Google investors are still at the table eating their losses after comScore's report that paid click revenues were flat in the month of January. Impending recession was the chief suspect among speculators, but nobody finds any real support for that. More astute observers noticed that revenue flattened very soon after webmasters began reporting on decreases in AdSense earnings.
Editor's Note: It's hard to think of a time in history where an advertiser actively sought to decrease the number of referrals coming through the system. Perhaps it should be considered that Google is working to qualify buyers the way offline salespeople do. Is this a positive development? Give us your thoughts in the comments section.
Remember that? I'm sure you do. Our readers had lots and lots to say about it, and posed lots and lots of theories, again with the economy as the prime culprit. But what if I told you that revenues were flat and Google appears to think that's a good thing? It's all about the quality of search ad real estate, baby. A leading theory is that Google decreased the clickable area of AdSense ads in order to cut down on accidental clicks. They did that about mid-November, just before some publishers noticed a drop in earnings, which was just weeks before comScore released a report saying AdSense revenues had flattened. If decreasing the clickable area of an Adsense ad is the direct cause, why would a smart company like Google do such a thing? The answer posed for that question is that Google plans to make it up by creating a higher value on the clicks that do not happen accidentally. This could be a win win win for Google, Adwords buyers and Adsense partners, as referrals cost more, but are more likely to convert.
ComScore also believes that the flattening in January revenues is due to a new Google strategy to raise the value of clicks, i.e., fewer clicks for more money. In lieu of economic causes, comScore's Magid Abraham and James Lamberti write, "The evidence suggests that the softness in Google’s paid click metrics is primarily a result of Google’s own quality initiatives that result in a reduction in the number of paid listings and, therefore, the opportunity for paid clicks to occur. Add your comment. "In addition, the reduction in the incidence of paid listings existed progressively throughout 2007 and was successfully offset by improved revenue per click. It is entirely possible, if not likely, that the improved revenue yield will continue to deliver strong revenue growth in the first quarter. Separately, there is no evidence of a slowdown in consumers clicking on paid search ads for rest of the US search market, which comprises 40% of all searches." So even though there were fewer clicks in 2007, Google made more money. It looks like they're trying to repeat that in 2008. Bill Tancer at Hitwise similarly found that if declines in revenues were economic-based, or an indicator of recession, then Google traffic to retail sites might be among the first hit. However, Google traffic to shopping and classified sites was actually up year over year. No slowdown among RimmKaufman clients, either, says Alan RimmKaufman. "Across our clients, comparing February 2008 to February 2007, we did not observe evidence of an advertising or sales slow-down: median same-client Google ad-spend was up 22% year-over-year, and corresponding same-client resulting PPC sales were up 26%."
Monday, March 24, 2008
Tips For Getting Comments
Every blog comes with comments and pretty much every blogger is basing their success on comments. Sure, they may say they don't, but when you have no comments you feel like you're just talking to yourself. So how do you get comments? 1 - Write posts that are conversational and something that people can relate to. If you write posts in a way that there feels like there is no room for discussion, then comments will be harder to get. My wife is great at making posts people can relate to. She put out a post two years ago when she broke her leg and is closing in on 1000 comments from others that have broken theirs. She's not a marketer, or a PR person, just an average blogger who happened to write in a way that people felt compelled to comment. 2 - Invite comments. If you put out a top ten post, or go off on a rant, ask uses what they think. Literally put at the end of the post "Do you agree?", "Do you have any tips to add?" or other questions that are inviting comments. 3 - Make it easy to comment. Don't ask your users to login, don't make it difficult to comment via complex spam plugins or anything like that. Make sure the comment box is easy to see and that the fields are big enough to put meaningful comments in. Sometimes comment boxes are so small, visitors are to annoyed to comment. To test this out, log out of your blog and act like a normal visitor and comment on one of your own posts. Some never see what's wrong as they never look through the users eyes. 4 - Post one side of a story. If I post about how great one political candidate is, there are many others to follow and tell me how wrong I am or why their candidate is better. This is true in most any industry. I could say Blogger is the best blogging platform ever and I'm sure someone would disagree.
5 - Don't be mean to those that do comment. Yes, some comments you may not agree with, but be open and willing to accept other thoughts and views. If you are mean to those that comment, no one will want to comment. Meanie. 6 - Moderate comments. Yes, we want to be open and happy to get comments, but that doesn't mean we want spammy, off topic or just plain mean comments. Delete what is not on topic, edit or remove any inappropriate comments and just keep an eye on what's happening on your site. After all, is is your site. Comments not only make the blog owner feel better, but it also makes the blog look more interactive and popular. As a bonus, comments are indexed and used by search engines and help the page rank. My wife's 1000 comments are what help her continue to get the amazing exposure. Sure, her post was good, but now she has 1000x the amount of content thanks to the comments. So what are your tips for getting comments? Comments
About the Author: Thomas McMahon is a SEO Designer for TopRank Online Marketing in Minneapolis, MN. His specialities inlude technical optimization of existing web sites, creating search engine friendly web designs, and blog optimization. He has also created a number of blog marketing tools, WordPress plug-ins and FireFox add-ons. Blog: http://bloggerdesign.com
5 - Don't be mean to those that do comment. Yes, some comments you may not agree with, but be open and willing to accept other thoughts and views. If you are mean to those that comment, no one will want to comment. Meanie. 6 - Moderate comments. Yes, we want to be open and happy to get comments, but that doesn't mean we want spammy, off topic or just plain mean comments. Delete what is not on topic, edit or remove any inappropriate comments and just keep an eye on what's happening on your site. After all, is is your site. Comments not only make the blog owner feel better, but it also makes the blog look more interactive and popular. As a bonus, comments are indexed and used by search engines and help the page rank. My wife's 1000 comments are what help her continue to get the amazing exposure. Sure, her post was good, but now she has 1000x the amount of content thanks to the comments. So what are your tips for getting comments? Comments
About the Author: Thomas McMahon is a SEO Designer for TopRank Online Marketing in Minneapolis, MN. His specialities inlude technical optimization of existing web sites, creating search engine friendly web designs, and blog optimization. He has also created a number of blog marketing tools, WordPress plug-ins and FireFox add-ons. Blog: http://bloggerdesign.com
Search Or Content Ads? A Marketer's Dilemma
One of the issues presenting itself after Google's new focus on quality search ads—CPC inflation, expected higher conversions, reported lower publisher payouts—is the question of which gets more bang for the buck, search or content ads?
Editor's Note: Sometimes the Search Kool-Aid is just too strong and small business marketers ignore branding opportunities via contextual content advertising because of the perception that the ads don't convert. It may have delayed benefits, the same way branding has offline. Or do you think online marketing is a different animal? Let us know in the comments section.
Well, Google certainly seems to be leaning one way, at least in the strictest of monetary senses. The answer may not be a simple matter of numbers, but some numbers make the issue appear pretty lopsided, as though branding online is playing second fiddle to search. The last half of Q4 2007 and first half of Q1 2008 (that's one whole quarter, I suppose) have been good for CheapFlights.com, which announced a sudden spike in unique visitors beginning in November. In the US, visits to the website increased from 1.5 million to 3.5 million by February. In the UK, 4.5 million were attracted. This (8 million unique visitors) was an all-time high, the company announced, and attributed its rocketing success, of course, to strong internal efforts and product strength. "We like to attribute our continued success to our providing consumers on both sides of the Atlantic with a user-friendly product allowing them rapidly to search and conclude terrific flight deals for their chosen destinations. At the same time, we are also giving our small as well as large-sized travel industry advertisers equal access to literally millions of would-be travelers intending to fly," said CheapFlights.com's Chris Cuddy, group managing director, in a press release. He likes to attribute success to that also because that is the corporate line; Cuddy's remarks are pretty standard PR-sanitized, talking-point-centric, generally-useless-for-reporting shtick. Compete.com's Mike Redbord, understandably impressed by the numbers, wanted to find out the referral details of CheapFlights' meteoric surge, instead of relying on the old "we're better than everybody" pitch most executives put out there. CheapFlights seems to have enjoyed a winter spike, especially due to referrals from search and portal sites. Referrals from search and portal sites went up from 600,000 visitors in November to over 1 million in January, quite a nice increase. These referral numbers dwarf referrals from straight content sites, the big online travel agencies like Orbitz, the highest number coming from an assortment of travel sites, perhaps around 500,000 across four of them in January, if I'm reading between the graph-lines right. "Tweaks to the Cheapflights site, SEO, and increased SEM spend could all drive an increase like this in Search & Portal traffic," Redbord writes. A subsequent graph for CheapFlights shows that a trouncing majority of referrals that went on to partners came from Google, as might be expected. But in January*, Google referrals spiked from under 20,000 to over 40,000, a 119% increase. Despite numbers already much, much lower, Yahoo and MSN did not come even close to keeping pace with the sudden spike. That indicates a couple of things about search, at least in the travel sector: Google's referrals in January stomped (stampeded) the competition; search is much more directly effective at generating referrals than ads on content sites. Emphasis, as you can see, is on the word "directly." While every marketer has the judgment to decide which kind of campaign is right for his or her brand (indeed, in some cases a search campaign will be more appropriate than a contextual campaign, just like direct mail is sometimes more appropriate than a broadcast campaign), I think it might be tempting to abandon the branding concept altogether, just based on numbers like these. You gotta admit, the numbers are pretty lopsided, and pretty lopsided in one search engine's favor. Nobody's unaware, either, of the concept of ad-blindness, which most certainly exists in seemingly greater supply the more savvy users become. However – and I understand that smaller businesses have to put their money where it's most likely to bring back results and do not have the branding luxuries of big names – it seems to me a wise thing to take a cue from the big names when possible. Branding is not a direct marketing thing. It is an awareness thing. The big marketers know that awareness, eventually, drives sales. Ask Coca-Cola, Intel, Microsoft, any company that has made sure their brand was ubiquitous in the world, if all that branding effort was in vain. They'll most likely think you're nuts. Admittedly, it could be a different animal altogether when we talk about online marketing – but I doubt it. In conclusion, then, I say focus on your direct referrals via search, where customers are actively seeking you out and therefore more likely to buy, but don't forget about branding via content sites that takes your message and logo and implants it into the back of the customer's mind so that when they search later with the intention to buy, they already remember and recognize your brand instead of the competitor's. **It seems to me difficult to attribute a direct cause of the spike because there are too many unknown variables, seasonality, Google's focus on ad quality scores, and possible offline promotions being three of them.
Editor's Note: Sometimes the Search Kool-Aid is just too strong and small business marketers ignore branding opportunities via contextual content advertising because of the perception that the ads don't convert. It may have delayed benefits, the same way branding has offline. Or do you think online marketing is a different animal? Let us know in the comments section.
