If you’re looking for that, you probably already know that term stands for “Social Media Optimization”.

The first question I would ask is – Why are you looking for that?

Shouldn’t you be focusing on the real internet marketing foundation which is Ranking #1 in Google for your most valuable keywords?

Everyone wants a quick fix, and with all the buzz about Facebook and Twitter it can make you believe that Social Media Marketing is the most popular thing to do.

In my humble opinion, most (if not all) local businesses are chasing the “shiny” object called “Social Media” long before they have their true foundation and internet presence in place.

If you don’t rank #1 for all of your most valuable local search terms, why go after the 80% that only gets you 20% of the results. That’s the Social Media place right now.

You can Facebook and Twitter until you are blue in the face but if you don’t have a solid Google #1 position across dozens of your most valuable local search terms you are allowing your social media blitz to show up before your real content (which should be on your main website, and you have the most control over).

Imagine if your Facebook and Twitter content is at the top of the search engines and your competitor begins leaving negative comments or content about you on those same social media platforms — how much control do you have over that? Not much.

However, when you rank #1 in Google, you can add content to those #1 ranking pages and get it indexed by Google almost immediately.

Immediate indexing allows you to control the conversation in your market. Having no control over content outside of your company, with no #1 Google rankings to support you can be dangerous.

The truth is, most local companies leave their #1 rankings on the table because they are not easily won – however once achieved the power can be tremendous.

My “Top Of Google” service is the foundation a local business needs WAY BEFORE they embark on a Social Media Optimization program.

Engaging in Social Media Optimization or Marketing before you have a solid Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranking is putting the cart before the horse.

Web Market Authority can put your local business at the “Top Of Google” for an unlimited number of locally targeted keywords – this is the 20% which will get you 80% of the results.

Hire a Local SEO Expert for your Top Of Google rankings and avoid the Social Media Hype today.

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The Federal Trade Commission is now “requiring” a website “Privacy Policy” and “Terms of Service” to be prominently posted on every website that deals with a form of internet commerce – whether it be online or offline sales. They are also focusing on “testimonials” if you have them posted on your website.

Some specific requirements are to have very specific contact info listed in those documents along with stating exactly what you do with collected customer information and how you expect to use that data. There is also a “child protection” act that must be stated in the privacy policy in terms of data collection from a minor, if one happens to fill out your online form.

I always suggest housing that information on your website in the format of a “PDF” document, linked from every page. There are specific technical reasons for that and also, the links to those documents should be programmed in what is called a “NO FOLLOW” link – so the search engines don’t rank those pages and give them value.

The fines for website owners have been very high if the FTC attempts to take action against a website that does not have these items in place. It has been my experience that most websites “don’t” have a privacy policy and terms of service in place.

Here’s how I can help…

I own a software program that has the ability to create these documents, which can then be given to your legal department for review and additional edits if required. The original editable format is in a word document and then once completed we can easily turn those into a “PDF” format and house.

Because these items are not in the normal realm of my “internet marketing efforts and service” I would charge an hourly fee based on the estimated amount of time to assist you with this project.

By all means, get this handled – I can help. Email me for further assistance.

Here’s an interesting case study I just did in my own market niche which is “Internet Marketing For Local Business Owners“.

If you’re a local business owner wanting to maximize your advertising dollars by utilizing the power of the internet (i.e. Internet Marketing or Search Engine Optimization SEO) then you’ll certainly get a kick out of this.

What’s terrific about the internet is that you can test just about anything very quickly, and even more importantly you can track your specific return on investment for any individual search term using paid advertising such as Google Adwords or Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC).

In any market online you can test whether it makes sense to optimize your website for any given search term by first bidding on a per click basis (pay per click or PPC) on thousands of keywords and keyword phrases at once.

Typically, in any keyword list you might bid on, which is related to your particular business or niche there ends up being only a dozen or so keywords, terms or phrases that ever really convert to one of your desired actions.

A desired action from your website might be a phone call, a lead generation form, a newsletter subscriber, etc.

As an internet marketer, I know the exact terms that convert to sales or “actions” in my business online and I can use that against the competition to ferret out whether they know what they are doing online and if I should pay attention to them.

Here’s the simple premise behind this sort of “test the competition” and see how truly savvy they are. Luckily most online businesses are simply shooting in the dark and hoping for the best.

So, here’s what I did…

I found a local competitor of mine (competitor in terms of search engine rankings) and looked for a local search term in which they ranked number one for.

The search term I chose was: “Northern Virginia SEO Services”

When choosing that local search term, I wanted to chose one that does not convert to customers and essentially has no value (i.e. not a search term that would ever really convert to a sale or desired action). Essentially a very non competitive search term that you would only go after if you were either testing or possibly just shooting in the dark HOPING for the best.

Now, my point in choosing this useless term is to see how savvy the competition really is. The point being; if I launch a full on paid and natural search marketing campaign using a term that another website ranks well for, I’ll learn a few things about them.

1. they will ignore my efforts because they know the exact keywords and phrases that convert to sales in the local market.

OR

2. they will see my efforts as an attack (since they don’t really know what keywords convert for their business) and they will go on to launch a counter attack and be scared simply because they DON’T know what DOES convert to a sale in their own market.

Makes sense doesn’t it.

Based on their actions I will almost immediately know if they are a skilled competitor or if they are a “shoot in the dark” sort of wanna be.

Defending a search engine ranking they have, which doesn’t convert to real business will let me know immediately if they “get it” or if they are simply a “defensive” marketer. Correct?

What do you think they did?

