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The best thing that most Australian businesses can do to get better results in Google is not nerdy at all. Its simple and easy and almost no one does it. Its just asking your customers one specific question about your business...
The first thing you need to know to do well in Google is what your customers are likely to search on. This sounds basic, and it is, but its fundamental to getting great results for your site.
You can't be "higher up in Google" for every search term. So the idea is to find the best balance between:
- Search phrases that potential customers are likely to search on if they didn't know your name. EG if you run Bianca's Beauty Salon they won't search for "Bianca" but they might search for "beauty salon Melbourne" or "day spa".
- Search phrases that you can realistically get a high position for in Google's search results. Basically no one bothers going to the page 2 or 3 on Google. So no matter how great the search phrase is if the competition to get onto page one (and ideally in the first 5 results) is too tough then its good to look at a different phrase.
- Popular phrases ie terms that people use a lot. All things being equal more searches in Google should translate to more potential customers visiting your site.
One of the best ways to do this is really simple, just ask your existing customers a non-leading question:
"What would you type into Google to find a business like ours if you didn't know our name."
Its also great to ask "and if that search didn't get what you wanted what would you try next?" Most searchers will refine a few times eg type in beauty and get lots of rubbish then type in "beauty salon" and perhaps add "melbourne"
Don't suggest any answers eg if Bianca asks "What would you type into Google to find a beauty salon? you can bet that all answers will contain "beauty salon".
Do keep a record of all the answers. The aim is to find about 10 phrases to check for competition and amount of searches. Usually we will then focus on the 3 or 4 most promising phrases and work to get your site to the top in Google for them.
Do keep it simple. If you ask 5 people that will be 5 times more research than most people do. The main thing is to ask the question and record the results.
If you can ask a customer to actually do a Google search and watch them, this is a fantastic eye opener. This is because more than 9 times out of 10 people will modify their search to add more words and hone down what they are looking for. It is this final phrase you want your site to come up top for.
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