Well, Google certainly seems to be leaning one way, at least in the strictest of monetary senses. The answer may not be a simple matter of numbers, but some numbers make the issue appear pretty lopsided, as though branding online is playing second fiddle to search. The last half of Q4 2007 and first half of Q1 2008 (that's one whole quarter, I suppose) have been good for CheapFlights.com, which announced a sudden spike in unique visitors beginning in November. In the US, visits to the website increased from 1.5 million to 3.5 million by February. In the UK, 4.5 million were attracted. This (8 million unique visitors) was an all-time high, the company announced, and attributed its rocketing success, of course, to strong internal efforts and product strength. "We like to attribute our continued success to our providing consumers on both sides of the Atlantic with a user-friendly product allowing them rapidly to search and conclude terrific flight deals for their chosen destinations. At the same time, we are also giving our small as well as large-sized travel industry advertisers equal access to literally millions of would-be travelers intending to fly," said CheapFlights.com's Chris Cuddy, group managing director, in a press release. He likes to attribute success to that also because that is the corporate line; Cuddy's remarks are pretty standard PR-sanitized, talking-point-centric, generally-useless-for-reporting shtick. Compete.com's Mike Redbord, understandably impressed by the numbers, wanted to find out the referral details of CheapFlights' meteoric surge, instead of relying on the old "we're better than everybody" pitch most executives put out there. CheapFlights seems to have enjoyed a winter spike, especially due to referrals from search and portal sites. Referrals from search and portal sites went up from 600,000 visitors in November to over 1 million in January, quite a nice increase. These referral numbers dwarf referrals from straight content sites, the big online travel agencies like Orbitz, the highest number coming from an assortment of travel sites, perhaps around 500,000 across four of them in January, if I'm reading between the graph-lines right. "Tweaks to the Cheapflights site, SEO, and increased SEM spend could all drive an increase like this in Search & Portal traffic," Redbord writes. A subsequent graph for CheapFlights shows that a trouncing majority of referrals that went on to partners came from Google, as might be expected. But in January*, Google referrals spiked from under 20,000 to over 40,000, a 119% increase. Despite numbers already much, much lower, Yahoo and MSN did not come even close to keeping pace with the sudden spike. That indicates a couple of things about search, at least in the travel sector: Google's referrals in January stomped (stampeded) the competition; search is much more directly effective at generating referrals than ads on content sites. Emphasis, as you can see, is on the word "directly." While every marketer has the judgment to decide which kind of campaign is right for his or her brand (indeed, in some cases a search campaign will be more appropriate than a contextual campaign, just like direct mail is sometimes more appropriate than a broadcast campaign), I think it might be tempting to abandon the branding concept altogether, just based on numbers like these. You gotta admit, the numbers are pretty lopsided, and pretty lopsided in one search engine's favor. Nobody's unaware, either, of the concept of ad-blindness, which most certainly exists in seemingly greater supply the more savvy users become. However – and I understand that smaller businesses have to put their money where it's most likely to bring back results and do not have the branding luxuries of big names – it seems to me a wise thing to take a cue from the big names when possible. Branding is not a direct marketing thing. It is an awareness thing. The big marketers know that awareness, eventually, drives sales. Ask Coca-Cola, Intel, Microsoft, any company that has made sure their brand was ubiquitous in the world, if all that branding effort was in vain. They'll most likely think you're nuts. Admittedly, it could be a different animal altogether when we talk about online marketing – but I doubt it. In conclusion, then, I say focus on your direct referrals via search, where customers are actively seeking you out and therefore more likely to buy, but don't forget about branding via content sites that takes your message and logo and implants it into the back of the customer's mind so that when they search later with the intention to buy, they already remember and recognize your brand instead of the competitor's. **It seems to me difficult to attribute a direct cause of the spike because there are too many unknown variables, seasonality, Google's focus on ad quality scores, and possible offline promotions being three of them.
Spitzer Scandal Sheds Light On Web Prostitution
The controversy surrounding New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has shed light (a red light) on a number of underground activities. Besides government corruption and the sex trade in general, Spitzer's use of the Internet to connect with prostitutes is exposing a huge industry with which people may not be familiar. Or even know exists.
Editor's Note: So it turns out that escorts and/or their agencies have excellent web-marketing skills, a revelation we can thank Gov. Spitzer for. But this little investigation found a staggering number of virtual red-light districts complete with good SEO and paid search advertising campaigns. There's so much to say about this, so let it be said in the comments section.
The online escort/call girl/"model"/prostitute scene isn't so hard to find, though. Just use Google. If the organic results don't fit what you're looking for, AdWords can help, too. The truth is, investigating this scene is much like investigating the adult entertainment scene. The breadth, depth, and scope of prostitution available via online booking is staggering, indicating that just like the online porn industry, sex trade is not just a huge industry, but one that employs cutting edge marketing techniques, and one that apparently is thriving.
Just Google It
It's unclear at this point exactly how Governor Spitzer was referred to the Emperor's Club website. But if he's a self-starter, he could have used a search engine like Google. A search for [new york call girls] for example brings up a host of relevant organic links, most of which seem to be news article related. The sponsored links, though, are another story. Sponsored results for these keywords brought back websites like BadGurlModels (screen shots will be provided but no links), HourGirl, and a site advertising "full service" $50 half-hours and $100 hours. Full-service is, according to research, code for you-know-what.
Similar results came back for [full service escorts] and [ny gfe]. "GFE" is another code meaning "girlfriend experience," which means the escort is open to certain things like kissing and other "girlfriend"-type activities. [ny gfe] brought 491,000 results in Google, along with their very own targeted ads. Not all incarnations of the word "prostitute" work, by the way. A search for "whore," for example, brings back a myriad other results. Apparently the connotation of that word has changed a bit.
Editor's Note: So it turns out that escorts and/or their agencies have excellent web-marketing skills, a revelation we can thank Gov. Spitzer for. But this little investigation found a staggering number of virtual red-light districts complete with good SEO and paid search advertising campaigns. There's so much to say about this, so let it be said in the comments section.
The online escort/call girl/"model"/prostitute scene isn't so hard to find, though. Just use Google. If the organic results don't fit what you're looking for, AdWords can help, too. The truth is, investigating this scene is much like investigating the adult entertainment scene. The breadth, depth, and scope of prostitution available via online booking is staggering, indicating that just like the online porn industry, sex trade is not just a huge industry, but one that employs cutting edge marketing techniques, and one that apparently is thriving.
Just Google It
It's unclear at this point exactly how Governor Spitzer was referred to the Emperor's Club website. But if he's a self-starter, he could have used a search engine like Google. A search for [new york call girls] for example brings up a host of relevant organic links, most of which seem to be news article related. The sponsored links, though, are another story. Sponsored results for these keywords brought back websites like BadGurlModels (screen shots will be provided but no links), HourGirl, and a site advertising "full service" $50 half-hours and $100 hours. Full-service is, according to research, code for you-know-what.
Similar results came back for [full service escorts] and [ny gfe]. "GFE" is another code meaning "girlfriend experience," which means the escort is open to certain things like kissing and other "girlfriend"-type activities. [ny gfe] brought 491,000 results in Google, along with their very own targeted ads. Not all incarnations of the word "prostitute" work, by the way. A search for "whore," for example, brings back a myriad other results. Apparently the connotation of that word has changed a bit.
Social Media Advertising Will Succeed
Despite the fact that social media advertising has yet to hit its stride and is taking some lumps for low click rates when compared to high pageviews, it will succeed. Social media is a different type of advertising platform from information-oriented websites and the two should not be compared. The reality is that social media delivers the holy grail for advertisers on the Internet: a mass-concentrated U.S. audience reach similar to television. Tell us your thoughts... The top 25 social media networks delivered over 155 million unique visitors in Feb. 2008 with 70 percent coming from MySpace, Facebook and Classmates.com. Add in YouTube and Flickr and you get another 60 million totaling an estimated 215 million humans viewing social media monthly. Compare that to television where an average 24-hour period delivers around 50 million unique viewers. The highest viewership day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday, has an estimated 110 million unique U.S. residents viewing television. Even over an entire month there is arguably less than 200 million total unique television viewers. The Internet has become a powerful platform for advertisers to reach mass audiences via user generated video too. According to comScore Video Metrix, U.S. Internet users viewed over 10 billion videos online in the month of December alone. Imagine a 15 to 30 second commercial with each video view and the Internet seems ready today to compete with broadcast TV in delivering commercial views.
Advertising on social media is not about clicks or click rate any more than TV commercials are; it's about quickly reaching reaching a huge U.S audience. Sooner rather than later, advertisers will see social media as a great way to reach mass audiences. After all, in terms of audience size there are several Super Bowls every day on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube! It simply doesn't matter what the click rate is for Facebook, MySpace and YouTube because they reach huge audiences that major advertisers like Ford, Pepsi and McDonald's can't help but see the value in. Predictably, Adwords buyers will see the value too. Click rates are a reflection of pageviews and social media sites similar to TV have a large overlapping audience that hang around them all day, every day. Television would have a low click rate too if an ad campaign were measured over the course of a months worth of programs on the same network, assuming you could click the screen. People also tune in and out of TV just like they do with social media. According to Compete's figures for every unique visitor to YouTube there are 54 pageviews. With Facebook, a unique visitor creates an amazing 564 pageviews in a month and on MySpace each person generates a staggering 1,110 pageviews. The social media audience is loyal, large and habit-oriented just like broadcast TV. They also hit the prime youth-tilting demographic who are big spenders online and are considered a high value audience by ad agencies and advertisers. Ultimately, what advertisers value is the audience, not just the clicks.
Advertising on social media is not about clicks or click rate any more than TV commercials are; it's about quickly reaching reaching a huge U.S audience. Sooner rather than later, advertisers will see social media as a great way to reach mass audiences. After all, in terms of audience size there are several Super Bowls every day on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube! It simply doesn't matter what the click rate is for Facebook, MySpace and YouTube because they reach huge audiences that major advertisers like Ford, Pepsi and McDonald's can't help but see the value in. Predictably, Adwords buyers will see the value too. Click rates are a reflection of pageviews and social media sites similar to TV have a large overlapping audience that hang around them all day, every day. Television would have a low click rate too if an ad campaign were measured over the course of a months worth of programs on the same network, assuming you could click the screen. People also tune in and out of TV just like they do with social media. According to Compete's figures for every unique visitor to YouTube there are 54 pageviews. With Facebook, a unique visitor creates an amazing 564 pageviews in a month and on MySpace each person generates a staggering 1,110 pageviews. The social media audience is loyal, large and habit-oriented just like broadcast TV. They also hit the prime youth-tilting demographic who are big spenders online and are considered a high value audience by ad agencies and advertisers. Ultimately, what advertisers value is the audience, not just the clicks.
Search Goodness In Bite-sized Chunks
There's a ton of information pouring out of the Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York City, but we've done our best to bring you the best of it so far, via text and via video. Below is a representation of all of that knowledge, boiled down until each little bit fits into its own little nutshell. Or, since it's Holy Week for some, just call them SES Easter Eggs, with lots of gooey SES goodness inside, once you click the link.
What's a Widget? If you don't know, you should probably read this. If you don't know what they're good for, you should also probably read this. In a nutshell: Think of your ads as content; interaction is a good thing; and marketers should be in charge of ideas, not your IT guy. Designing for Search Engines In a nutshell: Keep it simple. URLs should be short and keyword rich; less Flash, Javascript, and Ajax, more CSS. People and search engines will thank you. Universal Search Changes Stuff Text is soooo last year. Okay, so it's this year too. But you'll need to focus on SEO for images, video, and other media to stake your place in organic Universal Search results, especially with paid search inflation, and the possibility you'll have to compete with Google, too. Live Search Tips Live Search, the other search engine. Microsofties explain that successful search marketing involves three things: content prioritization and keyword focus; site architecture; seasonality consciousness and continuous research. Vertical Search, and What It Needs Like any wallflower, vertical search might need proper socialization. A human hand like consumer reviews could really drive the success of vertical search-driven, drilled-down buying process. Convincing Visitors To Buy Easier said than done, right? Most definitely, but what isn't? Experiment with everything, coupons, shopping cart placement, content, pricing, product images. Increase your load times. But above all, listen to your customers.
Social Media Optimization Twitter and Flickr are neat and all, about as neat sometimes as a Space Pen, in case you're ever in zero gravity. Others beg to differ and say proper use of social media will drive traffic, brand recognition, and industry contacts. The Social Disease Continued Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis is so convinced of the value of social/community content, he's banking his latest venture on it. Mahalo Social wants to bring all things social into the social graph and incorporate them into search for a more human, less mechanistic experience. Good idea? Well, we'll see. Small Business, Big Ideas Buy using smart landing pages to producing unique product-related content to building relationships, a small online business owner can be more like the old man that owned the local grocery store and less like the shark trying to sell you a lemon. Hint: Give them what they want and they'll come back. Fatigued From Reading? Try a Video Mike McDonald and the video crew are on the scene and have already brought us lots of video interviews to chew on, like: Hitwise's Bill Tancer talking about vertical search and its relationship with social networks. AGIS Network's Brent Csutoras and Stuntdubl's Todd Mailcoat expounding on the marketing possibilities of Facebook and Twitter. High Ranking's Jill Whalen providing some basic SEO advice and where social media fits in with a good online campaign. Web Guerrilla's Greg Boser explaining the concept of " PageRank sculpting." ClickZ Editor-In-Chief Rebecca Lieb discussing Net Neutrality and why it's important to you.
