Small Business Blog

How to Dominate Your Niche with Your Blog! In today’s post I’ll share some insights I gained from a recent presentation I attended in NYC by Rich Brooks. Rich’s Portland based company, flyte, does web design and internet marketing, he also writes for the business magazine Fast Company. I’ve written about business blogging a few times before and keyword analysis for internet marketing, and the following points are a good addition to those resources. Whether you are a complete novice, or a pro in need of a timely reminder, here are some highlights for small businesses that want to dominate their niche! (Today’s image: mimosaPLANET.com Monthly Visits from Organic Search)

Unless you’ve been living in a bubble world or under a rock for the last few years it’s likely you’ve at least heard about, if not tried your hand at a wide range of modern marketing tactics. For some it’s fun and exciting, others confusing and daunting, and for some even a load of nonsense. With such a range of feedback and experiences in this area, this all begs the question; do modern marketing tactics actually work?

Visual examples of On Page SEO terms:

If you're reading this article you'll likely be looking at how to use SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in marketing your small business. It doesn't have to be a mystery, it's not rocket science. Yes, like all things there are different levels and depths of knowledge but if you're a small business owner and you want to use SEO for marketing purposes... you really just need three things;

Why a Keyword Selection Process?

This is important because; in old world marketing speak, it's really just about 'profiling & selecting the right target market'.

For SEO purposes it is highly desirable to have many links to your website, and getting listed on free and paid business directories is often a good place to start Link Building. The following list is a reference resource and not a comprehensive perfect list, you should make your own judgements on the quality and suitability of each directory for your individual purposes. We'll continually add to and refine this list over time. Please feel free to contribute to the list too.

Don't know what SEO and SEM are? Heck, neither did I a few years ago, but if you don't know about them now, chances are you are not maximising the return on an investment you have most likely already made. I'm talking about the investment of your website.