Isn’t it cool when the Internet marketing strategies that you preach about building SEO actually work quickly?  I recently showed up in my own Google Alert . . .I mean yeah, me and that Alison Elliott actress show up for Google Alerts on Alison Elliott and yes, I show up for Google Alerts on Corner Your Market and other easy words but I have recently started working on some tougher words…words like “Internet marketing consulting” and “Internet marketing strategies.”

These words require a deeper level of commitment in my SEO work.  So, it was really exciting when my blog, live for only a few weeks and a blog post, submitted to an online blog directory, caused me to start showing up in Google Alerts for my keywords so quickly.  Yes, it took some planning, some set up and will continue to be a blogging requirement for me and my business, but Google now alerts people about me and if that isn’t cool, than I don’t know what is!

Alison Elliott is a Marketing Expert and founder of Corner Your Market Global Marketing.  To get these tips along with tips on SEO for Small Business, Social Media Marketing for Small Business, Unique, Interesting and Great Marketing Ideas for Small Business ,  Help Creating Online Marketing Plans for Small Businesses, and Businesses and Software to help Market your Small Business online , you can sign up to our small business marketing e-guide here.

As in anything, consistency is key.  If you are training to be an Olympic swimmer or run a triathlon, you need to train on a regular basis.  If you are learning the piano, the amount of time you practice will determine the speed of your success and so on . . .you know this right?

So, you need to apply that same principle to your internet marketing, your social media, your advertising and marketing, your blog writing, your networking and your SEO.  Consistency is Key!    Lets start small:

Step 1.  You have a blog, you have a Facebook fan page, you have a Twitter account, you have a twAitter account and you have the keywords you are focusing on to increase business . . .if not, run out and get those.  Or, if the thought overwhelms you, contact us and we can help.

Step 2.  Set up a plan for this week.  If today is Wednesday, make your plan for Wednesday to Wednesday.  If today is Friday, plan your week for Monday or to start with a little blogging on Sunday.  Make the decision and then move to step 3.

Step 3.  Take out a piece of paper and add the five days of the week down the left hand side with space in each section.  Feel free to do this on your computer.  I say write because I am more of a planner on paper (we can get into that later).

Step 4:  write in the articles or posts you are going to write for which day . . .and I hope you know you can schedule a post you write on your blog to post on a different day of the week.  Next, add in which days you are going to write on your Facebook business page and about what.  Then, create a quick Tweet for at least once, if not twice a day.  All of these need to have your keywords in them.

Step 5:  pick the day you are going to do all of this, the time you are choosing each day or who you are going to hire to help you with your internet marketing!

When you sit down to do this, open all your pages – blog dashboard, facebook business page and twaitter.  As you write your blog and schedule the publishing, add the post to Facebook and Twitter with a program that will preschedule it to post and tweet on the day your blog post goes live.  Make it a habit by doing this over and over and over and over and over . . . . . . . . remember, consistency is key.

Alison Elliott is a Marketing Expert and founder of Corner Your Market Global Marketing.  To get these tips along with tips on SEO for Small Business, Social Media Marketing for Small Business, Unique, Interesting and Great Marketing Ideas for Small Business ,  Help Creating Online Marketing Plans for Small Businesses, and Businesses and Software to help Market your Small Business online , you can sign up to our small business marketing e-guide here.

One way to really get familiar with what is going on in your keyword on the Internet . . .is to set up some Google Alerts.  You can monitor the chatter for your business.  This is really easy to do and a great internet marketing tip for search engine optimization. 

1.  Go to Google Alerts and sign into your account (or sign up if you don’t have a Google account yet)

2.  Set your keyword alerts.  Be careful on overloading the information you are about to receive.  Simple pick one to three of your focused keywords and then decide how often you want the updates and where

3.  Check your email or texts to read the alerts. 

These alerts help you see who is on Google’s radar for those keywords.  When you write in your blog or on your site, do your new posts show up for your keywords?  Who shows up and for what?  What are they doing?

These alerts serve a dual purpose.  You can monitor your success in showing up for your keywords but you can also keep up to date of what is going on in your industry specifically.

