I’ve recently have had a few people ask me, “Why am I in Google, but not in Yahoo or Bing?”. Even though Google is perceived as the “toughest” search engine to get ranked in, it actually isn’t true. Each search engine has it’s own search engine algorithm that determines it’s own unique results. Some people “accuse” Bing of stealing Google’s algorithm, however there are so few people who actually KNOW what Google’s algorithm is, so I completely think that’s false.

What is Yahoo’s & Bing’s Deal?

For one, Yahoo tends to like spam links and considers both nofollow and dofollow links, where Google tend to get rid of a lot of spam sites and only considers dofollow links. So to get to the top in Yahoo tends to be harder because now you have to not only beat the real sites, but the spam sites that just post their links everywhere under the sun. So in order to get into Google you need to have a low amount of spam links and a high amount of good follow links. But to get into Yahoo you just have to be the master link site for that keyword. In order words to get both you need a lot of GOOD and quality links. Now, that’s not fun is it? Now Yahoo and Bing both relies heavily on onsite SEO. Onsite SEO is optimizing your site for search engines. So your title tags, meta tags (Even though this isn’t really relevant anymore), description tags, header tags, content, etc. So Yahoo tends to favor sites who are keyword heavy on their page, but the downside of this is that Google doesn’t like TOO much on-page because they want it to look natural and not Spammy. So in other words Yahoo likes keyword stuffing, which is like the first thing we learned NOT to do in SEO Class 101! This is what makes our jobs so difficult!

Recommendations to get ranked in Yahoo or Bing

This is how I look at it. If you get yourself in Google and not in Yahoo or Bing, than I actually think your doing something right. That means your doing White Hat SEO instead of just spamming the crap out of your site. So pat yourself on the back, this is a GOOD problem. For all of the people who have the opposite problem, you or your marketing company are probably spamming your site. If you are really having difficulty getting in Yahoo, I’d recommend keep pushing the quality links. If you are ranking in Google, than you are on your way to success. It takes a FULL 6 months of SEO to fully get ranked, doesn’t matter WHAT the keyword is. It can take up to a years worth of work to actually get the full results for the difficult keywords.

Now I spoke a lot about Yahoo, but what about Bing? Now Bing places a lot of emphasis on TEXT and CONTENT, which some people will argue that Google doesn’t. Bing also places a high weighing on relevancy of the content on your site and the keywords you are trying to be ranked for. So make sure your site is ranked highly for LSI Keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing – basically in a nutshell LSI keywords are keywords that aren’t the exact phrase you are using. This will prevent you from over using your main keywords and making your site look like it’s keyword stuffing and spammy). Bing and Google both also look at the domain age. The reason behind this is so that these spam sites that pop up for a one week-one year domain life won’t get higher ranked than a mom and pop shop down the street that’s  had a domain name since 1998.

So what does this mean and how will this help you?

As a business owner you need to think about where you want to spend your money marketing. SEO can easily be done by anyone if they learn it. Just like me, you can go out and read blogs and books and try to figure it out. The best thing I think is to hire a link building/seo company to come in and optimize your site and get you links in the correct places. But remember, don’t just hire anyone because once a page is index, it’s forever indexed!!!

When it comes to Main Street, finding a strip mall without two or three “For Rent” signs along it, is a rare occasion lately.   Sure, the sour economy has taken its toll on everyone from the local mom and pop shop to the Fortune 500s.  We know that unregulated big business brought down Wall Street.  But what broke the backbone of the US small business market? Why are small businesses everywhere continuing to fail?

I started to think about this after passing my town’s local pizza joint that recently became one of the many, “here today gone tomorrows” of our time.  Nonni’s had just revamped itself in hopes of generating more business – new flat screen TVs, a decorative paint job that put you right in the middle of southern Italy while indulging in your pie, and some fancy new furniture.  Unfortunately, the owner invested too much of his time and money in the wrong place.

Unless your over the age of 65 or just plain behind, you don’t use paper publications like the Yellow Pages to find what your looking for today.  Instead, we Google, Yahoo and Bing.  We use search engines that give us exactly what we are looking for (and more) in just seconds.  The problem, for many small businesses lining the sidewalks of Main Street, is that their products and services are not being captured by these search engines.  It’s surprising to see how businesses, from general stores to hair salons, don’t have websites (their most important store front and tool for moving up on the search engine ranks).

I understand they are called “small businesses” for a reason.  Localized, smaller centers of commerce and capitalism – plain and simple.  But today, thanks to technology and globalization, there’s really no such thing as being localized, especially if you want people to know you exist.  Bottom line, the small businesses who have remained too small (i.e., no websites or other forms of online advertising) well their time to get up to speed with the rest of the world has come.  Whether your a one man accounting firm or a 30 person nail salon – you need to advertise your services on the web.  The old pen and paper way of managing and publicizing your trade is out.

Let’s revisit poor Nonni’s to try and zone in on how this establishment could have potentially survived the technology tsunami and the recession.

1. If Nonni’s would have invested the $1,000 to $2,000 that originally went to flat screen TVs on a new website, they would have been able to establish a web presence, making it easier for customers to search for their services, order online and look up the shop’s phone number, address, menu, etc.

2. Having a website Nonni’s could have also hired or performed SEO on their website to help increase traffic to their site and essentially generate more business.

3. After getting more business/ revenue from their website, Nonni’s then could have gauged whether or not to invest in TVs and a new paint job based on whether their clients were coming in for pizza or ordering out.

4. After expanding and hiring a larger staff to deal with increased business, Nonni’s could have had a CRM or Customer Relationship Management designed to help more efficiently run their business.  CRM systems could be used to keep better track of inventory, staffing and employment needs like hours and payroll, as well as manage a client and customer list of emails and other contact info to email blast their customers about promotions, new events at the store, etc.

Lesson of the day: small businesses need to focus on their digital store front in order to keep their actual store front up and running in today’s day, age and economic times.