Getting to Google's Page One, on a Shoestring!

Have you ever wondered how small local businesses beat the big corporations hands down, when it comes to getting to the top of the Google Search Engine results?

Well, you can stop wondering and start getting your business up high in the search engine ranks by taking action and implementing some of these tips by Keno, Zumba Instructor and Website Whizz, who successfully got her Zumba website to the number one page on Google, in under 4 weeks!

Over to Keno...

Hello, I'm Keno and I run a web agency, Spiral Web Solutions.know first hand, that getting a website to the first page of a Google search for relevant keywords has been the holy grail and ultimate achievement for website owners, designers and SEO specialists everywhere, that's why I'm going to share with you my Seven Steps to Success!

First - A Bit About Me

Runinng a web agency means I sit on my butt, all day long writing emails, putting designs and proposals together, managing teams and producing websites and oh, writing invoices. Naturally, I get stiff and bored, (Sometimes).

So, when I discovered Zumba in October 2011, I was immediately hooked and by March 2012, I became an instructor, holding my first classes in May 2012, and trying hard not to allow Zumba overtake my Web business.

Starting on a nil marketing budget (gotta fill those classes), I started with my strengths and completed my online profile on Zumba.com. At that time I was building a personal blog, so I decided to host a Zumba webpage in the blog, rather than build a new website. So even though the blog was not finished, I built a web page, here!

Less than 4 weeks later, I was on Google page one.

Here's how you too, can achieve this...

My Seven Steps To Success!

1/Be Clear About Keywords... I was not going to spend too much time on my website, so I simply assumed that anyone searching for a Zumba class would use a local place as a keyword hence my selection of the keywords ‘Zumba Enfield’. 

There is lots of research you can do to identify the most popular keywords and keywords that will work best for you.

2/ Do Regular Updates... 

Any little thought/idea I had, was translated to an article which I published on the Website and shared on facebook. As you can imagine, the words ‘Zumba’ and ‘Enfield’ are mentioned in the articles where relevant.From one page, I now have 6 Zumba pages and over 12 articles written and tagged with related keywords. Google is happy and it's robots can see that I am committed.

3/ Use Meta and Image Alt Tags...

Keywords, description and titles were custom defined for every page, I ensured that these were not only present, but relevant for each page.

I love meta tags, so easily missed, but yet so vital, every image on my website (the Zumba section) is tagged with ‘Zumba enfield’ or other relevant keywords. 4/ Send Emails... I created a newsletter using Mailchimp and sent this out weekly to my class attendees and friends, That’s a lot of work, so I now send it out monthly, but it drives traffic to your website and Google likes this.

5/ Get Listing...

From Gumtree to Classfinder, bigdance 2012, to Netmums, I found out that there were a few directories out there that would list your classes, for free and yes, I got my classes listed on all of these with links back to my website where allowed.

6/ Use Facebook...

Facebook has been my main marketing tool. I created a Facebook page and invited all my friends, I not only listed my classes, but included articles on fitness and nutrition that would drive traffic to the website.

7/ Google Analytics...

My number one tip for web effectiveness is understanding what works on your website. Installing Google Analytics (or other measurement software) on your website is a must. I noticed the things that worked and carried on doing them. 

There were a few surprises along the way. I found out that my website had been discovered by people searching with the keywords, 'Zumba playlist uk 2012'. I had written a post about the music I use in class, so my members could go to iTunes and buy the music that they liked, however this led to other people also finding my site!

Is getting a high Google place important? I think so, its free and only takes a little of your time. I am new to the fitness world and still trying to figure out how to fill my classes. I just got leaflets printed and will be trialling a banner as well. There are loads of people out there who will benefit from our classes and we just have to let them know we exist!!
All the best with your marketing!
A must mention is the Enfield Fit Facebook Group, which is a great initiative and thanks again to everyone for your posts, positivity and networking . . . . . . .
Much love,
Keno!

*************************************************** Thanks so much Keno, for generously allowing me to share this fabulous article from the document that you originally created for the members of Enfield's Fit, the Facebook Group promoting fitness and well-being in Enfield. Join Enfield's Fit, here. Karen, xxx

One PR Secret for small businesses!

Photo by twitter.com/photogams Anne-Marie Sanderson. Taken from Enfield Advertiser.

Be warned this is a long blog.....but it's good. I tell you my one PR Secret and a local News Editor gives you several tips! Perhaps make yourself a cup of tea, then settle down and read it to the end. If you really want press coverage, then follow this advice. It does really work.

AROUND 100 ARTICLES IN THE PRESS AND ONLINE!

My Coffee Stop has been in business now for just over 3 years, we have attained an unbelievably high amount of publicity for a tiny shop, located at the end of a train station platform and are now in the process of changing into a Ltd company, so that we can grow even more and open our next little coffee shop.