What's a Widget? If you don't know, you should probably read this. If you don't know what they're good for, you should also probably read this. In a nutshell: Think of your ads as content; interaction is a good thing; and marketers should be in charge of ideas, not your IT guy. Designing for Search Engines In a nutshell: Keep it simple. URLs should be short and keyword rich; less Flash, Javascript, and Ajax, more CSS. People and search engines will thank you. Universal Search Changes Stuff Text is soooo last year. Okay, so it's this year too. But you'll need to focus on SEO for images, video, and other media to stake your place in organic Universal Search results, especially with paid search inflation, and the possibility you'll have to compete with Google, too. Live Search Tips Live Search, the other search engine. Microsofties explain that successful search marketing involves three things: content prioritization and keyword focus; site architecture; seasonality consciousness and continuous research. Vertical Search, and What It Needs Like any wallflower, vertical search might need proper socialization. A human hand like consumer reviews could really drive the success of vertical search-driven, drilled-down buying process. Convincing Visitors To Buy Easier said than done, right? Most definitely, but what isn't? Experiment with everything, coupons, shopping cart placement, content, pricing, product images. Increase your load times. But above all, listen to your customers.
Social Media Optimization Twitter and Flickr are neat and all, about as neat sometimes as a Space Pen, in case you're ever in zero gravity. Others beg to differ and say proper use of social media will drive traffic, brand recognition, and industry contacts. The Social Disease Continued Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis is so convinced of the value of social/community content, he's banking his latest venture on it. Mahalo Social wants to bring all things social into the social graph and incorporate them into search for a more human, less mechanistic experience. Good idea? Well, we'll see. Small Business, Big Ideas Buy using smart landing pages to producing unique product-related content to building relationships, a small online business owner can be more like the old man that owned the local grocery store and less like the shark trying to sell you a lemon. Hint: Give them what they want and they'll come back. Fatigued From Reading? Try a Video Mike McDonald and the video crew are on the scene and have already brought us lots of video interviews to chew on, like: Hitwise's Bill Tancer talking about vertical search and its relationship with social networks. AGIS Network's Brent Csutoras and Stuntdubl's Todd Mailcoat expounding on the marketing possibilities of Facebook and Twitter. High Ranking's Jill Whalen providing some basic SEO advice and where social media fits in with a good online campaign. Web Guerrilla's Greg Boser explaining the concept of " PageRank sculpting." ClickZ Editor-In-Chief Rebecca Lieb discussing Net Neutrality and why it's important to you.
Tips for SEO, Web Usability and Higher Conversion for Site Design (or Re-Design
Starting a site design or re-design project for your company's website can be overwhelming with all the details you must decide on and consider. In doing so, the issue of SEO and web usability is quickly forgotten or placed low on the priority list.
Whether an e-commerce or business-to-business lead generating site, it is critical to the long-term performance of the site to implement not only the SEO factors in a site design, but to consider all elements of website usability in the equation.
Following are some helpful tips for SEO, web usability and higher web site conversion on a new site design or re-design project:
Site design: EASY always wins-out over good, smart or even better. If the site is EASY to get around, visitors will stay longer.
Visitors like small packages of info.
Visitors like structure.
Better design means Less Eye-Movement. Less eye-movement leads to higher conversion. Design Site Pages W/Visual "Roadmaps":
a. Have points of high contrast to attract the eye. b. Utilize different font sizes (i.e. larger fonts for headings).c. Use faces - faces are visual anchors for users. They are comforting.d. Blue underlined links. e. White space - surround text, images and clickable links w/white space.f. Utilize pictures for color contrast. g. Use captions on pictures.h. Use motion (flash or video).
Be Consistent:
a. Alignment - use alignment to separate different information from different sources i.e. Headers separated w/larger font and white space.b. Navigation - i.e. same nav on each page.c. Same visual anchors on each page.d. Same use of white space on each page.e. Same use of headers and small text "chunks" - easy for visitors to spot and read.f. DON'T mix with too many font styles.
Navigation:
1. If you have long left navigation or menu bars, use Headers/Headings for visual "anchor points" - improves "find-ability".
a. Use no more than 7 items under each heading.
b. Users will use and remain on navigation longer if you group navigation w/Headings.
c. Organized Navigation Will Enable Find-Ability.
2. Avoid top navigation that has mouse-over drop downs. Not SE friendly, users do not prefer them because the drop downs often obstruct page content.
3. Users still prefer left navigation on larger sites.
4. If using graphic navigation, code embed alts and titles for Search Engines.
Product Pages:
1. Don't forget to use SEO best practice on-page optimization on all product pages (page specific meta data, H1's, unique content).
2. Position Add to Cart button in close proximity to product price - either directly under or next to.
3. Add to Cart button should stand out in color and appearance (i.e. 3D).
Checkout Pages:
1. Utilize "button gravity" - users will always be drawn to the last button on the page.
a. Position Checkout button LAST - easy to find. b. Position Continue Shopping button next to Checkout button.
2. Offer multiple ways of payment - with specific selection function, i.e. pay by phone - have phone number listed, credit card, PayPal, etc.
3. Allow "Guest" checkout (no registration required to checkout).
4. Avoid requiring registration before checkout.
Lead Generation Forms:
1. Provide free informative white papers in exchange for contact info/filling out form .
2. Keep online forms targeted and as short as possible.
3. Include a privacy policy link / secure email link near "submit" button.
Other SEO Site Design Tips:
1. When using flash, position and limit flash to specific, strategic areas for color and contrast. Avoid all flash site pages and avoid embedding relevant, keyword rich content in flash.
2. Whenever possible, position main keyword rich content w/H1's within prime site real estate (top, left).
3. Users still rely on logo to be positioned top left - and as a link to Home page. An SEO best practice hint: use your page.
In addition, while implementing SEO and web usability to your site design - redesign, test, test, test. Hire a usability testing company or do A/B testing in house to obtain proven statistical results. Ongoing testing even after the site design project is also recommended!
In conclusion, implementing SEO and web usability in a site design produces tangible business results in the big picture. Keeping the big picture in mind during the site design - re-design process is essential.
About The AuthorSEO and web usability expert Valerie DiCarlo helps companies large and small - worldwide - enjoy a long term improvement in website visibility, increased brand awareness, a continuous flow of new sales leads and higher revenues. To discover how you can improve web presence, visibility and conversion with improved web usability for your website, go to: http://www.seo-web-consulting.com/ .
Whether an e-commerce or business-to-business lead generating site, it is critical to the long-term performance of the site to implement not only the SEO factors in a site design, but to consider all elements of website usability in the equation.
Following are some helpful tips for SEO, web usability and higher web site conversion on a new site design or re-design project:
Site design: EASY always wins-out over good, smart or even better. If the site is EASY to get around, visitors will stay longer.
Visitors like small packages of info.
Visitors like structure.
Better design means Less Eye-Movement. Less eye-movement leads to higher conversion. Design Site Pages W/Visual "Roadmaps":
a. Have points of high contrast to attract the eye. b. Utilize different font sizes (i.e. larger fonts for headings).c. Use faces - faces are visual anchors for users. They are comforting.d. Blue underlined links. e. White space - surround text, images and clickable links w/white space.f. Utilize pictures for color contrast. g. Use captions on pictures.h. Use motion (flash or video).
Be Consistent:
a. Alignment - use alignment to separate different information from different sources i.e. Headers separated w/larger font and white space.b. Navigation - i.e. same nav on each page.c. Same visual anchors on each page.d. Same use of white space on each page.e. Same use of headers and small text "chunks" - easy for visitors to spot and read.f. DON'T mix with too many font styles.
Navigation:
1. If you have long left navigation or menu bars, use Headers/Headings for visual "anchor points" - improves "find-ability".
a. Use no more than 7 items under each heading.
b. Users will use and remain on navigation longer if you group navigation w/Headings.
c. Organized Navigation Will Enable Find-Ability.
2. Avoid top navigation that has mouse-over drop downs. Not SE friendly, users do not prefer them because the drop downs often obstruct page content.
3. Users still prefer left navigation on larger sites.
4. If using graphic navigation, code embed alts and titles for Search Engines.
Product Pages:
1. Don't forget to use SEO best practice on-page optimization on all product pages (page specific meta data, H1's, unique content).
2. Position Add to Cart button in close proximity to product price - either directly under or next to.
3. Add to Cart button should stand out in color and appearance (i.e. 3D).
Checkout Pages:
1. Utilize "button gravity" - users will always be drawn to the last button on the page.
a. Position Checkout button LAST - easy to find. b. Position Continue Shopping button next to Checkout button.
2. Offer multiple ways of payment - with specific selection function, i.e. pay by phone - have phone number listed, credit card, PayPal, etc.
3. Allow "Guest" checkout (no registration required to checkout).
4. Avoid requiring registration before checkout.
Lead Generation Forms:
1. Provide free informative white papers in exchange for contact info/filling out form .
2. Keep online forms targeted and as short as possible.
3. Include a privacy policy link / secure email link near "submit" button.
Other SEO Site Design Tips:
1. When using flash, position and limit flash to specific, strategic areas for color and contrast. Avoid all flash site pages and avoid embedding relevant, keyword rich content in flash.
2. Whenever possible, position main keyword rich content w/H1's within prime site real estate (top, left).
3. Users still rely on logo to be positioned top left - and as a link to Home page. An SEO best practice hint: use your page.
In addition, while implementing SEO and web usability to your site design - redesign, test, test, test. Hire a usability testing company or do A/B testing in house to obtain proven statistical results. Ongoing testing even after the site design project is also recommended!
In conclusion, implementing SEO and web usability in a site design produces tangible business results in the big picture. Keeping the big picture in mind during the site design - re-design process is essential.
About The AuthorSEO and web usability expert Valerie DiCarlo helps companies large and small - worldwide - enjoy a long term improvement in website visibility, increased brand awareness, a continuous flow of new sales leads and higher revenues. To discover how you can improve web presence, visibility and conversion with improved web usability for your website, go to: http://www.seo-web-consulting.com/ .
The 10 Step Plan To Successful Email Marketing
When website owners and marketers talk about online marketing, they often refer to SEO and PPC. Email marketing can sometimes be overlooked despite being one of the most powerful methods to reach potential customers and to keep existing customers coming back for more. Perhaps a factor in this is that direct email campaigns are commonly associated with spam emails, but careful list management ensures that this need not be a problem.
There are a number of stages to a successful email marketing campaign and by nailing as many as possible you can improve your results. The key to success, though, most commonly lies in the planning stage – if this is your first foray into email marketing then be prepared to treat it as a test run. The more direct email marketing campaigns you run, the more opportunity you have to optimize the process and improve your results. Here are ten of the most important steps to an effective email campaign.
1 – Determine Your Ultimate Goal
This might sound obvious, but having a clear goal in mind will help to concentrate your efforts. There are many effective uses of an email marketing campaign from increasing brand awareness to pushing a new product or seasonal promotion. Each of these uses typically demands a different campaign with its own style and its own components.
Increasing traffic to your website is not usually a bottom line target. The reason for increasing traffic to a website is normally to improve sales and increase profits. In the majority of cases, it is more desirable to attain greater sales through fewer visitors, than having a site awash with visitors but with a poor conversion rate.
A prolonged and careful email marketing campaign will naturally help to improve brand awareness. Your readers will naturally remember your name and the products or services that you sell as they gain more and more exposure to your marketing emails. Similarly, as long as you produce relevant and useful emails, your potential customers will grow to trust you making it more likely that they will purchase from you now or in the future.
2 - Your Opt-In Email List
There are a couple of key aspects to this section. YOUR opt-in list will generate better results than the use of somebody else's list. If you have taken the time and put in the effort to grow your own list, then the members of that list will already have some degree of awareness for you, your products, and your website.
Developing your own list can take time and money. To get a head start it is possible to buy or rent email lists from others. In these cases it is particularly important to pay attention to the second important factor – the list MUST be an opt-in list. Every member of that list must have opted in to receive marketing communication from you and they MUST be given adequate opportunity to opt out of future communication.
Particular care needs to be taken with your list management techniques to ensure that you are not deemed as being spam. If you purchase lists or partial lists then members that opt out need to be recorded separately. If you purchase another list that includes the same name and you subsequently email that person without their express request to be re-included in your list then you face the very real possibility of being flagged as sending spam email.
3 - Establish Performance Tracking Techniques
Tracking the performance of any advertising campaign should be foremost in your mind. This is the only true method of determining its worth and is the only way you can optimize your advertising to generate the best possible results. Web analytics are an absolute must-have, and with the wealth of affordable and even free choices available today there is no reason not to have a good analytic package in place.
Tracking code can also be placed into an HTML email. You need to operate a degree of caution when implementing code into HTML emails, because it could lead to your email being blocked by over zealous spam filters. If you can use hyperlinks that include tracking code, and your analytics package includes referral data, then this can generate the majority of the information you require.
