Web Marketing Strategies, SEO, Web 2.0, Social Media, Trends & Tips

Have you ever tried to hang a picture on the wall and realized that the only tool you had access to was a screwdriver?  You laugh, but deep inside, you know you tried to use it as hammer, didn’t you?  Marketing a website, hanging a picture, same rules apply. If we try a tool that is cheap, free or is just absolutely wrong to accomplish the job, we usually end up with a broken screwdriver or a few extra holes in the wall.

I find that it isn’t the size of the project or even the grand scale of what you are trying to accomplish, it’s what kind of tools are you using and how you are using them. Personally, I would rather work smarter than harder any day of the week by using the right tools from the get-go. It might take a little longer, but in the long run, it was the right thing to do.

It used to be that when a website was made, the “thing to do” was to submit your site URL to hundreds of search engines and hope that they get picked up.  Unfortunately, even still today, there are unscrupulous Internet scammers that prey on the new and unsuspecting site owners who sell list after tired list and software submissions after tired submissions that do nothing to get your site into the search engines.  After that hard lesson on money-down-the-drain is learned, the site owner looks to find a better way. 

A better tool…

This brings us to the most valuable set of tools that should be in your toolbox arsenal when you are launching a website.  Google has mastered the Internet search world, no surprise here, and their ultimate objective is to create the most relevant search result to the end user.  They provide webmasters the tools needed to help you achieve exactly this in your website.  The Google webmasters tools are the first and foremost steps that anyone should utilize to properly get their website indexed in Google. 

There are two very important steps on how the Google Webmasters tools can help you.  First, they help you get your site verified.  This means that you are indeed the owner of your site and are authorizing Google to have access to information on how people are looking for your site. This, in and of itself, is priceless information from a marketing standpoint.

The second is called a sitemap.  An XML sitemap to be more specific.  This is a very powerful tool that helps feed the spiders.  Google is a very hungry spider and loves to find new, juicy tidbits of content on websites.  Unfortunately, if you do not have the right entry way to all of your pages on your site, the spiders are left out and they move onto other more enticing sumptuous offerings to nosh on.  An XML sitemap is exactly that doorway needed to help them find each and every page that you have on your site.

Coupled with the Google Analytics and Website Optimizer programs, the Google Webmasters tools is the strongest foundational tool to have in your toolbox. Additionally, we do not wish to leave all our eggs in one basket.  Both Yahoo, and now more recently MSN, have also created their versions of webmasters tools that are used to build indexed pages in their respective search engines as well.

We use these tools as an SEO foundational architecture with our clients’ sites day in and day out.  This is what we do.  We feed spiders!

Stay tuned for more tips on how to get your Google Webmaster tools and how to create an XML sitemap to feed the search engine spiders!

So tell me now… what’s in your toolbox?

Dianna F. Kersey
Internet Marketing Analyst
CIW Webmaster

Matt Cutts is considered the face of Google which I think is brilliant because he is such a regular, unassuming guy and gives Google the persona of an approachable person.  Just brilliant!

In the video interview below with Jefferson Graham from USA Today, Matt Cutts answers questions about the “common sense” things you can do to have your website found in Google.

Below is a summary of Matt’s responses to Jefferson’s questions and my commentary:

Matt Cutts: In response to what is the #1 thing you can do to be found in Google: Use keywords in your website content which are actually being searched by people.

Bernie Borges: Duh…Absolutely!  But, this is a bit oversimplified.  First you must research keywords.  You shouldn’t assume your keywords are good.  You may be too close to your business to know which keywords are searched most frequently.  Additionally, some keywords are very competitive.  Keyword research will tell you which keywords are more and less competitive.  Often, the Long Tail keywords are the most effective.

Matt Cutts: Title Tags Matter.  Users see the Title tags first in the search results.  But, the description tag actually describes your web page listing in Google.  The description tag should be short but very well written about your web page.

