I’ll preface this post with something I tell a lot of people on a regular basis…”you know I’m not the smartest guy on the block, so if I’m not sure about something and you can help me out a little, that’d be great’…

I attended the Inside Self Storage Expo Round Table Discussions yesterday to try and get some answers to this whole internet thing and how it can really benefit my business, Fairborn Self Storage. I sat with folks from eMove – WebSelfStorage and the www.usstorageserach.com tables. I sat and listened, asked a question or two, but mostly acted like the dumbest guy at the table, struggling to understand this World Wide Web fiasco.

Later, I stopped by a few booths at the Inside Self Storage Expo Exhibit Hall hoping someone there could help me figure out what to do with my stupid website. First stop was the ISS Booth, where I deservedly almost got my buttocks kicked by Teri Lanza. Sorry Terri, I will always ask first before sitting down to drive. Anyway, they were promoting their new SelfStorageTalk.com site, a forum storage owners use to vet issues and concerns with each other (I have what will probably be found as an unpopular opinion about these kinds of forums).

So with Troy Bix looking over my shoulder, Terri said to me “If you can figure out the answers to those questions, it’d be worth a million bucks!!”…

So what’s a dumb guy to do? I kept on looking and asking the same questions. Stopped by Self Storage Finders - Fastest Growing Self Storage Directory on the Internet! booth and spoke to Matt, Bill and Brian, they all agreed that the answers to my questions would have great value, not only to them as an internet company, but to any website on any subject matter…but alas they did not have any answers either.

Then I stumbled upon Cliff at Find Self Storage Facilities at SelfStorage.com and KaBlammO! He had an answer! Unfortunately, it was to just one of several I was trying to figure out and that’s “How Do I Get My We Site To Come Up At The Top Of Google Without Paying Money to ANYBODY?” I said it was unfortunate to get this answer, you see Cliff’s answer told me how to avoid doing business with his company…Cliff, I’m Sorry, but, THANKS! You answered Teri Lanza’s million dollar question.

Then I stopped by Kirk Nash’s Booth, not because I thought they could help me, but just for fun. Kirk hires great people and they do trade shows better than anybody. Kirk had a great presentation on the history of the truck renting industry and gave out hundreds of dollars for correct trivia answers. Even though I did not get any of Kirk’s cash, I would argue that I took something way more valuable away from my time with Kirk than a $100 poker chip.

Oh and there was this dude named Dick from Santa Barbara, who owned a bunch of storage stores and had paid thousands of dollars for something called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and wasn’t sure what he was even buying or how to even evaluate whether he got his moneys’ worth.

99% of the people I asked about how to get results said; pay someone or some portal or search engine for SEO or pay for placement at the top.
Q: What is the most common question a small business owner has about his/her website?

A: How do I get great Google search results easily and without paying for it?

Q: If my market is only a mile or two from my store, how do I utilize my website to attract such a small population of people?

A: Be at the top of Google search results.

Q: If I’m a one store owner, how do I compete for clients on the internet with the likes of Public Storage, Uncle Bobs, U-haul and any other national players?

A: Be at the top of Google search results.

Q: Do people really use search to find self storage?

A: 80% of all internet traffic begins with search…That’s why being at the top of Google is so important.

Q: Is the following statement true? Google is all that matters.

A: YES

So how can just about everybody I talked to not know how to give their website great Google search results, then how to constantly adjust to get even better Google search results, or know that Mondays at 11AM (or pick any time or day) is when most prospective clients are reading your website and on average they mess around for 2 or 3 minutes on your website AND know exactly what they read and how the navigated through your site.

Remember my friend from California, Dick, the multi store owner? He said to me “how much will you charge me to do what you say you can do? I said $2,000 per month minimum. Then he wanted to know if sending me a check every month would be OK, and I said it would only if I could call him on the telephone every month and tell him he is wasting his money on me when he can do the same thing in house for free and that I’m not gonna feel bad for spending a smart mans money…and in fact, I’d rather go to Napa Valley for a 5 day vacation, sit around the spa in the morning, drink wine at 11 Am and on Day 4 I’ll give you all the tools to do what I can do, no charge. To this he replied “Why would you give such valuable information away for free?!” I said cause somebody gave it to me and I’d rather give credit than take credit.

So drum roll ladies and gentlemen… I learned everything I know about getting my sites to the top of Google in generic search, keeping my sites at the top of Google search and doing so without spending any money from David Esrati, Owner of The Next Wave, a great ad agency in Dayton, Ohio’s historic South Park.

David does seminars called Websiteology web 2.0. He charges a couple hundred bucks, which is pretty steep when you figure your only walking away with an internet strategy that Terri Lanza said would be worth a million bucks!

“Rob! Sounds to good to be true!?!?! What’s the catch?!?!”

What I have said here and what I learned from David Esrati has been working for me for two years. You see the folks at Google are really really really smart, I would guess they change how they index the web on a regular basis, if everyone started doing what David Esrati can teach you, will Google plug or patch themselves to stop what we are doing? Don’t know. What I do know is, as easy as it is to get good Google Search results free, 99% of web site owners won’t do it…now I’m not the smartest guy on the block but somthin bout that don’t make sense!

But, if 80% of Internet use starts at search, you should be seriously worried if you aren’t on the first page of Google for many different search query’s, not just a few. And if you aren’t checking your web stats regularly (or don’t know what web stats are) you should be getting on a plane to Dayton to take the Websitetology class. For $139 it’ll be the best investment you ever made. You can spend the money you saved on SEO by flying first class and taking me out to dinner at the The Pine Club while you’re here.