In the second case, promoting a product imposes a narrower focus. You feature the product – how it's manufactured, how it can benefit users and sellers' payment options. Since selling a product is more concentrated, the target audience is defined and sales objectives are more clearly established.

Promoting a state is a more complex activity, whether or not it's for the public sector (city governments) or private sector (travel agencies or tour organizers).

State or product – different approaches, different outcomes. Both, however, share a common thread. For any type of online promotion or advertising to work, search engine optimization must be the guiding principle.

SEO for state of New York

Why is it important for New York-based companies and organizations to use SEO strategies?

Reason: to attract the correct target audience so that web site operators and owners can pull in substantial traffic. To pull in substantial traffic, the web site must look professional, comply with search engine requirements (look and feel), offer quality content, and encourage repeat visits or convert visits into points of sale.

If the city government, for instance, wants to promote the best spots to visit in downtown Manhattan, its web site must zero in on the downtown core by using keywords that are frequently used by people when looking up New York. The following elements therefore must be featured with relevant information (this is not a comprehensive list):

Statue of Liberty

Central Park

United Nations

Soho

Metropolitan Museum of New York

Cornell University, Vassar and NYU

Wall Street

New York Subway

Chinatown

The boroughs (Brooklyn, Long Island, Bronx, etc)

Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

And many other spots that a first-time visitor would be curious about. You've heard the phrase “content is king” hundreds of times. An excellent SEO strategy for a web site promoting New York would be to provide useful information that not only fulfills the tourism need, but also covers history, operating hours, and even testimonials.

What do people want to know when they're planning a trip to the Big Apple? Hotels and restaurants obviously. An SEO expert would probably contact a few major hotels and ask about reciprocal links.

Take a restaurant entrepreneur in Manhattan who does brisk business. If he averages about US$50,000 a week from walk-in customers, imagine how much more his restaurant could make if he had a web site that ranked well with the search engines. This means his restaurant would make it to the first two pages of say Google or Yahoo every time a surfer types “New York restaurants” or “places to eat in Manhattan” on the search engine box. This is proof that his SEO provider knew what keywords to target and used a number of ways to attract visitor traffic.

In addition to foot traffic to their physical locations, businesses in New York could increase business by also establishing an online presence powered by good SEO practices.

The present economic crisis and fierce competition make SEO indispensable. Business people are not the only ones who benefit. Here are some individuals/groups/organizations that could use SEO to their advantage:

Investment brokers

Doctors

Psychologists

Antique collectors

Hobbyists

Symphony orchestras

Student credit unions

Environmental lobbyists

Restaurateurs

Spa operators

Massage clinics

Fashion consultants

Tour operators

Insurance companies

Real estate agents

Pet supplies store

Chambers of commerce

As you can see from the list, there's a New York SEO package for everyone!