How to Get Your Review Site on Google #1 Page 1!

Thank you Maria for this post.

This is good advice for anyone that wants to set up their own review sites or local business sites.

I want to address Andy's comment as well:
Just like you Andy I always question SEO results like this where the demand seems low and the competition is low or non-existant. But that's because I want to see people on page 1 of Google for weight loss or some other very competetive term before I believe in their SEO skills.
The thing is that while it is great being no. 1 for a very broad term like "weight loss", it's probably even better to be no. 1 for very specific search terms like "weight loss diets" or "weight loss supplements" just because they convert much better in the end.

Sorry, but I had to comment here, too.

Reference your local mall merchants. What do you think they want - a mall filled to capacity with teenagers (maybe 1,000), hanging out, talking, laughing, looking, and basically "window shopping" (for the uninitiated they're not shopping for windows <GRIN>) - or about 50 or 100 families (or even 10 families) that are looking for specific things (back to school clothes, a suit for Dad, a dress for Mom, shoes for the children, a class ring for the graduate of the family, etc.) Think of which one makes them more money. Of course, the family - except for the food court vendors because the teens can and will spend money on food and drink.

In IM, we talk traffic, traffic, traffic, but many times we forget about the targeted traffic that we really want. Yes, we'd all love to see a million hits for last month on our site, but if NONE of those convert to sales, what have we gained - we're actually in the hole when you consider hosting costs.

But, if we had only one visitor that was extremely interested in our product - imagine that they actually searched for our product. Then, when they got to our site, they stand a much better chance of turning into a buyer. If by some magic they actually buy, then we're ahead. If we get two of those, then we are ON THE WAY to profits.

Traffic is great and if you have tons of traffic, statistically you should make some sales and make some money. But, you can increase the statistics by making sure that your traffic is even remotely interested in what you're offering.

Hope this all makes sense.

Oh, and Maria makes one more very important point.

If the deal is big enough, all you need is ONE targeted visitor and it's all worthwhile. Run the numbers:

1% on $1 Million $10,000
3% on $1 Million $30,000

Not a bad days work.

You are correct Maria...outsourcing is definitely the key - whether it's to the Phillipines, to some homeschoolers in your area, or some college student willing to do it for a small fee. Our time is far too valuable as marketers and business owners to spend it doing other tasks that are (as Jeff Dedrick stated a few weeks back) $20 work. I better quit right now because I can get on a virtual "soap box" about how we spend our time - and I'm as guilty as the next person about wasting that precious commodity.

I used to teach business owners several courses (live presentations) about just that thing - working ON their business and not IN their business. A big part of that was finding someone else to do the day to day parts of the business which frees the owner/marketer up to do the critical thinking and planning to expand the business. Many times business owners miss very profitable opportunities for growth because they're busy IN the business. That's what separates the true entrepreneur from an employee that owns a business.

Sorry, gotta quit before I continue to write.