Basics 9Let’s Get Started 10Doin’ it Right 12Try This! 13

Basics 21Let’s Get Started 22Doin’ it Right 24Try This! 25

Basics 27Let’s Get Started 28Doin’ it Right 30Try This! 31

Basics 15Let’s Get Started 16Doin’ it Right 18Try This! 19

Basics 3Let’s Get Started 4Doin’ it Right 6Try This! 7

table of contents

• SEOisthepracticeofimprovingawebsiteandthenpromotingitinordertoincreasethe

numberofpeoplevisitingthesite.

• Youwanttodothisbecauseifdoneright,thisbringspeopletoyourwebsitethatare

searchingforyourexactservice.

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• SEOisthepracticeofimprovingawebsiteandthenpromotingitinordertoincreasethe

numberofpeoplevisitingthesite.

There are two components to seo, but the main thing to keep in mind is that creating good content that people want to read is the best way to ensure your website pops up in searches.

On page seO

OnpageSEOreferstothecontentonyourwebsite.Itensuresthatsearchenginescaneasilyfindyourwebsiteandunderstandwhatyourbusinessis.

Thebestwaytodothisistoclearlyandaccuratelydescribewhatyourbusinessdoes.Onetrickistothinkaboutwhatpeoplemightsearchforiftheyaresearchingforabusinesslikeyoursandusethosekeywords(See‘ThoughtBubble’copyinNotes)whenwritingcontentforyoursite.Thereareacoupleoftechnicalthingstokeepinmindaswell.Askyourwebsitedeveloperiftheyareproperlyusingthe<title>and<alt>tagstodescribeyourbusiness.

LET’SGETSTARTED

4

SEO is thepractice ofimproving awebsite and thenpromoting it inorder to increasethe number ofpeople visitingthe site.

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Off page seO

OffpageSEOreferstowhatotherssayaboutyourwebsiteandisallaboutdigitalreferrals.Youprobablyloveitwhenyourcurrentclientstelltheirfriendsaboutyourbusiness,right?Well,youwantpeopleontheinternetreferringyourbusinessaswell.Thesedigitalreferralscomeintheformofalink.Youwantpeoplelinkingfromtheirwebsitetoyours.Themorelinkscomingtoyoursite,themoreyouwillshowupinsearchresults.Consideraddingacontentrichblogthatyoucanupdateregularlytoyourwebsite-moreonthisinthenextsection.

5

Remember!Creating greatcontent is the bestway to ensuregreat searchresult rankings.

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nOTe THe fOLLOWIng:

• TheTitleTag-SearchEngineOptimization,FromWikipedia-clearlystateswhatthepageisabout.

• ThepageURLincludesthetopic.

Rockstarexamplesoforganizationorentitieswhoarefullyutiilizingthetool.

• Firstandforemost,thecontentofthepageisrightonpointwiththesubjectmatter.

DOIN’ITRIGhT

6

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TRYThIS!exercises to make you

better!

1.ThinkabouthowyoumightsearchforwhatyourbusinessdoesifyouwereusingGoogle.

2.GotoGoogleandsearchforthatkeywordorphrase.

3.Whocomesupinthetopofthesearch?Whataresomereasonstheymightbeatthetopofthesearch?

Vinny worked closely with his website developer to ensure the site looked the way he wanted, but was also structured in a search engine friendly way. To do this he made sure to verify that key attributes of the HTML code were aligned with his keyword strategy. Specifically, he asked about the page titles, the H1 tags, and URLS used for each page. Each of these should incorporate the With that set, Vinny turned his attention to getting more links to his site. He realizes Sally, one of his best clients, writes a weekly column for the local newspaper. He asks her if she would be interested in writing a column about Vinny’s Vet Shop. She does and the column is posted on the paper’s website. Vinny asks them to make sure they link back to his website, which they do, and Vinny is ecstatic to have such a reputable and high trafficked website linking to his.7

• PopularsocialsitesincludeFacebook,Twitter,Instagram,andLinkedIn.

• Therearelotsofsocialmediasitesthesedays.Don’tfeellikeyouneedtobeonallofthem.

Findtheonesyourcustomers(andpotentialcustomers)areonandfocusthere.

• Itcanseemoverwhelminganddifficulttogetstarted.Trustus,it

isprettystraightforwardandtheeasiestthingtodoisto

justcreateanaccountandgetgoing.

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LET’SGETSTARTED

social Media is a great way to engage with customers and establish yourself as a thought leader in your space. Identify the channels you want to communicate through in order to engage customers and then consider these best practices:

Besocial.Manybrandsusesocialmediaasanadplatform.Remember,thisis“Social”media.Engagewithyourcustomers-askquestions,respondtocomments,andgenerallyusethisasatwowayplatformthatletsyoucommunicatedirectlywithcustomers.

