2010 SEO Challenges

At the recent Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago, Ralph Wilson (wilsonweb.com) and Amanda Watlington (searchingforprofit.com) discussed the challenges that are facing small businesses as search evolves and browsers become more intuitive.

The one thing that stood out and something I wholeheartedly agree with, is Amanda's comment about small businesses that still are NOT using the Local Business Center to claim their spot on Google Maps. In my visits with most of you, this is something you still haven't completed. I cannot stress how important this is - I've been saying it for a year, but it's critical now with the changes we will see in search for the coming year.

Last year I developed this free email series to help busy small business owners accomplish this task. It's free to create a profile about your business on all the top search engines (Google, Yahoo! and Bing); it just takes a bit of time and organization on your part. My email series helps you with this by spelling out step-by-step how do to this. Being a small business owner myself, I realize we usually have good intentions that never materialize. So I developed this series to be delivered on a timed schedule so you'll have time to complete one step before the next email with instructions arrives.

Click here to sign-up for my email list and get this free series now!

Here's a quick summary of the points covered in the video below:

1. Google is now using page loading speed in their ranking algorithm. The engineering of some sites can make this a difficult problem to fix quickly, so webmasters should study the problem now with speed detection tools such as YSlow and Google Page Speed.
2. Localization is growing in importance for businesses with one or more physical locations. Businesses need to claim their local online identity by completing online forms that give information on their businesses on local search sites, such as Google Local Business Center. Revisit regularly to be sure your data is up-to-date.
Personalization is a growing influence, where a person's previous search history influences the search results of their next search. Watch the video (only 9 minutes).

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is widely recognized as one of the top international authorities in the area of Internet marketing.

Amanda Watlington is the principal of a marketing consultancy which focuses on developing business results for clients adopting new marketing strategies.