Bernie Borges: Absolutely! But, many marketers make the mistake of using the same Title tags on each page.  Each page should have a unique Title tag and a unique description tag.  Optimizing many web pages will increase your chances of being found by Google. 

Matt Cutts: Links are Important: There are many ways to get legitimate links.  One of the best is to start a blog and participate in the conversations on the web.  A blog doesn’t have to be fancy.  You can talk about your customers, why you started your business, things about your business.  People will learn more about your business.  Give people compelling ideas from your blog and you will get links. Also, participate in other social media sites. 

Bernie Borges: I generally agree, but Matt makes this sound easy and it’s not.  Starting a blog requires development of a strategy, which requires research and planning.  Once you start a blog, you must be committed to it, or you’ll lose credibility for starting and stopping a blog.  Matt didn’t mention other link building strategies such as syndicating content, or SEO optimizing press releases.  Social media marketing can be very effective in link building, but it requires strategy, commitment and resources.  Not all businesses are able to make and follow through with this committment.

Matt Cutts: The most common misconception is that you have to pay Google to get listed in the organic listings.  Not true.  Google crawls web sites for free.  Another misconception is that the PPC (pay per click) listings will help your organic search engine rankings.  Not true.  PPC has no affect on your “editorial search results.”

Bernie Borges: This is aka “separation of church and state.”  Matt’s referall to organic listings as “editorial search results” is terrific.  Media firms have always maintained separation between advertising and editorial.  This is exactly the same principle.  This is 100%, indisputably accurate!

Matt Cutts: In response to: Does it take 3 to 6 months to get your website crawled?  No.  Google updates their index monthly and crawls all websites it can find for free.  Google also provides a free tool called Google Webmaster which allows you to list all your URLs to be found there in days, not months.

Bernie Borges: Absolutely!  We use Google Webmaster with our SEO clients.  It is a valuable tool which gives a lot of insight into how Google sees your website, including identifying broken links which you may not even know you had.

Bernie Borges Final Commentary:

While everything Matt Cutts said in this interview is 100% accurate, it is a bit oversimplified.  It’s a little like saying if you want to compete in a marathon, all you have to do is train 5 miles a day for 3 months, then 11 miles a day for 1 month prior to the marathon event.  The execution of such recommendations takes discipline, coaching and just plain hard work.

SEO is hard work!  I’m sure this sounds a little self serving, given that we provide SEO services.  My argument is that the details associated with these valid suggestions are plentiful.  A successful Internet marketing strategy requires planning, execution and measurement by resources with the know how and availability to get the job done.  Matt Cutts’ suggestions, while accurate, are also just a portion of an overall SEO strategy, for example, he made no mention of the importance of the technical architecture of your website, along with other important factors. 

Oh, one more thing.  I take exception with people who say that SEO is a one time process and once you’ve completed it you are done (Matt Cutts did not say this).  Whoa!  That is so far from the truth.  That’s like saying today is sunny and therefore I assume everyday going forward will be sunny…Others are doing SEO in your keyword space and you will lose ground if you stop working at it.  I will agree there is more effort required on the front end, but you should not just walk away from an SEO plan or you will see declining results, unless perhaps if you are a in very unique niche with little competition for your keywords.  

Your thoughts?

Google has done it again.  If there is one thing Google has proved they can do is develop sophisticated algorithms.  Now, in cooperation with Adobe, Google has announced a new algorithm that can read the text content of Flash files.  This is a big deal for SEO results.

For years, those of us in the SEO industry have known that Flash content was not able to be indexed by search engines.  So, we’ve always recommended against heavy use of Flash in websites, at least in part for good SEO rankings.  Of course, there are other reasons for caution against the use of Flash in a website.

For the record, our website uses Flash files.  We think our use of Flash is not excessive in terms of the user experience.  Of course, that is our opinion.  If you feel differently, please drop us a comment in this blog.

