Search engines like Google offer something which few other advertising strategies can. They facilitate a connection between your business and a prospect at the exact moment of interest / intent (i.e. you own a roofing company in Memphis and someone living in Memphis searches, "Memphis roofing contractors"). It doesn't take much mental horsepower to recognize that if your website is not listed at least once on the first page of Google, Bing, and Yahoo for keywords related to the products/services you offer, you're losing jobs to those that are [listed on the first page].

Before You Hire an SEO Company

But, before you start calling SEO companies to ask them what they offer, how much they charge, etc., I'd urge you to pause and take a step back. Think for a moment about what it is you'really need. Is it'sEO or profitable ways to generate more leads and grow your business?

it's almost certainly the latter.

SEO is a marketing strategy or tactic (depending on your perspective) that can be a highly profitable way to grow your business. However, as effective as SEO is in this regard, it's only one arrow in a much larger quiver. In my opinion, what you'really need - before SEO - is a framework for marketing and more specifically online marketing.

If you call around to various SEO companies and ask them what they offer and how much it costs, most are going to answer your questions in a somewhat direct manner. I'm here to tell you that they are making a strategic business mistake (for their own company) and doing you a disservice in the process.

Why You Need a Framework for Online Marketing

To clear up any confusion, when I say a framework, what I'm talking about is a process to make complex decisions when the variables are dynamic and constantly changing. Those light on experience tend to think of the world in black and white terms. I know this was true for me when I first got started running a business, and if you're honest with yourself, I'm sure you can find a dozen or so examples of where it has been true in your life (if not, consider yourself lucky!).

Think about your customers... doesn't this generally ring true in your interactions with them? An unsophisticated customer might take two bids for their kitchen remodeling project and go straight to the price - as if all kitchens (and the craftsmanship required to create them) are the same.

As you gain experience, you'realize that there are an awful lot "grey areas." You find yourself saying, "it depends" a lot more than you used to. How much should you invest to optimize your website? Should you pay someone to improve your current site or build you a new one? Is Pay Per Click advertising worth it? What's a good visit-to-lead conversion rate? Should you build multiple websit's? The answer to all of these questions - contrary to What'some "purported" online marketing experts might tell you - is "it depends."

The Proven Way to Make Smarter Marketing Decisions

The framework required to make more intelligent marketing decisions (and what you should do before you hire an SEO company) is simple: TRACK>TEST>TWEAK>REPEAT.

TRACK

Before you teach yourself SEO and spend a bunch of time making changes to your website, or hire a company to do it for you, take an inventory (audit) of your business (from a marketing standpoint). This exercise falls into the "TRACK" bucket. As part of it, you need to determine things like:

• How much do I want to grow - What's my goal?
• What am I willing to pay (or What'should I be willing to pay) for one new customer?
• What are my conversion rates (lead to sale, web visit to lead, etc.)?
• How many leads do I need to hit my goals?
• How many leads am I currently getting from my website, Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.?
• Given everything above, What's the most I should be willing to pay to generate a lead?

If you are serious about building a sizeable, profitable contracting business, you need to stop asking questions like, "what do you charge for SEO?" or "What's the cheapest package you have for SEO?" and start asking questions like, "how would you determine an online marketing strategy for my business?" or "describe the process you use to determine how much I should be investing in SEO?"

Whether you believe it or not, these ARE the right questions to be asking.

TEST

Once you have baseline numbers for the marketing aspect of your business, you need to implement a test (or multiple tests). If you can't find your website on the first page for relevant search phrases, SEO might be a priority test. Having already been through the TRACK part of the framework, it's a whole lot easier to set realistic SEO goals and come up with an initial budget.

Just recognize that tracking doesn't end after you collect baseline data. You have to accurately track all your tests.

TWEAK & REPEAT

There are few feelings in business as rewarding as the satisfaction of having made a data-driven decision. This is especially true when you can also see your competitors doing the opposite of whatever you're doing (knowing that they are only making their decision based on "following the herd"). One of the single most enjoyable days of my business career was watching Bob Perini of DrinkMore Water cancel $120,000 of print yellow page ads - based on data we had collected from our tracking. The YP sales rep simply couldn't believe his ears. He was almost yelling at the two of us - telling us how much we were going to regret our decision; that were on the fast track to going out of business, and that our competitors were all doubling the size of their ads.

I'm happy to say that DrinkMore Water is alive and well today; in fact, they are one of the most successful bottled water delivery businesses in the country (meanwhile several YP companies have gone bankrupt and most of DrinkMore's competitors are long gone).

Final Takeaways

For the past five years or so, most businesses have taken a very tactical approach to online marketing. My bet is that this is going to change (dramatically) over the next 2-3 years. All businesses - small, medium, and large - are going to shift from shopping for SEO packages and start looking for the best framework within which to make data-driven marketing decisions.

there's a tremendous amount of value to be gained by being at the front of this curve - rather than playing catch up to the early adopters. And when you think about it, what do you'really have to lose?

Let me give you 3 compelling reasons you should NOT create more pages for your website:

Google ranks web pages NOT web sit's. Let me repeat that - Google ranks web pages NOT web sit's. Every page you add to your web site creates a new opportunity for Google, Bing, and Yahoo to find you. If you're gearing up for a relaxing summer, creating more web pages can put a serious crimp on your plans! So, remember - if you're trying to stay anonymous, stop that office phone from ringing off the hook, and help your competitors grow their business, Don't write and publish more pages on your web site.

