One of the important aspects of writing web pages is understanding who the readers are, and there are two of them. The consumer and the computer. Yes, the computer. Google / Bing and other search engines are ‘reading’ the pages of your site by way of a computer program. These programs are called spiders / robots which all mean they crawl and search the internet to learn what’s out there.

If you have a truly unique business, say you sell trips to Mars you can be pretty sure no matter what you write, the search engines will find you and put you on the top, because you’re the only show in town. However, if you cleaning carpets it is worth pausing that there are many firms that do that and that means tens of thousands of sites that satisfy someone searching the web for ‘carpet cleaning’.

SEO tip #1: If a picture is worth a thousand words, words are worth a thousand pictures.

So how does a carpet cleaner stand out? First realize people are getting wise on searching. So if you have a carpet cleaning business, which happens to be located in a specific city then say that in the text. Don’t think the address on your page covers it.

NON-SEO example: We clean carpets and we are very good at it. Please call or email us to clean your carpets.

SEO example: We clean carpets right here in Eau Claire, and we are good at it. Customers from Menomonie, Eau Claire, Fall Creek, Altoona, and Chippewa Falls Wisconsin to name a few love our services. Please call or email us to clean your carpets anywhere in the Chippewa Valley region.

So remember that telling your story includes those factors of geography and context so the ‘computer’ reading your site can make the connections for people searching the internet can find what they are looking for.

Catch Phrase: Besides being a fun game with the family, having a catch phrase is good for SEO. Consider how people search, they are pretty savvy and learn that Googling ‘carpet’ is way to broad, but having a catch phrase such as ‘clean indian carpets and rugs’ really narrows the list down. Now, if you put that in your text – all the better to help the consumer and search engines recommend your site for your potential customers.

Send Your First Email Newsletter Today – AWeber Communications To solve this you need an email marketing tool, preferably one that can also sign-up new members on your webpage, let them change their address as they move around, offer auto-responders when they sign up. It insures you send out holiday reminders  - before the holiday! (or any sale event).  It also should provide you with results of who read your email (yes, that’s possible) and fine tune your e-mail campaigns.

The only tool I recommend is the leading company in Email marketing called Aweber.  The starting cost is only $1 per month and very modest after that.

Yet, when running a small business with a handful of cell phones can be problematic. How do you route calls to others in the office?  How do you  create a common reception / greeting.  Wish you could have an affordable phone system?   Consider the cloud!

Ring Central provides you with a virtual phone system that will let you create new numbers, extensions, voice mail, call routing, and many more features.  They have prices starting at $9.99.  Learn more by going to their site.

What does Facebook say about a fan page?