Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website

local search is changing fast, so you’ll need to stay on top of it. When you implement

your monthly SEO reporting, (we’ll show you how in Part III) you may want to use

some of it to keep track of shape-shifting results and to check the search-related blogs

for developments in local search.

Maplecroft Bed and Breakfast in Barre,Vermont:

The Power of Knowing Your Niche

Take a look at the Maplecroft Bed and Breakfast home page. Here’s a little inn in small-town Ver-

mont that offers a discount if you are a “librarian, quilter, or magician.”You might describe the site

as homey, low-budget, and low-tech,and that would all be true.But this sweet little site is decep-

tively well connected in the world of search.

Built by co-owner Paul Heller and designed by a family member in exchange for a vintage banjo,

the site certainly does its job: it shows off the accommodations and provides a link to make a

reservation. But Maplecroft is doing better than its competitors because Paul knows his niche.

Here’s what he says:

“My local competitors are not aware of the power of search-engine advertising (Adwords, in

particular) and many are unwilling to make an investment in travel-specific search engines

(BedandBreakfast.com).Our experience has shown both of these investments pay off in dramati-

cally increased traffic.

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