Enjoy the weather and I'll see you at the beach!!

Which of the following is untrue of Zappos.com?

A. The number one priority at Zappos is their company culture.

B. Zappos embraces and encourages change.

C. Everyone that is hired into Zappos headquarters, regardless of department or title, goes through the same training that their call center reps go through.

D. At the end of their 1st week of training Zappos offers everyone in the class $4,000 to quit.

E. The Zappos mantra is: ?Meet customers expectations every time.?

(From the book, DELIVERING HAPPINESS ? A PATH TO PROFITS, PASSION, AND PURPOSE, Tony Hsieh, Round Table Companies, 2012.)

Last week's question and answer:

Every good-to-great company profiled in Jim Collins? book, GOOD TO GREAT, had Level 5 leadership during their ??to great? leap. A Level 5 leader:

A. Recognizes that any company is a direct reflection of its leader, thus the leader must display panache and seize the spotlight at every opportunity.

B. For the good of the company must preserve him/herself at all costs, so takes credit for success, and assigns blame for disappointing results.

C. Should be hired from outside the company rather than promoted from within.

D. Would not even think of attributing success to luck; rather believes success is derived from great leaders.

E. Is humble and driven.

(From the book, GOOD TO GREAT, 2001, Jim Collins, HarperCollins.)

The most correct answer is E. Is humble and driven.

Paraphrased from the book:

Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves. They are more plow horse than show horse.

Level 5 leaders blame themselves when things go poorly and attribute success to factors other than themselves, including frequently luck.

One of the most damaging trends in recent history is the selection of dazzling, celebrity leaders from outside the company over more dowdy potential Level 5 leaders from within.

Hi folks, as a token of my gratitude to the community, I asked my SEO person to write her best tips for busy contractors. This is What'she came back with:

Today I want to give you three simple strategies how to help local prospects find your company?s website online.

The Local Search Dilemma

All contractors I spoke with want their website to get found online more often. All of them want local customers, but Don't know what to do to attract them with the help of their website.

Many have already been lured by the promises of unscrupulous SEO professionals, paid thousands of dollars to ?get on the first page of Google? just to see their site penalized, and money and traffic lost.

Even if I tell them what to do, They arespond with something along the line, ?I am a darn good electrician, but have no time to sit in front of computer,? or simply ?I am not good at this.?

I think we can all agree that being found by qualified customers on the local search will bring more business without costly advertising.

And there are free ways of doing it.

Here is a little experiment for you. Google your local city and your trade, for example, ?general contractors Minneapolis.? Of course you will see lots of local results. Now, type ?general contractors? and see whether you still get local businesses.

You do. As a customer, you Don't even have to add a local area to a query because Google can match customer?s location with business address of general contractors and display the best result.

So, if you do nothing else, provide the big three search engines with your business address , phone and description. In other words, create a business listing. When you do this, one of the most important things to watch for is your company address.

From now on, wherever you list your website online, make sure your business address comes in the consistent format. No extra spaces, no ?St.? vs ?Street? or ?Suite? vs ?#?.

Your phone number must come in a consistent format as well. If your chose (416) xxx-xxxx, stick to it. Don't change it to any other format.

The best way to ensure consistency is to create a template in MS Word or Excel and copy-paste from it.

There will be common parts in all business listings, such as description, years in business, address, hours of operations, and so on. When creating your first listing, just write them down in MS Word, and keep copy-pasting every time you create a new listing.

Another tip is, upload as many pictures as you are allowed in your business listing. Google Images is a great free source of traffic.

Note to the Canadians here, only Google + Local is available to you. Yahoo! and Bing are for the US businesses only.

Start here:

http://listings.local.yahoo.com/overview.php

http://www.bing.com/businessportal

http://www.google.com/+/business/

2. Create local citations.

Citation is simply a mention of your business name with either address , website, or phone number, or combination of the three.

Your customers use their preferred sit's to search for local businesses. Sit's like Yelp, Manta, Angie?s list enhance their customer experience by providing reviews and social component. People may be reviewing your business there, and you should use your chance to say a few good words about yourself.

In addition to that, did you know that Google uses feeds from these popular websit's to create listings for local businesses too? One more incentive for you to create a citation.

Here is a great free tool to find prominent local directories in your area:

http://getlisted.org/resources/local-citations-by-city.aspx

And for Canada, here is a good picture of the Local Search Ecosystem in Canada

3. How to find time and resources to DO IT

I can hear you say, ?But I have no time for this.?

• Consider that this investment of your time will provide returns for many years ahead. Unlike with Yellow Pages, no regular payment is required. Listing your company in the web directories is done once and works for you for years.
• If you would like to outsource to an SEO professional, do not get lured by promises like ?1000 directories listings for only $40.? The times when you wanted to be listed in 1000?s crappy directories are gone. Businesses get penalized for doing this. Consider a reputable company to create and manage your online reputation.
• Lastly, if you have a teenager or another family member who is looking for ways to earn some money, hire them to do this for you. Doing so has three advantages: low cost, 100% control, and ability to claim their labor as advertisement expenses. Teens are very efficient with web, and copy-pasting is not a rocket science.

In conclusion, many contractors simply Don't understand the importance of these steps, while some cannot find time or resources for doing this. As you can see, these important tasks can be outsourced. Don't postpone taking control of your online identity in the local search. Be there, be present, and grow your business by creating and maintaining your local business listings.