Once again, I see a familiar name making the rounds in the stationery industry, coaxing retailers to join their “guild” and, by extension, their website, with promises of better Google results, more visibility, and heightened customer awareness. They’ve been trying to get this concept off the ground for two years, but only recently were able to actually produce the site itself. I do not endorse their program, and for that reason, will not mention them by name here. Rest assured, this is not a vendor. Before you write a fat check to any third party offering inclusion on their website, seriously consider the following:
1. Links are golden, yes. But do the math. If you link to them from your site, link to them from your blog, link to them any time you write an article, and link to them any time you appear in a press release, they rack up more and more links. That brings them more and more visibility in Google searches. You, on other hand, still only get one link from their site, via the store locator. Not a very equitable trade. This will not pop you up the Google list.
2. Their new website is, admittedly, very elegant. It incorporates many elements that every stationery store website should include-—and my own did, during my retail storefront days. Explains why in web searches for “personal stationery Minneapolis,” “wedding invitations Minneapolis” or similar, my store was consistently one of the top two listings. Every time. Why pay to promote someone else’s website-—that includes your local competitors, by the way-—instead of investing in your own site, promoting only you in an equally elegant, equally information-rich, and equally professional manner, simultaneously pushing you up the Google list?
3. The suggestion that inclusion in their site significantly helps consumers find you is pretty thin. Think about it-—when a bride is looking for invites, she’s going to Google the term “letterpress wedding invitations Omaha,” not search for some association website she doesn’t have a connection to in hopes there might be someone listed nearby. Equally likely, she’s combed through wedding websites and publications, is going directly to vendor sites, then using their “find a retailer” function to locate the exact look she wants.
4. SEO, SEO, SEO....Search Engine Optimization. That’s a big term that freaks a lot of retailers out. Bottom line: Google (and other search engines) continually change their algorhythms-—the math used to search out sources and pages on the web-—so that no one...NO ONE...can hold those top positions hostage. There are a lot of SEO folks out there who claim to provide top-of-listing results, but they don’t guarantee it in print. They can’t. The algorhythms change faster than you change your socks. It’s like a meteorologist promising .253 inches of rain will fall at exactly 7:42 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Good luck with that.
So how do you find your way to the top of the listings? To customers’ eyeballs? By (a) hiring a knowledgeable web designer who builds attractive sites, understands search engine optimization, and provides references that can verify the success of both; (b) incorporating rich content into your site, including placement of applicable keywords in the text and metatags; and (c) frequently updating your site with fresh content. There aren’t any shortcuts, but once the site is built and running, the rest is a lot easier.
As for the articles, press releases, etc....? If you’re going to spend time writing anything, write it in support of your own store, not for another website. Include a link to your store site in everything that appears online; that helps build your Google visibility. Start a blog. Today. And visit PRWeb.com to learn about how easy it is to promote yourself through press releases (their free Press Release 101 section is terrific). Each press release should include links to your store too, again, raising your search odds.
Sink the money into you. Into your store. Into your website. That, dear friends, is your best investment, hands down.
It’s a lot smarter than handing someone else a fat check that pushes their site higher while yours languishes on the bottom of page 14 on Google.
P.S. In a search of just one city in their store locator, I’ve already turned up a discounter, who used to be storefront but is converting to all-internet as we speak. So much for vetting. Caveat emptor, folks.
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