Besides the user experience, our use of Flash is balanced by keyword-rich, text content on the topics important to Find and Convert, namely SEO, PPC and Social Media strategies.

This announcement is indeed a significant one both for Google and for Adobe.  But, most notably it’s a big deal for marketers who have Flash websites, or who like to use Flash in their websites.

I offer a caution on this announcement.  First, note that Google makes the statement: “we’ve greatly improved our ability to index Flash.”  I wouldn’t bet on this until some evidence is in and I wouldn’t be surprised if this achievement will evolve in its effectiveness. 

Secondly, I especially caution against over use of Flash in a website.  Remember that in addition to the SEO impact of Flash, your user experience is where the rubber really meets the road.  After all, if you work hard to drive traffic to your website through blogging, other social media strategies, organic SEO or paid search strategies, the last thing you want to do is distract your visitors with excessive Flash content. 

Allow your Flash content to work for you.  Complement your text content with Flash.  Don’t put all your messaging into Flash content.  If you don’t get it right (from your visitor’s perspective) you could be betting it all on your Flash content and you could lose that bet.

So, while this announcement from Google and Adobe is good news, I advise marketers to proceed with caution.  I’ve always been a fan of doing things incrementally so we can test, measure and react.

What do you think about this announcement?

 

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Landing page design strategies are all about achieving your objective, either to generate a lead or create a sale.  In this podcast, we’re talking mostly about lead generation.

This podcast is a summary of a blog post on landing page design strategies.

Landing page design strategies apply for both SEO and PPC strategies.

When someone finds you in a search engine, the page they land on is the “landing page.”

Landing pages should be clear, uncluttered, to the point with a strong headline and some easy to understand call to action.

Landing page design significantly impacts results.  Search engine rankings alone don’t produce results. 

The landing page should have a strong headline with a call to action.

The call to action should be compelling.  Offer them something.

People on B2B landing pages are not there to make a decision.  They are doing research.  Help them out in their evaluation.  Give them “bite size chunks” of information.

Call to action ideas may include an invitation to sign up for a webinar, white paper or something FREE. If offering a webinar, make it as strong as possible with interesting topics and speakers. Guest speakers with name recognition can be a good draw and works well.

Getting people to fill out a form on a landing page can be challenging.  It often makes sense to offer the form on the click through from the landing page, in other words a second level landing page.  Often, people will not fill out a form on the initial landing page.   The call to action which takes people to the next page is often the most effective way to capture the lead in a form fill.

Pay careful attention to designing landing pages which will achieve your goals pertaining to your target audience, whether you drive the traffic to the landing page from pay per click advertising or SEO. 

While it’s recognized that only about 12% of the Fortune 500 have a corporate blog, those that do take it seriously.  Companies such as Intel, Google, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Dell and Kodak have devoted people resources to their corporate blogging strategies.

The companies in this list are Fortune ranking companies.  But, companies like Junta42 and Hubspot are not Fortune ranked companies (in fact considerably smaller) and they devote equally impressive resources to corporate blogging.

I’ll single out two blogging trailblazers from each category above.  Matt Cutts is the corporate blogging face of Google.  And, Mike Volpe is the corporate blogging face of Hubspot. 

Matt Cuts is often seen at Internet conferences in a t-shirt and jeans talking about whatever topic is hot at the conference de-jour.  Matt is also very active in his blog which appears to be sponsored by Google, or at least sanctioned by Google.  Matt is the official “webmaster” guy who represents everything Google.  In my opinion Google has very effectively humanized their corporate identity through Matt.  He is a regular guy.  He is not an executive.  He doesn’t speak over any one’s head.  In fact, he is a like-able guy who speaks in plain English.  Even if you don’t like Google’s position on topics as represented by Matt, it’s hard to have a hostile view of Matt, as the face of Google.  He is truly a regular guy.

