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How To Get Found If No One Is Looking For You

August 2, 2013 by Lisa Gerber Leave a Comment

get found if no one is looking for youI have a friend who knows he should be online, but he doesn’t know where to start. More importantly, people aren’t Googling his <insert product/service> here. So why should he bother optimizing his online content to be found in searches?

I hear this often and you’re not alone. If your prospects don’t know your service or product exists, they aren’t Googling it. So how are you going to grow your audience? What good will blogging and creating content do if they aren’t searching for you in the first place?

Well,  your audience is Googling something. The trick is determining what that is, and it’s not that hard. I throw the question back at you. How does your service or product help someone?

I worked with a client who provides online curricula to teachers. Their customers – teachers and school administrators – have no idea this technology exists. The curricula provides a blended learning solution that helps teachers work with a diverse group of learners.

Teachers are very likely not searching for blended learning solutions, because they don’t realize this will solve many of their problems. You know what they are searching for? Ways to teach diverse learners. They are looking for ways to keep their students engaged in the classroom. They want to integrate technology into the classroom. They need lesson plans.

Aha. That’s a lot of stuff to blog about and some pretty easy ways to attract an audience that has never heard of you.

I’m working with a vegan restaurant in the Bay Area right now. Lots of people in the area are looking for vegan restaurants so much of the strategy is straightforward: Claim local pages, get reviews, provide cooking tips and recipes. But we’re taking it a step further because we want to expand our reach beyond vegans to show healthfully minded people how to live a compassionate lifestyle. Vegan restaurants aren’t just for vegans.

The owner, my client, is blogging about more than just food. She’s talking about composting, and soon she’ll be writing a post on what to do with the bees swarming in your backyard. Don’t kill the bees! They are important to the eco-system.

Put Yourself At Your Prospect’s Keyboard

Don’t let the fact that you have an obscure or relatively unknown product stop you from using content to get you found online. Put yourself in front of the keyboard of your prospects. What are they looking for? It might not be your product specifically, but it is the solution you provide.

Want to play Content Improv in the comments? Share with me your business and let’s come up with ways to create content. It’s not hard. I-I-I don’t think!

Thanks Mr T. in DC for the photo, Flickr, Creative Commons.

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Filed Under: Strategy Tagged With: content strategy, seo

About Lisa Gerber

Lisa Gerber advises purpose-driven leaders on how to effectively use the power of storytelling and communication to influence action and bring ideas to life. She guides non-profits and individuals through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps. If you like what you read, contact us for more or to subscribe.

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