What is SEOforSmallBusiness.org?
Simply put, this is a site for small business owners who don’t have a great Web site (or a Web site at all) and who don’t have the budget to pay a high-paid Web or SEO consultant to build one for you.
My goal is to teach you step-by-step how to do all of this yourself, or if you don’t have the time, for you to be able to hand this site to a family member, friend, or employee who is willing to do it for you.
By the time you’re finished with the information on this site, my goal is that you will have the following:
- Your own domain name
- Your own professionally-designed Web site
- Your own email address at your domain
- Your site ranking on Google organic search and Google local search for meaningful keywords
- An ongoing resource to ask questions and get advice
Your final cost? It’ll likely be in the range of a one-time cost of under $500 a year in fees you pay directly to a Web hosting company, a domain name registrar, and an e-mail provider, and ongoing costs of under $200 a year. That’s likely a fraction of the cost consultants have given you.
My fee? Nothing. All of the information I give you is free of charge and is exactly of the same quality that I would give my private clients. In fact, I’ll share all of the “secrets” I learned over the years to get you the maximum value for the minimum cost.
Who am I?
My name is Steve. I’ve been a Web site and SEO expert for over 25 years. I’ve been fortunate to have helped some of the world’s most successful companies become dominant in SEO. Among other things, I created the SEO program for the online retailer 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, I saved media company Shutterstock from a total SEO collapse in 2019, and as an SEO consultant I’ve brought success to companies ranging from ExxonMobil to Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.
From time to time I would help small businesses with their Web sites, mostly as favors to family and friends. If you Google best eye doctor in princeton (#1) or garden city orthodontist (#1) or long island chinese school (#2), you’ll see some of my handiwork.
Well, in fairness I didn’t do much of anything. The first thing that all these small businesses did was to really be the best at what they did. The second step was to build a Web site with a professional design. The third step was to write content that truly reflected their leadership, expertise, and experience.
As I look around, I see so many small business Web sites that are in terrible shape. If your site falls into this category (or you gave up on having a site at all) I’m hoping that the information on this site will inspire you to fix it.
The State of Small Business Web Sites
Small Business Web Sites tend to fall into one of three categories:
- Small businesses who never bothered to start a Web site at all.
- Small businesses who once had a Web site, but their URL goes to a dead link now.
- Small businesses with a broken or outdated Web site.
Why are small business Web sites in such disrepair? Anyone who’s run a small business knows the answer. It comes down to time and money. Most small business owners need to invest all their time and capital into their main business, so they don’t have the money to drop tens of thousands of dollars on a Web site.
Worse, there are a LOT of really bad Web and SEO companies out there. I don’t think I need to go into detail because as a small business owner you’ve probably encountered them. They’re companies who:
- Charge you much more than you suspect their work is worth, yet you don’t know enough to challenge them.
- Try to “lock you in” to a hefty monthly retainer, extorting you into thinking that your Web site is going to collapse if you don’t keep paying them (it won’t).
- Blocking you from access to your own site, claiming that only “experts can maintain your site (that’s not true either).
- Do shady things with your site, like using it to direct traffic to their site, put links to your site on spammy or illegal Web sites to “build links”, or fill your site with generic content that you don’t feel really represents your business.
Look, don’t get me wrong. There are good Web and SEO consultants out there, but they’re hard to find.
The Goal of this Site
I hope to empower more small businesses to build your own Web sites, get them ranked on Google, and help you succeed as a small business. Or, if you decide that you don’t want to do it yourself, I want to arm you with the information you need to negotiate and hire someone good.
Specifically, here are the things this site will cover:
- I’ll teach you how to build your own Web site.
- I’ll teach you how to get it ranked on Google.
- I’ll teach you how to achieve your online marketing goals, whether it’s to sell something, to bring attention to something, or to make money.
- I’ll set up a discussion forum where I will answer any question you have with an answer equal or better than what you’d get from a high paid SEO consultant or a site like Quora or Reddit.
Yes, there are plenty of sites that do these things. What’s the difference with my site? I can think of three.
- First, I believe that my experience FAR surpasses most other people. You can read my articles and be the judge of that yourself.
- Second, I’m a pretty good writer. My goal is to present this information in a way that doesn’t make your eyes glaze over, but helps you understand how simple it really is.
