I’ve been in this SEO game a while now, and hands down, the most pervasive problem I people suffering from is varying degrees of online invisibility.

You’ve tried “all the right things” (when inspiration hits!): writing blogs, showing up on social media, gracing YouTube with your presence and even recording podcasts to show your people that you’re in business but, more often than not, the result is crickets.  

And seeing no results for all that hard work is soul-destroying. Putting yourself out there and stepping out into the arena is not for the faint-hearted. But, when it’s rewarded at best by just a trickle of visitors to your website, well, after a while, it’s enough to get you questioning whether your business is ever going to work.

So today, I want to look at why, despite the work you’re putting into getting your business found online, you’re getting little or no traction, and you are stubbornly remaining one of the internet’s best-kept secrets.

The Truth Is There Are Plenty of People Out There 

The truth of the matter is there are LOTS of people out there looking for the solution to the problem they have or the experience you have to offer, so yes, your business could be working better.

There are literally thousands of people who desperately need your services who are scouring the internet as you read, looking for exactly the solution you can offer them to the problem they have the money and the motivation to solve.

Look, there are 6.8 million m searches for crochet patterns for chicken jackets - so having a business that no one is interested in is probably not the issue here!  

 

The long and short of it is that people want you, they're searching for you, and the only reason they’re not working with you right now is that they don’t know you exist, which is down, in part, to your hard work to get yourself out there being spot on from the intention perspective, but not effective, which is what I’ll talk about in a minute.

How Do You Stop Being The Internet’s Best-Kept Secret? 

Well, first, let me tell you a story.  

When I first started my online consulting business, I was so excited. The solution to all my problems was there, right in front of me. I could have the flexibility to work around my family commitments, I could do the work I loved with people I enjoyed working with, I could set up my office anywhere in the world so I could travel, and “they” promised me I’d be rolling in cash within weeks.

So I built my own website, listed out my consulting and coaching packages, turned the metaphorical shop sign to open and sat back to wait for the flood of clients I just knew was coming my way.

I had more than 20 years of experience as a management consultant, not to mention the fact that I was a chartered management accountant; I had an amazing corporate background, I was a double accredited coach, and if I do so say myself, was an easy going but professional person to work with.

So, was I deluged with clients? Was I overwhelmed with enquiries? Was I burning the midnight oil to satisfy demand? 

The simple answer is no.  Nada. No one got in touch. I didn’t get one client.

My online business success bubble was well and truly burst, but at the time, sloping back to corporate wasn’t an option, so I needed to work out what was going on.

I pulled my business to pieces and searched for what could be wrong. Was it my offer? Was it my pricing? Was it my website template? Was it me? 

Eventually, I realised it was none of the above. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my business; it was simply my assumption that if I built a business, they would come.

I didn’t realise (or want to accept) that I’d need to promote my services, that I’d need to shout about my business from the rooftops, as loud and for as long as it took until people started realising I existed and that I could solve the problems they were searching for answers to.

But once I got the message out, and I started getting known, the visitors to my website did start rolling in, and I did nurture those new relationships. I did turn them into paying clients, and eventually, I had to open a waiting list for my one-to-one services and move to running courses so I could serve all the people who wanted my help.

I had to ditch the sit back and wait approach and got out there and told people I was there to help them, time and time again, until eventually, I started showing up in the places they were looking for help. They got to know me, started liking my messages, got to trust me, and, yes, decided to buy from me.

But How Do I Get MY Business Found? 

Well, in the old days, if you wanted to tell people about your business and get found (aka promote it), you’d put an ad in the local paper, list yourself in the Yellow Pages, get some flyers printed up and post them around town or maybe if you were feeling super fancy, you’d get a billboard to do the hard work for you.

 But these days, we’ve got some far more powerful tools at our disposal. With the click of a button, you can reach millions of people all across the world, 

You can get yourself on social media and engage with a huge audience across loads of different platforms as long as you have the time to manage the process and create all the content you need to feed the machine.

Or, you could try the influencer route, and get other people to promote your business for you. You could get them to help you build your brand and your credibility and audience, just as long as they really are aligned with your brand, creating the content you need, and they behave themselves!

And then there’s affiliate marketing, where people who believe in your product do the selling for you, or paid ads are always an option if you’ve got the budget.

