Internet is a Keyword to Grow Your Business

By Jane Eckert

Even those of us who don’t understand how the Internet works, do understand that it can bring more customers to the farm, and increase revenues.  Every business, including a farm business, should have a website—if you don’t have a website, you are truly missing out on today’s most important marketing strategy. Ten years ago, we were talking about newspaper advertising and billboards, but savvy marketers recognize that the Internet has now become the best media source to get your information to the public.

If you are just starting to wrestle with the Internet—with having your own website, setting up electronic newsletters, and all that, this series of articles is for you.  If you are more advanced, you may also find a few helpful tips that can help make your business more profitable. 

Here are the two questions asked by everyone who has or is about to get their new website:
How do I get to the top of the search engine placement? 
How do I get more people to look at my website?

First of all, you need to understand the basics of a search engine like Google™ or Yahoo™.  You enter a word or a phrase describing what you want to find, like “Kansas Pumpkin Patch,” and then you click search.  Google will then show you a list of 178,000 website pages that have the words you searched for.  So the question above is, “how do I get to my farm listed at the top of those 178,000 names?”

Well, you can buy a place at the top (go to Google.com and click on the button that says “advertising programs”), but that’s not what we are talking about today. We are going to talk about “keywords” that help your page rank higher on the listings, and how to use them.

“Keywords” are the words or phrases that people will most likely use when searching the Internet for a particular product or service.  If I want to visit an apple orchard in Ohio, those are my keywords:  apple, orchard, and Ohio.

So step one is to figure out the best keywords that your customers will use for your farm business. Seriously, write them down, and then prioritize them. 

With your list of keywords in hand, enter those keywords into Google and do a search.  The search engine finds websites with those keywords, and then it ranks or prioritizes the websites based in part on where it finds the keywords, and how often the keywords are repeated.  The logic is that a higher ranking is given to the website that seems to “talk the most” about the keywords you are looking for.  (The formula for ranking is much more complicated than this, but keywords are a major factor.) 

So how do you “talk more” about your keywords on your website?  There are two primary factors here: frequency, and placement.  Frequency is how often the keyword appears appropriately on your page.  Notice I said appropriately.  You can’t “cheat” and write “pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins” across the bottom of the page.  The search engines actually penalize inappropriate use of search words.  But if you use the word pumpkins frequently in describing your business, it does help your ranking.

Write your copy carefully including an abundant use of your keywords.  Also be aware of other keyword opportunities.  For example, make sure your web designer uses the “alt tags” that describe each image on your website for people with visual impairments.  Not only does this help individuals with a visual handicap, it also gives you an opportunity to repeat your keywords, as “Customers love the huge selection of pumpkins at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch in Burns, Kansas.” (keywords:  pumpkins, Walters’, pumpkin patch, Burns, Kansas)

Note that you will also have greater success if you think about keyword phrases, likely combinations of words that people will search for, such as “pumpkin patch” “pick your own apples” or “locally grown vegetables.”  A perfect match of a keyword phrase will rank higher in the search engine rankings.  If someone is searching for a “flashlight corn maze” and you have those exact words, then your site should come up higher than a site that offers a “night time corn maze, bring your flashlight.”

The search engines also look at the placement of your keywords.  High ranking placements include the title of your page, the headlines, the sub headlines and the first paragraph and first sentence of the webpage.  Placement should also include repeated placement several times throughout the webpage, as well as in photo captions and meta tags.

Next month we’ll talk about other ideas that may help you improve your search engine rankings on the Internet, and how to get more people visiting your website. In the meantime, take every opportunity you can to tell the public how to find your website.  The most common ways are: your individual advertisements, your shopping bags, your admission tickets, your coupons, your letterhead and business cards, your receipts, your sign and billboards, your displays in parades and fairs, your business organization directories, your press releases and communication with reporters, your newsletters, at your front gate and on your vehicles. 

Don’t ever miss an opportunity to publish your website address. A website is your storefront to the Internet. Let’s be sure you are represented.

Jane Eckert, a national speaker, author, and agritourism expert, received the North American Farm Direct Market Association’s 2005 Leadership Award. She is the principal of Eckert AgriMarketing, which provides public speaking, ongoing consultation with state and regional agencies, workshops, site visits, farm consultations, books, tapes, and website design. Jane can be reached by phone 314-862-6288 or at jane@eckertagrimarketing.com