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First off let me preface this question by mentioned that I have a very strong background in SEO and this question spawned from many client discussions that I have had.

I ask this question because it is a good way to start thinking about your business as a whole. What does your company do? What drives the most business? Where are you located? What is your market? I know there are all sorts of key phrases that your company probably wants to rank for but for the sake of argument, if you could only pick one phrase to rank for what would it be and why?

I want you to really think about this for a moment. Think about your audience, think about your target market, and think about your geographic location. If you are a Los Angeles based hypnotherapist then why would you want to rank for “hypnotherapy?” If you are a retail shoe store in San Francisco then why would you want to rank for “shoes?” If you sell refurbished Dell Laptops then why would you want to rank for “laptop?” Do these general terms really describe your business or product offering? If so, then e-mail me because you’re probably in some serious trouble.

Now instead of trying to rank for the most general terms in the world why not go after something that’s a bit more geared toward your market? Such as, “hypnotherapy in Los Angeles,” or “San Francisco shoe store,” or “Refurbished Dell laptops?” If you specialize in a particular niche market, either geographically or industrially (or other) then that is what you need to be ranking for. The reality is that you can’t always rank #1 for your desired keyterm or phrase so you need to think of ways that you can still rank well while going after your target audience. You do this by going after more specific terms that pertain to you business.

Here’s a little test for you, go into Google and type in the general term for your business; let’s say “shoes.” Notice, that you get 400,000,000 search results. Now type in something a bit more targeted towards your business, let’s say “San Francisco shoe store.” Now, the search results drop to 939,000. This is your target market; this is what you need to be going after. Before you go out there trying to conquer the world for general terms, put some thought into what it is you really want to rank for, believe me it is going to make a world of difference.

If you want to increase your sales then you need to use a much more targeted approach in your online marketing (and SEO specifically). Just think about consumer behavior in general, when you go out shopping you only buy something if it caters to your tastes, needs, wants, and/or desires. Thus if you are looking for a hypnotherapist in Los Angeles you are much more likely to become a client of someone whose site is showing up #1 for “Los Angeles hypnotherapist” then for “hypnotherapist.”

I hope you find this information useful when trying to determine how to create and implement an online marketing strategy.

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