If you’ve never been to a networking event, specifically a business networking event, it’s a group of business owners, sales staff, business development managers that all meet together to work together to find new clients or to offer their services to other people there.
They are great fun and there are so many different types of events now that you can have a good variation if you are attending a lot of them. You can find out about Perth networking events in this Facebook group.
So, how are they similar to having a high ranking website?
Starting out…
Networking: Nobody knows who you are. Which means you don’t have any trust with anyone in the room. You have to go around to people individually, explaining exactly what it is you do. They’ll have questions about your business which you will answer, and after a conversation, you’ll swap business cards.
SEO: Once a website is launched, you need to submit it to Google. This is exactly like introducing yourself to someone who you’ve never met. Google doesn’t know what you do, if you are trustworthy or if you can actually do what you say you do.
As an SEO consultant, this is what I work on. I make Google know all about you and your website. The more Google knows and trusts you, the more likely it is to recommend you. (Rank you closer to number 1)
The follow-up…
Networking: After any networking event, it’s vital to follow up with anyone you connected with. This is massively important when you are trying to gain a person’s trust. A simple email saying “Hey, great meeting you yesterday. I really liked your business so would you want to grab a coffee to discuss working together more?”. If you agreed to provide something then attach that as his will strengthen the trust.
SEO: Google love follow-ups. Essentially a follow up to Google is a follow up on your website. Update some text, tweak some code in the background, add in a new page or blog post. This will show Google that you care, and are current.
An SEO expert providing an SEO service will do this for you. I will do this for you. SEO is a constant, monthly, action. Google hate a stagnant website. It wants to know, through your website, that you are up to date with current developments in your specialised field, and that you are actively working.
Growing the relationship…
Networking: So now you’ve met someone and you’ve followed up, even met them for a coffee. Where do you go from there? Is it enough for them to trust you? They might now want to hear what other people say about you. Trustworthy people. A personal recommendation of your service from a trustworthy source is a massive boost in forming a trust bond between you and that person.
SEO: Google loves recommendations. If a well-established website recommends your site via a backlink, then that does wonders for your websites trust with Google.
This is a huge part of being an SEO consultant. Being able to get your website recommended by others, to further Google’s trust of your website. This is included in packaged SEO services that I offer.
Relationship investment. Keep the momentum going!
Networking: Keep going to events, keep in touch with everyone you meet, stay top of mind with them all and give amazing service when you do get a referral from someone you meet networking. All this takes a massive amount of time but the payoff can be amazing.
SEO: Keep updating the site, keep creating good recommendation links, keep the website up to date and running smoothly and keep adding relevant content on the site to show you are still active and working.
Both networking and SEO take a lot of effort and are on-going practices. At a networking event, you’ll most likely be able to meet and talk to around 10-15 people in a couple of hours, investing in an SEO campaign with an SEO expert taking charge will get you meeting (via Google searches) a massive amount more. Depending on your industry and the competition around, you might do a lot better to invest in SEO to make your website and Google best of friends!