I believe that one of the reasons that we have been able to enjoy growth and success is because of excellent PR coverage, especially in our local papers, particularly in The Enfield Advertiser and Gazette.

Several business owners have asked me, 'How do you get into the papers so many times?' They are intrigued, amazed, they want to know the secret, the special thing we must be doing to get in there, the special technique.

This is what I tell them....

THE ONE PR SECRET FOR SMALL BUSINESSES..........

The journalists working on newspapers, need stories, they need interesting things to write about. They are also really, really busy, they are not psychic AND the local papers need your support too!

And that is it really! I think sometimes, us small business owners can feel a bit desperate and wonder why that other shop or business got into the papers and we didn't!

I know that short summary above isn't really going to help you through the mysteries of getting PR for your business, so let's look at how this translates in detail, with Kim Inam, News Editor at North London News, covering Enfield and Barnet, these are her excellent tips, for getting coverage.

GETTING YOUR STORY INTO THE PAPERS.....

The Story

Make sure that what you're telling us about is something unique, something interesting, not necessarily what you've seen us write about before. You might think that getting dignitaries, MPs or Mayors to attend your event will make us what to write about it but we're actually more interested in is the story being outstanding, in its own right.

Deadlines

For any publication that you're dealing with, make sure that you find out the deadline and DON'T pitch or even email on those day/s. The best day is actually the day after.

For The Enfield Advertiser, for instance, the deadline days are Tuesday and Wednesday, so it's best to send emails on Thursdays and Fridays and then follow up with a call, half a day later, in order to give staff the chance to have read your email.

Email

Don't send images/photos with the email you send of your story, in the first instance as it is difficult for our computers to process large attachments. Just one line of text at the end of your email saying that photos are available, is enough.

Call

When you call us, to follow up the initial email, make sure that you get the person's name that you speak to and ask if you can resend them your email. After having spoken to you, they will be able to tell you if the story is potentially interesting or not.

Our Response

We might be interested in your story but might need you to help a bit more, we might not have staff available to cover the exact day of the event, so we might need to arrange a photo shoot on a different day and arrange a phone interview with you. the more flexible you can be about this, the more likely you'll get the coverage.

If we say a 'No' to your story this time, don't take it personally, take the opportunity to ask what could make it more attractive for the next time.

It may be that your story is great but the timing is just all wrong, there could be an election on, a national event, or a major incident which means that we have to concentrate all our staff resources on that and drop your story.

Online

Use what you can for free, follow the publication that you want coverage from, 'Like' their Facebook page and see if you can post your story directly onto their page.

See if you can add your event to the What's On listings on their website. You can add any events you are organising to the Enfield Advertiser website, here.

Follow the publications you want press from on Twitter, tweet them a link to your story, maybe you've got it on your website, or on your blog and at the very least they might retweet it for you! We are certainly very hot on supporting local businesses and causes and supporting them in that way.

Advertising

People can see PR as a free way to get coverage in the local papers but it can take up a lot of your time. Sometimes it can be easier for you to arrange to advertise in the papers, which takes up less time and you are also guaranteed that space, no matter what urgent breaking news comes in on deadline day.

THANK YOU!

A massive thank you to Kim Inam, for the brilliant tips above, they are a fantastic guide to getting coverage in your local papers.

MUTUAL SUPPORT....

One thing I think that it's important to remember is that local newspapers don't just report the stories about our community, they are a part of our community too and deserve the support from us, that we hope to get from them. We need to change our mindset and instead of seeing the local papers as the Simon Cowell of our local area, with acerbic wit and put me downs and harsh judgements, to realise that they play a strong role in supporting local businesses and causes and we should see ourselves as supporting them in return and thus making our community better, they do want your stories and they want your support too.

Have you 'liked' your local newspapers' Facebook page? Do you follow their Twitter account? Do you interact with them and retweet their stuff? It's all part and parcel of us all helping to support each other. You want the local papers to help you with your success, well, you must decide to help support their success too! The staff that work on the papers are part of our local community too. I think it's easy to forget that. The local papers are an important part of our infrastructure, the advice and news they give is important to our community. so, try to remember how you can help the local papers and realise that you have the power to help them, as well as them having the power to help you. Of course, the more they help you and you help them, the more you help to propel each other's success.

I also believe that instead of just feeding them stories about your business, it's important to share positive stories about other businesses with the local paper too. You might know of a fantastic business they haven't written about yet, tell them about it. Most of the time that I've told them about special local businesses I've discovered in the area, they are only too happy to write about them. It's a joy to see other people get newspaper coverage too, such as Baskervilles, Fairies of London, Bim's Kitchen, Four Hills Music, I Can Do It and We Network, those are just some of the businesses that I've told The Enfield Advertiser and Gazette about. Aren't those people getting the coverage taking up your space? No, they are making the newspaper a more colourful and interesting read and increasing it's value in the community.

