Archive for the ‘Online Marketing’ Category

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Build More Links to your Site by Syndicating Articles

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Generating original articles for your site accomplishes several objectives – they build content on your site which boosts rankings, they provide a valuable resource for prospective customers and they attract incoming links, which helps your position in the search engines.

One way you can obtain incoming links for your site is to submit knowledge articles to other sites in exchange for a link back to your site. These “article submission” sites provide great resources on various topics in addition to helping you spread your name around.

If it’s done correctly, it is reasonable to expect you will get links to the exact pages you want that include the exact anchor-text you desire.

But submitting content to some of these article submission sites can also have some drawbacks – namely low quality links, duplicate content problems and drawing unwanted attention to your site’s search engine optimization efforts.

Google in fact frowns upon this and views it as an artificial link-building tactic.

There’s in fact a right way and a wrong way to build links through these article submission sites. Some of these sites are in fact duplicating content from your site so you need to be sure your stuff is tweaked to not trip the duplicate content alarm at Google.

You also don’t want to totally rely on these sites. The ones you do use should be reputable and professional. Sites who say “looking for writers” or “submit an article” are better options to choose that won’t paint a big target on your website.

Some popular article submission sites include: Ezine Articles, Article Dashboard, Buzzle, Article Alley and more.

Check back again soon for some more tips on how you should go about submitting articles to these submission sites along with some info on finding good ones to work with.

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Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology, Tip of the Day, Writing for search engines | No Comments »

Which Social Media Channel is Right for My Business?

Monday, August 30th, 2010

With all the buzz about Facebook lately and its ambitions to be the social hub of the Internet, many small business owners are wondering which social media channel they should direct their attention to.

How do Facebook and Twitter compare? Is it right for my business to invest in social networking?

To answer these questions, HubSpot pulled data from 2600 of its customers.  Companies were sorted by industry and were examined to see how many followers they had on each channel (referred to as the channel’s reach by Rick Burnes over at HubSpot).

From the chart below, we can see Facebook has more “reach” with B2C businesses…B2B businesses enjoy more success with Twitter.

Data from this chart doesn’t exactly mean you should only work with one and not the other. Considering Facebook’s expertise, ambitions and sheer scale of its plans, it would be unwise to not have a Facebook profile at all and focus solely on Twitter and vice versa.

And don’t fall in the trap of thinking your industry doesn’t use social media so it’s not worth considering. As with websites, blogs and SEO, being the first to step into to social networking will certainly payoff in the long run. Don’t be shy…experiment with social networking no matter what industry you’re in.

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Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology | No Comments »

5 Ways to Create a Sustainable, Engaging Following on Facebook

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

As Facebook continues to take the social media marketing world by storm, many businesses are trying to figure out how they can develop a strong following that’s sustainable over the long term…what can brands do to emulate others’ success?

Below are five elements of a successful Facebook page from our friends at Mashable, who include some great examples of companies successful at Facebook marketing.

Integrating these tips into your social media marketing strategy can help you maximize the value of your Facebook page(s).

1. Network with other platforms

One way successful brands on Facebook got to where they are is by working in tandem with other platforms to drive visitors to their Facebook page. Many companies expect consumers to find their Facebook page automatically without adding links into their homepage. The result…most people are unable to find your page on the bustling social network.

Consumers should be able to easily find your Facebook page…whether it’s through a prominent link on your homepage or through other social networks like Twitter. Connecting multiple social platforms and a hub from the brand website can help funnel customers throughout your network.

2. Create a resource to target a new demographic

Many Facebook pages serve as a connection hub while others offer pertinent information to their customers. This information is used as an added value to have consumers create a connection with the brand.

These “Boxes” allow you to target specific demographics for your products and services outside of those who already know and love what you offer.

3. Have contests to boost user participation

Another way to engage potential customers is to offer contests and coupons. Many Facebook users do not simply join a page because they’re loyal to your brand. However, they may be motivated to join if they can get a coupon or enter into a contest and win something.

Offering something to consumers is one big way you can develop a large following. This can be a coupon, free shipping, weekly deals for Facebook fans and more.

4. Empower those who have pre-existing pages that feature your brand

There’s a chance a loyal customer has already created a Facebook ‘fan’ page for your products. One of the most fabled stories of a company who has successfully done this is Coca-Cola. What started out as a fan page for fun for a couple of Coke enthusiasts when on to become one of the most popular pages on Facebook.

Rather than coming in and taking over the page when the company decided to take Facebook on, they brought the enthusiasts to the Coca-Cola plant in Atlanta and gave them a tour. The two guys maintain control of the page but now have the blessing and financial support of the company…empowering these fans ensures a passionate commitment to the page’s success.

