How Broad is Your Footprint on the Web?

Create a Broad Footprint on the Web to be Found the way Buyers Search

The first decade of the new millennium is almost over. As I look at the history of marketing on the web over the past two decades I make these big picture observations, which I discuss in my book, Marketing 2.0.

1990 to 2000 – Most businesses developed their first website. Websites were a one way communication medium from the seller to the buyer. Most businesses had little understanding of organic search engine optimization or pay-per-click advertising to “be found” by buyers.  Websites served mostly as an online company brochure. The strategic value of corporate websites was generally low for most businesses.

2000 to 2010 – Most businesses evolved through their second or third generation websites. Strategic value of corporate websites skyrocketed as 24/7 marketing/selling was recognized. Marketing efforts to be found through SEO and paid search marketing have become prominent among businesses of all sizes. Job descriptions and job titles in some marketing organizations include words like “Internet,” “digital,” “online,” “community.”

The Broad Web Footprint

But, there is one aspect of marketing that is not yet mainstream save a few hundred (maybe a few thousand) companies around the world. To be found by buyers, you must create a broad footprint on the web with diverse content. Since there is still one more year and a half left in the decade, there is still time for sellers to jump on this band wagon.

I want to be found by anyone, anywhere in the world, even though I primarily market in U.S. and Canada. And, I certainly DONT’ want to limit where I’m found to Google or Bing or Yahoo (or any search engine).

Sure, being found in Google through organic SEO is very important to me and most businesses. And, pay-per-click advertising (aka SEM), is a terrific way to be found, as long as you’re using best practices.

But, most marketers still think being found on the web means being found in a search engine either in an organic listing, or in a paid (sponsored) listing (PPC). This is a limited view of effective inbound marketing on the web.

Buyers Buy Differently Than They Did Last Decade

I was contacted by a prospective buyer recently. When I asked him how he “found” us his answer was music to my ears. He didn’t remember exactly where he found me. He told me that during the previous week he visited my website, my blog and listened to one of my podcasts. By the time he contacted me, he already had considerable insight into me and my inbound marketing agency. He was ready to speak with me. He was ready to make a buying decision. He had consumed my content long before he called me.

Search Engine Results are Evoloving

The way search engines deliver search results is changing. Google is providing multiple forms of content through “options”.

Bing’s search results are still pretty traditional with links at the top for other content search results:

Kosmix delivers diverse search results. It’s my prediction that before the close of this decade, Kosmix’ search results model will be the norm. Note the prominent display of search result options: Media; News & Blogs; Reviews & Guides; Shopping; Web Search.

The social web has created a conglomeration of platforms where marketers can be found. Buyers are searching for information and finding diverse options of content across many social media platforms. Along the way buyers get influenced by  what others say about sellers.  Sellers who want to compete in the second decade of new millennium must be prepared to have a strong presence with great content across many relevant web platforms. Sellers must build trust and engage relevant communities there with a broad footprint.

Will SEO and PPC become less prominent as methods for being found in the near future? Probably not. I submit the definition of SEO and PPC is evolving. The influence is shifting to buyers. They are the ones who decide whether to contact you based on how effectively you create a broad footprint on the web.

How broad is your footprint on the web?

@berniebay

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Landing Page Design Podcast

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. 

 

Landing Page Testing

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).

Landing Page Design Tips

Over the course of writing tips and best practices in this blog, I have often written about SEO and PPC tips. It’s time to focus on a topic that can really make a difference in results: landing pages.

A landing page is a page someone clicks through to from search engine listing, whether it is a paid listing (a PPC ad) or an organic listing. In the age of long tail keyword marketing, it is important that we drive people to a landing page which is relevant, meaningful and (for heaven’s sake) simple, uncluttered and clearly communicates what the user wants!

Too many landing pages are too busy and confusing. What do you want me to do when I land there? Which section do you want to me read? And, how does it relate to the listing I just clicked through?

There are several factors that should be considered in landing page design and testing. In this post, we’ll focus on the landing page design. I’ll cover testing in a future post.

First, it’s important to understand that landing page design impacts your results. And, after all, results are what we’re after in search marketing, right?

The better your search marketing results, the more you can reinvest in search marketing because you can measure ROI (return on Internet). For those who have number’s oriented bosses, take note of these guidelines.

Begin with the end in mind. If your objective is a “conversion” have a clear definition of conversion. Let’s assume for this post that a conversion is when someone fills out a form to request information. In today’s web information overload, that’s not an easy task.

