Corporations and large businesses invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on their websites, yet smaller competitors and review sites – even sole traders – are dominating the search engine results in their niches.
The thing is though, often they don’t even realize this is the case because when they view their websites it is often the result of using a bookmark or entering the URL directly. They are looking at their websites through tunnel-vision.
This is rarely how their clients, prospects, customers, competitors, potential JV partners and consumers search for them.
Printers and Ice Cream
Here is an example. Today I searched for “best laser printer” expecting to see the major manufacturers appear on page one of the results in Google – each fighting for the coveted number one spot. What I found though were a lot of review sites, technology ezines, and online shops. It wasn’t until I got to the bottom of page 2 that I found Xerox Canada, and, like most people, I stopped searching at page 5 – with no other manufacturer in sight.
So I decided to look at “ice cream”, again expecting one of the multinationals in the market to be sitting at number one. Instead Wikipedia is there which many might accept as reasonable, but at number two is a men’s clothing line! Ben & Jerrys (a Unilever company) finally waves a corporate flag at number 3.
Is it that HP, Canon, Unilever and Haagen-Dazs – and so many other corporates – don’t see the need to rank number one in their niches? And is this the result of corporate arrogance, or ignorance?
Even at the local level, businesses need to be aware of how their clients and prospects are searching for them. When I searched for “xxx(my town) supermarket” I found directory listings in the first few pages – not one of the retail giants that have market share in this locality appeared.
In an area that relies heavily on the tourist dollar, it seems inconceivable that those retailers are not targeting such a simple keyword (and do the same for each of their locations nationally). Their failure to do so creates an amazing opportunity for a smaller store to target that keyword, to go through the relatively inexpensive exercise of dominating it – and bank those tourist dollars.
And with the growing number of savvy SEO (search engine optimization) consultants targeting clients with just this potential, it WILL happen.
The SEO Content Gap
What I’ve found, and helped many of my clients overcome, is that while corporate websites may look professional and comprehensive, when it comes to their key terms with the search engines, they are wearing an invisibility cloak.
Their websites often give great exposure for their business and product names, but by focusing on these alone, they are leaving the door open for those very savvy niche marketers to dominate the search engine results for niche terms.
The good news is that because their sites are sound, it may be only take a few months to turn the situation around.
Corporate SEO Content
Some of the strategies that I implement for my corporate clients include:
- The creation of keyword focused content, that is constructed in a way that search engines love, which they add to their websites, on a consistent, regular basis. This content should not be confused with the static websites pages though; they are specially crafted articles, which need not necessarily appear in the website menu, but exist in an ‘articles’ section.
They do not need to be created by public relations professionals or journalists – they DO need to be written by an SEO content specialist. Their purpose is to wave a virtual flag that says “look at me” at the search engines like Google.
- Leveraging these articles in ways that improve the search engine optimization of their websites, including publishing these to article directories and networks and bookmarking them.
Very rarely are corporate marketing departments or website designers skilled in SEO content creation, which is one reason why the importance of ranking for niche keywords is falling through the cracks.
Developing a program of regular SEO content creation will go a long way to improving corporate online visibility in an era when online search has become the first option for consumers looking for goods and services.
Why not make a list of some of the terms that you believe people use to find your company, and enter these into a Google search box? If you don’t like the results that are returned, then the time to take action is yesterday.
>> Enquire about my corporate SEO content programs.
Have you ever had anyone from a brand name corporation explain why they do not aggressively seek to be in the top 5 on the major search engines?
I have discovered the importance of KW placement and anchor text. I spent much of the winter months adding content and back dating the publish dates.
I think the case may very well be that the higher ups do not understand the benefit of consistent SEO tweaking in all of their marketing.
I have found that decision makers at lower levels do not want to admit that an outsider might be able to help.
I try to form a partnership mentality rather than a “them and me” situation.
Susan,
I think the problem is that many corporates are relying on their website designers and marketing/PR departments to know this stuff. And while the designers and marketers are expert in their own fields, they don’t understand the importance of growing websites with SEO content. The ones that do, prosper.
Others may engage SEO experts to help them – but they are not writers.
That’s why the service I am providing is unique I guess: my being able to provide content with an understanding of business/marketing/PR AND SEO is working a treat for my clients.
Kerry
It’s hard to understand how corps can spend millions on marketing and completely overlook SEO strategies.
Are sales so good that they do not feel they need to be on the front page?
Do they know how many people are searching on a phone and not a desktop computer with a big monitor?
Every article or blog I write pays attention to KWs that will pay off when people search.
Jack,
IMHO Keywords are the single most important component of online business success and you are so right to give them that attention.
Just reading the comments and it seems to me that you are saying that the best article writers will include SEO items.
So, an article gets high marks for being useful, interesting, or helpful but it smoothly integrates keywords in the text.
Not only does the client get credit for being the authority on a subject but also gets more traffic.
Do I understand this right?
That’s right Sarafina, but its not the whole story. The more relevant, keyword focused content that a website has (posts and pages), the bigger its online footprint.
It is important for businesses to have control of their online reputation. By having dominance over their company and product names, as well as their niches, they can do this.
I’m wondering if someone can determine the keywords that one uses on their site and use those same keywords to blog negatively about another?
It seems to me that if someone really was out to harm someones online reputation they would use keywords, tags, and subjects that search machines would pick up.
Wouldn’t the result be that the negative blogs would appear on the same pages as the positive articles/blogs?
Another ??? Would an adversary’s use of the same words add monetary value to the words or subject value from those keywords?
I just reread this and it sounds like a stupid question Kerry.
I was reading this and could not get the words “ice cream” outta my head. No ice cream in the freezer. Came back to article. Finally jumped in the car & overpaid for a mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone at the gas station.
My sister works online. She said that corporate clients demand a detailed strategy for the SEO work she does.
She said that she has lost clients because she basically “taught” them how to do SEO on their sites. Well, at least they think they learned it all.
Her other gripe is that clients want to see the magic work immediately.
Where I work, we have discovered that it’s best to pay someone else to do the work if for no other reason than it frees all of us up to do what we do best.