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greenoak
03-12-2011, 09:50 AM
my computer person works 3 days a week which has helped so much..we have revamped the website....kind of cheered it up!!!!..this week we sold 2 things to canada ...one is driving down after seeing our website....the other is 3 time buyer witha big store, who, with terris help, i can send pictures to, hes got a load started but was glad to add a nice big piece we just got in, and also this week a new store in florida found us and wants to buy a load of white furniture on the phone and send a truck up...she said she had spent hours online trying to find a store like ours... wow.... i was glad to hear that...she likes recycled and repurposed... .
and then theres my laredo connection....at this point, 4 weeks after his cold call to me, he has my credit card and i should be getting about 8,000$$$ of garden iron in a few weeks.... he called me because of our website and i got faith in him because of him and his website.and becasue of the clear organized way he does business, on my big order....about 400 pieces... i get a mini catalog showing just what i ordered...pictures i can put on my site etc etc.......kind of scary, but no worse than the companies i have to trust at the big shows, and it will lower my costs over 25% in a huge category...the language barrier was kind of hard tho....
then there is our FACEBOOK.... i think its helping hugely!!!!
not sure what good the blogging does but i worked on it this morning.....
its hard to judge whats working since we are out there online in so many ways.... but with 3 big sales thru the web this week i have to think its really working for us... probably saving us..... the old antique world is about gone...
ive gotten help from so many places , INCLUDING HERE....
this week my computer person andi will be working on a couple of vg's posts....the blog about local and the directory search and seeing if we are on yelp....im really thankful...

Harold Mansfield
03-12-2011, 01:41 PM
and also this week a new store in florida found us and wants to buy a load of white furniture on the phone and send a truck up...she said she had spent hours online trying to find a store like ours... wow.... i was glad to hear that...

If I was going to work on anything it would be this. No one in the United States who speaks ( and types ) English should be looking for hours to find you. Just think about how many people that don't spend that long looking and never find you. There is no way to measure how much lost revenue that is.
I think you need to get your "web person" working on some SEO.

Facebook is good, but it is not your marketing plan for new business. Facebooks is how you communicate with existing clients or people that have heard of you. Or, word of mouth (through fans news feeds to their friends).
But unless you are advertising on Facebook, it is not doing anything to bring you customers that have never heard of you and don't know anyone that has ever heard of you. Facebook is a large community but in comparison to the World Wide Web, it is limited.

People will search for your type of business online first. They may search for you specifically on Facebook once they know who you are.
Don't ignore your SEO and put all of your web marketing in the hands of Facebook.

Spider
03-12-2011, 01:42 PM
Sounds great, Ann! Well done.

greenoak
03-12-2011, 05:47 PM
thanks spider....im kind of shocked by it all...maybe i should be skyping thru the store!!!lol...
eborg....i dont think any of those found me thru facebook..... not likely since they are all so far away...i figure it was all thru the website.....
facebook is helping majorly!!! but in a more local way,....why dont you think im getting marketing benefit from it? i get new folks thru thru friends of fans, our local ads on facebook which usually are within 100 miles of us,,, and increased traffic from just connecting with past customers.... ...but its not reaching out 1000 miles... from canada or florida...
the far away folks werent looking for me specifically...just a place that had their idea on the furniture..lots of places advertize it but not quite like us.......SHE MILGHT HAVE EVEN FOUND US FIRST AND JUST HOPED TO FIND SOMEONE like us CLOSER TO HER....THATS HOW I TOOK IT.... NOT THAT IT TOOK HER A LONG TIME TO FIND US...she kind of said that... she would gladly have driven but not 1000 miles.....
if i had a better handle on the right keyword i could do even better...its not quite antiques....
i try to hear you on the seo....but i dont do it...and i cant explain it to her.... but we are getting pretty good results i think...we are in the 7 pack on indiana antiques.... isnt that an seo goal? im trying to see what you are saying...
i dont get why you think im putting all my web marketing on facebook....its just not the reality...the website is and has been a huge thing for us...