Hubpot’s blog is branded under their name.  In full disclosure, I am a fan of the Hubspot Internet Marketing platform.  One of many things Hubspot does well is devote time and energy to their blog.  The main guy who is the corporate blogging face for Hubspot is Mike Volpe.  Mike’s title is V.P. Marketing, a pretty mundane title for a cutting edge Internet company.  I’ll forgive him for this because Mike does an excellent job of blogging on a myriad of Internet Marketing topics (he has help from some of his colleagues too).  In essence, Mike is educating and evangelizing the benefits of corporate blogging for Internet Marketing benefits.  Hubspot is a young company.  Their rapid brand growth is evidence of how effective corporate blogging can be. 

Corporate blogging can’t be effective without first deciding that it is important to your business.  Those businesses who think the benefits can’t be measured haven’t studied it enough.  These are the same companies who will eventually be blind-sided by their competitor’s corporate blgging strategy. 

The biggest risk to a corporate blogging strategy is not recognizing that it should be part of a bigger picture social media strategy.  You wouldn’t launch an advertising campaign without first setting the corporate marketing strategy.  The advertising should support the corporate marketing strategy.

Social media is fast becoming a strategic element in corporate marketing.  In some businesses people’s jobs are being defined under the social media umbrella, and in some cases whole departments.  We’re starting to see titles such as “Chief Blogger,” and “V.P. Communities and Conversations.” 

The commitment these companies are showing is to a strategy of conversations with people they want to converse with. 

Being in the conversations is everything in a social media strategy.

The online publication B2B Online covered this topic recently.

I am sometimes asked about my title: “chief find officer.”  Hmmm…Maybe it’s time for a title change…

 

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This podcast is complementary to a post I wrote on May 13th about long tail keywords.

In this podcast I provide a brief explanation of long tail keywords from Chris Anderson’s book, appropriately named The Long Tail.  I highly recommend the book to anyone in marketing.

I have the impression that some marketers have yet to learn the concept of long tail marketing.  In SEO, effective long tail strategies require that we research and discover keywords that have some reasonable search volume and are relevant. 

Long tail keyword strategies allow you to be found for less competitive keywords that you can often rank on page one.  Compare that to broad and very competitive keywords where you may never rank in the first three pages. 

As Chris Anderson says in the subtitle of his book: The long tail is about “selling less of more.”

I would like to hear from you on this subject.  Please comment.

The deeper we (Find and Convert) dive into social media marketing, the more convinced we are it is fast becoming mainstream.  And, not participating is more dangerous than ever.

Social media isn’t just for early adopters anymore.  Consider that most searches you do in Google return traditional results PLUS a list of blogs found by Google.  What does this tell you?  It means that the blogosphere has become a viable source of answers and resources for us when we search.

The other big thing this tells us (as marketers) is that traditional SEO isn’t enough any more.  Our content must span various platforms to include blogs, social networking sites and content publishing sites.

Have you also noticed how some searches display video results too? 

What if your competitors are being found by prospective clients searching in Google but being directed to other social media destinations?  This is one reason why Google purchased YouTube (for video content) and Jaiku (for micro blogging content).  Admittedly, Jaiku hasn’t materialized yet, but it will.

I’ve noticed that the third biggest source of referral traffic to Find and Convert is from the blogosphere.  I’ve also noticed a growing trend of traffic coming to our site from Twitter, a mico blogging service. 

The other big factor that we can’t overlook is the word of mouth factor that occurs in social media destinations.  The power of word of mouth will never be diminished.  When people develop trusting relationships online, products get recommended, brands get strengthened and business happens.  The biggest risk is being absent from these conversations.  That’s where opportunity costs happen.

Marketing Sherpa has conducted much research on social media.  One of the studies they did in 2007 showed that B2B buyers seek out information on vendors in social media destination sites before making a purchase decision. 

This really levels the playing field.  It’s akin to the consumer who goes to buy a car armed with pricing details from the Internet.  The B2B buyer is now armed with information about the vendors they evaluate from social media sites.