Or you could give content marketing a whirl, where you build your brand and authority by creating valuable, relevant content that enhances your relationships with your customers.

Yes, it takes time to consistently produce high-quality content, but when backed up with SEO, it’s incredibly powerful and my favourite way to promote my business.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free!

So Why Aren’t You Using These Strategies?

If you’ve got all these tools at your disposal, especially content marketing, why aren’t you using them?

Why aren’t you embracing digital marketing to shout from the rooftops that your business is open for business and that you’re here to help?

Well, there are some pretty good and perfectly understandable reasons why you, and most other online business owners, aren't. 

Believe me, you’re not alone.

Here are the reasons I’ve seen that stop people from using the strategies that would get their businesses found online.

Reason 01 - They Don’t Have A Plan 

Getting your content marketing plan set up isn’t really that hard or complicated, but there are LOTS of choices to make and steps you need to work through.

What content creation tools are best? What do you do first, keyword research or writing? What should I be writing about, and when?

 These are just a few of the MANY steps you’ll take and questions you’ll need to answer.

But most online business owners treat the process of creating their content as just ANOTHER thing they’ve got to do and add it to their ever-growing list of things they’ll get around to at the very last possible moment.

But the thing is, content marketing is a critical business strategy that needs to be broken down into bite-sized chunks and committed to implementing step by step if you want your website to be found by the people who matter. 

Giving content the time it deserves and treating its creation as a project will transform your business and will play a major role in your getting found online.

Reason O2 - They Get Overwhelmed By The Tech

The terminology around Content Marketing and the SEO you need to get it to show up in the search results can be confusing. 

When you’ve got to start pressing hidden buttons on the backend of your website as well, you’d be forgiven for being scared you’ll break the whole thing and give up.

And most people running online businesses do just that. They get totally overwhelmed by the tech involved in promoting their business, throw their hands in the air and decide to cross their fingers and hope that someone will find their website by chance.

But the thing is, once you speak the basics geek speak, it’s really not hard to get by. And, if you’re following an easy-to-understand process for optimising the content you’re creating as well as your website, you really can’t break it. 

You need to learn the basics so you can empower yourself to take charge of your own business and not rely on luck. 

Reason 03 - They Ignore Search Engine Optimisation

I want to share some pretty insane stats to show you that if you want to stop being the internet’s best-kept secret, you absolutely need to get your head around SEO (but don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet; you’re not alone!)

According to Ahrefs, 96.55% of all pages get zero traffic from Google, and 1.94% get between one and ten monthly visits. In other words, the vast majority of published pages never rank in Google and never get any search traffic. Why? Because these pages are not Search Engine Optimised.

So, If you don’t want all your hard work to go unseen, like 97% of the rest of the internet, you need to start using SEO and give your content the full optimisation treatment.  

Just look what happens….

You’ll start showing up on the first page of Google in the highly coveted top spots. The content that Google serves up in the first five organic (not ads) positions in the search results gets 68% of all the clicks. Only 0.78% of people searching for things on Google look at anything past page one!

Websites with search engine-optimised blogs see a 434% better chance of being well-ranked on search engines.

Search Engine Optimised content drives 1000%+ more traffic to your website than organic social media posts.  

Oh, and did I mention that 92% of Google users ignore the paid ads and go straight to the organic results, the ones you get given by Google if you’ve used SEO to optimise your content?

I reckon the reasons for getting your SEO sorted are a complete no-brainer, don’t you?!

So, That’s Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up In The Search Results

It’s not for lack of trying; it’s because you’re not harnessing the strategies that can get your business showing up online.

Most notably, you’re not using Search Engine Optimisation to underpin all your efforts, so you actually get your content to show up on the first page of Google where your perfect clients are just waiting to find you and the solution to their problem.

But I’m here to help.

 If you’d like to find out where to start getting SEO working for you so you start showing up in the search results and your business stops being the internet's best-kept secret, why don’t you join me on the workshop I’m running on February 15th?

Just click the link  and join the How To Get Your Website Showing Up On The First Page of Google Workshop. 

https://www.sbuchanansmith.com/february-free-seo-workshop

Hope to see you there!

The 4 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Showing Up In The Search Results (And What You Can Do About It).

 

I’ve been in this SEO game a while now, and hands down, the most pervasive problem I people suffering from is varying degrees of online invisibility.