Business Attorney
03-12-2011, 07:16 PM
Congratulations, Ann. It sounds like the internet is working great for you. As for your SEO, I understand what you are saying - people can turn you up with searches that you would never have dreamed of. If you work your SEO on two dozen of your most likely key words, someone is almost just as likely to find you through some combination of words not even on your list.

According to Google Analytics, in the last 30 days visitors came to my LLC site using 16,945 DIFFERENT keyword searches. The top 10 keywords accounted for only about 11% and the 10 next best keywords only accounted for another 5% of the visits. That means that about 84% of the search engine traffic came from keywords that were not in the top 20.

I suspect that pattern is even more true in your case because your store carries such an eclectic mix. You can't rank on the first page for every product, particularly when there are stores or websites devoted just to that product. Unless you are like JCPenney and engage in a little black hat SEO (or maybe a LOT of black hat SEO), it would be impossible to rank high for a large number of products.

I searched "White buffets" and found the first page included such small, unknown companies as Amazon, Crate & Barrel and Target. Sure, if you concentrated your SEO efforts on white buffets, you might break into that esteemed group. But then, what about the person who searches for "white sideboards" or "white rustic dining room furniture"?

Of course, I'm not suggesting that there isn't room for improving your SEO. I'd be shocked if there weren't things that could be done better. But it sure sounds like you are doing a good job to me!

greenoak
03-12-2011, 09:14 PM
thanks david...you kind of hit the nail on the head....
.its wierd, you would think we could pick the right words., or that there would be right words, ....mine are all over the place too...

Harold Mansfield
03-12-2011, 11:03 PM
My point is if you have something that people are looking for and it takes you an hour to be found, then you should work more on your SEO. If you can and will do business with anyone, then everyone should be able to find you.
Not saying you have to be #1, but you should rank somewhere for at least one or 2 words or phrases that people search for when they are looking for what you have.
That is the goal of SEO. To be found as easy as possible when people are looking for your products or services.

You are hoping at why she said it took her an hour, but you don't know for sure. Don't you want to know for sure that people can find you when they are looking for the product that you carry?
Isn't that the whole point of being online?

greenoak
03-13-2011, 10:20 AM
thakns eborg, i try to hear you...but are you sure you see my local viewpoint?
i really think if anyone is looking for anything related to antiQues in MY AREA THEY WILL FIND ME EASILY..my website turns up in all kinds of ways... ...
i did learn something when we did our google adwords....my specific word was kitchen island and the big guy in the room was pottery barn..... i think it m ight be like that all across the board....i dont think i would care about being top natioinally...since i dont sell nationally..and in our big state i am in the 7 pack for our most obvious word...antiques......and there are hundreds of antique places in indiana....
the florida store didnt want to drive up here..i do know that... so i really think she searched and searched for someone closer so she could just go get some product....
if someone is in my target area and searches a few ways i have to think they will find me.... still i dont have a word that fits my main idea
.WHICH IS
.upscale reasonable furniture thats a little outside the box with rehabbed and recycled parts.....
.or she was looking for recycled and got really dorky looking stuff instead of our version of recycled, which fits modern style....i do know wshe wasnt willing to make the drive...and we sure dont make shipping attractive or easy...

i just dont see the negatives you see....my efforts have to be within a 2 or 300 mile area....and im good there...i think so anyway... if the first page for my main word in indiana means good...
im wanting to make it better and better tho...just dont want to put effort towards the w rong area....

Harold Mansfield
03-13-2011, 12:13 PM
I misunderstood. I thought you were starting to do business nationwide.

greenoak
03-13-2011, 05:17 PM
we are ...to a teeny point....not much and no shipping.......we do get some national....but the mass of our business is local.....or if a big buyer from say california is making a trip thru the midwest, he would hopefully google indiana antiques...and there we are...
the canadian lady is driving down tho...about a 6 hr drive for one of our counters she saw online....

CloptonCapital
03-21-2011, 05:41 PM
Good news, but don't rest on your laurels. There is plenty more business to be had out there. SEO would in fact be a great investment at this point