Your Search Engine Optimisation Expert – Sheldon Nesdale

Russell came to me with a business idea: A service where he comes to peoples homes and builds a raised vege garden, and provides the weed-free soil, and all the plants too, so all the home owner has to do is water it and watch it grow.

He had already built a simple website using free website building software from Google called “Google Sites“, and had started Google Adwords advertising (with a daily budget of $5).

But the urls for Google sites are hideous by default, eg: http://sites.google.com/site/gardensondemand/ which reduced the credibility of the ads (because it doesn’t look like a proper website address).

The 4 Steps It Took To Launch His Business

Step 1: What is the market searching for?

We started with keyword research using Google’s Keyword Tool, to determine the best name for his business.  The keyword phrase used most often in New Zealand (and also very closely related to his business) is “Raised Vege Gardens”, so I asked Russell to buy that domain: www.RaisedVegeGardens.co.nz.

Step 2: How do we look professional so they choose us?

Next, in Google Sites we set up “url cloaking” (a.k.a. “domain name masking”) so the ugly Google Sites url was replaced with the clean looking “www.RaisedVegeGardens.co.nz” (The only hassle was that we had to add a CName record with the Domain Registrar which I can help you with because it can be a little tricky if you’ve never done it before)

Step 3: How do we improve the Google Adwords campaign so they find our ad?

Then, I overhauled his Google Adwords campaign and over the last 2 weeks have achieved the following:

• Geographic targeting so the ads only show in Auckland
• Cost per click of 31c (anything less than $1 is excellent)
• Very high Click-through-rate of 9.5% (anything over 1% is excellent)

Step 4: How do we improve the landing page so they buy from us?

I provided Russell with coaching over the phone and by email over a 2 week period, with suggestions for changes to his website to improve his conversion rate.

How much did it all this cost him?

• For my services, the Adwords overhaul and phone/email coaching only cost him $420+gst (4 hours at $105+gst).
• He has $100 in his Adwords account (which he paid directly to Google), which will buy him about 300 visitors.
• The domain cost $25+gst from 1stdomains.co.nz.

In total, it’s cost him $545 to test the market and see if this is a viable business for him (which is half the revenue from a single sale).

Needless to say, he is very pleased.

Do you have a business idea that I can help you get off the ground?

I believe in testing ideas in a small scale inexpensive way like the free website + Google Adwords combination above.  This enables you to prove that there is a market for what you are selling, and then you can increase the scale of your business.

Give me a call on (07) 575 8799 today, to talk over your options.

- Sheldon.