If you’re a business owner who relies on telephone leads, here are 8 ways to get ahead of the competition. They aren’t really SEO techniques per se, but they are ways to optimize your site for such contacts.

1. Titles Tags: Have you tried putting your phone number at the very beginning of the title tag? Most business owners don’t even think of doing it, yet it can really pay off. Instead of just including the name of your business and a few keywords within the title tag, use the title you would normally use and just stick your phone number at the beginning. Even if your listing is not the first one on the search engine results page, a potential customer may call you anyway simply because your phone number is right there in front of them. They don’t have to click on a link, they don’t have to search for a phone number. They just need to pick up the phone and dial the number that’s right in front of them. Even if you don’t rank first in the search engine results, you’ve just gotten a lead.

2. Descriptions: After you’ve put your phone number in your title tag, put it in your description tag. Since the description tag often shows up right under the webpage title in the search engine results, your phone number will be listed twice before your potential customer ever clicks on a link. This might not result in as many leads as having your phone number in your title tag, but it sure won’t hurt.

3. Domain Name. Have you considered using your telephone number as your domain name? If you rely heavily on telephone leads, this may be the way to go to get great results.

4. Avatars: Sure, all the cool kids use logos or photos for their avatars at Facebook and Digg, but consider making your phone number your avatar.

5. User Names: This is just a variation on the avatar idea, but you might think about using your telephone number as your user name on social networking sites.

6. Placement. Most websites have a Contact Us page that lists their phone number. Others put the telephone number in the footer of each page. That’s great if you want your potential customer to dig around to find your phone number, and eventually give up because it’s taking to much time and effort. So place your phone number in a more prominent spot, like in a margin or near a content box. The phone number should be large, but not obnoxiously large, and possibly set off with an image like a telephone. If your website includes a slideshow or picture display, include your phone number as one of the images.

7. Custom Backgrounds. Some social media sites let you design your own custom backgrounds. How about using a background that displays your phone number?

8. Signatures. Assuming that you participate in forums, which is a good idea for any business owner, be sure to include your phone number with your signature.

If you need more ideas about how to optimize your site as a business owner who depends heavily on telephone leads, consider talking with an SEO expert or internet marketing professional. Given their vast exposure to all sorts of businesses and websites, they will be able to give you other ideas about how to get ahead of your competition using optimization techniques. They will also be able to help you determine how to make telephone optimization a part of your overall internet marketing strategy. Sure, you might be able to do it yourself, but chances are they have some wisdom that you need to tap in order to make the most of your business website.

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