![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/SmallBusinessSEO.jpg\" "\\"SmallBusinessSEO\\"")
<\/a>The same is true with marketing your business. We all want the lazy way to riches.<\/strong><\/p>\nWhich is why almost every small business owner buys into the big lie about SEO and their online marketing.<\/p>\n
You read it, or an SEO firm calls you and wants to sign you up, and they tell you that with a top position in the search engines, your business will take off. You\u2019ll be making so much you\u2019ll be paving your driveway with gold bricks.<\/p>\n
Right!?<\/p>\n
Everyone wants to believe that SEO is the magic pill for your business – that if you could just get a top listing, that\u2019d solve all your problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n But what happens if you actually get a top ten listing on Google? Does it really translate into more leads, more prospects contacting you and more profits?<\/p>\n Whoops!<\/p>\n Each week, I get a handful of inquiries from smart, hard-working business owners who got sucked in by the big lie about SEO. They\u2019ve often spent a year or more, slaving away to do everything they\u2019ve been told about SEO. Or they\u2019ve paid an SEO firm big bucks to help them get top listings.<\/p>\n Last week, these included a small business consultant in San Diego and an assisted living facility in Connecticut. Both made it to the first page of Google for their keywords only to find that they were hardly getting any more new leads or business than before.<\/p>\n What?<\/p>\n How is it possible? How is it that top rankings don\u2019t equal more business?<\/p>\n The simple truth is that SEO, search engine optimization, is a good idea, but it won\u2019t remedy other more critical marketing problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n Imagine for a minute, you were trying to sell your house and you lived in a great town, had a great location and that buyers were out there. I know – a bit of a leap of faith in some parts of the country. But just for a second imagine your could attract a steady stream of prospects to at least drive down the street to view your house.<\/p>\n What do you think would happen if your lawn hadn\u2019t been mowed in a few years, or the fa\u00e7ade was faded, the doors locked and the shades pulled so no one could see inside?<\/p>\n Obviously traffic alone isn\u2019t going to help you sell your house nor is it going to help you make money with your website, unless\u2026 your site is set up to convert traffic into leads.<\/p>\n But whoops! Most small business sites don\u2019t convert traffic to sales for a simple reason.<\/strong><\/p>\n They haven\u2019t taken the time to clarify their: And that\u2019s just for starters\u2026<\/p>\n Yes, putting all the above together takes some time and some thought \u2013 but who do you think your clients are going to buy from, the business whose marketing isn\u2019t clear, the one that looks like everybody else or the one that makes it obvious as to what they offer and how it can help their clientele?<\/p>\n How about you – did you get sucked in by the big SEO lie, wishing it was the magic pill for your business?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s okay, you\u2019ve got lots of company, and it\u2019s spawned a whole industry of SEO services that preys on people like you. But, now that you know the truth \u2013 the more important question is what are you going to do about it?<\/p>\n Looking for help growing your business \u2013 from getting attention online to getting prospects to getting sales?<\/p>\n
\n– Brand Identity \u2013 what differentiates you from the competition
\n– Value Proposition \u2013 the prospects’ needs you meet and the value you provide
\n– Marketing Message \u2013 your client centered promise
\n– Primary and secondary Headlines that give prospects a reason to learn more.
\n– Compelling offer that gets people to email you or call you.<\/p>\n