Some of the questions I received were about how to use SEO (search engine optimization) to generate sales.

This one of those questions that would take a couple of books to do it justice. Using search engine optimization (SEO) is both a science and art.

A few years ago, SEO was fairly straightforward. Over time, as Google became predominant and made page relevance supreme, the game of SEO has changed. It requires much more tedium, monitoring and adjusting of your keywords. Large companies are paying high bid prices for popular keywords so they will show up high on the search results page. In addition, Google is constantly changing its algorithms to improve relevancy. So even if your page is high in the results today, this doesn’t mean it will be high tomorrow. SEO is an ongoing process.

If you decided to use SEO yourself and you wanted to do it well, be prepared to invest in a good course to learn it, and then be prepared to spend some time every day giving it your attention. If you have the funds, it would be more efficient for you to outsource the SEO work and spend your time selling and marketing.

Now with that said, you do have to make sure that your existing web pages have relevant keywords in them so people looking for what you offer can find you. Make sure those keywords are in the page’s Meta Tag, and make sure they are sprinkled throughout the text on the page. The consensus appears to be that about 7% of the words on your page should be your keywords. If much less than that the relevancy of your page might drop. If much more than that, then Google might think you are “stuffing” your page and penalize you.

In addition to your keywords, if you keep your copy focused on your topic without much wandering, you’ll be contributing to your page’s relevancy.

All in all, you may find that using other methods to drive prospects to your site, such as postcards and other offline methods, may be more effective than SEO to attract insurance prospects. Again, run the numbers and see.

If however you are convinced you want to go the SEO route, a good person to learn from is Brad Fallon. His site is www.bradfallon.com

I hope this is helpful.

Technorati Tags: Grow Your Business, SEO

Ok. Believe it or not, I’ve got a large number of insurance people as subscribers so here goes to one of them.

He listed three problems:

1. Launce my national fax broadcast to my niche market restaurant business insurance.
2. Develop another niche market for personal lines insurance upgrading his website and generating via SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
3. Develop a third niche market for commercial lines yet not sure which of the 3 to pick… automotive industry, office buildings, vacant office Buildings.

I’ll answer the first and 3^rd questions in this post and answer the question about the website and SEO in a separate post later. Here are some of my thoughts…

This applies to everyone. You must educate your prospects and customers. This even applies to the ice-cream example above. Educating your prospects and clients about what they get when they own your product, or deal with you, differentiates you from your competition. Remember the example of how Schlitz beer differentiated itself from the other beers by telling its story of how its beer was made? If you’ve forgotten that example, re-read the Marketing Tip of The Week issue that related that story.

The first thing I did when I created another company was to determine how I was going to bring that potential customer into my funnel. What this means is that I wasn’t thinking about how I was going to approach and then get that potential customer to respond to something I offered. Instead, what I did was offer something educational.

So for the restaurant insurance, you need an incentive to offer them in the fax and/or whatever method you are currently using to get them to your site, to get them to go there. Try to create an offer they can’t refuse.

Figure out what your prospects want to know and educate them about that. As you provide value, they will flow into your funnel over time. Since restaurants always need to be bringing in more customers, maybe you can educate them on that. Send them free tips or free reports. This way you’re creating value for them, instead of asking them to buy. If you create value and relationship first, then you build trust. If they trust that you have their best interests at heart, then it’s easier for them to buy from you.

You could create a report on the Top Ten Mistakes Restaurant Owners Make When Buying Insurance. Or you can distribute a report on trends in restaurant insurance. Most restaurant owners are working so hard, they don’t have time to follow the big picture. A trends report is a good one because as the trends change, it gives you a good reason to keep contacting the restaurant owner. Or you could do a report on how to survive the deepening recession.

Until you create these tips or reports, you are welcome to offer my “Ten Marketing Mistakes that Steal Your Cash” to your restaurant prospects, or you can offer to give them access to my Marketing Tip of The Week. You could simply let them know that you are always looking for helpful resources to refer to your clients and that you believe the report and newsletter will be very useful for them in growing their business. This could be done in various ways, like by a tip on your website, in your newsletter, in a flyer, in a postcard, or by any means you use to stay in touch and offer value to your prospects and clients.

Or you could also provide a hard copy of the report to them, and put “Courtesy of (YOUR NAME) on the front cover. If these ideas appeal to you, let Reggie at our office know, and he can help you set things up, by phone or email, to get the report and the tips to your prospects. You can reach Reggie at reggie@kenvarga.com

This offer also applies to anyone reading this post. For instance, the ice-cream company mentioned in my first post could gift the report to the various stores that sell its ice-cream.

Now regarding question number 3 above regarding developing a 3^rd niche, the question you need to ask yourself is: Which of the three industries you mentioned has the greatest numbers? In other words, choose the industry that has the largest number of prospects for you to go after. In your example, I’d assume office buildings, so go after them first. But you should do as much research to confirm the numbers before you start.

Remember, you must think and create ways to get your potential customer into your funnel first by offering them something they are hungry for, then develop the relationship with them. And remember, treat them like your best friend. I hope I’m doing that for you with this Blog.

Technorati Tags: Grow Your Business, Niche Development