As a leading Iowa SEO consulting company, we’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of requests we receive for SEO coaching over the past year. It’s clear that more companies are coming to understand the importance of being visible in search engine results. And in true entrepreneurial spirit, local businesses are proactively seeking ways to place their website in front of potential customers and clients.

Based on this need, Blue Traffic has started offering search engine optimization training courses specifically tailored to Iowa businesses wishing to enhance online search performance without the expense of hiring a firm to manage an outsourced campaign.

With Blue Traffic as your SEO coach, you’ll learn which elements of your website are helping your search engine rankings and where you can make improvements. You’ll also learn how to build links to your site from other sites while gaining a better understanding of how these links help your site and where to look for the best linking opportunities. Our course will teach you about the importance of quality content and how to create original copy that excites both your site visitors and search engines. In these highly individualized SEO classes you’ll learn everything you need to know to take the lead in your own internet marketing efforts.

The internet truly is the great equalizer for small and medium-sized businesses. With a few hours a week and an affordable investment in our SEO training courses, your salon, store, or service business can achieve the same ranking and search results as much larger corporations with nearly unlimited marketing budgets.

Contact us today to learn more about participating in our one-on-one SEO training course. In the future, we plan to offer group classes in Des Moines and central Iowa as well.

How do I know this? Simple. You found this blog post because you are crawling the Blue Traffic site to determine whether it’s a suitable internet marketing firm in Iowa for you. Or better, you did a search on Google for ‘iowa seo company’ or ‘internet marketing consultant des moines’ and found this excellent blog post on Google.

I’m not going to mislead you by pretending this post was not meant to generate traffic from people looking for experienced pay-per-click, SEO, social media marketing and Web branding solutions because it was, in fact, trying to generate business. But, I will bring some value by pointing out the things to look for from someone you are considering hiring to improve your presence on the Internet.

1. Meet face to face. If an Internet marketer is unavailable to meet in-person then the odds are good they’ll become unavailable again once they’ve cashed your check.

2. Ask for proof. When you meet with your Web marketing consultant have them show you some of their previous success. Request to see examples of social media strategies and do some Google searches to see their client’s placement in both organic and paid search.

3. Do your homework. Do some searches on Google for things like ‘internet marketer in iowa’, ‘iowa seo companies’, etc, and see if the Web professional is in the top ten. Also, go thru their entire Web site including their blog, testimonials, work examples and client pages.

4. Use common sense. The majority of Internet marketing companies in Iowa are not out to scam you for a quick buck. But, if you get an email from Zanzabar in California I would not recommend sending him a check for an online marketing consultation.

Note: You can disregard all of the above by choosing Blue Traffic for help with marketing your business online. Visit us at our convenient West Des Moines, Iowa location or give us a call at 515-224-7606!

On a more personal level, I also enjoy using Google Maps with Street View (try it here) to get a preview of what a neighborhood should look like when I get there. This technology from Google has been around since 2007, and maybe you’ve tried it to check out images of your street or house.

This morning was the first time I’ve ever seen one of those Google cars equipped with the Street View camera. I was at a Kum and Go in West Des Moines when I noticed it pulling away from the gas pump. I managed to get a quick photo with my camera phone, but wished I could have met the person behind the wheel.

Now I need to start watching for the Google Street View Trike and the Street View Snowmobile. Seriously…I’m told they do exist!

Have you ever seen any of these camera equipped Google vehicles in Iowa?

Just last Friday I was at Wells Fargo bank and the teller asked me, “What does Blue Traffic do?” I responded, “We are an Internet marketing company that specializes in search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising.” I got the familiar blank stare, so I quickly added, “…we help companies find new customers by moving their websites up in Google search results.” That seemed to do the trick as she smiled and said “Oh, I get it…sounds interesting.”

So, I got a call yesterday from Greg Thompson with ActionCoach business coaching. He leads an exclusive group of local business owners called MOXIE which stands for Members Only eXchange Ideas & Experience. This group meets once a month to discuss sensitive issues that business owners face and to share problem solving ideas. In addition, they occasionally bring in speakers on topics of interest. Greg asked if I’d like to talk about search engine optimization and I agreed to share some information with his group.