The more information you can gleam from an advertising campaign, the better. You will be using these results to fine tune future advertising campaigns, so too much information is better than too little. If in any doubt then consider using an email marketing management service to conduct the tracking on your behalf.
4 – Ready Your Website
Directing visitors to your website is only a portion of the battle ahead. Once a reader clicks through the links in your email, you then need to be confident that your web pages are optimized to complete the sale. Conversion rates need to be high on the pages you direct traffic to, but you also need to target the traffic to the most appropriate pages and vice versa.
Consider the anchor text, or link text, that you will be using in your email. If you are encouraging readers to learn more about a product then don't direct them straight to the purchase page unless that page includes the inferred information. Similarly, if you have pre-sold your readers so that they are poised and ready to buy, and your CTA (Call To Action) indicates that this is the next step then you can navigate readers through to a more direct sales page.
Introducing a new product or a new concept will usually take more information than you can provide in a single marketing email. If necessary, add a page or multiple complementary pages, to your website. Direct readers to these pages so that you can combine the use of your email marketing and your optimized and informative content to really persuade and hammer the message home hard.
5 – An Effective Subject Line
The subject line of your email is the first thing your readers will read, and you need to ensure that it won't be the last. Human spam filters can be just as difficult to avoid as software spam filters, even for genuine email. You should certainly avoid the use of typically spammy subject lines and opt for a more effective approach.
There are many ways to write an appealing subject line. A newsworthy subject line will often grab the attention but only works effectively in limited cases. Otherwise, try to evoke an emotive response from the reader. The strongest emotions include greed, love, and even hatred or controversy. With these latter two it is again important that you exercise appropriate caution otherwise you may alienate your readers against this and future marketing emails.
Intrigue and appeal work very well. An intriguing headline will draw your readers into the main body of the content and the subject line will have then done its job effectively. Never mislead in the subject of your email but do try to peak your reader's curiosity to the extent that they can't help but open the email and read it fully.
6 - Email Body Content
Finally we reach the main body content of the email. That it's taken to point six to do so is an indication of how important the planning and preparation stages are. The subject line has hopefully driven a good portion of your list to open the email, and those readers should be intrigued enough to want to read more.
Research shows that the more personalized the message, the more likely it will be to succeed. Start with a personalized greeting and use a friendly, even conversational tone, throughout the message. Inform readers of what they need to know but do so informally and in as friendly a manner as is possible by email.
The email absolutely has to be grammatically and factually correct, and must not contain typos. These types of errors can be an instant turn off for readers. Run a spell check. Twice. And then check it manually and have somebody else check it again for you. At the same time check the links and ensure that they do indeed direct to the proper pages.
Include a Call To Action, or CTA, rather than just a link. A CTA is a direction that points your visitors to perform your desired action. This could be to click a link, make a purchase, or even forward the email to friends. The CTA needs to be clearly defined an, obviously, as effective and accurate as possible.
7 - Hyperlinks To Your Site
The entire point (although probably not your ultimate goal) of your email is to get readers to click on links and visit your website. Include two or three links in the body of your email and make sure they are relevant without being too obvious. Lead readers to click the links rather than directly point it out and find something more effective than “click here” to use as your anchor text.
Two to three links is the ideal number. Too few links and your email won't prove effective at driving traffic, while too many links will detract from the actual content of the email. If your email is very short then offer two links, or offer three links within longer messages. Contextual links (that is, those that appear within the body of the email rather than at the end) are usually significantly more effective.
Check and double check that links work and direct to the correct page. Once you've done this, have somebody else check them too. The number of marketing emails that have failed because of broken or incorrect links is alarmingly high and this is not a trap that you want to fall into.
8 - Choose The Best Time To Send Your Email
The time you send your email can have a significant impact on its effectiveness. During the night, most people's emails fill up. In a lot of cases, this can mean that your reader will be faced with tens of emails in the morning, many of them rubbish. This leaves a very real chance that they will simply ignore or delete your email without noticing who sent it, what it is about, or whether they have any interest in reading it.
Consider your target market and when they are most likely to be sat in front of their email. Those with a global market may find this more difficult because of the time difference, but otherwise bear this in mind too. Not every website or marketing email is geared towards residents from the same country.
9 - Test Email
Initially, send a test email to yourself, friends, family, or colleagues. This is more to determine that it arrives looking as expected. Once you have done this and are happy with how your email looks, you should then move on to send a second test email to a small selection of your list. This gives you ample opportunity to make any last minutes changes or tweaks according to how this small test run performs.
You might even consider sending several tests out to different groups, if you have a large enough list. This enables you to test the subject line, content, and product price, by making alterations before each test run. Be sure to test the different components separately, though, so that you can determine what needs changing and what works well.
A test email also gives you chance to check that you are set up and able to track the results and any other information you want to track. A good email marketing service will do this by default, because the test email can prove to be one of the single most effective ways to improve the performance of a one-off email shot.
10 - Monitor, Optimize, And Start Again
Being careful not to send emails too frequently, you should send regular communication to your list. An unloved list will be more likely to unsubscribe and readers become most responsive after approximately seven items of communication from you. Monitor results, check bounce rates, and look for ways that your campaign could be improved.
Once you've found the best ways to improve a campaign make the improvements and begin the procedure again from the beginning. This process of monitoring, optimizing, and starting again will help to increase exposure, improve brand awareness, and generally improve results and profit levels.
Why Your List Is So Important
A list can last you a lifetime and it is possible to continue selling to the same list members over and over again. In fact, once a list member purchases from you, and presuming that everything goes smoothly during and after the sale, they will be more inclined to purchase from you in the future. You will have won their trust, gained their favor, and they can be relied upon to help you with extra sales in the future.
Look after your list and your list will look after your profits.
About the Author: Matt Jackson, founder of WebWiseWords, offers SEO copywriting and a range of other web content writing services to increase traffic and improve conversions for your website.
There are a number of stages to a successful email marketing campaign and by nailing as many as possible you can improve your results. The key to success, though, most commonly lies in the planning stage – if this is your first foray into email marketing then be prepared to treat it as a test run. The more direct email marketing campaigns you run, the more opportunity you have to optimize the process and improve your results. Here are ten of the most important steps to an effective email campaign.
1 – Determine Your Ultimate Goal
This might sound obvious, but having a clear goal in mind will help to concentrate your efforts. There are many effective uses of an email marketing campaign from increasing brand awareness to pushing a new product or seasonal promotion. Each of these uses typically demands a different campaign with its own style and its own components.
Increasing traffic to your website is not usually a bottom line target. The reason for increasing traffic to a website is normally to improve sales and increase profits. In the majority of cases, it is more desirable to attain greater sales through fewer visitors, than having a site awash with visitors but with a poor conversion rate.
A prolonged and careful email marketing campaign will naturally help to improve brand awareness. Your readers will naturally remember your name and the products or services that you sell as they gain more and more exposure to your marketing emails. Similarly, as long as you produce relevant and useful emails, your potential customers will grow to trust you making it more likely that they will purchase from you now or in the future.
2 - Your Opt-In Email List
There are a couple of key aspects to this section. YOUR opt-in list will generate better results than the use of somebody else's list. If you have taken the time and put in the effort to grow your own list, then the members of that list will already have some degree of awareness for you, your products, and your website.
Developing your own list can take time and money. To get a head start it is possible to buy or rent email lists from others. In these cases it is particularly important to pay attention to the second important factor – the list MUST be an opt-in list. Every member of that list must have opted in to receive marketing communication from you and they MUST be given adequate opportunity to opt out of future communication.
Particular care needs to be taken with your list management techniques to ensure that you are not deemed as being spam. If you purchase lists or partial lists then members that opt out need to be recorded separately. If you purchase another list that includes the same name and you subsequently email that person without their express request to be re-included in your list then you face the very real possibility of being flagged as sending spam email.
3 - Establish Performance Tracking Techniques
Tracking the performance of any advertising campaign should be foremost in your mind. This is the only true method of determining its worth and is the only way you can optimize your advertising to generate the best possible results. Web analytics are an absolute must-have, and with the wealth of affordable and even free choices available today there is no reason not to have a good analytic package in place.
Tracking code can also be placed into an HTML email. You need to operate a degree of caution when implementing code into HTML emails, because it could lead to your email being blocked by over zealous spam filters. If you can use hyperlinks that include tracking code, and your analytics package includes referral data, then this can generate the majority of the information you require.
The more information you can gleam from an advertising campaign, the better. You will be using these results to fine tune future advertising campaigns, so too much information is better than too little. If in any doubt then consider using an email marketing management service to conduct the tracking on your behalf.
4 – Ready Your Website
Directing visitors to your website is only a portion of the battle ahead. Once a reader clicks through the links in your email, you then need to be confident that your web pages are optimized to complete the sale. Conversion rates need to be high on the pages you direct traffic to, but you also need to target the traffic to the most appropriate pages and vice versa.
Consider the anchor text, or link text, that you will be using in your email. If you are encouraging readers to learn more about a product then don't direct them straight to the purchase page unless that page includes the inferred information. Similarly, if you have pre-sold your readers so that they are poised and ready to buy, and your CTA (Call To Action) indicates that this is the next step then you can navigate readers through to a more direct sales page.
Introducing a new product or a new concept will usually take more information than you can provide in a single marketing email. If necessary, add a page or multiple complementary pages, to your website. Direct readers to these pages so that you can combine the use of your email marketing and your optimized and informative content to really persuade and hammer the message home hard.
5 – An Effective Subject Line
The subject line of your email is the first thing your readers will read, and you need to ensure that it won't be the last. Human spam filters can be just as difficult to avoid as software spam filters, even for genuine email. You should certainly avoid the use of typically spammy subject lines and opt for a more effective approach.
There are many ways to write an appealing subject line. A newsworthy subject line will often grab the attention but only works effectively in limited cases. Otherwise, try to evoke an emotive response from the reader. The strongest emotions include greed, love, and even hatred or controversy. With these latter two it is again important that you exercise appropriate caution otherwise you may alienate your readers against this and future marketing emails.
Intrigue and appeal work very well. An intriguing headline will draw your readers into the main body of the content and the subject line will have then done its job effectively. Never mislead in the subject of your email but do try to peak your reader's curiosity to the extent that they can't help but open the email and read it fully.
6 - Email Body Content
Finally we reach the main body content of the email. That it's taken to point six to do so is an indication of how important the planning and preparation stages are. The subject line has hopefully driven a good portion of your list to open the email, and those readers should be intrigued enough to want to read more.
Research shows that the more personalized the message, the more likely it will be to succeed. Start with a personalized greeting and use a friendly, even conversational tone, throughout the message. Inform readers of what they need to know but do so informally and in as friendly a manner as is possible by email.
The email absolutely has to be grammatically and factually correct, and must not contain typos. These types of errors can be an instant turn off for readers. Run a spell check. Twice. And then check it manually and have somebody else check it again for you. At the same time check the links and ensure that they do indeed direct to the proper pages.
Include a Call To Action, or CTA, rather than just a link. A CTA is a direction that points your visitors to perform your desired action. This could be to click a link, make a purchase, or even forward the email to friends. The CTA needs to be clearly defined an, obviously, as effective and accurate as possible.
7 - Hyperlinks To Your Site
The entire point (although probably not your ultimate goal) of your email is to get readers to click on links and visit your website. Include two or three links in the body of your email and make sure they are relevant without being too obvious. Lead readers to click the links rather than directly point it out and find something more effective than “click here” to use as your anchor text.
Two to three links is the ideal number. Too few links and your email won't prove effective at driving traffic, while too many links will detract from the actual content of the email. If your email is very short then offer two links, or offer three links within longer messages. Contextual links (that is, those that appear within the body of the email rather than at the end) are usually significantly more effective.
Check and double check that links work and direct to the correct page. Once you've done this, have somebody else check them too. The number of marketing emails that have failed because of broken or incorrect links is alarmingly high and this is not a trap that you want to fall into.
8 - Choose The Best Time To Send Your Email
The time you send your email can have a significant impact on its effectiveness. During the night, most people's emails fill up. In a lot of cases, this can mean that your reader will be faced with tens of emails in the morning, many of them rubbish. This leaves a very real chance that they will simply ignore or delete your email without noticing who sent it, what it is about, or whether they have any interest in reading it.
