes every variation they can think of that relates to their business. So what is the most important phrase to optimize your website for?

Generic Terms?

If you’re trying to show up for phrases like “dentist” or “electrician”, because that’s what your business is, think about it from the searcher’s perspective. Do you ever go to Google and type “lawyer” hoping to find the exact business you’re looking for? No, and neither do your clients.

Let’s assume for a minute that you could get optimized for, say, “dentist” (and note that you have 25 million competitors for that word), could your business honestly handle all the traffic that might come your way if you were #1 on Google for “dentist”? I doubt it. More likely, your customers are going to look for “dentist in Mytown, California” or something along those lines.

Get your business listed on Google Places (maps) for these types of terms, and forget about optimizing for them.

Your Business Name?

Many businesses insist that they show up #1 for their business name (or maybe they already do). That’s great. But what if your customers who are looking for you have never heard of you? Then what? Chances are that new customers may not know about you or your name, and just want the service or product that you sell.

I tell business owners to optimize their Home, Contact Us, and About Us pages for your company name, and don’t use it anywhere else. That way, if someone truly is looking for your company by name, they’ll land on your contact information or Home page. Everyone else needs to go somewhere else on the website.

Your Marketing Department’s Tag Line?

Guess what? No one cares about your tag line except your marketing department. I guarantee that no one searches for a burger by typing in “Have It Your Way” (yes, I’m dating myself). However your marketing department describes the company is not how your clients search for you.

Can you name this company? “[Company X] has remained faithful in its commitment to producing unparalleled entertainment experiences based on its rich legacy of quality creative content and exceptional storytelling. Today, [Company X] is divided into four major business segments… Each segment consists of integrated, well-connected businesses that operate in concert to maximize exposure and growth worldwide.”

Give up? It’s Disney. This is borrowed from David Meerman Scott’s “Gobbledygook Manifesto”

So What Is The Most Important Phrase To Optimize?

This is a bit of a trick question, but the most important phrase is what your clients actually search for. A classic example I give is the airline who wanted to show up for “low airfares”. The silence was deafening. Everyone types “cheap flights”.

As a part of your digital marketing plan, do your keyword research before you do anything else. Find out what your customers want and actually type into the search engines, and optimize for that. You’ll be far more successful, have less competition, and will engage more people than trying to guess what they want.

Learn more about how to leverage white hat SEO techniques to gain competitive rankings for your business’ site.