Betransparent.Opennessgoesalongwayinsocialmedia.Sharepicturesor“behindthescenes”videofromtheoffice.Considerhighlightinganemployee’sgreatwork.Theideaistoengageyouraudience,humanizeyourbusiness,andbuildtrustwiththecommunity.

Becarefulnottosharetoomuch.Socialmediaisagreatwaytoengageandcommunicatewithyourcustomers,butbeawareofhowfrequentlyyouareposting,tweeting,etc.andmakesurethecontentisrelevanttotheaudienceandconsistentwithyourbrand.

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Social Mediais a great wayto engage withcustomersand establishyourself as athought leaderin your space.

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Onceyouhaveasocialmediaaudiencethisisagreatoutlettoofferdealsordiscounts.Rememberyoursocialmediacontenthasbuiltanaudience,butnotnecessarilycustomers.Finduniquewaystoconvertaudiencememberstocustomers-afterall,theylikesomethingaboutyourbusinessiftheyareengagingwithyouonsocialmedia.

Oneofthemoredauntingtaskswhenstartingasocialmediastrategyisfiguringouthowtobuildanaudience.Thenetworkeffectofsocialmediamakesthiseasierthanyoumaythink.Consideraskingallofyourpersonalfriendsto“Like”yourFacebookpage-Facebookprovidesaneasytooltodothis.Oncepeoplestart“Liking”yourpagetheirfriendsbeginseeingitandmaystartpayingattentionaswell.Notconvinced?Considerallocatingsomemoneytorunads.Socialmediaplatformsallowyoutoadvertiseonareasonablebudgetwhiletargetingyouradstoaspecificaudience.

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Remember!The network effectof social media iseasier than youmay think.

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CheckoutTheCoffeePot’sFacebookhomepage:https://www.facebook.com/ourcoffeepot

Scrolldownabitandyouwillcomeacrossaposthighlighting“FreeDrinkFriday.”Thisisagreatexampleofasmallbusinessusingsocialmediatoengagewiththeaudience-everyonewho“Likes”thepageisautomaticallyenteredintoaweeklydrawingforaFreeDrink.

DOIN’ITRIGhT

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1.Ifyoudon’talreadyhaveone,createaFacebookaccountforyourbusiness(it’sfree).

2.Onthetopbarfindthe“BuildAudience”dropdown.

3.Navigatetothe“InviteEmailContacts”andfollowtheinstructionstoinviteallyourcontactsto“Like”yourpage-thisagreat(andfree)waytobuildanaudience.

Vinny knows most of his clients are on Facebook. He has an account that he set up a long time ago and knows that some of his clients have “Liked” his page. He hasn’t updated it in a while, though, and isn’t quite sure how to re-engage. After some careful thought about what his audience might like he decides they would probably love to share photos of their pets. He decides he’ll take a picture of each pet that comes to see him, upload it to Facebook, and identify (or “Tag”) both the pet and the owner. When he does this he’ll encourage people to comment on the photo, share the post, and upload their own photos of their pets. Before long people are regularly visiting Vinny the Vet’s Facebook page to share photos of their pets as well as see what other people have posted.

TRYThIS!

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•Over70%ofconsumerstrustonlinereviewsasmuchaspersonalrecommendations[LocalConsumerReview

Survey2013].

• 65%ofconsumerssaythatpositiveonlinereviewsmakethemmorelikelytousealocal

business.

• Settingupapageonmostmajorreviewsitesisfree,andsoisyour

clientfeedback!

•ReviewsitestakethosedinnertablediscussionswithUncleJoewhereyourecommendedarestaurantwithkilleritalian

foodandthatawesomehairdresser,andputthemonlineforeveryonetosee.

LET’SGETSTARTED

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LET’SGETSTARTED

Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool a small business has in its arsenal. Your clients are your fan base, and your fan base is like hundreds of little salesmen and women vouching for your brand to the masses.

Butwhat’safanbasewithoutanoutlettoshowtheirlove?Enterreviewsites.

Thereareahandfulofreviewsitesthatdominatethespace,andarecertainlyworththetimeandefforttosetupshopon-namelyYelp,Facebook,Google+andInsiderPages,butdon’tforgettoseekoutsomeofthemorenichesitesspecificallyforyourtypeofbusiness(i.e.ServiceAlleyformaidservicesandrepairmen,orZillowforrealestateagents).

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...your fanbase is likehundreds oflittle salesmenand womenvouching foryour brand tothe masses.

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Allofthesesiteshaveaneasyprocesstosignupyourbusiness,andallthat’sleftafterthatistoaskyourclientsfortheirhelp.Canyouincorporateadiscussionaboutyourreviewsitesintothecheckoutprocess?CanyouprinttheURLonreceipts?Linktothepagesfromyourwebsite?Putalittlebuginyourclients’earonFacebookorTwitter?

