3 min reading timeYou want to show up on the first page of Google for the product categories your company sells. How can you rank highly for a term on Google?
I can assure you: Someone in your competitive set is spending money on search engine optimization (SEO). And it’s probably some of the most effective marketing spending they are doing.
Here are the basic concepts.
Search engine optimization intimidates a lot of people. Even the term sounds intimidating. But let’s break it down.
- Search engine. Just means “Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.” The box where you type your search term.
- Optimization. Just means “have your site come up when terms of interest are typed in.”
“Having your site come up” is, arguably, the most important thing you can do because the “searcher” is looking for information about your products right now! What better time to let her know why she should be talking with you.
So how do you do that?
There are two basic levers Google uses to determine your rank:
- The words. When someone searches for “medical device marketing,” Google looks for those words. So if you want to win for that term, be sure to sprinkle “medical device marketing” throughout your website.
- The links. Google gives consideration to the number and quality of the sites on the web who recognize you as a destination for “medical device marketing.” When you hyperlink, it’s best if you use the term you are targeting in the “anchor text” and point to a page on your site. In general, the more often this happens, the higher your Google ranking.
I work with expert SEO professionals who know much more about SEO than I do. If you aren’t working with an SEO specialist, I urge you to contact me for a referral.
A funny story
A few years back when I got online to build the “Joe Hage” brand, I was not the “number one Joe Hage.” I set out to outrank all the other Joe Hages.
I created a mythical battle where all the other Joe Hages were Sinestro Joe Hages to my Green Lantern Joe Hage.
I wrote a tongue-in-cheek piece called “Those Other Joe Hages.” I talked about a dozen online Joe Hages and I used a trick an SEO expert taught me.
He advised using expressions like Expert Medical Device Marketing and Professional Medical Device Marketing and The Original Medical Device Marketing in your text can help. Doing so leads web spiders to conclude that this must be The Most Important Medical Device Marketing and The Most Relevant Medical Device Marketing to people searching for Medical Device Marketing (or “Joe Hage” in my original example).
I became the “number one Joe Hage” three days after the article appeared.
Does this still work? Probably not. Things change quickly online. And the “keyword density” is too high. Google knows I’m “keyword spamming.”
Once again, if you want advice from a true expert, email me and I’ll put you in touch with my resources.
