In “Search Engine Optimization Checklist - How to Get Top Rankings in Google Search Results for FREE” Derek Gehl recommends using relevant inbound links as a way to boost your SEO. One quick and easy way to do this is with directories. There are tons of directories for every topic imaginable - use these to your advantage when creating your links.

I’ve started the process for you. I did a quick Google search of “Boutique Directories” and came up with 10 directories that you can get started with right away. I do not endorse any of these directories, although some were familiar, I’ve listed them because they came up on my directory search on Google. Some of these directories are free and some are subscription based. Although paying to have a link might not be my first choice, if I’m getting an substantial increase in traffic from that site, it might be something I consider. Just make sure you measure you traffic before signing up with the directories and after. If you use AWStats it tells you where your traffic is coming from so you can easily see which directories are netting you traffic.

Many of the directories have a link back requirement - they will put your link on the site if you link back to them. If you don’t already have a favorite links page, you can create one so you can fulfill that requirement.

This list is by no means comprehensive - it was 10 minutes worth of time on Google. Spend about 10 minutes a day for a week and you might gather a list 5 times as long! You might also have a specific target that isn’t covered with these directories - maybe you sell Shabby Chic items or Indie Jewelry - don’t be afraid to tailor your directory search to the niche that fits what you are selling.  Good luck!

http://www.google.com/Top/Shopping/Clothing/Children’s/Girls/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/…
http://www.dmoz.org/Shopping/Clothing/Children’s/Girls/

http://www.indiedesignerlabels.com/data.php?category=Kids&page=2
http://www.indiefinds.com/
http://www.dashinfashion.com/
http://www.swankymoms.com/main/
http://www.5minutesformom.com/mom-sites/
http://www.squidoo.com/fashionboutique

Search Engine Optimization Checklist - How to Get Top Rankings in Google Search Results for FREE
By Derek Gehl

Do you want to discover top search engine optimization strategies so you can get top rankings in Google, Yahoo and MSN search results for free?

Of course you do!

According to Marketing Sherpa, almost 134 million people in the U.S. regularly use search engines when looking for information online. And of that number, 63% look ONLY at the first page of results — at most!

In fact, almost 25% of all American searchers look only at the first few listings and completely ignore the rest.

So How Do You Get Your Website in the Top Listings?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the umbrella term for all the different strategies you can use to try to earn top rankings in the listings of the free search engines like Google and Yahoo. These are called “organic” or “natural” listings.

To make SEO work for you, it’s important to pay close attention to how search engine spiders index or list web sites, and then use that information to direct the way you want the search engines to index YOUR web site.

When you’re just getting started with SEO, it can seem a little overwhelming to know where to begin.

Top Key Search Engine Optimization Strategies You Should Begin With:

[Read more →]

I started working with Kelly Severson two years ago when she needed a site make-over for her growing online boutique - PinkBowtique.com. We then worked together again on her new boutique - Girly Glam Boutique. I’m amazed at Kelly’s stamina, she is always on top of her marketing, looking for ways to attract customers and paying attention to her SEO. Kelly shares some of her ideas and experience in her interview with Boutique Success.

How did you start selling online?
I started selling online when my daughter Emma was born. My first business was a hair bow business called PinkBowtique.com. The business grew so much, that I could not keep up. With 3 little kids and home, we were overwhelmed! It was very exciting, but making all the product was more than I could handle. So we had an offer to sell the business. And I jumped at the chance. We sold last November. So I decided to open an online boutique of mom made products. I wanted them to be unique, but still trendy and handcrafted. So that is how GirlyGlamboutique.com was born!

How have things changed since then?
It has been about 5 months since we have opened. And it was a struggle at first to get customers and traffic to our boutique. But I knew it could be successful, if I just stuck in there. Now we have a regular set of loyal customers.

As your business has grown, what have been the biggest challenges?
The hardest thing about owning an online boutique is getting people to your know you are there. At first it can be very challenging. Finding the right keywords for your website, and knowing how to acquire customers takes time. You really have to love what you do! And I certainly love being able to work from home, while selling unique products online.

What does your marketing strategy look like?
I market wherever I go! I talk to other mom’s in the playgroups, playgrounds church etc. I try to find out what the needs are for Mom’ with children. And what they are looking for. We get great feedback, and drive more customers to our boutique. I have also done several press releases and adding links to Girly Glam Boutique helps. But there really is no sure way of knowing if it will all work. You just have to keep trying, and hang in there. And that is what I have tried to do, and it is slowly paying off for us! It helps to also treat your customers like gold. I always am prompt in helping them in any way I can.

What do you see in the future for Girly Glam Boutique?
We hope in the future to have our own retail store here in Turlock, Ca. It has been a dream of mine to own a beautiful store, and sell trendy upscale products! We are now working towards that goal. I have to thank my husband for putting up with all the packages, and craziness that comes with owning a business. A big thank you Natalie for helping our store look so girly and fun!

If you are running or starting your own business, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber is a must read. I first read this about a year ago, I had recently quit my full-time job to run my own business, and although I understood what Gerber was saying, I couldn’t understand how to apply it to my business. I recently picked up the book to read again and was amazed at the difference in my perception. So, if you read this book or have read it in the past and felt it didn’t apply to you, put it away for 6 - 9 months and then come back to it.

Right off the bat, Gerber gives some scary statistics for small business owners:
40% fail in 1 year; Of those who survive 1 year, 80% fail in 5 years, and of those who survive 5 years, another 80% fail. That means in 10 years only about 2 out of 100 small businesses will survive. The good news, Gerber offers a solution for making sure that your business is one of those 2.

Gerber does a nice job of classifying the small business owner, someone who starts a small business because they love the craft of it, he calls these people technicians. But a couple of years into it they haven’t done a good job of managing the business and are so burnt out on the craft they can’t enjoy it anymore. Does that sound familiar? It definitely resonated with me and on my second read made me clearly see that I needed to take steps immediately to insure that my business was around for the next 10 years.

Gerber also talks about the lack of planning and benchmarks for most small business owners. As a whole, we are not taking clear steps to insure success, and when we take those steps we aren’t measuring their effectiveness. Again, this resonated with me. For me, I was usually so busy trying to keep up I just didn’t have a good marketing strategy, and the marketing tactics I employed I didn’t track to monitor their effectiveness.

Gerber goes on to explain that if you setup your small business like a franchise, you can help insure your business success. Systems and processes as well as definable benchmarks are what makes a franchise successful, the same systems and processes can in turn help your business become or remain successful. Although he acknowledges that in the beginning, the small business owner will be doing most of the work, he helps you create an exit strategy to start hiring and delegating tasks so that you aren’t doing everything. On my first read, this idea scared me because I always feel like I am the best suited for the job, it’s time consuming to train others when I could just do it myself and I was worried that hiring would lower my profit margin too much. In hindsight I realize that doing everything yourself is just not manageable and hiring out parts of your business can free you up for marketing and bringing in more business.

The drawback of this book is that Gerber is extremely long-winded. There is a long detour in the middle of the book where he tells his story, which although interesting, isn’t necessarily essential. He also had an ongoing discussion with a small business owner that at times reads like a harlequin romance, with key information sprinkled in here and there. But, if you can get past the wordiness of his writing, the rest will become a key resource for your business success.