Promoting a state versus promoting a product requires different mindsets. In the first case, a state encompasses many facets – downtown, historical attractions, museums, demographics, environmental initiatives, industrial zones and many other topics that would interest visitors. In the second case, promoting a product imposes a narrower focus. You feature the product – how it’s manufactured, how it can benefit users and sellers’ payment options. Since selling a product is more concentrated, the target audience is defined and sales objectives are more clearly established.
Promoting a state is a more complex activity, whether or not it’s for the public sector (city governments) or private sector (travel agencies or tour organizers).
State or product – different approaches, different outcomes. Both, however, share a common thread. For any type of online promotion or advertising to work, search engine optimization must be the guiding principle.
SEO for state of New York
Why is it important for New York-based companies and organizations to use SEO strategies?
Reason: to attract the correct target audience so that web site operators and owners can pull in substantial traffic. To pull in substantial traffic, the web site must look professional, comply with search engine requirements (look and feel), offer quality content, and encourage repeat visits or convert visits into points of sale.
If the city government, for instance, wants to promote the best spots to visit in downtown Manhattan, its web site must zero in on the downtown core by using keywords that are frequently used by people when looking up New York. The following elements therefore must be featured with relevant information (this is not a comprehensive list):
Statue of Liberty
Central Park
United Nations
Soho
Metropolitan Museum of New York
Cornell University, Vassar and NYU
Wall Street
New York Subway
Chinatown
The boroughs (Brookly, Long Island, Bronx, etc)
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
And many other spots that a first-time visitor would be curious about. You’ve heard the phrase “content is king” hundreds of times. An excellent SEO strategy for a web site promoting New York would be to provide useful information that not only fulfills the tourism need, but also covers history, operating hours, and even testimonials.
What do people want to know when they’re planning a trip to the Big Apple? Hotels and restaurants obviously. An SEO expert would probably contact a few major hotels and ask about reciprocal links.
Take a restaurant entrepreneur in Manhattan who does brisk business. If he averages about US$50,000 a week from walk-in customers, imagine how much more his restaurant could make if he had a web site that ranked well with the search engines. This means his retaurant would make it to the first two pages of say Google or Yahoo every time a surfer types “New York restaurants” or “places to eat in Manhattan” on the search engine box. This is proof that his SEO provider knew what keywords to target and used a number of ways to attract visitor traffic.
In addition to foot traffic to their physical locations, businesses in New York could increase business by also establishing an online presence powered by good SEO practices.
The present economic crisis and fierce competition make SEO indispensable. Business people are not the only ones who benefit. Here are some individuals/groups/organizations that could use SEO to their advantage:
Investment brokers
Doctors
Psychologists
Antique collectors
Hobbyists
Symphony orchestras
Student credit unions
Environmental lobbyists
Restaurateurs
Spa operators
Massage clinics
Fashion consultants
Tour operators
Insurance companies
Real estate agents
Pet supplies store
Chambers of commerce
As you can see from the list, there’s a New York SEO package for everyone!