 

You’ve tried “all the right things” (when inspiration hits!): writing blogs, showing up on social media, gracing YouTube with your presence and even recording podcasts to show your people that you’re in business but, more often than not, the result is crickets.  

 

And seeing no results for all that hard work is soul-destroying. Putting yourself out there and stepping out into the arena is not for the faint-hearted. But, when it’s rewarded at best by just a trickle of visitors to your website, well, after a while, it’s enough to get you questioning whether your business is ever going to work.

 

So today, I want to look at why, despite the work you’re putting into getting your business found online, you’re getting little or no traction, and you are stubbornly remaining one of the internet’s best-kept secrets.

The Truth Is There Are Plenty of People Out There 

 

The truth of the matter is there are LOTS of people out there looking for the solution to the problem they have or the experience you have to offer, so yes, your business could be working better.

 

There are literally thousands of people who desperately need your services who are scouring the internet as you read, looking for exactly the solution you can offer them to the problem they have the money and the motivation to solve.

 

Look, there are xxx m searches for crochet patterns for chicken jackets - so having a business that no one is interested in is probably not the issue here!  

 

 (insert image)

 

The long and short of it is that people want you, they're searching for you, and the only reason they’re not working with you right now is that they don’t know you exist, which is down, in part, to your hard work to get yourself out there being spot on from the intention perspective, but not effective, which is what I’ll talk about in a minute.

 

How Do You Stop Being The Internet’s Best-Kept Secret?

 

Well, first, let me tell you a story. 

 

When I first started my online consulting business, I was so excited. The solution to all my problems was there, right in front of me. I could have the flexibility to work around my family commitments, I could do the work I loved with people I enjoyed working with, I could set up my office anywhere in the world so I could travel, and “they” promised me I’d be rolling in cash within weeks.

 

So I built my own website, listed out my consulting and coaching packages, turned the metaphorical shop sign to open and sat back to wait for the flood of clients I just knew was coming my way.

 

I had more than 20 years of experience as a management consultant, not to mention the fact that I was a chartered management accountant; I had an amazing corporate background, I was a double accredited coach, and if I do so say myself, was an easy going but professional person to work with.

 

So, was I deluged with clients? Was I overwhelmed with enquiries? Was I burning the midnight oil to satisfy demand? 

 

The simple answer is no.  Nada. No one got in touch. I didn’t get one client.

 

My online business success bubble was well and truly burst, but at the time, sloping back to corporate wasn’t an option, so I needed to work out what was going on.

 

I pulled my business to pieces and searched for what could be wrong. Was it my offer? Was it my pricing? Was it my website template? Was it me? 

 

Eventually, I realised it was none of the above. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my business; it was simply my assumption that if I built a business, they would come.

 

I didn’t realise (or want to accept) that I’d need to promote my services, that I’d need to shout about my business from the rooftops, as loud and for as long as it took until people started realising I existed and that I could solve the problems they were searching for answers to.

 

But once I got the message out, and I started getting known, the visitors to my website did start rolling in, and I did nurture those new relationships. I did turn them into paying clients, and eventually, I had to open a waiting list for my one-to-one services and move to running courses so I could serve all the people who wanted my help.

 

I had to ditch the sit back and wait approach and got out there and told people I was there to help them, time and time again, until eventually, I started showing up in the places they were looking for help. They got to know me, started liking my messages, got to trust me, and, yes, decided to buy from me.

But How Do I Get MY Business Found? 

 

Well, in the old days, if you wanted to tell people about your business and get found (aka promote it), you’d put an ad in the local paper, list yourself in the Yellow Pages, get some flyers printed up and post them around town or maybe if you were feeling super fancy, you’d get a billboard to do the hard work for you.

 

But these days, we’ve got some far more powerful tools at our disposal. With the click of a button, you can reach millions of people all across the world, 

 

You can get yourself on social media and engage with a huge audience across loads of different platforms as long as you have the time to manage the process and create all the content you need to feed the machine.

 

Or, you could try the influencer route, and get other people to promote your business for you. You could get them to help you build your brand and your credibility and audience, just as long as they really are aligned with your brand, creating the content you need, and they behave themselves!

 

And then there’s affiliate marketing, where people who believe in your product do the selling for you, or paid ads are always an option if you’ve got the budget.

