Vlog: traditional businesses and search

Some businesses think they don’t need an SEO copywriter for their site. Not surprisingly, they’re wrong. And Alan is here to outline some of the big opportunities they’re missing out on with this mindset. Just click that play button above for some quick insight.

Prefer good old-fashioned words on a screen? We hear you. Here’s the transcript:

Hello – I’m Alan from Blackad.

Today I’m going to talk about businesses who say they don’t care about optimising their new site for search.

Audience intent research? Don’t bother.

Topic clusters? They’re not really for us.

Blogs? Not so much.

Again and again, these business give three reasons for being search refuseniks:

1. Everyone knows us
2. We’re busy! We don’t really need any new business
3. Our market is all about word-of-mouth referral

Let’s tackle those in turn:

Number one… how can you be sure that all your prospective customers know you?

You can’t.

And, how would you market to people who don’t know you yet – but want your products or services?

Assume everyone knows your name, and you’re ignoring all that potential.

Let’s tackle the second so-called reason: not needing any new business.

If you’re chugging along nicely – not growing, but not shrinking – what’s wrong with that?

Precisely nothing… if you’re happy providing the same products or services – to the same customers – for the same margins… until you retire.

To paraphrase the author Janice Galloway, the trick is to keep growing.

Mark time, and you’re letting your competitors take what’s yours.

Number three…

Word of mouth is phenomenal.

Most of Blackad’s business is word of mouth – we love it. But if ALL your leads come in this way, you’ll only get customers that look like… your existing customers.

What if you want bigger orders or more repeat business? Your existing customers won’t get you there.

You need new customers all the time – which is why I’d say you need search, no matter what business you’re in.

That’s it…

We’d love to hear your insights about traditional businesses that embrace search – and ones that don’t. Get in touch. 

Want more? Download our Guide to Optimising for Search.