On Google, the first item on the results list gets nearly 90% of the clicks. And if you’re number 10, you’ll be clicked just 0.67% of the time.

So, if you’re not in the top 10 results, chances are your prospects will never find you at all.

That’s why Search Engine Optimisation – SEO – is so critical. If your company sells digital flipcharts, for example, you have to ensure that anyone typing key words such as ‘digital flipcharts’ into a search engine will see your name at the top of the list.

Your current marketing agency has probably already told you this. And if you’re number 1 in all of your key word lists, they’ve done a fine job.

But key word optimisation is only one way to get found on the web.

Where do your prospects go on the web? Which sites do they visit? What conversations do they have? Who are they talking to?

Wherever they go, you need to be there.

If there are industry forums, you need to present yourself as a friendly expert: someone who can answer questions and offer advice. If you’re seen as an authority, people are much more likely to buy from you.

It’s the same with social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the rest are superb opportunities for you to showcase your expertise, share your opinions, and offer help. You can use much more than words: video, SlideShare and mobile apps present huge opportunities to reach people wherever and however they wish to be reached.

If you’re not part of the conversation, who’s going to know you’re in the room?

Blogs are another fantastic way to get found. If you publish remarkable content about subjects potential buyers want to know about, they’ll beat a path to your door. And readers will also seed links to your blog posts on the social media they use. The whole process snowballs... the search engines notice all the activity... and your site is propelled to the top of the rankings, which drives even more prospects to your business.

If you want to get found, you need to write content that will answer the customer's enquiry, wherever they are in the sales cycle.

What do we mean?

Imagine your sales cycle. Customers will search for different terms depending on their stage - for example need a website design, need to get found, need to understand SEO, need to drive moire sales leads from the website.

Now ask yourself - do you have the content covered at every stage in the buying cycle.

What will new or existing customers find you for and what content will drive them to you? How are you going to convert them into leads?