Just because you’ve been in business longer doesn’t mean your digital marketing is stronger. In fact, a strong SEO campaign can quickly help your competition outrank you online, even if you’ve been on the top of the first page before. Below are just a few reasons why your competition may rank higher, even if their site seems worse than yours.

1. Their site is more relevant, matching user intent better
   • By understanding which questions users are asking, or what Keywords they are searching for on Google, your competition can tailor the content of their site to the intent of the user. This makes it more relevant to the keyword searched, satisfying both their customers and Google.
2. Their site is more prominent online
   • It’s much more than what’s on your site. Profiles on sites like Yelp, Facebook, and industry specific directories not only puts your business’ information on more places across the web, but builds a strong profile of links pointing to your site, both of which help visibility within the search engines.
3. Users and Google like their site more
   • Not only does your content need to be easy to read and your site simple to navigate for your customers, but Google needs to be able to do the very same. If either one cannot find the information they need in a timely manner, both your human and robotic audience will favor other sites.

If you can get your business listed in the Google Maps Pack (i.e. 3 Pack, Map Pack, Local 3 Pack) you have essentially hit SEO gold. Here at SocialSEO, this is what we suggest to score one of those coveted spots:

#1 – The Optimal Location: The physical location is a large component of the map pack and the closer you are to downtown or the closer the searcher is to you the more likely your listing is to show in the Map Pack. Since you can’t change the physical location of your business targeting optimized keywords in titles and categories of your website is essential.

#2 – Google My Business Profile: Ensure that your Google My Business profile is optimized and that you have exact information for your NAP (name, address, and phone number) score on your website as your Google profile. Add images that show the products, services, or concepts you provide and include informative descriptions and keyword phrases in your description to fully optimize your profile. You can also build links that point to your Google My Business profile to increase your chances.

#3 – Build Citations: Continue to build new listing profiles to increase the strength of not only your website, but also your brand name. The more links that you have pointing back to your webpage, the better. This includes reviews from previous customers. Gradually update directories that are most applicable to your service or industry, including:

• Yelp
• Yellow Pages
• Facebook
• Better Business Bureau

The Paid Search Renaissance

Have you had experience with Pay Per Click (PPC) in the past? The odds are that you ended your campaign with less money and little to no results.  Unfortunately, this is the experience of many business owners who used PPC in the early days. A combination of inexperienced marketers and a relatively new advertising medium caused many people to turn their back on paid search completely.

Today’s Pay Per Click landscape is very different from years past. The reach and engagement of today’s paid search extend much further than just Google Search.

Also, the content is far more entertaining than just a simple text advertisement. You can now use PPC to deliver multimedia advertisements; such as video, images, Text messages, and much more.

The real magic starts when you combine the power of Google’s big data with the new advertising types. You can couple peoples, income, search habits, frequently visited sites, interests, and more. This takes paid search far beyond simple Keywords and search ads. Now you can make finely tailored campaigns that are designed to reach people on a more personal level. Modern PPC taps into the sites that your clients already commonly visit and continues your advertising message as they flow in and out of Google. Making sure you stay top of mind across the internet.

We urge you to consider giving PPC a second chance, you’ll be glad that you did.

Learn more about our team!