It’s not easy getting attention on Google when you compete against national brands for your keywords. For example, if you a small boutique that sells baby blankets, you want people to find you when they search for “baby blankets” on Google. But the first page of results is almost entirely filled up by the “Bog Box” brands like Amazon, Toys R Us, Carter’s and Target. In other industries (Attorneys, for example), the page is filled with directories (like lawyers.com, DexKnows, and SuperPages) or the huge mega-firms that spend millions on TV ads and other marketing. So how can a small, independent company get onto the first page?
In some cases, a listing in some of those directories will get your name onto the first page, and if the listing includes a link to your website, that could work for you. Sometimes, a well-crafted Google AdWords campaign can get you there. And sometimes, with time, effort, and money, a well-run SEO strategy can get you onto the first page. But none of these strategies are 100% effective 100% of the time. And many businesses fail because they underestimated the challenges of building website traffic.
So here’s the bottom line:
If getting people to your website is important to your business, you have to employ every available resource to make that happen. Competing with the big dogs is never easy. But if your business depends upon it, you have to commit the resources necessary to drive traffic to your website, even if that means spending a lot more on getting it found than you spent on the website itself.
