Find Local Searchers

Businesses want their websites in the top results when a request for their product or service is typed into one of the search engines. This is not unrealistic if you are selling a specialized product. A specialized product will more than likely have fewer businesses competing for the same search terms. With less competition, it is easier to achieve quality search positions.

When a business is selling a generic product it has a lot of competitors. And those competitors will range from small businesses to large businesses. And some competitors, normally the larger businesses, will invest heavily in their website resources to gain those higher positions. They will have a staff that works on their website. Part of that staff will focus on search engine rankings. And many work hours will be devoted to search engine management.

So, what can a small business do to get traffic to their website if they are selling a generic product?

Focus on a geographic region

Small businesses, in most cases, focus their business on small geographic regions. And often, their potential customers are looking for local businesses to provide the product they are searching for. So how can these two parties meet?

Let's think about what the searcher is going to do. Say they are looking for window blinds. If they use a search engine, the first thing they are most likely to do is type in "window blinds." After they do that what is going to happen? The businesses that have invested heavily in their web resources are most likely to show up. Does this get the searcher what he's looking for? Not at all. Most likely, the businesses that show up in the high positions are located in different regions of the country.

So what will the searcher do next? Probably narrow the search to an area that is near by. Let's say Charlotte, NC. So do you think those same websites are going to show up when the searcher types in "charlotte window blinds"? No they will not. The results will now include websites that focus on "Charlotte." And there will be fewer businesses competing for this set of words.

So if you have a small business selling a common product, think about the process your local potential customer is going to go through in looking for your product. If the first set of search terms does not gain the results the searcher is looking for, then how will they narrow their search? If you can focus your site on the second set of terms, that potential customer could become your customer for life.