Once you have identified your objective, define your target audience. As in all marketing tactics, it’s important to understand your audience behaviours, likes and dislikes. For example, if you are marketing a technical product to a technical audience, you can’t give them a lot of fluff. That audience wants the facts and they want them quickly.

The layout of the landing page is very important. As stated above it should be uncluttered and clear. Use a headline which represents the main theme of the page content. So, if you are marketing a laptop carrying case, spell it out in the headline.
The opening paragraph should describe the product in short and clear detail. Don’t waste space and valuable time describing how handsome the user will look with the carrying case. Describe the attributes of the carrying case and how it is different than others. Use pictures to illustrate the carrying case.

Allow the landing page to have some empty space. Studies have proven that people read landing pages from the top left and down. If possible, have a picture or headline in the top left to immediately capture the attention of the visitor.

Now, here is a strange concept I want to get across….The main purpose of the landing page is to get them to click to another page. If you think the main purpose of a landing page is to fill out a form or to buy, then unless you are selling a commodity, low cost item you are in for big disappointments. When someone visits your landing page, they decide in less than 10 seconds if they are going to leave (bounce) or stay.

So your objective is to give the visitor just enough content, supported with a picture or two, a testimonial or two, maybe some pricing info (if that’s appropriate) and a hyperlink to click to another level of detail.

The click through should take them to another page which is designed to keep the visitor engaged and drive toward the desired action (the conversion).

Back to the laptop carrying case example (which is not focused on a lead but rather a sale), I Googled “laptop carrying case” and found no less than a dozen organic and paid results. I clicked on 10 of them, many of them from brand name e-tailers and the only one I found that didn’t distract me with too much detail and kept my attention was http://www.ebags.com/landings/index.cfm?fuseaction=laptop&sourceid=ADWEX19571&couponid=57983602&keyword=%5Blaptop+carrying+case%5D&gclid=CKezouLHv5MCFQ3_sgod9VjHCw” rel=”nofollow”.

Notice how this landing page has “Laptop Cases” in the headline. I just searched on “laptop carrying cases” so this headline speaks to me. Hint: a headline that matches the search query gets the best results. The rest of this landing page uses product photos and not too much other detail which can distract me.

For those marketers selling non tangible goods like software or services the same principles apply. Marketing a “contact us for more info” is very “me too.” It’s simply not compelling. Consider marketing a white paper or a webinar. The same headline principle always applies. Use a well designed graphic of the white paper or webinar event, or whatever you’re using as the hook to get people to click through to the next level of detail.

And, to those marketers with long sell cycles, remember that people who find your landing page are not there to make a buying decision. They are conducting research. Help them out! Don’t send the message “fill out this form so our sales team can hound you to death.” Feed them information in bite size chunks. You must know your target audience. Feed them the right amount of information. If it’s good information, they’ll eventually contact you, whether online or offline.

It’s okay to invite them to register for your white paper or webinar, just don’t be overbearing about it. One way is not to ask them to do it on the main landing page. Just feed them good content and invite them to click through to another page where they can register.

Of course, inviting people to sign up for a “free demo” is one of the favorites among software marketers. Depending on the industry, the product’s price point and the buying cycle, this can be effective on the first level landing page, or not. You must consider all the variables discussed here.

Tracking conversions is very doable depending on the tools you use which range from Google Adwords Conversion Tracker, Website Optimizer (Google), Google Analytics as well as tools such as Omniture and various other testing and optimization tools. The pricing on these tools varies from free to big bucks. Assess your needs and your budget to select the tools that best fit your landing page optimization needs.

In the next post on this topic, we’ll examine testing optimization tips for landing pages.

Sweat the PPC Details!

Pay per Click Advertising, aka, SEM, PPC. 

PPC results are displayed along the top and right side.  The results are paid results.  

Target audience for this podcast is for marketers who are spending $1,000 to $10,000 per month in paid search advertising.

Measuring for conversions, not clicks.
Paid search is not the answer to all Internet marketing goals.
Paid search not good for Brand promotion unless you have a big budget.
Paid search is all about lead generation or direct sales on the Internet.
Know the difference between Search and Content networks.

Search network is primary Google and select other search engines fed by Google, e.g., Business.com.

Content networks are comprised of any website which chooses to display Google ads.
Results can vary greatly between Search and Content networks.
Be selective in the use of keywords.
Mix it up between competitive keywords and long tail keywords.
Do your research to identify long tail keywords.
Long tail keywords increase your probability of winning in paid search marketing.

