How to Maximize the Marketing Impact of your Best of Washington Profile You are not logged in. Your Member Profile Think of your company description as your Yellow Pages display ad on the internet. The words you use directly influence how many new customers you attract. Here are tips for writing a great description of your business on your Member Profile. Keywords Keywords are the words people use to find things on Google, Yahoo, and the other search engines. To illustrate, say someone is looking for a shoe repair shop in Seattle. They will most likely enter these words into the search field. The order of the words is unimportant. +shoe +repair +Seattle Google and other search engines will look for websites with these words, preferably on the website's homepage. If you own a shoe repair shop in Seattle and these words are not in your profile, Google and the other search engines will not find your profile. In choosing keywords, it is important to place yourself inside your clients' heads and imagine what words they would use in an internet search. Ask friends, colleagues, and current clients for suggestions. The founder of Best of Washington frequently asks her new clients which words they used to find her business. The keywords most often used by your clients should be in the "What your business offers" section as well as in the description of your business. Description of your service or product Talk about what your client can get from your company using lots of your best keywords. Don't talk about yourself or how terrific your service/product is. Don't think: "What do I want to tell my potential clients about my business?" Using our Seattle shoe repair shop example, don't make statements like this: Welcome! We at Seattle Samantha's Shoe Repair Shoppe invite you to experience quality, integrity, and respect at the highest level..... The text above tells your potential client absolutely nothing. They will roll their eyes and move on to the next listing. A much better approach is to think "What information are my potential clients really looking for?" Convenience? Brand name products? Hours? Reliability? Special type of service or product? Years of experience? If you don't know the words, ask. The founder of Best of Washington states this about marketing her own small business: "I ask my new clients how they found me. If they say they used an internet search engine, I ask which words they used to find me. I do this every time a new client calls." Back to our shoe repair shop for an example. If you (as customer) work in downtown Seattle and are looking for a shoe repair shop, you want to find a place that is convenient and will do excellent work. You want to be certain the shop will not ruin your expensive or beloved shoes. You are busy: cost is not high on your priority list because you are short on time. A good description for our shoe repair shop would include these statements: Seattle Samantha's Shoe Repair Shoppe repairs your business, evening, athletic, construction, medical, and designer shoes. Downtown location on X St near Y Ave. Open Monday - Friday, 7am to 6pm. Free delivery of shoes at addresses within the zip code 98101.