Therefore, it isn’t always the best idea to take over a Facebook page. Instead, reward the creator and make an even more enthusiastic customer who will spread that to others.

5. Be sure you’re targeting the right demographic

You may be trying everything you can to grow a following on Facebook but nothing ever happens. One reason is that you’re target demographic may not be on Facebook. Therefore, before you do anything, you need to find out if your target market hangs out on Facebook.

Research from Quantcast shows Facebook tends to skew toward younger females…53% of these women have kids and make over $60,000 per year. The demographic is changing too with older, more professional women joining up. The college market is pretty saturated.

Keep checking to monitor changes in the social network’s prime demographics and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Facebook has seen lots of positive growth over the last few years and is expected to continue its dominance of the social networking/marketing world. Besides great content on your site and blog, Facebook offers you a way to find more customers. Many people join Facebook pages because they have friends who “liked” a product.

Facebook is essentially a place people go to interact with their friends and see what they’re saying about certain things. Capturing this market can propel your company even farther in the online world.

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Posted in Online Marketing, Tip of the Day | No Comments »

Webinar Provides Great Tips on Optimizing Landing Pages

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Recently, I took the time to watch a webinar hosted by Marketing Experiments on optimizing landing pages. By landing pages, we mean any page meant to motivate someone to take action – no matter if that’s clicking a “buy” button, downloading a newsletter or filing out a contact form.

By evaluating different metrics and experimenting with different layouts, Marketing Experiments’ webinar outlined how you can drive much higher conversion rates.

It’s not about marketing intuition or a list of best practices…successfully driving higher conversion rates with landing pages is more about a framework or methodology. Think about it more from a sequence of thought perspective rather than mere optimization of words or images. In your reader’s mind, the value of every action you desire for them to take must outweigh the cost.

It’s like a see-saw – on one end you have cost, and on the other you have value. If the cost is high, fewer people will find the value in going further.

So how do I reduce “cost” in my landing pages?

To reduce cost, you must reduce friction by eliminating any unnecessary length or difficulty in the order path, or thought sequence.

Basically, the hosts (Flint McCaughlin & company) of the interview say you must answer two of the readers’ most critical questions very quickly – you have to do this within “four inches and seven seconds” according to Flint.

Not answering the questions “Where and I?” and “What am I doing here?” means more people will be clicking that back button.

Be sure your visitor knows where they have landed.

Also reduce cost by not having many form fields. Keep questions to a minimum.

Increasing your page’s value along with decreasing its cost is another way you can drive higher conversion rates. Carefully identify and communicate key factors that set you above your competition…offer “unique value” to your prospects.

Another way to increase value – use specific, quantitative and instantly credible language when describing benefits of your products or services.

Take about an hour or so and watch this very useful webinar. They provide great examples of their work so you can visually see how to structure a page for maximum benefit along with how you should approach what you say…I’m trying some of their tips now so I’ll let you know how it works out.

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Posted in Forum Watch, Online Marketing, Site Architecture, Tip of the Day | No Comments »

How to Make Sure Your Content Doesn’t Drag On

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

A lot of content swirling around the Internet doesn’t do much except roll over and play dead – what we mean is, it doesn’t convert visitors if it attracts them at all.

Good content informs, entertains and motivates the reader to take the next step…maybe that’s making contact, or ordering or downloading an ebook for example. Whatever that next step is, good content gets the reader to keep going rather than click the back button and search further on other sites.

One of the ways to accomplishing this goal is to ensure your content doesn’t drag on, or overstay its welcome. Think of it like a neighbor. You may like talking to them occasionally but you don’t exactly want them over to dinner every night.

Leave your readers wanting more, and then give them more when they move on to the next phase of your engagement process.

Many online marketers either do too much or too little with their content. While there is a minimum amount of words you need on a page, there’s no particular number to shoot for. Basically, the amount of content you develop depends on what’s needed to move the reader along to the next stage…nothing more, nothing less.

Use only the number of words you need to convert a site visitor and not one more. Your audience isn’t just one person…its many different personas and personalities, each with their own unique needs. Trying to explicitly satisfy them all will cause your content to “wear out its welcome.”

Remember, you don’t have to meet everyone’s needs perfectly on one particular webpage or blog post. Figure out, in a general sense, what each group’s next step would be and provide them that opportunity. For some, it may be an “about us” page, for others it may the “buy” button and others may be interested to learn more about “shipping policies.”

What you want to do is develop content that’s minimal but provides opportunities for all types of people who come across it. From there, they can go find what they need to allay their fears or answer their questions, providing the entire audience with what it wants.

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Posted in Online Marketing, Tip of the Day | No Comments »

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