This reminds me of the commercial with the slogan: “What’s in your wallet?  When it comes to social media marketing the question is: “Are you in the conversations?”

How do you rank high organically for a competitive keyword?  Before we look at this, first consider if the competitive keyword you want to rank for is the right one.  Sure, there are obvious keywords in each business.  But, consider less competitive long tail keywords too for “winning strategies.”

If you want to make the investment of time and resources to rank well for a very competitive keyword, here are some factors to consider.

First, study the ranking results on the first page of organic search results for your desirable keyword.  If more than half of them are not relevant to your target audience, I take you back to the point above and consider other keywords. 

For purposes of this blog post, let’s assume all the search rankings on page one are relevant to your target audience and you’re not ranking on the first page.  Where are you ranking for this keyword?  If you are currently ranking on page 25 for this keyword, is this keyword really the best use of your time and resources.  If you are willing to make the investment and have the patience, read on.

So, you’ve decided you are willing to make the investment of time and resources to compete for this keyword.  And, you are willing to be patient.

First, study the websites ranking on the first page for your keyword.  Study their content, their meta data, their source code, their URL structure, their domain age and their link count. What is their PageRank and what is your PageRank?  As Sun Tsu wrote in the Art of War, the way to defeat your enemy is to know their strategy and defeat their strategy. 

When you study the content and links from the competitors on page one you will gain insight and ideas into how they got there and what you need to do to compete effectively for your desired keyword.

In many cases, you may face a real uphill battle (refer back to the long tail strategy).  But, if you are able to get even to position #10 on the first page, that can be a good accomplishment.  But, you may need to be realistic.  If some of the rankings on page one have a combination of content, links, domain age and website architecture that you simply can not compete, then either be content with a lower ranking, or defer back to the long tail keyword (winning SEO) strategy.

Studying your competitor’s (ranking on page one) content will give you insight and ideas for what you need to do.  Because, if you are expecting this blog post to reveal some secret formula, you will be disappointed.  You will need to develop a lot of really good content and attract links.  And, there are many effective ways to do this. 

You can write content about how your (keyword centric) product is used, who uses it, why they use it and all the great things they accomplish by using your product.  I’m sure there are many people who also agree with all these great factoids, so they should contribute to your content.  For example, are there specific industries who benefit from your products?  Write about all of them, and write a lot.   

Writing all this content can take on several forms.  In addition to adding web pages with this content, you should consider press releases, articles which can be syndicated and blog posts.  If you don’t have a corporeate blog, start one.  If you do, add more content and look for relevant blogs where you can conttibute about these topics. 

You should promote some of this content in selected social media destination sites for visibility and natural link building.  After all you will need to build links for your content to compete for your super competitive, desirable keyword. 

If all of this sounds like time consuming, hard work, it is.  Did I forget to mention that?  Sorry….

In a recent post on landing page design, I discussed the importance of beginning with the end in mind for an effective design of landing pages for your SEO or PPC campaigns.

In this post, let’s review the importance of testing landing pages for maximum results.  In short, we’re talking about landing page optimization.  In the course of implementing search marketing campaigns for Find and Convert clients we regularly implement best practices.  Then, we test them.

In landing page testing, there are several variables you can test.  The simplest test is the conventional A/B split test.  In A/B split testing, we test two landing pages which are markedly different.  The objective is to reduce the possibility of subtle changes making the difference in test results.  If landing page A performs better than B, it should be for obvious differences between the two, e.g., a different layout or different graphics.

As discussed previously, understanding your audience is critical to successful landing page testing and optimization.

Document your current state of results as a baseline before you start testing.  Keep good records as your testing progresses. 

Test landing pages which have the potential to drive significant results to your business.  But, it’s also a good idea to run your first test on a not-so-critical landing page just to learn something about the testing process. 

Decide how many variables or elements of a page you are going to test.  For example, you can test graphic images, their location, the navigation layout, a form or not, the location of the form, the buttons used on the page, colors, etc. 