Oddsare,ifgiventheopportunitytogushaboutthewonderfulcareyougavetheirdearFido,ortherockin’haircuttheywalkedoutwithtoday,thechampionsofyourbrandwilljumpatthechancetotelltherestoftheworldhowgreatyouare.

Andwhenitcomestosmallbusiness,praiselikethatisinvaluable.

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Remember!Word of mouth isthe most powerfulmarketing toola small businesshas in its arsenal.

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RoscoeVillageBikes-Theyhavesomestellarreviews,buttakespecialnoteoftheannouncementboxandinparticularthegiftcertificatebox,incentivizingthemtopurchaseoneandreturn.DOIN’IT

RIGhT

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1.FindtheYelppageforyourbusiness 1a.Don’thaveone?Createone!

2.Claimthebusinesspageasyourown

3.Completeyourprofile,andthatmeansmakingsurethefollowingthingsarefilledin:

3a.Address

3b.Website

3c.hours

3d.The“AboutthisBusiness”tab-this isanopportunitytospeakdirectlytoyourcustomersandtellthemmoreaboutyou.Make it good!

Vinny set up his business page on Yelp as well as niche veterinarian review site VetRatingz.com. He incorporated a quick process at checkout where he asked clients to please consider reviewing his business online if they felt they received great service, and handed out cards with the respective URLs with each receipt.

Vinny also used his newly created social profile on Facebook to link his customer base directly to the pages and saw his positive reviews increase by 80% over three months.

TRYThIS!

1919

the basics

•Blogsarethefifthmosttrustworthysourceforinformationacrosstheinternet[Technorati2013DigitalInfluenceReport].

•They’realsothethirdmostinfluentialresourceforconsumerswhenmakingpurchases.

•Theyareoneofthemosteffectivewaystoimproveyour

SEOrankings.

LET’SGETSTARTED

•It’skindoflikeanonlinediary.Butinsteadofyourdeepestdarkestsecrets,youpublishopinions,experiencesandoften

linkstootherwebsites.

the basics

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LET’SGETSTARTED

If you were wondering where you would put all of your newfound seO knowledge to work, this is the place. There are a couple different ways to achieve blogging bliss:

Thefirstistotakeacrackatcreatingablogofyourownonyourcompanywebsite.Thisishandsdownthemosteffectivewaytobecomeathoughtleaderinyourspace,andcertainly,astheexpertinwhatyoudoandtheservicesorproductsyousell,you’rethebestpersontoeducateconsumersaboutit.

Whatdoyouwriteabout?Thepossibilitiesareendless.Aretheretipsandtricksconsumersshouldknowwhenselectinganewdoctor,veterinarian,gym,etc?Whobettertotellthemthanyou?Andbybringingthemtoyourwebsiteforthatcontent,you’realreadyhalfofthewaytheretoconvertingthemtoacustomer.Ifyou’reagymowner,arethereweightliftingprogramsyoucanshare?Nutritiontips?Ifyou’reanapartmentbroker,couldyoublogabouttheneighborhoodsyoucoverandshareyourfavoritelocaljoints?

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What do youwrite about?The possibilitiesare endless.

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Remember:theprimaryfocushereisuseful,worthwhilecontentforyourreaders.hook‘emwithyourgreatcontent.Keep‘emwithyourgreatservice.

Thebonusbenefitofwritingallofthisgreatcontentisthatitaddsmorepagestoyoursitewiththosetargetedkeywordswespokeaboutearlier.AndthemorecontentyouhavethatGoogledeemsusefultoyouraudience,thehigheryoursitewillrank.

Thesecondwaytoachievebloggingnirvanafocusesonoff-pageSEO,orlinks.Andtheeasiestwaytogetlinksisbyguestblogging.Itinvolvesabitofresearchupfront,asyou’regoingtoneedtofindthetopbloggersinyoursectorthatyou’dliketopitchapieceto.Butbywritingfortheinfluentialblogsinyourspace,yougetinstantcredibilitybyassociation,canintroduceyourselftoapotentialnewaudience,andalsocanuseyourpostasawaytolinkbacktoyourownsite-winwinwin,ladiesandgentlemen.

Offerupthesamesortofcontentthatyou’dwriteonyourownblog.Betheexpertandprovidethetypeofvaluetothereadersthatwouldmakethemwanttoclickthroughtoyoursiteandlearnmoreaboutyou.

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Remember!Creating a blog ishands down themost effective waybecome athought leader inyour space.