Consider your target market and when they are most likely to be sat in front of their email. Those with a global market may find this more difficult because of the time difference, but otherwise bear this in mind too. Not every website or marketing email is geared towards residents from the same country.
9 - Test Email
Initially, send a test email to yourself, friends, family, or colleagues. This is more to determine that it arrives looking as expected. Once you have done this and are happy with how your email looks, you should then move on to send a second test email to a small selection of your list. This gives you ample opportunity to make any last minutes changes or tweaks according to how this small test run performs.
You might even consider sending several tests out to different groups, if you have a large enough list. This enables you to test the subject line, content, and product price, by making alterations before each test run. Be sure to test the different components separately, though, so that you can determine what needs changing and what works well.
A test email also gives you chance to check that you are set up and able to track the results and any other information you want to track. A good email marketing service will do this by default, because the test email can prove to be one of the single most effective ways to improve the performance of a one-off email shot.
10 - Monitor, Optimize, And Start Again
Being careful not to send emails too frequently, you should send regular communication to your list. An unloved list will be more likely to unsubscribe and readers become most responsive after approximately seven items of communication from you. Monitor results, check bounce rates, and look for ways that your campaign could be improved.
Once you've found the best ways to improve a campaign make the improvements and begin the procedure again from the beginning. This process of monitoring, optimizing, and starting again will help to increase exposure, improve brand awareness, and generally improve results and profit levels.
Why Your List Is So Important
A list can last you a lifetime and it is possible to continue selling to the same list members over and over again. In fact, once a list member purchases from you, and presuming that everything goes smoothly during and after the sale, they will be more inclined to purchase from you in the future. You will have won their trust, gained their favor, and they can be relied upon to help you with extra sales in the future.
Look after your list and your list will look after your profits.
About the Author: Matt Jackson, founder of WebWiseWords, offers SEO copywriting and a range of other web content writing services to increase traffic and improve conversions for your website.
Ecommerce Marketing - Improve Landing Page Performance
Undertaking any new advertising campaign should also entail the optimization of your landing pages. These pages need to be set up primarily to convert the visitors that your advertising generates. No matter the method of marketing or advertising you use, even offline advertising, you should have a clear understanding of the visitors that it will produce.
- What keywords, if any, led a visitor to your page?- Are your visitors looking for information or products?- Where are your visitors likely to be from?
The first step to landing page optimization is getting to know the resulting visitors. With paid search and even organic search you should have a good level of knowledge of the keywords that those visitors have used to visit your site. Consider whether the keywords and your campaign in general is geographically targeted, whether it will lead to visitors that want more information or are ready to start the buying process, and their general demographics. The more information you can determine about your new visitors, the more effective your landing page can be.
- Have you included the most relevant keywords in your page?- Are the images relevant to the topic your visitors want?- Are ALL of your page elements relevant?
The landing page should be optimized so that it is relevant to these visitors. Page relevancy is always a popular topic. The more relevant a page is to its visitors, the more targeted those visitors will be, and the more targeted a visit is, the more likely they will convert and perform your desired action. Including keywords is a part of page relevancy but generally matching all of the page content to the needs of your visitors is vital.
- Why did a visitor choose to visit your site?- What did you promise or infer in your advertisement?- Do your visitors want information or do they want to buy straight away?
If you promise information in the advertising link then you should provide that information. In contrast, if an advertisement implies that your visitor will be taken to a purchase page, then that is where they should be taken. Most searches are done by surfers looking for information on a topic - this may or may not lead to an immediate purchase. By providing the information that a visitor is looking for it provides you with the opportunity to increase brand awareness, and even make an immediate sale.
- What makes your product better than your competitors' products?- Why should visitors use your website rather than the next one?- What do you have to offer that no other service, or very few services, also offer?
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what makes you stand out from your competition. It's the reason that your visitors should choose you over any other site. It's also one of the most powerful conversion tools you have available to you. Many websites do not include their USP because they have yet to identify it - virtually every website and every company has a USP and promoting it early or prominently in the content of your site will help to increase conversion rates.
- Does the first paragraph of content include a summary?- Have you got all of the important information on the page before the fold?- Have you used an appropriate web content writing format?
Reading from a computer screen is very different to reading from paper based media. We can't read as quickly, we digest less information, and we comprehend fewer facts and less information. As such, it is good practice to write differently for the Internet than we would for a magazine or other publication. The very first paragraph needs to be a concise and informative summary of the rest of the page. Sentences and paragraphs should be shorter in length and, therefore, simpler in their reading. Headlines and titles, as well as other formatting, should be well employed in the relevant areas.
- Have you removed any unnecessary links?- Is advertising kept to less visible sections of the page?- Have you moved distracting page elements below the fold?
The more external links that appear at or near the top of the page, the more likely that your visitors will leave your site. Similarly, distracting advertisements that aren't a part of your CTA (Call To Action) need to be placed somewhere less distracting, along with other potential diversions. While these page elements all have a place on websites, they shouldn't detract from a well optimized landing page.
- What do you want your visitors to do next?- What will your visitors want to do next?- Have you clearly defined and implemented your CTA?
The Call To Action, or CTA, is the online vehicle that will drive your visitors to take the next step in the process. What this step is will differ according to various factors. If you sell your own products then the next step for your visitors could be to make the purchase. Alternatively, the desired action could be to sign up for a free newsletter, click an affiliate link, or download a free ebook. Identify what it is that you want your visitors to do next as well as what you believe they will want to do next. Once you've identified your CTA you need to implement it on your page so that visitors recognize what they are expected to do.
- Do you have any special offers, reductions, or discounts?- Do you have any promotional giveaways or other incentives to offer?- Have you pushed these incentives above the fold?
Incentives are a great way to persuade undecided visitors to take the plunge and move on to the next step. Either have a creative ad made that is relevant to the incentive, or at the very least ensure that it is mentioned in or around the first paragraph of your page. It should also be considered one of your USPs so it is a critical part of optimizing your landing pages.
- Is there any way you can make improvements?- Are you tracking results?- Are you prepared to make changes according to those results?
Your landing page is all about getting results. This means you need a powerful analytic package so that you can track the performance of these pages. You should have this software installed on your site anyway, in order that you can track the results of the advertising campaign itself, determine your most successful and least successful pages, and gather important data. Make small changes in a bid to improve page performance, and ascertain the success of those changes before making any others. Keep monitoring and optimizing until you get the best possible results.
About the Author: The landing page is as important as the advertising itself. Poor landing page performance essentially means wasted advertising revenue while optimized pages can mean excellent sales levels and highly profitable marketing campaigns. Matt Jackson, of WebWiseWords, creates compelling web site content, and also specializes in a range of other web site content writing services.
- What keywords, if any, led a visitor to your page?- Are your visitors looking for information or products?- Where are your visitors likely to be from?
The first step to landing page optimization is getting to know the resulting visitors. With paid search and even organic search you should have a good level of knowledge of the keywords that those visitors have used to visit your site. Consider whether the keywords and your campaign in general is geographically targeted, whether it will lead to visitors that want more information or are ready to start the buying process, and their general demographics. The more information you can determine about your new visitors, the more effective your landing page can be.
- Have you included the most relevant keywords in your page?- Are the images relevant to the topic your visitors want?- Are ALL of your page elements relevant?
The landing page should be optimized so that it is relevant to these visitors. Page relevancy is always a popular topic. The more relevant a page is to its visitors, the more targeted those visitors will be, and the more targeted a visit is, the more likely they will convert and perform your desired action. Including keywords is a part of page relevancy but generally matching all of the page content to the needs of your visitors is vital.
- Why did a visitor choose to visit your site?- What did you promise or infer in your advertisement?- Do your visitors want information or do they want to buy straight away?
If you promise information in the advertising link then you should provide that information. In contrast, if an advertisement implies that your visitor will be taken to a purchase page, then that is where they should be taken. Most searches are done by surfers looking for information on a topic - this may or may not lead to an immediate purchase. By providing the information that a visitor is looking for it provides you with the opportunity to increase brand awareness, and even make an immediate sale.
- What makes your product better than your competitors' products?- Why should visitors use your website rather than the next one?- What do you have to offer that no other service, or very few services, also offer?
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what makes you stand out from your competition. It's the reason that your visitors should choose you over any other site. It's also one of the most powerful conversion tools you have available to you. Many websites do not include their USP because they have yet to identify it - virtually every website and every company has a USP and promoting it early or prominently in the content of your site will help to increase conversion rates.
- Does the first paragraph of content include a summary?- Have you got all of the important information on the page before the fold?- Have you used an appropriate web content writing format?
Reading from a computer screen is very different to reading from paper based media. We can't read as quickly, we digest less information, and we comprehend fewer facts and less information. As such, it is good practice to write differently for the Internet than we would for a magazine or other publication. The very first paragraph needs to be a concise and informative summary of the rest of the page. Sentences and paragraphs should be shorter in length and, therefore, simpler in their reading. Headlines and titles, as well as other formatting, should be well employed in the relevant areas.
- Have you removed any unnecessary links?- Is advertising kept to less visible sections of the page?- Have you moved distracting page elements below the fold?
The more external links that appear at or near the top of the page, the more likely that your visitors will leave your site. Similarly, distracting advertisements that aren't a part of your CTA (Call To Action) need to be placed somewhere less distracting, along with other potential diversions. While these page elements all have a place on websites, they shouldn't detract from a well optimized landing page.
- What do you want your visitors to do next?- What will your visitors want to do next?- Have you clearly defined and implemented your CTA?
The Call To Action, or CTA, is the online vehicle that will drive your visitors to take the next step in the process. What this step is will differ according to various factors. If you sell your own products then the next step for your visitors could be to make the purchase. Alternatively, the desired action could be to sign up for a free newsletter, click an affiliate link, or download a free ebook. Identify what it is that you want your visitors to do next as well as what you believe they will want to do next. Once you've identified your CTA you need to implement it on your page so that visitors recognize what they are expected to do.
- Do you have any special offers, reductions, or discounts?- Do you have any promotional giveaways or other incentives to offer?- Have you pushed these incentives above the fold?
Incentives are a great way to persuade undecided visitors to take the plunge and move on to the next step. Either have a creative ad made that is relevant to the incentive, or at the very least ensure that it is mentioned in or around the first paragraph of your page. It should also be considered one of your USPs so it is a critical part of optimizing your landing pages.
- Is there any way you can make improvements?- Are you tracking results?- Are you prepared to make changes according to those results?
Your landing page is all about getting results. This means you need a powerful analytic package so that you can track the performance of these pages. You should have this software installed on your site anyway, in order that you can track the results of the advertising campaign itself, determine your most successful and least successful pages, and gather important data. Make small changes in a bid to improve page performance, and ascertain the success of those changes before making any others. Keep monitoring and optimizing until you get the best possible results.
About the Author: The landing page is as important as the advertising itself. Poor landing page performance essentially means wasted advertising revenue while optimized pages can mean excellent sales levels and highly profitable marketing campaigns. Matt Jackson, of WebWiseWords, creates compelling web site content, and also specializes in a range of other web site content writing services.
How Anyone Can Improve Their Search Engine Rankings
The goal of the search engines is to provide the most relevant information to its users. It's in the best interests of the search engines to be relevant because if the information returned is not relevant, the web user will use a different search engine and this will take money out of their (massive) pockets.
The majority of searches worldwide are conducted on 3 major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN).
Are you familiar with algebra? The search engines use mathematical formulas called 'algorithms' to evaluate your website's relevance in relation to 'search terms' or 'keywords'. Each search engine uses different algorithms (which are not disclosed to the public), which focus on 2 main areas which I call: Content and Link Popularity.
The term 'link popularity' as I refer to it, means: "How authoritative your website is in the eyes of the search engines according to the amount of links you have and the quality and relevance of those links." (When compared to the content on your website and your competitors' websites).
This means any content in your website including: all text, images, audio and videos.
PageRank™ is a series of algorithms that was invented by Serge Brin and Larry Page, (the billionaire founders of Google) in 1998 and is constantly evolving.
Google's description of Pagerank:
"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes or links a page receives, it also analyzes the pages that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important'."
PageRank (from here on I will refer to it as PR) works on a scale from 0 - 10, with 0 being lowest and 10 being highest. The higher your PR is, the more authoritative your site is.