With a very limited amount of speaking time, all of my previously developed handouts and SEO presentations are too long and detailed. So, I decided to touch on just 5 main points and to create a blog post rather than a Powerpoint or Slideshare.

1.  What is Search Engine Optimization and why is it important?

2.  What simple on-site changes can you make to start getting more search engine traffic?

3.  Why should Google Places be the first step for most local businesses?

4.  How can you figure out what your customers are looking for online?

5.  Why are incoming links important and where do you go to get them?

I’ve always enjoyed sharing this kind of information with Des Moines area business owners and I look forward to showing them how something as simple as a blog post can get them in front of potential customers. Merriam-Webster defines Moxie as energy, pep, courage, determination or know-how. No doubt businesses need Moxie when it comes to online marketing.

Google Local-Maps-Places (whatever you want to call it) started as Google’s next great idea a few years ago and has since turned into a pretty cool and FREE tool.  But as with most of Google’s new inventions, Google Places is far from a finished product and many business owners are becoming frustrated with the inconsistencies.

First and foremost, if you haven’t heard of Google Places and have no clue whether or not you have a listing then you need to be paying attention.  A well-optimized Google Map listing will increase your visibility on the search engines and ultimately will increase Web site traffic.  Did I mention that IT’S FREE!

Back to the point, Google’s biggest issue is they attempted to build these Maps listings themselves with information gathered by spiders.  So most businesses that did not create their own business listing in the last few years were given one based on what Google’s spiders were able to find.  The result is plenty of incorrect information and duplicate listings for companies.

The key to taking advantage of Google Places huge upside and getting your listing as close to perfect as possible is patience.  There is no help-line and as with Google’s other free-products it is extremely difficult to get any sort of assistance from California.  I know it’s frustrating but the listings are free and the visibility is certainly worth the hassle.  So, follow these simple steps and watch the traffic start rolling in!

1. Go here: www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter and create an account or log-in if you already have a Google account.

2. Click the “Add A Listing” tab.

3. Type in your business phone number and see if you already have a listing.

4. If there is not a listing then select “Add Business”.  If there is already a listing then select that listing and click ”Business Owner?”.

5. In both cases, you will be taken to a page where you can add all of your business information.  Enter your business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, URL, select five “business categories” related to your industry, add any pictures/videos you’d like and make sure your business location is correct on the map.

6. Submit your listing and select the Postcard Verification option.  Google will mail a verification postcard to your business location and this postcard will contain a verification code.  The postcard will arrive in 5-10 days and you will need to enter the code to finalize the process.

Once verified your Google Places listing will go live and you will have the ability to add promotions, photos, videos, etc. to your profile as well as respond to customer praise/complaints.  Just remember, be patient, it can be frustrating but the free traffic is worth the trouble!

Despite some early misgivings about learning SEO, it’s turning out to be a natural evolution of my experiences, interests, and skills. I’ve built websites and blogs around my own interests for years, so I wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the idea of improving online visibility with higher search rankings. That also means I’m comfortable poking around under the hood of a website. And because increasing website traffic depends so heavily on relevant, well-written content, my years as a magazine writer and editor have some merit, as well.

That small measure of relevant experience notwithstanding, I have to admit to being worried that SEO might really be some sort of dark magic or witchcraft that I’d never fully understand. Turns out I needn’t have worried. There really isn’t any magic at all – dark or light. It just comes down balancing hard work with smart work. And, as with most vocations, the smarter you are, the less hard work you have to do.

Right now, I do a lot of hard work. But each day, thanks in large part to direction from my colleagues, I learn more about the art and science of SEO and the work gets easier. For example, writing articles, blog posts, and press releases that offer just as much to the reader as they do to the search engines is becoming increasingly natural. I’m even beginning to discern the difference between good links and bad links.