Use Campaigns to distinguish themes.
E.g., product families
Break down campaigns by using ad groups to distinguish products within a campaign.
E.g., individual products
Set up a limited number of ads in each ad group.
3 to 5 ads per group.

Set up a reasonable number of keywords per ad.
Make sure they are relevant to the ad group or you’ll compete with other ad groups.
Test keyword variations: broad, phrase and exact.
Don’t display all your keywords as broad keyword variation.
You can use broad version, phrase version and exact version of keywords.  Test each version to see which variation can produce the lowest cost conversions.

Use dedicated landing pages!!!  Good landing pages can make a PPC campaign.
Generate dynamic landing pages with headlines that match the ad.
Design landing pages which are,
Uncluttered
Supported with a strong headline
Has a strong call to action
Use graphics sparingly (don’t distract)

Track conversions
Tracking impressions and click through rates don’t mean anything.  Track conversions.
Use conversion tracking (Adwords) to measure results.
Test, measure, revise and repeat.
Test variables which are measurable.

Geo target if appropriate.  Display your ads in the geographic regions that you want to sell to.

Stretch your budget using the ad scheduler.
Review results often, print reports, study them, get input from others.

Sweat the PPC details for improved conversions.
 

SEO: The Perfect Storm

I often talk with marketers about the difference between SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click advertising).   I remind myself that, unlike me and my team at Find and Convert (and others in our business), most marketers don’t spend their days thinking about Internet marketing strategies as we do.

So, when we look at the difference between SEO and PPC, it goes beyond the costs.  After all, most marketers understand that PPC can cost a lot more than SEO.  But, for so many marketers PPC (also known as SEM) is the path of least resistance. 

Many marketers believe they can measure results from PPC easier than from SEO strategies.  But, let’s examine some of the facts.

We spend a lot of our time producing reports for clients.  These reports summarize (usually in painstaking detail) many statistics.  For the sake of this blog post I’ll hone in on the most telling stats which really point to the advantages of SEO over PPC. 

Time and again we see that visitors to our client’s websites which come from organic searches spend more time on the website, visit more pages and have lower bounce rates than paid search traffic.  The first two stats mentioned here should be self evident.  A bounce rate refers to someone who visits a web page on your site and does not visit another page, essentially “bouncing” off your site.

Moreover, when we provide reports on our PPC plans for clients, we track the cost of conversion (the desired action for the client).  Such conversion costs are tracked for the ads and for the keywords.  The most telling conversion cost is for the keywords we track.  This metric really tells us the cost to produce a lead for the most desirable keywords.

All too often we see marketers show the most interest in the most competitive keywords.  They wind up paying dearly for these keywords simply because they are competitive.

In SEO strategies, we are able to (with a lot of hard work) build optimization strategies for select keywords which are less competitive (long tail keywords).  For example, we work hard for a client to rank on page one for “project accounting software.”  But, the software client we represent has a product that runs only on Oracle.  So, when someone searches for “oracle project accounting software,” we hit a home run in ranking and in a qualified website visitor.

So, the message in this post is to think long term with SEO strategies.  Do the hard work which will require ongoing care and feeding, but can have long lasting and cost effective sales results through organic search traffic.  And, don’t be afraid to target lower searched, less competitive and long-tail keywords. 

I’ve always said I’d rather be found by the 10 people who are a perfect fit, than targeting 1000 people who may be a fit but are harder to reach and therefore a higher risk search strategy. 

The Importance of Measuring Bounce Rates

A bounce rate refers to the rate at which people “reject” a page on which they have landed in your website.  Website analytics tools consider a visitor a bounce if they only see one page and leave your site.  Some tools use time spent on a landing page as a bounce rate criteria, e.g., 10 or 15 seconds. 

Analytics tools provide bounce rate information at several levels.  I’ll use Google Analytics (G.A.) as the reference.  G.A. provides an average bounce rate across your entire website, plus bounce rates for each page.  My favorite bounce rate metric is for keywords. 

Measuring bounce rates for keywords is a very meaningful metric because you can see how well your website visitors are  consuming your content based on keywords delivering traffic to your website.

If you are getting traffic to your website for your top 10 keywords, and one of your top 3 keywords has a high bounce rate, you need to examine the content.  It’s possible your content is not adequately feeding your website visitors what they want.  Perhaps the content doesn’t do a strong enough job of conveying the main thing about this keyword.

Sometimes, content revisions for keywords with high bounce rates can make a big difference in conversions. 
Do the math.  If your bounce rate improves by 10% the conversion rate impact can be substantial on leads or sales.