Each website that links to you will give you some of their PR (if they have any) and vice versa. A great analogy is that PR is like water. The higher the PR of the website that links to you, the more water that they will give you. It's important to remember though that if that webpage is already giving water (linking) to lots of other sites, they will not give you as much as they would if they weren't linking to so many sites.
Most websites have the highest PR on their homepage because that's where the majority of their incoming links point to. A common theme is that a website will have a high PR on their homepage, but low or no PR on most of their internal pages.
It is important to have "deep links", these are links going to a page in your site other than your homepage.
FAQs:
Do I need to have a high PR to get into the top listings of the search engines?
That's a tricky question, my answer is Yes and No! Each of the search engines has different criteria when it comes to listing your website on their first page. It is possible that you could have PR of zero and get the first listing. However, this would most likely be only on a keyword with no competition. Example: "vanilla carrot croisants" Obviously this is not a word that anyone is typing into the search engines, (as of now lol).
If the keyword you are trying to get high rankings on is competitive, usually the top spots go to relevant sites that have the highest PR.
As the PageRank formula is an algorithm, how many links would it take from a PR 4 site webpage to equal one link from a PR5 site?
The answer to this is kept top secret by Google and Yahoo, but some industry experts predict that you would need between 8-10. So if that is true than it would take from 60-100 PR3 links to equal just 1 PR5 link based on PR alone.
Personally I think this is just a vague guideline that doesn't hold true in many cases. A PR5 link will be more or less valuable depending on: how many pages it is already linking to, it's relevance to your website theme, and other hidden factors.
How do I get onto the first page of Google?
Getting onto the first page of Google (and the other search engines) for a particular keyword or keyword phrase depends on 3 factors:
*Content - what your webpage contents say that it is about in relation to a particular keyword.
*Link Reputation - what other web-pages say your webpage is about (based on the words in and around the links that point to your website) and the determined quality and authority of those web-pages.
*Authority - how important your website is in the "eyes" of the search engines based on the amount of links and quality of links pointing to your site (PageRank)
The position that your site will get depends on the 'score' that it receives based on these factors. Remember that this 'score' is always in relation to a particular keyword.
If your website is about "chocolate cake recipes" (are you getting hungry yet?), your website can achieve rankings related to this keyword. You won't be able to rank for "banana pudding" or "creme brule" unless you have that content in your website.
If you would like to get higher search engine rankings I suggest you start to learn about how to optimize your content and how to get quality links to your site. Happy Optimizing!
About the Author: Jason Storm is an SEO Expert who consults for small-business owners and webmasters who want to increase their search engine rankings by using content optimization and link building strategies. Visit his site http://www.Affordable-SeoServices.com.
The majority of searches worldwide are conducted on 3 major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN).
Are you familiar with algebra? The search engines use mathematical formulas called 'algorithms' to evaluate your website's relevance in relation to 'search terms' or 'keywords'. Each search engine uses different algorithms (which are not disclosed to the public), which focus on 2 main areas which I call: Content and Link Popularity.
The term 'link popularity' as I refer to it, means: "How authoritative your website is in the eyes of the search engines according to the amount of links you have and the quality and relevance of those links." (When compared to the content on your website and your competitors' websites).
This means any content in your website including: all text, images, audio and videos.
PageRank™ is a series of algorithms that was invented by Serge Brin and Larry Page, (the billionaire founders of Google) in 1998 and is constantly evolving.
Google's description of Pagerank:
"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes or links a page receives, it also analyzes the pages that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important'."
PageRank (from here on I will refer to it as PR) works on a scale from 0 - 10, with 0 being lowest and 10 being highest. The higher your PR is, the more authoritative your site is.
Each website that links to you will give you some of their PR (if they have any) and vice versa. A great analogy is that PR is like water. The higher the PR of the website that links to you, the more water that they will give you. It's important to remember though that if that webpage is already giving water (linking) to lots of other sites, they will not give you as much as they would if they weren't linking to so many sites.
Most websites have the highest PR on their homepage because that's where the majority of their incoming links point to. A common theme is that a website will have a high PR on their homepage, but low or no PR on most of their internal pages.
It is important to have "deep links", these are links going to a page in your site other than your homepage.
FAQs:
Do I need to have a high PR to get into the top listings of the search engines?
That's a tricky question, my answer is Yes and No! Each of the search engines has different criteria when it comes to listing your website on their first page. It is possible that you could have PR of zero and get the first listing. However, this would most likely be only on a keyword with no competition. Example: "vanilla carrot croisants" Obviously this is not a word that anyone is typing into the search engines, (as of now lol).
If the keyword you are trying to get high rankings on is competitive, usually the top spots go to relevant sites that have the highest PR.
As the PageRank formula is an algorithm, how many links would it take from a PR 4 site webpage to equal one link from a PR5 site?
The answer to this is kept top secret by Google and Yahoo, but some industry experts predict that you would need between 8-10. So if that is true than it would take from 60-100 PR3 links to equal just 1 PR5 link based on PR alone.
Personally I think this is just a vague guideline that doesn't hold true in many cases. A PR5 link will be more or less valuable depending on: how many pages it is already linking to, it's relevance to your website theme, and other hidden factors.
How do I get onto the first page of Google?
Getting onto the first page of Google (and the other search engines) for a particular keyword or keyword phrase depends on 3 factors:
*Content - what your webpage contents say that it is about in relation to a particular keyword.
*Link Reputation - what other web-pages say your webpage is about (based on the words in and around the links that point to your website) and the determined quality and authority of those web-pages.
*Authority - how important your website is in the "eyes" of the search engines based on the amount of links and quality of links pointing to your site (PageRank)
The position that your site will get depends on the 'score' that it receives based on these factors. Remember that this 'score' is always in relation to a particular keyword.
If your website is about "chocolate cake recipes" (are you getting hungry yet?), your website can achieve rankings related to this keyword. You won't be able to rank for "banana pudding" or "creme brule" unless you have that content in your website.
If you would like to get higher search engine rankings I suggest you start to learn about how to optimize your content and how to get quality links to your site. Happy Optimizing!
About the Author: Jason Storm is an SEO Expert who consults for small-business owners and webmasters who want to increase their search engine rankings by using content optimization and link building strategies. Visit his site http://www.Affordable-SeoServices.com.
Business Networking
Business Networking On The Internet
Networking has long been one of the most valuable and viable tools a marketer or salesman can have. Way before the Internet became such a business powerhouse, marketers built up lists of potential leads and business relationship partners through networking. Even though a lot of businesses have taken their sales efforts online, there are still lessons to be learned from offline business networking.
Industry And Trade Events
Industry and trade events, business meetings, and seminars are just a few of the most likely venues to meet people interested in your service or product. Offline network marketers have been attending these types of function almost religiously for years. Groups of like minded people naturally flock to these events providing ample opportunity to network and begin to develop relationships.
Social networking websites are a major part of Web 2.0 and offer opportunities for the active networker to meet and make new leads. Much has been made of Web 2.0 as being a more social Internet further enhancing the opportunity for positive business networking. Blogs, forums, and content sharing websites are just some of the types of website that you can get involved in. By leaving memorable and relevant comments with a signature link to your own site or portfolio you can effectively build a profile of new leads and interested customers.
A Pocket Full Of Business Cards
Every networker knows that they need a plentiful supply of business cards. They're always ready to hand two to anybody that asks (one for the receiver and one for somebody they know that may also be interested). An equally important part of networking, though, is the receipt of business cards. Any business relationship needs to be a two way encounter and that's why networkers always have a healthy selection of other people's business cards. This also gives them the chance to follow up on leads and keep in regular contact with any potential clients or referrals.
The link to your website acts largely like a business card. It directs leads to a central location that includes contact information and a raft of other informative facts about you, your service, and the products you offer. Always be ready to link to your website but only do so when it's called for. Don't spam and don't post links where they aren't welcome. It is true that links help to improve search rankings but illegitimate posting of your link offers only a very short term gain, if it offers a gain at all.
Be Memorable
The most effective offline networkers are friendly, amicable, and helpful. They don't engage in one sided conversations and listen to the whole discussion as well as offer intuitive and insightful information. First impressions really do last and it's important that you be memorable for all the right reasons.
Networking online requires the same lasting impression. You should come across as being helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. In every aspect of your networking it is imperative that you act appropriately - it may be a virtual world, but the people involved are no less real. When using blogs and forums that are relevant to your area, links will only really prove effective if they are accompanied by a genuine comment offering information or help. Simple posts like "I agree" or "great post" won't cut it with most people.
Build Relationships Rather Than Go For The Sell
Networking is a means of generating new leads. In some circumstances it may prove beneficial to go straight for the sell, but these circumstances are few and far between. Offline marketers know that by building a positive relationship with a lead they will be more inclined to use their service or buy their product over and over again but only when they need it.
Much is made of the power of your leads and for good reason. Building a list of online leads, with email addresses and other data, enables you to keep in constant communication. New product releases, special offers, and joint ventures can all be promoted to the same list with the possibility of selling numerous products to the same people. Building a list of leads is often done by using form of lead capture form on your website - offer a newsletter or a free offer that can only be accessed by providing an email address.
You Get Out What You Put In
Networking, whether it be online or offline, is not a simple task. It is considered a form of guerilla marketing because it can be done for very little money but an expenditure of your own time and effort is required instead. The more effort you put into building a powerful list of leads, the better the results you will acquire. Visit more sites, talk to more people, and grow your list quicker so that it contains more qualified leads.
Visiting sites that are highly relevant to your industry and to your product or service will ensure that you gain targeted and qualified leads. These leads are likely to be the most responsive when you later attempt to sell them anything. Be careful never to use underhand or black hat methods when networking online because it can get your link removed, your post banned, and can even cause untold damage to the popularity of your website that is incredibly difficult to recover from; in short, it just isn't worth it.
Look After Your Leads
Once you've built your list of qualified leads you need to take care of them. Don't just leave them without any contact for weeks or months on end - you need to keep in contact regularly enough that they don't forget who you are but not contact them too often that they unsubscibe from your mailing list. If anybody does want to unsubscribe then you have to remove them from your list as soon as possible and ensure that no more communication is sent them to them.
Networking is a good business practice. Offline, it has been used for many years to help entrepreneurs, salesmen, and marketers promote their service, product or business. The advance of social networking online means that it is an even more viable method to improve your online business results, generate sales, and offer a superb ROI on a minor investment.
About the Author: WebWiseWords creates compelling web site content that helps to improve search engine rankings and also improves sales figures. To buy content or find further information visit the WebWiseWords site.
Networking has long been one of the most valuable and viable tools a marketer or salesman can have. Way before the Internet became such a business powerhouse, marketers built up lists of potential leads and business relationship partners through networking. Even though a lot of businesses have taken their sales efforts online, there are still lessons to be learned from offline business networking.
Industry And Trade Events
Industry and trade events, business meetings, and seminars are just a few of the most likely venues to meet people interested in your service or product. Offline network marketers have been attending these types of function almost religiously for years. Groups of like minded people naturally flock to these events providing ample opportunity to network and begin to develop relationships.
Social networking websites are a major part of Web 2.0 and offer opportunities for the active networker to meet and make new leads. Much has been made of Web 2.0 as being a more social Internet further enhancing the opportunity for positive business networking. Blogs, forums, and content sharing websites are just some of the types of website that you can get involved in. By leaving memorable and relevant comments with a signature link to your own site or portfolio you can effectively build a profile of new leads and interested customers.
A Pocket Full Of Business Cards
Every networker knows that they need a plentiful supply of business cards. They're always ready to hand two to anybody that asks (one for the receiver and one for somebody they know that may also be interested). An equally important part of networking, though, is the receipt of business cards. Any business relationship needs to be a two way encounter and that's why networkers always have a healthy selection of other people's business cards. This also gives them the chance to follow up on leads and keep in regular contact with any potential clients or referrals.
The link to your website acts largely like a business card. It directs leads to a central location that includes contact information and a raft of other informative facts about you, your service, and the products you offer. Always be ready to link to your website but only do so when it's called for. Don't spam and don't post links where they aren't welcome. It is true that links help to improve search rankings but illegitimate posting of your link offers only a very short term gain, if it offers a gain at all.
Be Memorable
The most effective offline networkers are friendly, amicable, and helpful. They don't engage in one sided conversations and listen to the whole discussion as well as offer intuitive and insightful information. First impressions really do last and it's important that you be memorable for all the right reasons.