The local newspaper that has given us the most publicity, is The Enfield Advertiser and Gazette and Kim Inam is the News Editor, of that paper. I asked her to give me a quote, she gave me loads of tips, that's how helpful and approachable she is. So, don't be scared of the local papers!

Follow them on Twitter.

Like them on Facebook.

And send your stories to:- news.enfield@nlhnews.co.uk

When you get news coverage after reading this blog, please post the link to it in the comments below.

If you have any other ideas or advice, please make sure you leave a comment. I wish you lots of Luck and Success with everything you do and hope this article helps you to get where you want to go! 

My Top 10 Tips for using Twitter.

I started out on Twitter in 2009, and was inspired when I read stories about coffee shops in America taking orders for more coffee on Twitter! Gosh, who wouldn't be inspired to use a medium like that, increased coffee sales was the mantra in my mind whenever I got on there to tweet. The coffee ordering didn't happen, the questions about our products didn't happen and it was only rarely that someone would think of sharing how wonderful they thought our shop was, on Twitter.

Over 2 years on and when I'm on Twitter, just some of the things I'm thinking about are connections, communications, community, information and inspiration and now, we receive orders on Twitter, we get requests to save cake, we get people asking for more information about a product that I might have mentioned, people retweeting our offers and people mentioning how much they love My Coffee Stop.

It's absolutely incredible how Twitter has helped us to grow our business and our connections, raise our profile in the local community and internationally.

We've even had the local papers follow up our tweets and found ourselves on the front page of the news!

I want to share these tips with you, so that you too can experience the positives that Twitter can bring to your business.

This is what I would tell my business contacts and friends, if they were to ask my advice on how to make the best use of Twitter for their business.

DO...

1/ Use Twitter to connect through conversation....
Twitter is great for building connections through conversations, it is not a stream of promotional messages from your company to your public. If you are promoting your company on Twitter by posting special offers constantly and not taking part in conversations and responding to other people's interesting tweets, change the way you're doing it now!

2/ Choose who to connect to...  
It's not just about connecting with your customers or potential customers. You can follow your suppliers or potential suppliers, people in the same area of business as you, people that you could perhaps cross promote with, people from different industries, people that inspire you and people all over the world.

3/ Make your timeline interesting...
What does your timeline do for people? If your timeline does something for people, like cheer them up, inspire them, give useful information, points out things of interest locally and if you contribute to conversations and you're responsive to people's comments, then this will encourage mutual connections to form.

4/ Invest time in Twitter...
Are you getting on Twitter every few days, now and then? If you think it's ok to respond in a few days, well, that's not going to crack it. Twitter is swift and it moves, it's called a timeline because it's timely and it's in realtime and that's how people expect you to respond.

Best thing to do for your business, if you seriously want to use Twitter, is to invest in a phone or pad that will notify you of your Twitter mentions or messages and use it to respond.

If you don't respond to mentions or messages on Twitter in a timely fashion, you might as well not be on there, ever!

5/ Be yourself....
When you write about personal things on Twitter, it adds colour and interest to your timeline, maybe don't get too personal, it needs to be professional too. But I find those timelines with a bit of emotion in them, are more interesting than bland tweets. If you're having a problem with something, then the Twitter community is usually very quick to rally round and help. If you've got a question, post it up there and wait for the responses to come in and don't forget to respond back.

DON'T.....

1/ Bore Me...
Posting promotional tweets only, is boring and bland. If I'm thinking of following you and all you have are tweets about yourself, I won't be following, sorry!

2/ Ignore Me...
If I mention you, then write something back. Doesn't take much to do that. If you don't answer back and respond, what's the point on being on Twitter? Just broadcasting, with no interaction on Twitter is not the way to play the game. So remember to respond, respond, respond!

3/ Have an egg avatar...
You won't be taken seriously if you have an egg as your picture, to be frank it looks rubbish! Lots of companies post a picture of their logo but I think for Twitter, people want to connect with the personality tweeting first and then the company, so a picture of yourself could be a more effective avatar than your company logo.

4/ Forget the Biog...
Why am I going to follow you if I don't see something about you, to make a quick easy decision. Forget to fill this in and you've missed the opportunity to make a connection to like-minded people. If you love chocolate, say so. If theatre's your thing, mention it. Your biog doesn't have to be completely business centric.

5/Use the original colours for your background...
Spice up your profile page by making sure that you choose your corporate colours, or your favourite ones, or ones that just look darn good! Don't leave the Twitter background, your profile looks uncared for and un-nurtured.

Get some help with Twitter backgrounds, here.

Find out how to get more help with social media, for your business here.


Connect with me on Twitter, here. Tell me you read this blog and I'll connect back to you.

In the meantime happy tweeting! xx