Search Engine Optimization aka SEO and Billboards

Article by Jason

SEO is the means of getting your website to show up more frequently on Google searches.  For most businesses, this means showing up on the first page or (even better) the top half of the first page.  At Oxsome, we've gotten very good at ranking website’s on the first page for our clients. Some client's have HUNDREDS of first page placements!

I often get asked by clients: “Jason, how can Oxsome get my website to show up on Google?  I just did a search and I couldn’t find it.”  This of course is a totally reasonable question.  However, it is a VERY difficult question to answer.   Google searches are much more complicated. 

Take this example for instance:

Let’s say I bought a bunch of billboards for my company.  I work hard to design my billboard and aim to have the billboards launched on the 1st of the month.  On the second week of the month, I drive around looking for my billboards and I can’t find any of them! Frustrated, I call my billboard salesperson and said, “Hey salesperson - I drove all over town and I didn’t see my billboard anywhere!  What’s going on?”  

I would imagine the first thing the billboard rep is going to say “Well, where did you look?  What roads were you driving on?  Well, the exact same thing applies to search engine optimization and your website.  What exactly did you type into Google?  THIS is the key question.  

At Oxsome, we try to take a very simple approach to SEO by breaking it out into two buckets.

Bucket 1: Increase website traffic with the most widely used search terms.  This strategy is often used by websites that want national exposure.  With bucket 1, there is typically a lot of research that goes into identifying the search phrases that are most commonly used across the country.

Bucket 2: Show up on search for very specific search terms.  This strategy is most often used by local businesses who know what their customers type into search.  Since rankings can vary wildly by typing in different search terms, it’s very important to figure out the most common sense keywords and start from there.  Bucket 2 is the most common approach for Oxsome clients and the strategy we have found to move the needle much faster for local businesses.  With specific search terms you can track rankings with “rank reports”.  At Oxsome, we typically send these every Monday morning, so you know exactly where you stand with the targeted keywords.  

Rank Report Example

At Oxsome, all our websites come with core SEO built in.  This means, all our websites receive the core backend structure to give each website the best chance to show up for as many search terms as possible.  Through rigorous testing, we generally have a good idea of how websites should be built and configured.  However, there are instances where this internal structure or “on page” tactics are NOT enough and require much more.  Since there are only 10 spots on the first page, competition can often be fierce and in order to show up, will require more resources to show up on page 1.  Different search phrases can require varying amounts of resources needed. 

In order to set your local business up for success, its first very important to identify the search terms that will have the biggest impact on your business and then strategize from there.