Networking online requires the same lasting impression. You should come across as being helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. In every aspect of your networking it is imperative that you act appropriately - it may be a virtual world, but the people involved are no less real. When using blogs and forums that are relevant to your area, links will only really prove effective if they are accompanied by a genuine comment offering information or help. Simple posts like "I agree" or "great post" won't cut it with most people.
Build Relationships Rather Than Go For The Sell
Networking is a means of generating new leads. In some circumstances it may prove beneficial to go straight for the sell, but these circumstances are few and far between. Offline marketers know that by building a positive relationship with a lead they will be more inclined to use their service or buy their product over and over again but only when they need it.
Much is made of the power of your leads and for good reason. Building a list of online leads, with email addresses and other data, enables you to keep in constant communication. New product releases, special offers, and joint ventures can all be promoted to the same list with the possibility of selling numerous products to the same people. Building a list of leads is often done by using form of lead capture form on your website - offer a newsletter or a free offer that can only be accessed by providing an email address.
You Get Out What You Put In
Networking, whether it be online or offline, is not a simple task. It is considered a form of guerilla marketing because it can be done for very little money but an expenditure of your own time and effort is required instead. The more effort you put into building a powerful list of leads, the better the results you will acquire. Visit more sites, talk to more people, and grow your list quicker so that it contains more qualified leads.
Visiting sites that are highly relevant to your industry and to your product or service will ensure that you gain targeted and qualified leads. These leads are likely to be the most responsive when you later attempt to sell them anything. Be careful never to use underhand or black hat methods when networking online because it can get your link removed, your post banned, and can even cause untold damage to the popularity of your website that is incredibly difficult to recover from; in short, it just isn't worth it.
Look After Your Leads
Once you've built your list of qualified leads you need to take care of them. Don't just leave them without any contact for weeks or months on end - you need to keep in contact regularly enough that they don't forget who you are but not contact them too often that they unsubscibe from your mailing list. If anybody does want to unsubscribe then you have to remove them from your list as soon as possible and ensure that no more communication is sent them to them.
Networking is a good business practice. Offline, it has been used for many years to help entrepreneurs, salesmen, and marketers promote their service, product or business. The advance of social networking online means that it is an even more viable method to improve your online business results, generate sales, and offer a superb ROI on a minor investment.
About the Author: WebWiseWords creates compelling web site content that helps to improve search engine rankings and also improves sales figures. To buy content or find further information visit the WebWiseWords site.
Website Content - It's All About The Why?
Every week I get asked to look at business websites and tell the owners why they're not getting the results they want. Some of these sites are straightforward brochures, others are e-commerce catalogs, and some are those direct-mail-style pitches reminiscent of old mail-order magazine subscription schemes ported-over to the Web. Some have incorporated do-it-yourself audio and video and some even had this media professionally produced; still the results stink. Why?
'The Close' Is Always Found In 'The Why'
Certainly part of the problem stems from a very narrow definition of what a website is: by casting your site in terms of a brochure, catalog, e-commerce-site, blog, or portal, you are falling into the trap of concentrating on 'The What' rather than on 'The Why'.
This focus on 'The What' is exacerbated by some search engine optimization techniques intended to drive traffic, not to brand product, sell services, or convert traffic into customers. Don't get me wrong, traffic is important, but converting that traffic into paying customers is more important. Even the best and brightness search engine optimizers will tell you that their job is to deliver traffic not orders - closing the deal is your job, and anybody who tells you that closing can be done by means of some automatic never-touched-by-human-hands method is just plain nuts.
What you want to be careful of is search engine tactics and second rate media that actually gets in the way of effectively delivering your marketing message, of telling your business story, of creating a memorable brand image, and above all of generating profitable business clients.
Web-video Is A Presentation Marketing Strategy
If you pay any attention to what's going on, you must be aware of the shift in Web-thinking and the acceptance of Web-video as a fundamental Web-marketing tool. But like most things, there is a right way and a whole bunch of wrong ways to do it.
Web-video is a presentation marketing strategy that's strength and power comes from its ability to overcome the Web's natural sterile, isolationist environment, by incorporating verbal and non-verbal human elements that effectively deliver bold, well-crafted memorable messages. Can a Web-video campaign cure everything that's wrong with your company, or even your sales departments deficiencies, of course not, but the right message based on 'The Why' using appropriate cost effective presentation techniques can position your business, brand your product, and generate sales leads.
Don't fool yourself: you and your sales staff have to close the sale. Do not expect to sit back and count your profits while your website runs your business by default. Automatic pilot may work for sites that sell commodity items and nationally branded merchandise backed by millions of dollars of advertising, but unless you fall into that category, it's time to get real.
A New Web Paradigm
Here's a new way of looking at your website and if you 'get it' you will be able to refashion your site and reinvent your business in a way that gets you remembered and initiates action by your target market:
Start thinking of your website as a stage and all the content on it as players you direct in order to deliver your message and tell your story in a memorable manner to a relevant audience.
So let's breakdown this Web-presentation model and analyze how it meets your marketing needs.
Your Website Is a Stage
Businesses who want to use their websites as a marketing vehicle have to get past thinking of them in terms of merely digital print media.
Just as damaging is the over-reliance on search optimization or IT technical solutions that have little or no relationship to marketing's primary goal of delivering a memorable message that initiates action on the part of the audience.
Knowing the age, sex and hat size of the last ten thousand visitors to your site may impress some but reams of statistical information on your visitors doesn't necessarily mean you know what that data means or how to use it effectively. In the same vain, tons of traffic generated by the latest SEO manipulation doesn't necessarily translate into business.
Start thinking of your website as a stage, a presentation and performance platform that allows your company to present your message to your audience in an entertaining, informative, and memorable manner.
Tell Your Story In A Memorable Manner
There are many ways to present what you do and why your audience should care but the most effective way is to deliver that information in a story format. When people come to your website they are putting you on trial, judging everything thing you present to see if it is relevant, convincing, and if it resonates with to their needs.
The article, "Evidence Evaluation in complex decision making," in the 'Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,' by Pennington and Hastie explains when prosecutors tell their version of events to a jury in story-format they are able to achieve a 78% conviction rate, whereas lawyers who do not use a story-format to communicate to juries only get a 31% guilty rate. When visitors come to your website they are putting you on trial for your Web-business life.
Memorable Communication Is All About The Performance
Effective communication begins with the campaign concept. If you don't have a well-defined, focused concept that deals with 'the why anybody should care factor' your communication will be muddy and irrelevant. Far too many marketing campaigns try to do too much, and in an effort to get your money's worth say everything and anything that comes to mind. Unfortunately, all you're really doing is confusing people and your core message never gets heard, let alone understood or remembered.
You need professional presenters who know how to use both verbal and non-verbal performance to get your message across, and of course you've got to give the presenters a script that is well written, entertaining, and informative.
Professional actors and voice-over talent bring infinite subtlety, nuance, and meaning to cleverly written scripts. Add sound effects, custom signature music and a few post-production enhancements and you have a memorable presentation.
What you don't need is complicated sets, props, and locations that increase the cost of production. The Web is not television, and there is no need to absorb inflated expenses based on ad agency cost-plus-pricing fees that bare little relation to effectiveness.
Expensive movie-style productions are just not necessary and lose their impact when delivered in relatively small Web-friendly formats that need to be easily integrated with additional collateral material used to present more details and to answer frequently asked questions.
Last But Not Least
We can learn a lot from children, not the least of which is their relentless quest for the answer to 'The Why' of things. We often forget that this is the central issue in our lives, and it is only after we've been told by parents, teachers, bosses and numerous other authority figures to shut-up and do what we're told, that we sublimate this need and replace it with the far less meaningful and convincing 'What.'
But if we as marketers can put our faith in delivering 'The Why' using the most people-friendly techniques of verbal and non-verbal digital communication, then we will have learned how to present a convincing memorable Web-marketing presentation.
About the Author: Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Email info@mrpwebmedia.com or phone (905) 764-1246. MRPwebmedia delivers clients' marketing messages in memorable ways using video, audio, webmedia campaigns and websites; all created in-house from concept to implementation.
'The Close' Is Always Found In 'The Why'
Certainly part of the problem stems from a very narrow definition of what a website is: by casting your site in terms of a brochure, catalog, e-commerce-site, blog, or portal, you are falling into the trap of concentrating on 'The What' rather than on 'The Why'.
This focus on 'The What' is exacerbated by some search engine optimization techniques intended to drive traffic, not to brand product, sell services, or convert traffic into customers. Don't get me wrong, traffic is important, but converting that traffic into paying customers is more important. Even the best and brightness search engine optimizers will tell you that their job is to deliver traffic not orders - closing the deal is your job, and anybody who tells you that closing can be done by means of some automatic never-touched-by-human-hands method is just plain nuts.
What you want to be careful of is search engine tactics and second rate media that actually gets in the way of effectively delivering your marketing message, of telling your business story, of creating a memorable brand image, and above all of generating profitable business clients.
Web-video Is A Presentation Marketing Strategy
If you pay any attention to what's going on, you must be aware of the shift in Web-thinking and the acceptance of Web-video as a fundamental Web-marketing tool. But like most things, there is a right way and a whole bunch of wrong ways to do it.
Web-video is a presentation marketing strategy that's strength and power comes from its ability to overcome the Web's natural sterile, isolationist environment, by incorporating verbal and non-verbal human elements that effectively deliver bold, well-crafted memorable messages. Can a Web-video campaign cure everything that's wrong with your company, or even your sales departments deficiencies, of course not, but the right message based on 'The Why' using appropriate cost effective presentation techniques can position your business, brand your product, and generate sales leads.
Don't fool yourself: you and your sales staff have to close the sale. Do not expect to sit back and count your profits while your website runs your business by default. Automatic pilot may work for sites that sell commodity items and nationally branded merchandise backed by millions of dollars of advertising, but unless you fall into that category, it's time to get real.
A New Web Paradigm
Here's a new way of looking at your website and if you 'get it' you will be able to refashion your site and reinvent your business in a way that gets you remembered and initiates action by your target market:
Start thinking of your website as a stage and all the content on it as players you direct in order to deliver your message and tell your story in a memorable manner to a relevant audience.
So let's breakdown this Web-presentation model and analyze how it meets your marketing needs.
Your Website Is a Stage
Businesses who want to use their websites as a marketing vehicle have to get past thinking of them in terms of merely digital print media.
Just as damaging is the over-reliance on search optimization or IT technical solutions that have little or no relationship to marketing's primary goal of delivering a memorable message that initiates action on the part of the audience.
Knowing the age, sex and hat size of the last ten thousand visitors to your site may impress some but reams of statistical information on your visitors doesn't necessarily mean you know what that data means or how to use it effectively. In the same vain, tons of traffic generated by the latest SEO manipulation doesn't necessarily translate into business.
Start thinking of your website as a stage, a presentation and performance platform that allows your company to present your message to your audience in an entertaining, informative, and memorable manner.
Tell Your Story In A Memorable Manner
There are many ways to present what you do and why your audience should care but the most effective way is to deliver that information in a story format. When people come to your website they are putting you on trial, judging everything thing you present to see if it is relevant, convincing, and if it resonates with to their needs.
The article, "Evidence Evaluation in complex decision making," in the 'Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,' by Pennington and Hastie explains when prosecutors tell their version of events to a jury in story-format they are able to achieve a 78% conviction rate, whereas lawyers who do not use a story-format to communicate to juries only get a 31% guilty rate. When visitors come to your website they are putting you on trial for your Web-business life.
Memorable Communication Is All About The Performance
Effective communication begins with the campaign concept. If you don't have a well-defined, focused concept that deals with 'the why anybody should care factor' your communication will be muddy and irrelevant. Far too many marketing campaigns try to do too much, and in an effort to get your money's worth say everything and anything that comes to mind. Unfortunately, all you're really doing is confusing people and your core message never gets heard, let alone understood or remembered.
You need professional presenters who know how to use both verbal and non-verbal performance to get your message across, and of course you've got to give the presenters a script that is well written, entertaining, and informative.
Professional actors and voice-over talent bring infinite subtlety, nuance, and meaning to cleverly written scripts. Add sound effects, custom signature music and a few post-production enhancements and you have a memorable presentation.
