by Pilates pal
Pilates is more than a fitness trend -- it is an incredibly successful method of helping individuals improve their own health and stay in shape. If you run a Pilates business, logic would dictate that you should have no shortage of customers. In reality, though, getting new faces through the door is one of the hardest things that you will ever do. While most do rely on traditional advertising for new customers, it simply would not be wise to ignore the online space. Unfortunately, even a great online campaign can suffer if customers cannot find your website. It is for this reason that you should always consider the importance of keywords and page rankings for your Pilates business.
How Online Searching Works
The online search process should be familiar to you. You might want to think of it as similar in style to a giant phone book. The user enters a key phrase (for your business, likely "Pilates" and the name of your city), and the search engine (IE: Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.), of choice directs the user to a number of possible options. Unlike a phone book, the search engine seeks to give the user the most relevant possible answers to their query first, followed by increasingly less relevant pages. The best links are always on the front page, the first page encountered by the user.
Search Engines and You
Search engines sort those page results through very sophisticated algorithms. These algorithms are so sophisticated, in fact, that no one outside of the major search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) knows exactly how they work. It is widely known that these engines do make use of key words to determine where a site falls on the rankings, though other factors like utility of content, page views and the like are certainly important. A common strategy in previous years was to "keyword stuff" a page, sprinkling the key phrase throughout the page enough times to “trick” the search engine into thinking the page was more relevant than it really was. Today's algorithms are a bit more sophisticated, requiring business owners to not only make use of the key phrase but also to provide relevant unique content to consumers.
Why Being Number One is Important
With all of this in mind, you might still be wondering why it is so important to be number one in the search rankings. After all, a good website is going to get on the list -- so why put in the extra effort?
You only need to think about your own search habits to figure out why being number one is so important. If you want to find a place to order pizza, for example, you are likely to search for "pizza" and the name of your town in the search engine of your choice. Stop and consider for a minute...
How often do you go past the first or second choice? Even if you do, how often do you go past the first page?
If you are like the vast majority of on-line searchers AKA your customers, you stick to one of the first three search choices. If your Pilates business is not on that first page, you might not be able to connect with up to seventy-five percent of your possible customers.
Why You Need to Worry About Your Keyword
Even if you are number one in a specific category, you really need to be worried about being number one in your most important keyword. Your most likely customers are searching for something specific -- likely a Pilates class or equipment. Being number one in "Pilates" is a considerable challenge as there are so many large companies out there. In addition, people search for more specific topics.
Being number one in the keyword "Pilates"+"Your Town", though, is more likely to get to the top of the search engines and will be more likely to drive local traffic to your business and customers with a real desire to buy.
The importance of keywords if you want your Pilates business to be found online cannot be overstated, as this is what drives new customers through your front door.
If you want to drive more traffic to your website, you have to start paying attention to your page rankings and to your keywords. The search engine algorithm landscape is always changing, and you need to make sure that you are always in a position to make sure that your business can be found online.
Whether you run a studio or you sell products online, the difference between being at the top of the first page or the bottom of the second can make or break your business. Always make sure that you are willing to stay up-to-date on the strategies that can help keep your page rank higher and that will let you take ownership of your keyword -- failure to do so could mean the failure of your business.
Take a look at this video for a further explanation of the importance of keywords for finding your Pilates business.
Image credit
Pilates is more than a fitness trend -- it is an incredibly successful method of helping individuals improve their own health and stay in shape. If you run a Pilates business, logic would dictate that you should have no shortage of customers. In reality, though, getting new faces through the door is one of the hardest things that you will ever do. While most do rely on traditional advertising for new customers, it simply would not be wise to ignore the online space. Unfortunately, even a great online campaign can suffer if customers cannot find your website. It is for this reason that you should always consider the importance of keywords and page rankings for your Pilates business.
How Online Searching Works
The online search process should be familiar to you. You might want to think of it as similar in style to a giant phone book. The user enters a key phrase (for your business, likely "Pilates" and the name of your city), and the search engine (IE: Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.), of choice directs the user to a number of possible options. Unlike a phone book, the search engine seeks to give the user the most relevant possible answers to their query first, followed by increasingly less relevant pages. The best links are always on the front page, the first page encountered by the user.
Search Engines and You
Search engines sort those page results through very sophisticated algorithms. These algorithms are so sophisticated, in fact, that no one outside of the major search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) knows exactly how they work. It is widely known that these engines do make use of key words to determine where a site falls on the rankings, though other factors like utility of content, page views and the like are certainly important. A common strategy in previous years was to "keyword stuff" a page, sprinkling the key phrase throughout the page enough times to “trick” the search engine into thinking the page was more relevant than it really was. Today's algorithms are a bit more sophisticated, requiring business owners to not only make use of the key phrase but also to provide relevant unique content to consumers.
Why Being Number One is Important
With all of this in mind, you might still be wondering why it is so important to be number one in the search rankings. After all, a good website is going to get on the list -- so why put in the extra effort?
You only need to think about your own search habits to figure out why being number one is so important. If you want to find a place to order pizza, for example, you are likely to search for "pizza" and the name of your town in the search engine of your choice. Stop and consider for a minute...
How often do you go past the first or second choice? Even if you do, how often do you go past the first page?
If you are like the vast majority of on-line searchers AKA your customers, you stick to one of the first three search choices. If your Pilates business is not on that first page, you might not be able to connect with up to seventy-five percent of your possible customers.
Why You Need to Worry About Your Keyword
Even if you are number one in a specific category, you really need to be worried about being number one in your most important keyword. Your most likely customers are searching for something specific -- likely a Pilates class or equipment. Being number one in "Pilates" is a considerable challenge as there are so many large companies out there. In addition, people search for more specific topics.
Being number one in the keyword "Pilates"+"Your Town", though, is more likely to get to the top of the search engines and will be more likely to drive local traffic to your business and customers with a real desire to buy.
The importance of keywords if you want your Pilates business to be found online cannot be overstated, as this is what drives new customers through your front door.
If you want to drive more traffic to your website, you have to start paying attention to your page rankings and to your keywords. The search engine algorithm landscape is always changing, and you need to make sure that you are always in a position to make sure that your business can be found online.
Whether you run a studio or you sell products online, the difference between being at the top of the first page or the bottom of the second can make or break your business. Always make sure that you are willing to stay up-to-date on the strategies that can help keep your page rank higher and that will let you take ownership of your keyword -- failure to do so could mean the failure of your business.
Take a look at this video for a further explanation of the importance of keywords for finding your Pilates business.
Image credit