- Third, I’m giving you all this knowledge for free—no paywalls, no books or online courses to buy, no strings attached. Whatever information you find helpful I urge you to use. If you like what you see, I’d appreciate of course if you can click on my ads, or buy things with my affiliate links, or tell your friends about me, or link to my site. But you don’t need to.
Let’s just say I’ve always rooted for the “little guy”. Small business has been the backbone of America since its founding, and yet it seems that the deck is stacked against all small business owners. Politicians pass laws that help giant corporations with their lobbyists, while small businesses have to deal with an increasing crush of regulations, taxes, and overhead (like building a Web site) when all you want to do is run your business. If my 25 years of knowledge and experience working for big corporate American can help more small businesses, I’ll be happy.
What’s in it for you?
What’s in it for me? I’ll be honest, not a lot :)
If you click through some of the affiliate links on this site, I may get a little commission if you end up buying from them. The vast majority of people (myself included) aren’t going to get rich from affiliate links, but I’m hoping at least it’ll help cover the expenses in maintaining this site and maybe help with my family’s expenses (I’m a small business owner now too, like you).
Here’s one thing I will promise you. I will recommend ONLY vendors that I use myself, and I’ll even share my “secrets” for getting the best deals and not getting nickeled and dimed (even from the vendors that I recommend).
There are vendors I could recommend that would pay me higher commissions, but many of them are awful (and I’ve used them all). I’d rather give you good advice and make less money (or no money at all) than give you bad advice.
At some point I may consider offering services for a fee, but that’s not my focus right now. I’ve always been a proponent of “teaching a person to fish”, and my hope is that more small businesses learn to do some of this basic stuff themselves so that you become a big business that can afford my expert services :)
I’m busy running my business. Can I really build my own Web site?
If you’d consider yourself moderately good at using a computer, are able to follow my step-by-step instructions, and have time to spare outside of the day-to-day of running your business (say, nights, weekends, and holidays), the answer is absolutely yes.
If not, I’d recommend finding an employee, a friend, or a family member who is willing to help. If they’re interested in a career in online marketing, the things I’ll teach on this site will be far more valuable than anything they could learn in school.
What kinds of businesses can benefit from this site?
There is literally no small business that the advice here cannot help.
I’ve used the techniques here to build sites for more small-to-medium sized businesses than I can count, including doctors, dentists, language schools, local artisans and craftspeople, hair salons, retail stores, Web publications, non-profits, restaurants, e-commerce sites, florists, startups, and many more.
There’s one other kind of small business I’d love to help: If YOU’RE interested in starting your own business building Web sites for businesses, I also welcome you to come to this site to learn. My only request is that you maintain the spirit of this site and charge a fair rate to your clients).
There are many kinds of Web sites that a small business may need.
- Informational site (to tell customers about your business)
- E-commerce site (to sell stuff)
- Blogs (to educate the public and provide commentary on industry events—often added to Informational or e-commerce sites)
- Discussion forums (to encourage conversations with your customers)
- Landing pages with e-mail forms (to point paid search and online advertising to)
As I start this site, I’m mainly going to focus on informational Web sites where you can tell the public who you are, what products and services you offer, your location and hours (if applicable), and other features like a blog. In time, if there’s interest, I’ll expand this site to cover other topics like starting a e-commerce site, starting a discussion forum, an online help site, setting up your company email, etc.
The sites you build using my advice will be the same or better quality than what you’d pay a professional anywhere from $5,000-25,000 to build, complete with high performance, security, and modern design.
If there’s any topic you’d like in particular, please feel free to let me know in the comments section of this post. Or, visit our discussion forum.
What do I need to get started?
You need to have a desktop or laptop computer with an Internet connection and be relatively comfortable using it (installing software and using applications like Microsoft Word and Google Chrome).
You’ll also need time. A lot of time.
What you WON’T need is a lot of expertise in Web design, programming, or technology. My goal to talk you, step by step, through the process and explain concepts in a way that makes it all easy to understand.
If you do eventually choose to hire someone else to put together your Web site, hopefully reading this site will better help you understand what they do. I’ll explain all the fancy terms and concepts to you so that you can speak their language—and make sure you’re getting a fair price.
Like I said, there have been others who have attempted to build this kind of site…but in the words of the late, great Norm MacDonald, “wait’ll you hear me do it” :)
Let’s begin!
- How to Build a Small Business Web Site
- Small Business SEO Basics
- Other Topics in Small Business Online Marketing (Coming Soon)