What you don't need is complicated sets, props, and locations that increase the cost of production. The Web is not television, and there is no need to absorb inflated expenses based on ad agency cost-plus-pricing fees that bare little relation to effectiveness.
Expensive movie-style productions are just not necessary and lose their impact when delivered in relatively small Web-friendly formats that need to be easily integrated with additional collateral material used to present more details and to answer frequently asked questions.
Last But Not Least
We can learn a lot from children, not the least of which is their relentless quest for the answer to 'The Why' of things. We often forget that this is the central issue in our lives, and it is only after we've been told by parents, teachers, bosses and numerous other authority figures to shut-up and do what we're told, that we sublimate this need and replace it with the far less meaningful and convincing 'What.'
But if we as marketers can put our faith in delivering 'The Why' using the most people-friendly techniques of verbal and non-verbal digital communication, then we will have learned how to present a convincing memorable Web-marketing presentation.
About the Author: Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Email info@mrpwebmedia.com or phone (905) 764-1246. MRPwebmedia delivers clients' marketing messages in memorable ways using video, audio, webmedia campaigns and websites; all created in-house from concept to implementation.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Tips For Getting Comments
By Thomas McMahon
Every blog comes with comments and pretty much every blogger is basing their success on comments. Sure, they may say they don't, but when you have no comments you feel like you're just talking to yourself. So how do you get comments? 1 - Write posts that are conversational and something that people can relate to. If you write posts in a way that there feels like there is no room for discussion, then comments will be harder to get. My wife is great at making posts people can relate to. She put out a post two years ago when she broke her leg and is closing in on 1000 comments from others that have broken theirs. She's not a marketer, or a PR person, just an average blogger who happened to write in a way that people felt compelled to comment. 2 - Invite comments. If you put out a top ten post, or go off on a rant, ask uses what they think. Literally put at the end of the post "Do you agree?", "Do you have any tips to add?" or other questions that are inviting comments. 3 - Make it easy to comment. Don't ask your users to login, don't make it difficult to comment via complex spam plugins or anything like that. Make sure the comment box is easy to see and that the fields are big enough to put meaningful comments in. Sometimes comment boxes are so small, visitors are to annoyed to comment. To test this out, log out of your blog and act like a normal visitor and comment on one of your own posts. Some never see what's wrong as they never look through the users eyes. 4 - Post one side of a story. If I post about how great one political candidate is, there are many others to follow and tell me how wrong I am or why their candidate is better. This is true in most any industry. I could say Blogger is the best blogging platform ever and I'm sure someone would disagree.
5 - Don't be mean to those that do comment. Yes, some comments you may not agree with, but be open and willing to accept other thoughts and views. If you are mean to those that comment, no one will want to comment. Meanie. 6 - Moderate comments. Yes, we want to be open and happy to get comments, but that doesn't mean we want spammy, off topic or just plain mean comments. Delete what is not on topic, edit or remove any inappropriate comments and just keep an eye on what's happening on your site. After all, is is your site. Comments not only make the blog owner feel better, but it also makes the blog look more interactive and popular. As a bonus, comments are indexed and used by search engines and help the page rank. My wife's 1000 comments are what help her continue to get the amazing exposure. Sure, her post was good, but now she has 1000x the amount of content thanks to the comments. So what are your tips for getting comments? Comments
About the Author: Thomas McMahon is a SEO Designer for TopRank Online Marketing in Minneapolis, MN. His specialities inlude technical optimization of existing web sites, creating search engine friendly web designs, and blog optimization. He has also created a number of blog marketing tools, WordPress plug-ins and FireFox add-ons. Blog: http://bloggerdesign.com
Every blog comes with comments and pretty much every blogger is basing their success on comments. Sure, they may say they don't, but when you have no comments you feel like you're just talking to yourself. So how do you get comments? 1 - Write posts that are conversational and something that people can relate to. If you write posts in a way that there feels like there is no room for discussion, then comments will be harder to get. My wife is great at making posts people can relate to. She put out a post two years ago when she broke her leg and is closing in on 1000 comments from others that have broken theirs. She's not a marketer, or a PR person, just an average blogger who happened to write in a way that people felt compelled to comment. 2 - Invite comments. If you put out a top ten post, or go off on a rant, ask uses what they think. Literally put at the end of the post "Do you agree?", "Do you have any tips to add?" or other questions that are inviting comments. 3 - Make it easy to comment. Don't ask your users to login, don't make it difficult to comment via complex spam plugins or anything like that. Make sure the comment box is easy to see and that the fields are big enough to put meaningful comments in. Sometimes comment boxes are so small, visitors are to annoyed to comment. To test this out, log out of your blog and act like a normal visitor and comment on one of your own posts. Some never see what's wrong as they never look through the users eyes. 4 - Post one side of a story. If I post about how great one political candidate is, there are many others to follow and tell me how wrong I am or why their candidate is better. This is true in most any industry. I could say Blogger is the best blogging platform ever and I'm sure someone would disagree.
5 - Don't be mean to those that do comment. Yes, some comments you may not agree with, but be open and willing to accept other thoughts and views. If you are mean to those that comment, no one will want to comment. Meanie. 6 - Moderate comments. Yes, we want to be open and happy to get comments, but that doesn't mean we want spammy, off topic or just plain mean comments. Delete what is not on topic, edit or remove any inappropriate comments and just keep an eye on what's happening on your site. After all, is is your site. Comments not only make the blog owner feel better, but it also makes the blog look more interactive and popular. As a bonus, comments are indexed and used by search engines and help the page rank. My wife's 1000 comments are what help her continue to get the amazing exposure. Sure, her post was good, but now she has 1000x the amount of content thanks to the comments. So what are your tips for getting comments? Comments
About the Author: Thomas McMahon is a SEO Designer for TopRank Online Marketing in Minneapolis, MN. His specialities inlude technical optimization of existing web sites, creating search engine friendly web designs, and blog optimization. He has also created a number of blog marketing tools, WordPress plug-ins and FireFox add-ons. Blog: http://bloggerdesign.com
Keyword Research and Analysis - The Art of Internet Marketing
Do you know what your target audience wants and how they are looking online? As an Internet Marketing Consultant I am often surprised that many website owners don't know who their market is, and how to target them with web copy and SEO.
Keywords are the words that web surfers enter in search engines to find websites about their search terms. If you want to get in front of your potential audience, it's important your website has good search engine rankings for your keywords that are related to the theme of your website.
Knowing what your target audience wants and how they are looking online is crucial to your online success. Optimizing your web pages for keywords that nobody uses in the search engines is useless. In addition, in order to get targeted visitors, the keywords must not be too broad or too general. Your copy and metatags should also support the keyword phrases your market uses and entice them with copy that meets their needs and compels them to action.
The First Step to Internet Marketing - The Right Keywords for Your Website
The first step in successful SEO copywriting is choosing the right keywords to make them very specific to your market. You can survey your target market for their keyword usage or use more thorough keyword research tools. When conducting the keyword research and analysis:
1) use keyword phrases containing two to four words2) be specific - geographically, topically, or by product3) only use the keywords that are important to your web business4) avoid very competitive keywords or general keyword phrases
Use focused and targeted keyword phrases that are common enough so the web searcher will use them, but selective enough that they don't return millions of matches. Most web surfers use a two to four word phrase when they search online, so phrasing is very important. For example, if you are offering a service like dog training or Internet Marketing, you wouldn't target the key phrase "dog training" or "SEO", but something more specific like "Chicago dog trainer" or "Vancouver Search Engine Optimization". Very specific keywords generate highly qualified, targeted traffic that increases your sales opportunities.
The Wrong Keywords for Your Website
Single words cannot promote ranking or sell effectively, for example you wouldn't want to target "dog" as a dog trainer in Chicago. Avoid the most popular keyword phrases or general keyword phrases because you'll be competing with millions of other web pages for a search engine ranking.
It's unrealistic to think that a new web site could rank number one on a popular phrase like "Marketing". You are better to target "Internet marketing strategies" or even better, "Internet Marketing Strategies Vancouver". More established companies who have been on the Internet for several years will have the advantage of link popularity and a high Pagerank and therefore better rankings in the search results for these broader or general keyword phrases.
Search Engine Optimization - Feeding the Search Engine Machines
Another critical factor to help drive the targeted traffic to your site is optimizing the site using metatags. Metatags, often overlooked and misunderstood, are elements of HTML coding on a website. Search engines use these metatags to help them determine what the site is about and assist with indexing a website. Most metatags are included within the 'header' code of a website. The most important tags are the title tag, description tag and the keywords tag. Different search engines have different rules about how these tags are used and how many characters they should contain. Of importance to the process is if you know how the big three - Google, Yahoo and MSN - review the tags, then you'll be targeting 90% of potential web surfers.
To make good use of your metatags use your targeted keywords that you found during your keyword research and analysis in the site copy and the metatags.
By reviewing or crawling your website content and metatags, search engines will find out what your web site is about. As soon as search engines consider your web site relevant to the topic or search, the easier it is to get high rankings for your keywords and key phrases.
About the Author: Keith Raymond is a Vancouver Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Specialist. Internet Marketing includes keyword research and analysis, search engine optimization (SEO), creating compelling web content, and producing online marketing strategies. Visit Netsurf Marketing to learn more about Internet marketing strategies to turbo charge your web presence.
Keywords are the words that web surfers enter in search engines to find websites about their search terms. If you want to get in front of your potential audience, it's important your website has good search engine rankings for your keywords that are related to the theme of your website.
Knowing what your target audience wants and how they are looking online is crucial to your online success. Optimizing your web pages for keywords that nobody uses in the search engines is useless. In addition, in order to get targeted visitors, the keywords must not be too broad or too general. Your copy and metatags should also support the keyword phrases your market uses and entice them with copy that meets their needs and compels them to action.
The First Step to Internet Marketing - The Right Keywords for Your Website
The first step in successful SEO copywriting is choosing the right keywords to make them very specific to your market. You can survey your target market for their keyword usage or use more thorough keyword research tools. When conducting the keyword research and analysis:
1) use keyword phrases containing two to four words2) be specific - geographically, topically, or by product3) only use the keywords that are important to your web business4) avoid very competitive keywords or general keyword phrases
Use focused and targeted keyword phrases that are common enough so the web searcher will use them, but selective enough that they don't return millions of matches. Most web surfers use a two to four word phrase when they search online, so phrasing is very important. For example, if you are offering a service like dog training or Internet Marketing, you wouldn't target the key phrase "dog training" or "SEO", but something more specific like "Chicago dog trainer" or "Vancouver Search Engine Optimization". Very specific keywords generate highly qualified, targeted traffic that increases your sales opportunities.
The Wrong Keywords for Your Website
Single words cannot promote ranking or sell effectively, for example you wouldn't want to target "dog" as a dog trainer in Chicago. Avoid the most popular keyword phrases or general keyword phrases because you'll be competing with millions of other web pages for a search engine ranking.
It's unrealistic to think that a new web site could rank number one on a popular phrase like "Marketing". You are better to target "Internet marketing strategies" or even better, "Internet Marketing Strategies Vancouver". More established companies who have been on the Internet for several years will have the advantage of link popularity and a high Pagerank and therefore better rankings in the search results for these broader or general keyword phrases.
Search Engine Optimization - Feeding the Search Engine Machines
Another critical factor to help drive the targeted traffic to your site is optimizing the site using metatags. Metatags, often overlooked and misunderstood, are elements of HTML coding on a website. Search engines use these metatags to help them determine what the site is about and assist with indexing a website. Most metatags are included within the 'header' code of a website. The most important tags are the title tag, description tag and the keywords tag. Different search engines have different rules about how these tags are used and how many characters they should contain. Of importance to the process is if you know how the big three - Google, Yahoo and MSN - review the tags, then you'll be targeting 90% of potential web surfers.
To make good use of your metatags use your targeted keywords that you found during your keyword research and analysis in the site copy and the metatags.
By reviewing or crawling your website content and metatags, search engines will find out what your web site is about. As soon as search engines consider your web site relevant to the topic or search, the easier it is to get high rankings for your keywords and key phrases.
About the Author: Keith Raymond is a Vancouver Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Specialist. Internet Marketing includes keyword research and analysis, search engine optimization (SEO), creating compelling web content, and producing online marketing strategies. Visit Netsurf Marketing to learn more about Internet marketing strategies to turbo charge your web presence.
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