 

Or you could give content marketing a whirl, where you build your brand and authority by creating valuable, relevant content that enhances your relationships with your customers.

Yes, it takes time to consistently produce high-quality content, but when backed up with SEO, it’s incredibly powerful and my favourite way to promote my business.

 

Oh, and did I mention it’s free!

So Why Aren’t You Using These Strategies?

 

If you’ve got all these tools at your disposal, especially content marketing, why aren’t you using them?

 

Why aren’t you embracing digital marketing to shout from the rooftops that your business is open for business and that you’re here to help?

 

Well, there are some pretty good and perfectly understandable reasons why you, and most other online business owners, aren't. 

 

Believe me, you’re not alone.

 

Here are the reasons I’ve seen that stop people from using the strategies that would get their businesses found online.

Reason 01 - They Don’t Have A Plan 

 

Getting your content marketing plan set up isn’t really that hard or complicated, but there are LOTS of choices to make and steps you need to work through.

 

What content creation tools are best? What do you do first, keyword research or writing? What should I be writing about, and when?

 

These are just a few of the MANY steps you’ll take and questions you’ll need to answer.

 

But most online business owners treat the process of creating their content as just ANOTHER thing they’ve got to do and add it to their ever-growing list of things they’ll get around to at the very last possible moment.

 

But the thing is, content marketing is a critical business strategy that needs to be broken down into bite-sized chunks and committed to implementing step by step if you want your website to be found by the people who matter. 

 

Giving content the time it deserves and treating its creation as a project will transform your business and will play a major role in your getting found online.

Reason O2 - They Get Overwhelmed By The Tech

 

The terminology around Content Marketing and the SEO you need to get it to show up in the search results can be confusing. 

 

When you’ve got to start pressing hidden buttons on the backend of your website as well, you’d be forgiven for being scared you’ll break the whole thing and give up.

 

And most people running online businesses do just that. They get totally overwhelmed by the tech involved in promoting their business, throw their hands in the air and decide to cross their fingers and hope that someone will find their website by chance.

 

But the thing is, once you speak the basics geek speak, it’s really not hard to get by. And, if you’re following an easy-to-understand process for optimising the content you’re creating as well as your website, you really can’t break it. 

 

You need to learn the basics so you can empower yourself to take charge of your own business and not rely on luck. 

 

Reason 03 - They Ignore Search Engine Optimisation

 

I want to share some pretty insane stats to show you that if you want to stop being the internet’s best-kept secret, you absolutely need to get your head around SEO (but don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet; you’re not alone!)

 

According to Ahrefs, 96.55% of all pages get zero traffic from Google, and 1.94% get between one and ten monthly visits. In other words, the vast majority of published pages never rank in Google and never get any search traffic. Why? Because these pages are not Search Engine Optimised.

 

So, If you don’t want all your hard work to go unseen, like 97% of the rest of the internet, you need to start using SEO and give your content the full optimisation treatment.  

 

Just look what happens….

 

You’ll start showing up on the first page of Google in the highly coveted top spots. The content that Google serves up in the first five organic (not ads) positions in the search results gets 68% of all the clicks. Only 0.78% of people searching for things on Google look at anything past page one!

 

Websites with search engine-optimised blogs see a 434% better chance of being well-ranked on search engines.

 

Search Engine Optimised content drives 1000%+ more traffic to your website than organic social media posts.  

 

Oh, and did I mention that 92% of Google users ignore the paid ads and go straight to the organic results, the ones you get given by Google if you’ve used SEO to optimise your content?

 

I reckon the reasons for getting your SEO sorted are a complete no-brainer, don’t you?!

 

So, That’s Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up In The Search Results

 

It’s not for lack of trying; it’s because you’re not harnessing the strategies that can get your business showing up online.

 

Most notably, you’re not using Search Engine Optimisation to underpin all your efforts, so you actually get your content to show up on the first page of Google where your perfect clients are just waiting to find you and the solution to their problem.

 

But I’m here to help.

 

If you’d like to find out where to start getting SEO working for you so you start showing up in the search results and your business stops being the internet's best-kept secret, why don’t you join me on the workshop I’m running on February 15th?

 

Just click the link here and join the How To Get Your Website Showing Up On The First Page of Google Workshop.

 

https://www.sbuchanansmith.com/february-free-seo-workshop

 

Hope to see you there!