Perhaps more than anything else, though, I’ve learned that even the veterans in this industry can never stop learning if they hope to maintain their SEO edge. Consider the recent revelations about the impact Google Instant is having on paid listings versus organic listings. This same study means we may have to rethink the way we use long tail search terms, as well. And that’s just one recent example; we encounter news like that almost daily.

I suppose that could seem discouraging – trying to find your way through an unfamiliar landscape that changes right in front of your eyes. But as the newbie around here, I actually find the dynamic nature of SEO to be gratifying because it means, at least for one brief moment, I know just as much as the guys who have been at this a whole lot longer. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say they know just as little as I do! And until we hire another greenhorn and I can turn in my “noob” badge, it’s the one consolation I have.

To clarify right outta the gate, if you’re looking for tips on how to dress like an SEO professional for Halloween, this ain’t that kind of post. To access that information you can follow this link or this link.

But I don’t suggest you dress like an SEO professional for Halloween anyway. Not unless the party’s in Blahtown and they’re having a Lame theme. Remember how you dressed in college? Yeah, that’s what I look like on the reg. You can do better.

So what’s this post actually about then?

You’re right, let’s get to the task at hand. It’s Halloween so naturally your top priority is finding that show-stopping costume for the big party. Everyone’s gonna be there. Your boss. Your friends. That sexy co-worker you’ve been scouting for a few months now.

So you wanna look good. Real good. It’s understandable.

But all this thinking about costumes has distracted you from your small business. And what your small business needs is to generate more web traffic so potential customers and clients can learn about your products and services. Otherwise that small business becomes a tiny business. And then your tiny business becomes a memory.

Luckily, that hasn’t happened yet. But it could. So to generate more web traffic for your still healthy small business you’ve been studying search engine optimization tips. As you’re a pretty quick learner, you’re confident you can skip hiring an SEO expert and just do it yourself.

You’re not alone there. Nor will you be alone in wondering what’s under-optimizing it, what’s over-optimizing it, and what’s optimizing it just right.

We’re here to help you with that. And we might even give you a few things to consider as you put the finishing touches on that super sweet and spooky Halloween costume of yours. Party on, small business owner!

Knowing when you’re under-optimizing your website

No matter what Halloween party you attend, it’s inevitable that at least one slacker will be there. You know who I’m talking about – the dude who looks like he came straight from work. The dude who insists that he’s dressed like an SEO professional.

But he’s fooling no one. Not even your friend’s cousin Tina, the notorious drunk who believes just about anything. You see, everyone else spent countless hours and dollars piecing together a costume worthy of the runway, and this inconsiderate clown showed up in jeans and immediately asked where the drinks were at, before shifting his attention to trying out lines on Tina.

Not cool. And it’s not cool if your website looks like that either.

How do you know if your website is dressed like an SEO pro? Do you have the same optimized page title for every page? Then you’re no different than the SEO pro who wears the same sneakers and jeans to work everyday. Is your site lacking optimized web content that describes your products or services? Then you’re just like the SEO pro who’s never heard of socks. Do you even have a sitemap? Well, the SEO pro doesn’t have a car.

Knowing when you’re over-optimizing your website

Sure, you’ll get mad props from the crew for showing up in a dazzling costume. But you don’t wanna be the one who looks like they’ve been plotting their costume since August. Nor do you want to look like you took Friday off work to get your hair, makeup, and nails did up by a professional.

Indeed, you’re better off dressing up like an SEO pro. So how do you know when you’ve gone over-board? Did you stuff every keyword imaginable in your metadata? Is your optimized web content just senseless streams of those same keywords? And are 76 percent of those keywords linking internally to other pages? Did you give 50 bills to some shady link farm for 2500 inbound links?

Then I hate to break it to you, but your costume isn’t that sweet. In fact, the same people you aimed to impress (Mr. Google and Mrs. Bing) are actually laughing at you in the corner. So tone it down some.

