Can They Find You?
I’m in the business of helping businesses get found on Google and other search engines. I do this FOR my clients with my consulting company, and WITH my clients at the Bay Area Search Engine Academy. Business owners are starting to figure out that just having a Web site isn’t enough any more. In reality, it’s your most powerful marketing tool out there. It sits there 24 hours a day, hopefully attracting people who want to buy your stuff.
But there’s the rub. If your customers can’t find you, then what good is it? It’s the same as a brochure that you paid good money for that sits on a shelf unread. It’s a waste of money.
So I decided to put together a very simple tool called CanTheyFindMe.com. All you do is put in your Web address and a search phrase – something your clients would use to look for you. After all, YOU use Google to look for stuff too, right? So does 70% of the rest of the world.
CanTheyFindMe.com comes back and tells you if you show up in the top 10 searches on Google (which is great), top 20 searches (which is good), or *gasp*, not anywhere to be found.
I think most businesses will be shocked to find out that their Web site is nowhere to be found on Google.
By the way, if you play with it, be sure to use what your customers would search for, not what YOU call yourself. For instance, most attorneys call themselves “attorneys”. It’s more distinguished. But guess what? Most people SEARCH for “lawyers”. So maybe your site shows up for an estate planning attorney in your town, but if your clients are looking for a probate lawyer, do you show up then?
Check it out.