Well, knowing that most online marketers in my field of work typically “don’t” get it – I expected a defense, and I got it.

I stole several top ten listings for the local search term “Northern Virginia SEO Services” and they mounted a defensive for weeks on end.

Little did they know I was stealing traffic on several other fronts that actually convert to customers and business while they were doing their defensive, shoot in the dark marketing to hold on to a top search engine ranking which was essentially useless.

Remember what I said at the beginning how easy online advertising can be in terms of tracking and return on investment. It’s even amazingly easy when testing or spying on the competition (and trust me, there is typically no REAL competition online in most markets).

What’s most interesting is; would you really want an internet marketing company who does defensive, useless promotion OR an internet marketing expert who can see the target and shoots to kill on search terms and keyword phrases that actually convert to a sale?

What would you choose…

Let’s throw it all out there and see what sticks, look at us we do everything?

OR

First let’s test, squeeze out the best of the best and then own that share of the market online?

I think you can make the most obvious choice.

In the end, who do you trust? The company that states they do anything and everything such as internet marketing, financial services, dry cleaning, real estate, business branding, lawn mowing and babysitting.

OR…

Would you rather trust your marketing to a company like Web Market Authority who has focus and doesn’t claim to be buying into the hype of the “we do it all” sort of marketing.

Remember, “he who attempts everything accomplishes nothing” — and as a local business owner you need focus and proven results to beat out the competition online. Don’t trust all of the buzz word marketing speak, your local business is worth more than just a shot in the dark.

If you’re a local business owner interested in gaining more online customers, Web Market Authority will implement a tested, proven plan and move you toward online market ownership without all the technical speak.

Ready to own your market online? Contact Us today and we’ll discuss your online marketing goals.

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If you’re not using the natural and paid search results to promote your local business and services then shame on you for not taking the bull by the horns and getting this part of your business handled once and for all — however I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you’ve tried but come up empty handed.

Here’s what I mean…

As a local business owner, you know you need to advertise; and I’m willing to bet you do just that using the local print ads along with “MoneyMailer”, “ValPak”, and many more local advertising options such as the “Yellow Pages”. <<< you're not really still using the Yellow Pages are you?

However, if you've attempted to do any research on how to market your business online then to be frank with you - it's confusing at best.

Most of the internet marketing companies I see advertising are all using the most popular buzz words to advertise their services to you and most of them probably just cause more confusion.

Terms like;

- Social Media Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Link Building
- Article & Video Syndication
- Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
- Vertical Online Marketing Analysis (VOMA)

...and the list of technical terms goes on.

As an internet marketer myself, I often wonder about internet marketing companies that claim to offer services on each and every topic (and more) like shown in the list above.

Do you really think those "we do it all" internet marketing companies are any good at all of those technical specialties? Do you ever wonder if they really have a handle on what's most important to your business (i.e. more customers, more profits, business growth, etc.)?

My take on this: “If you’re an expert at everything, you are good at nothing“

BEWARE; the internet marketing companies who talk over your head, use internet marketing terminology and frankly claim to be the end all for all marketing disciplines.

In the end, what is your real desire?

Is it to learn all of the internet marketing speak or is it to increase your business, get more customers, make more money and generally have this area of your marketing taken care of once and for all. Especially before your competition beats you to it.

What I’m suggesting is that if you come on board with Web Market Authority as a new internet marketing client, I promise to avoid all that technical speak and mumbo jumbo like the plague and begin marketing your online presence like you always imagined it should be.

What we WILL do is define the exact results you want from your website and then I personally will go to work implementing all the technical stuff required to make it happen. The only thing you’ll have to do is watch the results and calculate your return on investment (I can even help you with that too).

You won’t have to decide between things like (and I quote) “Multi-Media, Internet Marketing and Communications via Search Engine Optimization and Marketing (SEO/SEM), Social Media Marketing and Optimization (SMM/SMO), Website Design, Management or Upgrades, Broadcast Media Marketing and Advertising, Technical Consulting, Computer Training and Business Support, Project Management and a host of other Internet and computer services support” — or the likes of any of those Northern Virginia SEO Services technical terms disguised only to impress you (or confuse you) about the internet marketing possibilities.

It’s completely possible for a local business to own their market or niche on the internet without knowing any of the technical terms or marketing geek speak, or for that matter even knowing HOW it all works. With Web Market Authority you don’t need to know how any of those terms fit into your internet marketing mix, you just need to know what the end result is that builds your business.

Does a company (like the one I quoted above) REALLY understand what you as a local business owner (who just happens to have a website) really needs from their internet marketing efforts? OR are they just throwing around a bunch of technical terms so they can seem like experts?

Remember; “If you’re an expert at everthing, you are good at nothing”

Another saying I like is; “he who attempts to sell everything, sells nothing”

What’s great about internet marketing is that it’s all infinitely trackable. As a business owner you can see the results directly online and in your monthly/yearly business growth.

And, unless you’re an expert at tracking your advertising (simply asking customers that call where they found you is NOT the best tracking system) then you’ll find that search engine marketing can be much more powerful than any “ValPak”, “MoneyMailer” or “Yellow Page Ad” you can place.

Here’s What You Should Do Next…

1. Try to put yourself into your customers shoes and begin looking for your services on the internet. Search locally and specifically from a customers perspective who doesn’t know you exist.

2. Are you on the first page of search engine results at all?

– NO; if not, Contact Me and I’ll show you why (I have nothing to sell, only something to tell)

– YES; great, you rank well in the search engines but are your listings compelling? Would your search visitor click your listing over all others? If not, Contact Me and we’ll discuss the possibilities.

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