One very effective variable to test is the call-to-action on the landing page.  As previously discussed, in some industries marketers ask for a conversion on the initial landing page with limited success.  In those cases, try testing a link to another page of detail.  The call-to-action to that other page is also worth testing.  One call-to-action may prove more effective to the next level of detail, which may end up producing more conversions (your objective).

If you’re going to test multiple variables (known as multi-variate testing), you’ll probably need to use third party software to track the impact of each of the variables.  Vendors such as Optimost and Omniture offer robust multi-variate testing tools.  A cost free approach is Google’s Website Optimizer, if their feature set meets your testing needs.

As your testing experience advances, you can test the most profitable paths or funnel of pages which lead to your desired conversion.  Varying the path you direct visitors may result in big changes in your conversion results.

Whether you are using third party software or not, consider these best practices in your testing:
Offer top left to lower right flow of information.
Keep the headline focused on the ”main thing.”
Personalize the message as much as possible to your visitor.
Keep the landing page clean and focused.  Remember the “less is more” principle.
Allow at least one month to measure test results.
Revise landing pages based on results and keep testing.
Test as many variables as possible.
Keep accurate tracking records.
Remember that what worked 6 months ago may not work as well today.  Keep testing. 

As with all aspects of search marketing, landing page testing and optimization requires planning, attention to detail and a fair amount of analytical scrutiny, not to mention time and patience to measure results.  When it’s done effectively, landing page testing and optimization can provide good ROI (return on Internet).

I frequently deliver a presentation on Web 2.0/Social Media Marketing.  It’s a high level presentation that explains to business professionals what Web 2.0 is about.  I cover RSS, blogs, podcasts, social networking, micro blogging, wikis and trends to watch.  The presentation is available for download.

In my presentation I reference an article written by BusinessWeek in May 2005 which foretold the prominent rise of blogs in the corporate setting.  The May 2005 cover story actually uses this phrase in reference to blogging: “Our Advice: Catch up or catch you later.” 

The June 2nd issue of BusinessWeek is out and it’s a doozy!  I recommend your read it!

The editors did a gem of a follow up story to the May 2005 article.  Apparently, the web traffic to the May 2005 article is huge, not to mention the comments posted on their blog about it.  Additionally, BW (much to their credit) felt compelled to update the story and particularly write about predictions they missed. 

Remember, you should read the entire article.  But, here are some excerpts:
“….Three years ago, we wrote a big story - but missed a bigger one….Blogs, it turns out, are just one of the do it yourself tools to emerge on the Internet.  Vast social networks…now offer people new ways to meet and exchange information…These social connectors are changing the dynamics of companies around the world.  Millions of us are now hanging out of on the Internet with customers, befriending rivals…It’s as if the walls around our companies are vanishing and old org charts are lying on their sides…Ambitious workers use these tools to land new deals and to assemble global teams for collaborative projects.”

Did you catch that last sentence???  These social tools are not just for teenagers.  We (you, me and our colleagues) have figured out how to use them productively in our businesses.

The article goes on to talk about tools that have become very popular to include Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes and Facebook.  One person is quoted as saying “the new resume is 140 characters,” referencing the paradigm for communicating on Twitter.   BTW, you can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/berniebay.

The article gives a few examples of large corporations - BT, IBM - getting real work done on inhouse social networking sites.

One point I feel is very well made (and resonates loud with me) is their first fix to the May 2005 article is to revise the title from “Blogs” Will Change Your Business to “Social Media Will Change Your Business.”  Yeah!  That hits the nail square on the head!!!

Another well stated point in reference to how people use social media is: “A new class of supercommunicators has emerged.”  Another point nailed!

The article closes with this: “Even if the bubble burts - and we predict it will - the power of social media to transform our businesses and society will only grow.”

If you are hungry to learn more about the global impact of social media and how you should be participating, this article is a must read.  Here is the link again: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_22/b4086044617865.htm