Knowing when your website is optimized just right

Many times the difference between a super sweet costume and a flop is negligible. A great costume takes some creativity and thoughtful consideration, but it’s immediately clear that its creator didn’t obsess over it for months. Similarly, it looks like some money went into, though it wasn’t so great an investment that credit cards were maxed out. It just looks and feels right.

The same is true for a well-optimized website. The metadata is clean and succinct, aiming more to aid human users than to persuade search engines. The optimized web copy is also clean, compelling and informational. (For more tips on that, here’s a guide to writing optimized web content.) And while it contains some targeted keywords, they are sprinkled about naturally and never disrupt the overall flow. Similarly, there is some keyword rich anchor text, but it too is there to enhance the user experience, not to fool search engines.

So now you know. And because your website has such a super sweet and spooky SEO costume, everyone else at the party loves it. In fact, they like it so much they even link to it. And it quickly becomes clear that yours is the best costume at the party. Yup, you’re officially No. 1 in the rankings. And that’s always a good thing. So party on, small business owner. You deserve it.

I will only have about 45 minutes to speak, so I put together this one-page guide to help attendees get started. In case you weren’t able to attend, here are my notes.

1.         Start by learning how your potential customers are searching for you

• Review your web stats – Google Analytics is free at http://www.google.com/analytics/
• Brainstorm keywords/phrases. Use free version of Adwords Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to find even more.

2.         Look for ways to work your keyword phrases into your website

• Every web page has a unique title…aka the “Title Tag” Start there.
• Search engines are looking for content (not graphics or images of words). Make sure you are using your keywords (naturally) within your content.
• The majority of your content needs to be original…not copied from other websites.
• Use keywords in your URLs when creating new pages.
• If most of your business is local, include your city and state in content.

3.         Promote your website with social media

• Use Twitter to begin a 2 way communication with others.
• Create a Facebook fan page and update it regularly.
• Create and update your LinkedIn profile.
• Link back to your website whenever possible. Links are important for rankings.

4.         Open Google Places acct: www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter

• Local search is growing 3 times faster than other searches.
• 97% of customers search for local products online.
• Local/Map results often appear above organic listings.

5.         Start a Google Adwords campaign at https://adwords.google.com/

• Choose keywords, set a budget, create your text ad(s).
• Only pay when people click on your text ad and come to your website.
• This is the fastest way to get on the first page of Google and it can start driving traffic to your website within hours.

Internet marketing is all about finding ways to get more traffic to your website.

The real goal is to find ways to attract the right audience…people who need/want what you offer.

Driving targeted traffic to your website will result in more leads, sales, memberships, sign-ups, etc. – but you need to make sure your website is user friendly and make it easy for visitors to contact you.

Update (11/8/2010): For anyone who missed our presentation last month, we will be doing a similar one on Monday, November 8th in conjunction with the Urbandale Jaycees (www.urbandalejaycees.org). This time our focus with be on web advertising and marketing. What is it, why do you need it and how does it work? During this meeting we will touch on the main pitfalls of SEO and PPC to help you can decide if this is something you can tackle in-house or if you should hire a specialist.

I recently returned from a vacation and had the chance to parasail for the first time in my life.  Despite my fear of heights, it was actually a rather enjoyable experience.  As I sat there 300-feet above the Lake of the Ozarks I thought that parasailing was a pretty simple activity.  You get a boat, add the necessary equipment, throw the parachute up, strap the people in, slowly release them to the optimal height for enjoyment and then drive around the lake.

But the most important part of the process (outside of safety requirements) was to keep the boat moving at a speed to provide proper wind-resistance for the parachute to carry the riders.  If the boat moves too slow or comes to a stop the tension on the rope is lost and the parachute slowly floats down and into the water.  And this is where I go on my boring rant about SEO.

SEO is a lot like parasailing in that it is a pretty simple process.  You find a good domain name, build a site that is crawl-able by the search engines, conduct keyword research to identify traffic sources, develop quality optimized content/meta data/H1 tags that align with your targeted key phrases and then you build links like crazy.  But the process doesn’t end there…YOU MUST KEEP TENSION ON THE ROPE!  Or, your site will slowly drift down in the rankings, much like a parachute.

