Google Guru Has Advice for Small Businesses

On August 14th I was interviewed by Wisconsin Public Radio regarding my book, The Small Business Owner’s Handbook to Search Engine Optimization. I had a great time working with Terry Bell from WPR and the interview turned out good. You can listen to the interview via Real Player, which may require you to download the player. The installation is pretty simple. I also had the interview transcribed so the details are below.

Google Guru Has Advice for Small Businesses

With the number of businesses without their own websites now in the vast minority, it is now increasingly important that entrepreneurs ensure their own sites appear in the top ten of any Internet search result. One man knows how to put them at the top of that list, and he has written a book on the subject. Terry Bell of Wisconsin Public Radio talks to Stephen Woessner about The Small Business Owner’s Handbook to Search Engine Optimization.

Running time 2:55

Click here to listen to interview via Real Player

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Terry Bell: This reminds of the old advice about starting your business with the letter “A” so that it comes up first in the yellow pages. Does this work something like that?

Stephen: (laughing) Well, not really, but it is a good analogy. Because obviously you want to be first in Google rankings and it is not as difficult as what some small business owners might perceive. It is actually pretty simple.

Terry Bell: Can you tell us what the secret is or do we have to buy the book?

Stephen: Well, no, it is not necessarily a secret. In my book, I have boiled down all the different types of tools and techniques into 15 simple steps that any small business owner can sit down and do. Whether that is writing custom page titles, or specifically how to optimize content, but really it revolves around selecting the very best keywords, and saving time and money by only spending time optimizing your site around keywords that are proven performers. And I show business owners in a real simple 3-step process how to do that, and it is using free tools, to be able to do it. And so for the cost of a book that is $16 off Amazon, business owners can literally, no joke, save thousands of dollars and hours and hours of time, by implementing a very simple process.

Terry Bell: And you make that point too that this not only helps bring you to the top of a Google search results list but it is a very cost effective way for a business to reach the public.

Stephen: Well, exactly, but Terry I have owned four different businesses so I understand the time and cash constraints that a small business is under. A business owner does not have time to sit down and spend hours, hours, and hours trying to get to the top 10 of Google. It is just not realistic. So how can we spend the least amount of time and get the maximum benefit? And really it is not that complicated when we follow a very focused strategy. And this book does it for somebody.

Terry Bell: Is it practical, or even possible, these days to have a small business and not have a Web site?

Stephen: Uhm, I don’t think so. I mean even if you are doing business locally, I think that customers today, and prospects today, equate credibility so heavily with a Web site that if a company large or small that if they are credible, they have a Web site…they have testimonials, they have reviews, they have a story about their product and services, locations, hours…all the basic things. All that stuff is online now and if a company doesn’t, large or small, have a Web site, I think it is a credibility indicator. And we all need those.

Terry Bell: Stephen Woessner, thanks for being with us.

Stephen: You’re welcome. Thanks Terry.