The 4 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Showing Up In The Search Results (And What You Can Do About It).

 

I’ve been in this SEO game a while now, and hands down, the most pervasive problem I people suffering from is varying degrees of online invisibility.

 

You’ve tried “all the right things” (when inspiration hits!): writing blogs, showing up on social media, gracing YouTube with your presence and even recording podcasts to show your people that you’re in business but, more often than not, the result is crickets.  

 

And seeing no results for all that hard work is soul-destroying. Putting yourself out there and stepping out into the arena is not for the faint-hearted. But, when it’s rewarded at best by just a trickle of visitors to your website, well, after a while, it’s enough to get you questioning whether your business is ever going to work.

 

So today, I want to look at why, despite the work you’re putting into getting your business found online, you’re getting little or no traction, and you are stubbornly remaining one of the internet’s best-kept secrets.

The Truth Is There Are Plenty of People Out There 

 

The truth of the matter is there are LOTS of people out there looking for the solution to the problem they have or the experience you have to offer, so yes, your business could be working better.

 

There are literally thousands of people who desperately need your services who are scouring the internet as you read, looking for exactly the solution you can offer them to the problem they have the money and the motivation to solve.

 

Look, there are xxx m searches for crochet patterns for chicken jackets - so having a business that no one is interested in is probably not the issue here!  

 

 (insert image)

 

The long and short of it is that people want you, they're searching for you, and the only reason they’re not working with you right now is that they don’t know you exist, which is down, in part, to your hard work to get yourself out there being spot on from the intention perspective, but not effective, which is what I’ll talk about in a minute.

 

How Do You Stop Being The Internet’s Best-Kept Secret?

 

Well, first, let me tell you a story. 

 

When I first started my online consulting business, I was so excited. The solution to all my problems was there, right in front of me. I could have the flexibility to work around my family commitments, I could do the work I loved with people I enjoyed working with, I could set up my office anywhere in the world so I could travel, and “they” promised me I’d be rolling in cash within weeks.

 

So I built my own website, listed out my consulting and coaching packages, turned the metaphorical shop sign to open and sat back to wait for the flood of clients I just knew was coming my way.

 

I had more than 20 years of experience as a management consultant, not to mention the fact that I was a chartered management accountant; I had an amazing corporate background, I was a double accredited coach, and if I do so say myself, was an easy going but professional person to work with.

 

So, was I deluged with clients? Was I overwhelmed with enquiries? Was I burning the midnight oil to satisfy demand? 

 

The simple answer is no.  Nada. No one got in touch. I didn’t get one client.

 

My online business success bubble was well and truly burst, but at the time, sloping back to corporate wasn’t an option, so I needed to work out what was going on.

 

I pulled my business to pieces and searched for what could be wrong. Was it my offer? Was it my pricing? Was it my website template? Was it me? 

 

Eventually, I realised it was none of the above. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my business; it was simply my assumption that if I built a business, they would come.

 

I didn’t realise (or want to accept) that I’d need to promote my services, that I’d need to shout about my business from the rooftops, as loud and for as long as it took until people started realising I existed and that I could solve the problems they were searching for answers to.

 

But once I got the message out, and I started getting known, the visitors to my website did start rolling in, and I did nurture those new relationships. I did turn them into paying clients, and eventually, I had to open a waiting list for my one-to-one services and move to running courses so I could serve all the people who wanted my help.

 

I had to ditch the sit back and wait approach and got out there and told people I was there to help them, time and time again, until eventually, I started showing up in the places they were looking for help. They got to know me, started liking my messages, got to trust me, and, yes, decided to buy from me.

But How Do I Get MY Business Found? 

 

Well, in the old days, if you wanted to tell people about your business and get found (aka promote it), you’d put an ad in the local paper, list yourself in the Yellow Pages, get some flyers printed up and post them around town or maybe if you were feeling super fancy, you’d get a billboard to do the hard work for you.

 

But these days, we’ve got some far more powerful tools at our disposal. With the click of a button, you can reach millions of people all across the world, 

 

You can get yourself on social media and engage with a huge audience across loads of different platforms as long as you have the time to manage the process and create all the content you need to feed the machine.

 

Or, you could try the influencer route, and get other people to promote your business for you. You could get them to help you build your brand and your credibility and audience, just as long as they really are aligned with your brand, creating the content you need, and they behave themselves!

