The following is an SEO Tutorial designed to help demonstrate how search engine optimization can help a small business grow.
What do you offer?
Do you market separately for each of your types of business?
Do you rely on viewers to be able to navigate your website, without instruction?
Can they/do they do this effectively? How do you know?
Let's take a look at what you are offering more closely,
Leon’s Wine &
Liquor Center has been delivering the good life, since 1955.
We deliver from Miami to Palm Beach for just $3 per
delivery.
Our customers come from all walks of life. We cater to
anyone that is thirsty.
Our customers are intelligent and we respect them. They are far too savvy to be sold to. They are the most wine knowledgeable
consumers and collectors. We do not
impose on them in order to get their business.
We offer the highest quality products at the best prices. We offer advice
on how to best take care of your guests.
We make you the star at your own party.
Let me give you a glimpse of what's missing, as demonstrated by some of the best SEO guru's
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
What does this mean to any small business that wants to grow?
Top Rankings.
More Traffic. Big ROI.
With nearly 14
billion online searches every month and social media sites that rival
populations of large countries, there’s unlimited opportunity. But to take advantage
of that opportunity, it is vital to rank high in the search engines, to
leverage social media and pay per click advertising and to make sure your
website turns visitors into leads and sales. If you don’t understand how to
successfully apply these strategies, then your customers will go to your
competitors instead.
There are about 170
million results for Wine Shops globally.
14 million results for
Wine Shops in Miami on Google alone.
There are only
about 2000 wine shops or liquor stores in all of South Florida.
Most do not do fine wine business.
Let me show
you how we would use Search Engine Optimization for your business.
Google's Top 10
websites for wine shops Miami.
Relevance,
Are
these stores in your area? Of the top 10 that show up on a Google search only half of
them are located in this area. The other
half are as far away as New York or California.
You might be able to count on them to have a better variety of products, but you
would have to expect them to charge for shipping to Florida. Additionally they set the bar for pricing all over the country, forcing your retail down on the most common items.
Top 10 results not from this area,
New York http://www.missionfinewines.com
California http://www.klwines.com
New Jersey http://www.vinfolio.com
Deliverability,
Can they really deliver? Certainly not
for $3.
Many of the
wine shops on-line sell virtual inventory, they don’t actually have the
merchandise that they list on their website on the shelf. This is misleading and time consuming if you
had expected to be able to do your shopping from your computer or mobile
device, only to find out that you still had to make a phone call or send and
e-mail in order to confirm and fulfill your order.
Social Media Partners
Facebook,
Make use of Facebook, but don’t give away your clients!
They are your
business, don’t provide any friend options or followers, unless you can
guarantee their anonymity, give them alias names, handles, or customer numbers.
The clients
that want to communicate with each other will do so from their own facebook
accounts. Do whatever you can to keep
your clients close without divulging who they really are.
Make sure that your friend settings are blinded to your competition.
Community Based Social Media is good for you too, using alias's
Cellartracker,
http://cellartracker.com
is a good example of how to model alias names and keep your clients from being
targeted by your competition.
Twitter,
offer specials, alerts to special tastings and opportunities.
Again
do not allow your clients to post who they really are, their own twitter
accounts will show you as following them or they will follow you under the
alias tag.
LinkedIn,
most of LinkedIn is geared to making networking connections for the
workplace. Although you may want to
prospect for business here, it may not be the most suitable place to set up a
wine shop and offer specials. It is not
designed for solicitation and it may not be welcomed. Just let your customers know that you are
involved, let them check out your profile in order to develop confidence in
your ability to deliver.
Show
the professional side of your business.
Present the Executive Association of Greater Miami, the Chaine de
Rotisseurs, the Sommeliers Association etc.
YouTube,
What a great way to promote products, services, events that allows you to
broadcast your message. The folks on
your e-mail list can then share with their friends.
YouTube
is basically friend free, so you can use it as a free place for your
commercials.
Most of the
social media platforms allow for customers to post responses to your ad or your
offers, this is a great way to measure feedback to you posting. You will know almost immediately whether you
ad is being well received, ignored or if your clients do not approve of
it. This kind of feedback is invaluable,
as long as your not thin skinned and can take the criticism.
1. I want to expand my reach.
2. I want my customers to be able to stay updated with news about my company.
3. I want to get to know my customers.
4. I want to promote my products or offer new ones.
5. I want to stay abreast of current news and trends.
6. I want to share my ideas with likeminded individuals.
7. I want to increase brand awareness.
8. I want to provide customer service and support more easily.
9. I want to diversify
10. I want to recruit.
11. I want people to like my brand.
12. I want to collaborate on business projects.
13. I want to directly sell a product.
14. I want to earn respect within my industry.
15. I am getting information overload, and I want to get organized.
16. I want to drive traffic to my site.
17. I want to attract advertisers and make money.
18. I want to get more involved with local prospects.
19. I want to get more involved with people on an international and global level.
20. I want to keep up with my competitors.
These are all good and valid reasons for developing a strong social media campaign.
Can you think of some others?
What Influence does Social Media and SEO
bring to your company?
These are the numbers...
50% of the population in the US have a social media profile! Many of them have more than one.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of online Americans use social media, and the majority (84%) of social media users reveal information about themselves via social platforms, according to a new poll from Harris Interactive. Ok, so that’s just about everyone with thumbs and a mobile device or a computer.
More than one-third (38%) of Americans say they aim to influence others when
expressing their preferences online and almost half (46%) feel the can be
honest on the Internet. While online Americans aged 55 and older are less likely to use social media
compared to younger Americans (43% of those 55 and older, versus 78% of 18-34
year olds, 71% of 35-44 year olds and 59% of 45-54 year olds), all age groups
who use social media are equally likely to share their dissatisfaction with a
company, brand or product via social media (25% of those 18-34 years old, 26%
of those 35-44 years old, 25% of those 45-54 years old and 29% of those aged 55
and up). Who are your clients? Who are
they going to be in the very near future?
We cater to adults, with money, that enjoy the good life and have
influence in the community. Are you going to lead or follow? Since 1955 Leon’s has been one of the top
independent retailers of fine wine and liquor in the state.
Compared to others around the country, Leon’s
is still at the top of the food chain with the ability to do business that can
satisfy an online community of consumers anywhere. Dictate the use of products,
demonstrate their effectiveness. Educate
your clients into purchase decisions. They will like what you like; most
folks need to be told what to drink and how to drink it.
Apps
Apps are sales force of the future,
they are available now!
Customize your Apps to maximize you
sales, direct sales to develop relationships that can bring you more
business. An App that is designed to
perform a limited number of highly effective functions, can be the best salesman
for the most profitable parts of your business. A drink recipe App that only allows for the
use of the most profitable mixers and products, encourages your clients to
“only drink the best.” Quality products that you might not
normally include in a proposal, would be the focus products online. Creating the need for the product,
doing a better job than you might in promoting a specific product. Use celebrity influence to get the
job done. If a video or a testimony from
a celebrity can make the difference, take advantage of it.
Celebrity Endorsements
Take advantage of the
commercialization of a product. There is
more product placement in movies and on TV now than ever before, let someone
else do the work. Copy it and re-broadcast it to your own benefit… After all is free to you!
Traditional forms of advertising
are now failing, don’t get stuck in the past.
Keep up with the trends of the future and stay in business. Work smart not hard.
Good luck and good selling
Call me when you get thirsty!