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WarbyParker-Theseguysarekillingitintheblogosphere.Theyhavearticlesabouteyeglasses,what’snew,andhowtopickagreatpair,butthey’vealsopositionedthemselvesasathoughtleaderinthebroaderarts,cultureandfashionspace.Theirblogreadsalmostlikeamagazine.Nobetterwaytogetyourbrandinfrontofpeoplethantoprovideconsistentlyawesomecontentforthemtocomebackfor.

Birchbox-Birchboxknowsmakeup.Andthatisevidentassoonasyoulandontheirblog.Tips,tricks,trends,newproducts,celebrityinterviews,how-tovideos-younameit,they’redoingit.Theyknowtheircustomersandtheydoanexcellentjobofprovidingcontentthatthey’regoingtoeatrightup.Birchbox-Birchboxknowsmakeup.Andthatisevidentassoonasyoulandontheirblog.Tips,tricks,trends,newproducts,celebrityinterviews,how-tovideos-younameit,they’redoingit.Theyknowtheircustomersandtheydoanexcellentjobofprovidingcontentthatthey’regoingtoeatrightup.

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1.Askyourdevelopertosetupablogpageforyouonyourwebsite.

2.Startbrainstormingblogtopics.Needhelp?Startwiththislist. Vinny starts a blog on

his website and writes once a week about pet ownership, providing nutrition tips and best practices for his readers. One of his clients alerts him to a popular dog-focused site she reads and he succeeds in pitching a monthly column where he reviews the latest dog products on the market. He shares these blog posts on his Facebook and boosts visits to his website by 50%.

TRYThIS!

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Schedule an Appt. Blog LocationAbout

Now Featured on Dog’s World!

Dec. 5th, 2013 2:14 pmGood news! I have been given the opportunity to write a monthly prod-uct review for Dog’s World - the leading online shopping site for dog lovers. In addition to writing product reviews for their site, they offer a

Top Newstop news

featured stories

latest trends

• Lookforbusinessesthatareadjacenttoyourown,butnotindirectcompetition.

• Considerhowyoucanprovidevaluetoapotentialpartneraswellashowtheycanprovidevalue

toyou.Partnershipsneedtobemutuallybeneficial.

LET’SGETSTARTED

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LET’SGETSTARTED

Partnerships can come in many different forms. Keep in mind that you want to find not only a good business fit, but a good personal fit as well. Partnerships are relationships, and you don’t want to be in a relationship with someone you do not trust and respect.

ThemostcommonformofpartnershipisaSalesPartnership.

Sales Partnership

ASalespartnershipentailssellingyourproductorserviceatanotherperson’sbusinesslocation.Forexample,anathleticapparelboutiquemayapproachalocalgymandaskiftheycansellsometheirproductinthegym’slocation.Thesetwobusinessessharethesametypeofclient,butdonotdirectlycompetesomakeforagoodpartnership.Typically,thegymwouldmakeacommissionoffofeachsale.

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Partnershipsare relationships,and you don’twant to be in arelationship withsomeone youdo not trust andrespect.

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Whendealingwithamoreserviceorientedproductasalespartnershiptakesshapeasareferral.Thesametypeofcommissionstructureexists,butsincethereisnophysicalproductthepartnerissimplydirectingclientstoaparticularbusiness.Takeourpreviousexampleandswitchitaround.howmightthepartnershiplookinthecasethatthelocalgymwouldliketheathleticapparelboutiquetosendclientstotheirgym?

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Remember!Keep in mind thatyou want to findnot only a goodbusiness fit, but agood personal fitas well.

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DOIN’ITRIGhT

CorePowerYoga&Soybuapparel-Thesetwocompaniesareapictureperfectexampleofasalespartnership.CorePowerYogasellsSoybuapparelintheirstoresandpromotesthebrandontheirblog;andSoybureturnsthefavorbycross-promotingCorePowerYoga’scontentontheirFacebooksite,andrunningcontestswiththeirfanstowinCorePowerprizes.

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TRYThIS! Brainstormfivelocalbusinesseswhoproducecomplementaryproductsoroffercomplementaryservicestoyoursandcouldpotentiallymakeforgoodpartners.Notsurewheretostart?Tryyourareachamberofcommerceforamasterlistoffellowsmallbusinesses.

Vinny has been a longtime customer of Winston & Bailey, a small locally-owned pet supply store a few minutes from his office. He approaches one of the owners and asks if she would be willing to do some cross-promotional work to benefit both businesses. Sheila jumps on board and offers to recommend Vinny’s services on her Facebook and Yelp pages, as well as give customers coupons for 10% off their first vet visit. Vinny offers to write a post about them on his blog, and agrees to sell a few of their products in his office

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Pet Supply

640NLaSalle,Suite650Chicago,Illinois,60654Phone:312.994.2004

Email:info@urbanbound.com