In today’s online environment a large majority of businesses are using some sort of search engine marketing strategy and this means that your #1 ranking today could be your competitor’s #1 ranking tomorrow.  It is important to not only implement an aggressive SEO strategy but to build on your successes by continuing the SEO process.  Even if you just blog or spend a few hours link building each week it will help to push your site further and further ahead of the competition.  And you will reap the benefits of top rankings for years to come!

Want to produce compelling web content that guides your readers to great success?  Want at least 3 out of 10 readers to actually finish that blog post that took 6 hours and as many stiff drinks to compose?

Then dust off your courage. Get your bravery outta the garage. Be the leader your parents always suspected you could be!

Sure, we aren’t all natural born leaders. If that were the case the world would be without followers, and that would make high school an even more confusing time.

But even the most pathetic and feeble of us can still lead. Even if we teach people  how to write optimized web content for a living, we can still lead.

It’s true.

By embracing a few basic principles of leadership in your writing, you can lead your readers to victory at least 3 out of every 10 times. And I’ll explain how. So who’s coming with me!

Motivate your readers with a PROMISE

No one volunteers to wander aimlessly through a graveyard in the middle of the night. Most won’t even wander through a Wal-Mart parking lot after sunset. Too dangerous. Too spooky. Too much on TV.

So there simply must be a motive. A reason to embark on such a perilous adventure. A good cause to abandon the couch.

Think of the internet as that spooky Wal-Mart parking lot. And think of your readers as the sensible folks who won’t go strolling about the abandoned shopping carts just for the heck of it.

They won’t read just anything. So it’s imperative you offer a promise that explains the ensuing mission. That one thing that compels otherwise rational readers to follow you into the uncertain heat of the night.

Remember to introduce your promise right away – in your title if possible – and to reinforce it often.

Make it utterly clear from the outset. You can’t frolic down the road and expect people to follow without any inclination of where they’re headed. This isn’t Forrest Gump. This is real life. Ok, it’s the internet. But still.

Guide your readers with a COMPASS…Or a sweet MAP!

You know why everyone follows Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean? It’s not because he’s a heroic leader. And it’s not because he’s played by Johnny Depp, a guy who just about everybody digs.

They follow Captain Jack Sparrow because he has what they don’t – a super secret pirate compass!

Only by the navigation of this sweet compass can all the pirates get to the secret treasure, or the secret ship, or the secret Keira Knightley, or whatever secret thing it is they’re desperately searching for in those movies.

So get a secret compass…Or at least pretend to have one.

Tell your readers that only you can guide them to the treasures they seek. For some, that compass might be your expertise on a particular subject matter. For others, it might be an in-depth statistical analysis only you have performed, or an exclusive interview that only you have secured. Perhaps it’s a witty sense of humor or an especially unique point of view that only you boast.

Just give them something, for crying out loud.

Offer your readers an occasional park bench

Reading a blog post shouldn’t be like watching Seven Years in Tibet. Don’t make your readers suffer just because your post was a bad idea from the get-go and you have no idea how to wrap things up.

Nor is it like ripping off a Band-Aid or taking a shot of tequila. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

If you write web articles that are 1,800 words of uninterrupted single-spaced thought, no one will read them, no matter how brilliantly composed and lucid they are.

It’s just too daunting. Too much to digest.

So divide it up. Make it a 7-course dining experience.

Offering distinct headlines divides your optimized web copy into sections and assure your readers that they needn’t consume it all at once, that it’s cool if they want to nibble on it one section at a time. Maybe have a drink and regale their friends with tales of collegiate debauchery. Whatever.

Doing so provides them the necessary endurance to complete the entire meal. And by the time they finish the last bite, they’ll be satisfied. 3 out of every 10 of them might even be thankful.

Because it was you – yes, you! – who delivered them to victory. You are a true leader. Just like your parents always knew you could be. See, even they’re proud of you now.