 

And then there’s affiliate marketing, where people who believe in your product do the selling for you, or paid ads are always an option if you’ve got the budget.

 

Or you could give content marketing a whirl, where you build your brand and authority by creating valuable, relevant content that enhances your relationships with your customers.

Yes, it takes time to consistently produce high-quality content, but when backed up with SEO, it’s incredibly powerful and my favourite way to promote my business.

 

Oh, and did I mention it’s free!

So Why Aren’t You Using These Strategies?

 

If you’ve got all these tools at your disposal, especially content marketing, why aren’t you using them?

 

Why aren’t you embracing digital marketing to shout from the rooftops that your business is open for business and that you’re here to help?

 

Well, there are some pretty good and perfectly understandable reasons why you, and most other online business owners, aren't. 

 

Believe me, you’re not alone.

 

Here are the reasons I’ve seen that stop people from using the strategies that would get their businesses found online.

Reason 01 - They Don’t Have A Plan 

 

Getting your content marketing plan set up isn’t really that hard or complicated, but there are LOTS of choices to make and steps you need to work through.

 

What content creation tools are best? What do you do first, keyword research or writing? What should I be writing about, and when?

 

These are just a few of the MANY steps you’ll take and questions you’ll need to answer.

 

But most online business owners treat the process of creating their content as just ANOTHER thing they’ve got to do and add it to their ever-growing list of things they’ll get around to at the very last possible moment.

 

But the thing is, content marketing is a critical business strategy that needs to be broken down into bite-sized chunks and committed to implementing step by step if you want your website to be found by the people who matter. 

 

Giving content the time it deserves and treating its creation as a project will transform your business and will play a major role in your getting found online.

Reason O2 - They Get Overwhelmed By The Tech

 

The terminology around Content Marketing and the SEO you need to get it to show up in the search results can be confusing. 

 

When you’ve got to start pressing hidden buttons on the backend of your website as well, you’d be forgiven for being scared you’ll break the whole thing and give up.

 

And most people running online businesses do just that. They get totally overwhelmed by the tech involved in promoting their business, throw their hands in the air and decide to cross their fingers and hope that someone will find their website by chance.

 

But the thing is, once you speak the basics geek speak, it’s really not hard to get by. And, if you’re following an easy-to-understand process for optimising the content you’re creating as well as your website, you really can’t break it. 

 

You need to learn the basics so you can empower yourself to take charge of your own business and not rely on luck. 

 

Reason 03 - They Ignore Search Engine Optimisation

 

I want to share some pretty insane stats to show you that if you want to stop being the internet’s best-kept secret, you absolutely need to get your head around SEO (but don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet; you’re not alone!)

 

According to Ahrefs, 96.55% of all pages get zero traffic from Google, and 1.94% get between one and ten monthly visits. In other words, the vast majority of published pages never rank in Google and never get any search traffic. Why? Because these pages are not Search Engine Optimised.

 

So, If you don’t want all your hard work to go unseen, like 97% of the rest of the internet, you need to start using SEO and give your content the full optimisation treatment.  

 

Just look what happens….

 

You’ll start showing up on the first page of Google in the highly coveted top spots. The content that Google serves up in the first five organic (not ads) positions in the search results gets 68% of all the clicks. Only 0.78% of people searching for things on Google look at anything past page one!

 

Websites with search engine-optimised blogs see a 434% better chance of being well-ranked on search engines.

 

Search Engine Optimised content drives 1000%+ more traffic to your website than organic social media posts.  

 

Oh, and did I mention that 92% of Google users ignore the paid ads and go straight to the organic results, the ones you get given by Google if you’ve used SEO to optimise your content?

 

I reckon the reasons for getting your SEO sorted are a complete no-brainer, don’t you?!

 

So, That’s Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up In The Search Results

 

It’s not for lack of trying; it’s because you’re not harnessing the strategies that can get your business showing up online.

 

Most notably, you’re not using Search Engine Optimisation to underpin all your efforts, so you actually get your content to show up on the first page of Google where your perfect clients are just waiting to find you and the solution to their problem.

 

But I’m here to help.

 

If you’d like to find out where to start getting SEO working for you so you start showing up in the search results and your business stops being the internet's best-kept secret, why don’t you join me on the workshop I’m running on February 15th?