As always, if you need some help, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Alison Elliott is a Marketing Expert and founder of Corner Your Market Global Marketing.  To get these tips along with tips on SEO for Small Business, Social Media Marketing for Small Business, Unique, Interesting and Great Marketing Ideas for Small Business ,  Help Creating Online Marketing Plans for Small Businesses, and Businesses and Software to help Market your Small Business online , you can sign up to our small business marketing e-guide here.

Now that you have set up your blog there is a lot to do to customize it.  I am a fan of pushing every button and link inside your dashboard so that you become very familiar with your blogging software and what it can do for your blog.  From an Internet Marketing standpoint, there is so much to customize to make the most of your site:  your page names, your keywords, your tags, your categories, your external and internal links, cross linking, post titles, the words inside each post, a consistent posting structure, pertinent information for your readers, forms for signing up, sequencing when the sign up is complete, what you are going to give your readers to interest them, who is writing about you, your RSS feed, what you are reading, ping backs, comments, videos, photos, photo tags . . .the list goes on and on.

One thing to do immediately:  add the All In One SEO Pack Plugin to your blog.  This will help you with your search engine optimization.  To find the plugin inside your blogging dashboard (if you are using WordPress):

1.  Go to your Plugins section on the right side

2. Click on the “Add New” button near the top

3.  In the search section, type “All In One SEO” 

When you find the plugin, install it and then you will need to activate it and add all your keywords, change your page titles and customize the whole program.  It will make a huge difference in your search engine recognition.  If you need some help implementing this, don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Alison Elliott is a Marketing Expert and founder of Corner Your Market Global Marketing.  To get these tips along with tips on SEO for Small Business, Social Media Marketing for Small Business, Unique, Interesting and Great Marketing Ideas for Small Business ,  Help Creating Online Marketing Plans for Small Businesses, and Businesses and Software to help Market your Small Business online , you can sign up to our small business marketing e-guide here.

You have done your keyword research and purchased your domain name.  Now it is time to set up a blog so that you can write about your business and focus on bringing the world to the realization that you exist and you are a valuable source for your keyword(s).  By the way, start with only three keywords to focus on.

You have a choice:  set up a blog that is hosted elsewhere – think WordPress.com or Blogger – or you can set up a self-hosted blog where you have more control (this is what I recommend).  To do this, you start at WordPress.org and can host in a variety of places.  If you are new to this, I recommend GoDaddy for hosting on this one.  I don’t host there but it is a good place to start.

There are a lot of resources to help you with this process, including information right on their site.  You can purchase this ebook about setting up your own custom wordpress blogon GoDaddy.

If this is overwhelming to you or you don’t have the time to work on your SEO, contact us and we can help.

Alison Elliott is a Marketing Expert and founder of Corner Your Market Global Marketing.  To get these tips along with tips on SEO for Small Business, Social Media Marketing for Small Business, Unique, Interesting and Great Marketing Ideas for Small Business ,  Help Creating Online Marketing Plans for Small Businesses, and Businesses and Software to help Market your Small Business online , you can sign up to our small business marketing e-guide here.

After you have done your Google Keyword Research and decided on the keywords you are going to target, you need to purchase a domain name.  I like to purchase my domain names from GoDaddy.com. 

Ideally, your domain name should have your keyword in it and you need to register it for at least three years.  You may have to really get inventive with your domain name, trying dashes and adding word to find the perfect domain name for your site or blog. 

Registering your domain name for three years ensures that the search engines are taking your seriously because you are taking your business seriously – saying you are here to stay. 

So, go buy your domain names and stay tuned for the next steps to better search engine placement.

Alison Elliott is a Marketing Expert and founder of Corner Your Market Global Marketing.  To get these tips along with tips on SEO for Small Business, Social Media Marketing for Small Business, Unique, Interesting and Great Marketing Ideas for Small Business ,  Help Creating Online Marketing Plans for Small Businesses, and Businesses and Software to help Market your Small Business online , you can sign up to our small business marketing e-guide here.