Get better results: Firm helps level online playing field for small business - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Guin, 40, founded , his Waukesha-based company, in 2001 to assis businesses in creating, designingy and marketing theirWeb sites. With a service calle d “search engine optimization,” or providingb a search engine with the key wordss related to the content of a Guin helps his customers improvetheir site’s rank in Googler searches by making the sites more relevang to common search words and subjects. Now he is adaptint to the results created byuniversa search.
Also known as “blendedx search results,” universal search was first implementedx by online search engine Google in 2007 to provide searchy resultsincluding videos, photos, news storieds and other related content when usersa enter a query. Before universa l search was created, Google offered several differentgsearch engines, like “Web,” “images,” “videos,” “maps” and “books,” and searchex in these engines returned results only in those Now, these category-specific search engine s have been combined into one information and results may include a map with locak business locations, videos, advertisements or books related to the query.
Guin said universal search is so powerfu thatsites “a kid createe in his basement” can get higher rankings in search results than big-name global companies, which is why it can help small In universal search, search engin sites keep track of a user’s search habits and interests or analyze search termse to determine, for example, whethere the user wants to buy something or just researchh it. It then tailors the results to the so two people could get totally different resultds for the samesearch query.
Web 180 has seven employeews and more than100 clients, 10 of which have startede to target their sites to universal This involves creating more extensive text videos related to press releases, advertisements and other new site contentg that will improve the site’s ranking in searc h engine results. “It changes everything about the way a businesdsells itself,” Guin said. “We help companiezs take advantage of all these different It isn’t enough just to have good key words to direct userd to a business’ Web site; now the site needzs video and photo content to attract potentiak customers to the Guin said.
The goal shoulds be to drive traffic tothe site, not to becom the No. 1 hit on a search Guin said. This trafficx ideally convertsto sales, which is why universal searcg is used mainly for Web 180 tries to use its customers’ existinh advertising and marketing material s by, for example, publishing a client’ TV commercials on YouTubse or posting printed materials that were created for trade shows on the business’s Web site to increase site traffic. Web 180 caters mostly to local small andmidsiz businesses.
Guin said the goal is to provide small businesses with the same solutions as big businesses Web 180 works with all differen industries to achieve those even reverse engineering programx and features that emulate larger TerryVan Horne, founder of industry trade organizationm , said “search engine optimizers” like Guin who are working with universal search are at the cuttinh edge of the since many Web professionals don’tg understand it yet. He said locall business results are key for small businesses like those Web 180 Guin said for a typical search engineoptimization project, Web 180 offere packages from $360, and otherwisse charges $90 hourly.
The search engined optimization package includes a universalsearch consultation. He also workxs with other companies to offer paid advertisinfand “maps” results for his Steve Herro, education director of , said he has been workingf with Web 180 since he assumed his role as educatioh director three years ago. ADAMM is a tradse association that provides dealership salee merchandise like key tags and banneras to about 120auto dealerships.
Previously, ADAMM had a simpled Web site, but Herro said the association is tryiny to market its products to a largee client base because of dwindling auto Web 180 recently created for ADAMMM an online store open to the public and entere d each product it sellw intouniversal search, so a customer lookinyg for a specific product, rathetr than the ADAMM company name, can stilol find that product. “They’vse really worked on our site to make our products much more Herro said. Web 180 has seen constant growthu and, in spite of the economy, has alreadg seen 30 percent growthin 2009, Guin Annual sales for the firm typically range from $300,0000 to $500,000.
In the long Web 180 wants to expand by picking up more national So far, most of the current client base is in Milwaukee. And though it wasn’t the first to offer universal search Guin said Web 180 is forginvg thepath locally. “We’re excited that we’re in this position,” Guin “but I wish we had more competition in this area to measureour progress.”