 

Just click the link here and join the How To Get Your Website Showing Up On The First Page of Google Workshop.

 

https://www.sbuchanansmith.com/february-free-seo-workshop

 

Hope to see you there!

I’ve been in this SEO game a while now, and hands down, the most pervasive problem I people suffering from is varying degrees of online invisibility.

You’ve tried “all the right things” (when inspiration hits!): writing blogs, showing up on social media, gracing YouTube with your presence and even recording podcasts to show your people that you’re in business but, more often than not, the result is crickets.  

And seeing no results for all that hard work is soul-destroying. Putting yourself out there and stepping out into the arena is not for the faint-hearted. But, when it’s rewarded at best by just a trickle of visitors to your website, well, after a while, it’s enough to get you questioning whether your business is ever going to work.

So today, I want to look at why, despite the work you’re putting into getting your business found online, you’re getting little or no traction, and you are stubbornly remaining one of the internet’s best-kept secrets.

The Truth Is There Are Plenty of People Out There 

The truth of the matter is there are LOTS of people out there looking for the solution to the problem they have or the experience you have to offer, so yes, your business could be working better.

There are literally thousands of people who desperately need your services who are scouring the internet as you read, looking for exactly the solution you can offer them to the problem they have the money and the motivation to solve.

Look, there are over 6.8 million searches for crochet patterns for chicken jackets - so having a business that no one is interested in is probably not the issue here!  

The long and short of it is that people want you, they're searching for you, and the only reason they’re not working with you right now is that they don’t know you exist, which is down, in part, to your hard work to get yourself out there being spot on from the intention perspective, but not effective, which is what I’ll talk about in a minute.

How Do You Stop Being The Internet’s Best-Kept Secret?

Well, first, let me tell you a story. 

When I first started my online consulting business, I was so excited. The solution to all my problems was there, right in front of me. I could have the flexibility to work around my family commitments, I could do the work I loved with people I enjoyed working with, I could set up my office anywhere in the world so I could travel, and “they” promised me I’d be rolling in cash within weeks.

So I built my own website, listed out my consulting and coaching packages, turned the metaphorical shop sign to open and sat back to wait for the flood of clients I just knew was coming my way.

I had more than 20 years of experience as a management consultant, not to mention the fact that I was a chartered management accountant; I had an amazing corporate background, I was a double accredited coach, and if I do so say myself, was an easy-going but professional person to work with.

So, was I deluged with clients? Was I overwhelmed with enquiries? Was I burning the midnight oil to satisfy demand? 

The simple answer is no.  Nada. No one got in touch. I didn’t get one client.

My online business success bubble was well and truly burst, but at the time, sloping back to corporate wasn’t an option, so I needed to work out what was going on.

I pulled my business to pieces and searched for what could be wrong. Was it my offer? Was it my pricing? Was it my website template? Was it me? 

Eventually, I realised it was none of the above. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my business; it was simply my assumption that if I built a business, they would come.

I didn’t realise (or want to accept) that I’d need to promote my services, that I’d need to shout about my business from the rooftops, as loud and for as long as it took until people started realising I existed and that I could solve the problems they were searching for answers to.

But once I got the message out, and I started getting known, the visitors to my website did start rolling in, and I did nurture those new relationships. I did turn them into paying clients, and eventually, I had to open a waiting list for my one-to-one services and move to running courses so I could serve all the people who wanted my help.

I had to ditch the sit back and wait approach and got out there and told people I was there to help them, time and time again, until eventually, I started showing up in the places they were looking for help. They got to know me, started liking my messages, got to trust me, and, yes, decided to buy from me.

But How Do I Get MY Business Found? 

Well, in the old days, if you wanted to tell people about your business and get found (aka promote it), you’d put an ad in the local paper, list yourself in the Yellow Pages, get some flyers printed up and post them around town or maybe if you were feeling super fancy, you’d get a billboard to do the hard work for you.

But these days, we’ve got some far more powerful tools at our disposal. With the click of a button, you can reach millions of people all across the world, 

You can get yourself on social media and engage with a huge audience across loads of different platforms as long as you have the time to manage the process and create all the content you need to feed the machine.

Or, you could try the influencer route, and get other people to promote your business for you. You could get them to help you build your brand and your credibility and audience, just as long as they really are aligned with your brand, creating the content you need, and they behave themselves!

