You Can Learn To Promote Your Business For Nothing!

When you run your own business, there are a lot of different things to get done. Odds are good you won't be perfect at all of them. There will likely be plenty of things you don't know how to do at all.

The problem for a lot of small business owners who serve as solo-preneurs is there isn't enough time or money to do everything that needs to be accomplished. It may be most cost effective to outsource some of the things you don't know. One thing you can learn to do is promote your business - and it doesn't have to cost you any money.

One of the best ways to promote your business is to get your website listed higher in the search engine results pages so web surfers can find you. Here are some tips to help you do that without paying a high dollar SEO expert.

What is the Question Your Customer is Asking?

When people surf the Internet, they are looking for the answer to a question. Your marketing plan needs to be based on what that question is and how your business provides the answer for the customer.

Typically, when someone starts an Internet search, they type in a few words about their question or problem. For example, if they are searching for a new bed, they will probably type in "beds" or maybe "queen-sized beds." They might type in 'mattresses" or "mattress sets."

Your job is to figure out which terms they are using and then line up your website and marketing materials with those words or phrases. This is known as "keyword research" a necessary component of Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

Keyword Research Tells You the Question

The Internet provides many different tools you can use to conduct keyword research. Many of them are free, including many webmaster's favorite, Google Keyword Tool.

With a keyword tool, you type in the word or words identifying your industry, business or product, you will see how many times each particular word or phrase is searched for on a daily, monthly and annual basis.

You will also get something at least as valuable and maybe more. You will get a list of up to 100 related keywords. These related keywords will also show the statistics for how often they are used as search terms. You can then take some of these keywords and incorporate them into your web copy, blog posts and articles used in your marketing funnel.

It's important to choose a limited number of these keywords. Don't try to gear your copy to dozens of keywords or it will end up without enough focus to do you any good. Instead, choose just a couple for each piece you write.

Try to use keywords listed high in the daily search list, but keep in mind the competition for some of the most popular terms. Type your keyword into Google Search and take notice of how many hits show up on the upper right corner of the results page. If your most popular keyword results in several million hits, your best bet may be to move on to another keyword choice on the list.

Use Your Keywords Strategically It matters where you place your keywords in your copy. The title, page headers and the first paragraph of your copy are extremely important locations for your keywords. Don't just stuff your keywords haphazardly throughout your copy, however. The number one way to gain rankings in the search engine results pages is by writing excellent copy that incorporates your keywords naturally.

These guidelines are just the tip of the SEO iceberg. You can learn to promote your business on the Internet for free and SEO techniques are one important strategy to help you do so successfully.