There are other factors which contribute to bounce rates, including where they came from.  Generally, we pay closest attention to the bounce rates for keywords coming from search engines.  The premise is that someone searched on a keyword phrase and landed on your website.  We like to say, “this person is looking for you.”  So, when they find you, did you do a good job of connecting with the visitor?  Of course, not all visitors will be relevant or qualified.  But, we’re talking about statistics.  So, we like to maximize the statistical probability of delivering a good match between keyword searches and landing page content.

Any search engine optimization or pay-per-click strategy requires paying very close attention to bounce rates.  Studying bounce rates as indicators of the connection between visitor’s searches and your content can play a big role in successful internet marketing practices. 

Search Engine Marketing: Minimize Costs & Maximize Conversions (PPC)

Download or click the play button above to listen to this podcast.  You can also subscribe in iTunes in the right side navigation.  Below are the Podcast show notes:

Search Engine Marketing (PPC) Tips to Minimize Cost & Maximize Conversions: October 2007

• Bullseye keywords cost the most
• Long tail keywords cost the least and produce the best results
• Ads should be direct and to the point
• Point out what your product is (the obvious)
• Include a benefit statement and call to action
• SEM (search engine marketing) has become the industry term for PPC (pay per click advertising Go after the right keywords)
• Landing pages are critical!
• The landing page is the ad 
• Strong headline is a MUST
• Synchronize headlines with the ad
• Use multiple landing pages for multiple ads
• Test, measure, and revise
• Keep testing, measuring and revising as needed
• Track conversions
• A conversion in lead gen is a lead Give people a reason to convert
• Use a short form with a call to action
• Consider other creative call to actions
• Remind people what they get when they convert
• Use visuals in the call to action if possible
• Don’t ask for the conversion too soon, but
• Don’t give people too many options or distract them
• Test, measure, revise…

Lifting the Fog to Improve Conversion Rates

I just attended the Optimization Summit in San Francisco.  There are several “take-aways” from this event to share… 

First, I’ll state the obvious.  We do search engine optimization or pay per click advertising to drive traffic to our websites so that visitors will take action (convert). Duh!

The biggest take away from this conference is that optimizing for conversion should NOT be a guessing game.  In fact, there was much story telling at this conference about seasoned execs (at some large companies) whose opinions about which page design/copy, call to action, etc. would yield the best conversions on their websites.  And, they were mostly wrong after testing results came in! 

The theme of the conference was multivariate optimization (MVO).  It involves testing several variables on a webpage.  They can include headlines, copy, layout, button names, navigation style (radio buttons vs. pull downs) and of course call to action.

MVO involves taking the emotion (opinion) out of optimization through testing.  It involves defining your objective, e.g., lead generation from a form submission, selecting the pages to test, defining the variables to test, running the tests and measuring the results. 

I’m providing an intentionally simplified explanation of MVO.  The idea is to optimize the conversion potential of a website (or landing pages).  In short multivariate testing takes a quantitative and analytical approach to optimizing conversion rates.  The testing numbers are telling, especially when they point to tangible ROI through improved conversion rates.

That said the software and services to do MVO is not cheap.  But, if the lift in conversions is dramatic, the ROI can make it worthwhile.
 

PPC: Keyword Selection, Sweat the Details

So, you are ready to launch your Google Adwords PPC campaign(s). And then, just when you thought it was such a simple thing to do, you get to the keywords section.

How many keywords do I need? Which keyword variations are best? What if my keywords do not convert? What if the bid rates will cost me too much?

Here are some keyword details to consider for your PPC campaign(s): 
• First, start with a few keywords (25-50) and then gradually expand your number of keywords per campaign. 
• Think of keywords as investment portfolios. With our investment portfolios, some of our chosen options are winners and some are losers. We always need to rebalance our investment portfolios from time to time so that we maintain exposure and achieve business goals. We can view the keywords we use in the same way. 
• Always maintain bids for those keywords that convert (respond to your call to action) and reduce or eliminate bid rates for non-performing keywords. 
• Most of the time, ‘Exact’ and ‘Phrase’ keywords variations produce better results compared to ‘Broad’ variations. 
• Do not micromanage or obsess over every single keyword and/or bids.  Instead, focus on your opportunities and your bottom line. 
• Remove keywords that draw clicks yet produce few conversions. However, do not eliminate keywords that are not directly converting but are providing an assist for a future conversion (a “bulls-eye” keyword). In some industries, visitors will research your products before converting. And, they may convert by going to your website instead of your PPC campaign(s).
 
Keyword management is a very important component of effective pay-per-click advertising.

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