And then there’s affiliate marketing, where people who believe in your product do the selling for you, or paid ads are always an option if you’ve got the budget.

Or you could give content marketing a whirl, where you build your brand and authority by creating valuable, relevant content that enhances your relationships with your customers.

Yes, it takes time to consistently produce high-quality content, but when backed up with SEO, it’s incredibly powerful and my favourite way to promote my business.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free!

So Why Aren’t You Using These Strategies?

If you’ve got all these tools at your disposal, especially content marketing, why aren’t you using them?

Why aren’t you embracing digital marketing to shout from the rooftops that your business is open for business and that you’re here to help?

Well, there are some pretty good and perfectly understandable reasons why you, and most other online business owners, aren't. 

Believe me, you’re not alone.

Here are the reasons I’ve seen that stop people from using the strategies that would get their businesses found online.

Reason 01 - They Don’t Have A Plan 

Getting your content marketing plan set up isn’t really that hard or complicated, but there are LOTS of choices to make and steps you need to work through.

What content creation tools are best? What do you do first, keyword research or writing? What should I be writing about, and when?

These are just a few of the MANY steps you’ll take and questions you’ll need to answer.

But most online business owners treat the process of creating their content as just ANOTHER thing they’ve got to do and add it to their ever-growing list of things they’ll get around to at the very last possible moment.

But the thing is, content marketing is a critical business strategy that needs to be broken down into bite-sized chunks and committed to implementing step by step if you want your website to be found by the people who matter. 

Giving content the time it deserves and treating its creation as a project will transform your business and will play a major role in your getting found online.

Reason O2 - They Get Overwhelmed By The Tech

The terminology around Content Marketing and the SEO you need to get it to show up in the search results can be confusing. 

When you’ve got to start pressing hidden buttons on the backend of your website as well, you’d be forgiven for being scared you’ll break the whole thing and give up.

And most people running online businesses do just that. They get totally overwhelmed by the tech involved in promoting their business, throw their hands in the air and decide to cross their fingers and hope that someone will find their website by chance.

But the thing is, once you speak the basics geek speak, it’s really not hard to get by. And, if you’re following an easy-to-understand process for optimising the content you’re creating as well as your website, you really can’t break it. 

You need to learn the basics so you can empower yourself to take charge of your own business and not rely on luck. 

Reason 03 - They Ignore Search Engine Optimisation

I want to share some pretty insane stats to show you that if you want to stop being the internet’s best-kept secret, you absolutely need to get your head around SEO (but don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet; you’re not alone!)

According to Ahrefs, 96.55% of all pages get zero traffic from Google, and 1.94% get between one and ten monthly visits. In other words, the vast majority of published pages never rank in Google and never get any search traffic. Why? Because these pages are not Search Engine Optimised.

So, If you don’t want all your hard work to go unseen, like 97% of the rest of the internet, you need to start using SEO and give your content the full optimisation treatment.  

Just look what happens….

You’ll start showing up on the first page of Google in the highly coveted top spots. The content that Google serves up in the first five organic (not ads) positions in the search results gets 68% of all the clicks. Only 0.78% of people searching for things on Google look at anything past page one!

Websites with search engine-optimised blogs see a 434% better chance of being well-ranked on search engines.

Search Engine Optimised content drives 1000%+ more traffic to your website than organic social media posts.  

Oh, and did I mention that 92% of Google users ignore the paid ads and go straight to the organic results, the ones you get given by Google if you’ve used SEO to optimise your content?

I reckon the reasons for getting your SEO sorted are a complete no-brainer, don’t you?!

So, That’s Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up In The Search Results

It’s not for lack of trying; it’s because you’re not harnessing the strategies that can get your business showing up online.

Most notably, you’re not using Search Engine Optimisation to underpin all your efforts, so you actually get your content to show up on the first page of Google where your perfect clients are just waiting to find you and the solution to their problem.

But I’m here to help.

If you’d like to find out where to start getting SEO working for you so you start showing up in the search results and your business stops being the internet's best-kept secret, why don’t you join me on the workshop I’m running on February 15th?

Just click the link and join the How To Get Your Website Showing Up On The First Page of Google Workshop.

https://www.sbuchanansmith.com/february-free-seo-workshop

Hope to see you there!