Posts Tagged ‘B2B marketing’

4 Guidelines to Writing a Good Home Page

Friday, February 26th, 2010

A lot of our conversation about content development centers around landing pages, articles, blogs and other informative features of a website. It is fair to say that content is king…without valuable informative content, online shoppers probably will not even find your site and if they do, they will quickly leave as it will offer them nothing.

Writing home pages however is much different than writing general content. Not only does it have to draw someone in, it also has to support the second level pages that contain all of this informative content we speak of.

Continue reading to learn how a top copywriter Nick Usborne approaches homepages. Nick has had an exceptional copywriting career and offers many invaluable tips to maximizing the benefits of website copywriting.

1. Use your main homepage headline to highlight your site’s underlying value proposition

Someone coming to your site for the first time has a purpose – they are looking for something that you may offer. Therefore, your main headline has to communicate the value of your site and the products and services you offer along with gently explaining why your site is better than others in a similar niche.

This isn’t an easy thing to accomplish and gets more difficult if you try to do too much with your headline.

Therefore, you need to stay focused on the primary reasons behind why someone would be interested in what you offer and communicate that in a concise, easy-to-understand way.

2. Use sub-headings and short introductory text to clarify and expand your headline

Not every online business can communicate all they offer in ten words or less. It’s best to keep your headline short then use short intro text directly beneath it to further clarify and expand your message.

Be sure this intro text immediately follows your headline. Basically, be conscious of eye-patterns and how someone scans your webpage. Do not make them search for this statement.

3. Help site visitors find what they’re looking for

Unless you offer only one product or service, your homepage has to help someone find what they’re looking for in your secondary level pages. If 80% of your visitors only look at three or four different products, then include links to those secondary level pages in your homepage copy.

Use navigation links to provide access to all parts of your site but also include extra links to those areas of your site that are most popular.

4. Make first-time visitors feel comfortable and confident

Unless you are a nationally recognized brand, new visitors to your site are going to be naturally skeptical. They need reassurance that you can be trusted.

There are many ways to do this – including a third-party logo from the Better Business Bureau is one example.

But your headline and homepage copy also has to be written in a tone that’s inviting and belays their fears. Homepages are rarely sales pages – save that for the secondary pages. So do not include sales language in your homepage…simply write in a clear, honest manner.

Make your customers feel like you’re the mom & pop store down the street that cares about their problem and wants to offer a solution.

While these guidelines are not the only elements to writing a good homepage, they are the most important. Like Nick, we try to write homepages in a clear, concise manner. We use homepages to help visitors learn what the site is about and find what they’re looking for without too much trouble.

See more of Nick’s copywriting tips and take a look at some of our copywriting resources on this blog and the SEO copywriting knowledge center.

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Posted in Articles, Online Marketing, Writing for search engines | No Comments »

New Webinar Explores State of Inbound Marketing

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Occasionally, we drop in on different presentations circulating online to give us insight into the state of the inbound (i.e. online) marketing industry. HubSpot’s 2010 report gives us some good insights into what’s going on.

The bottom line is this – inbound marketing techniques cost much less, around 60% in fact, than traditional media (outbound marketing) techniques. Therefore, considering the economic climate in 2009, social media and blogs in particular saw tremendous growth over the course of the year.

As you will see in the webinar, the cost per sales lead for inbound marketing channels is much lower. To illustrate, 63% of survey respondents say that the cost for generating a lead through blogs and social media came in lower than expectations…compare that to only 34% of respondents who say the same regarding telemarketing.

Results from HubSpot’s study also indicate that 51% of companies plan to spend more on inbound marketing in 2010. Much of this is due to the poor economy, as companies look to get more for their marketing dollar.

Another trend you will notice – smaller companies spend a higher proportion of their marketing budget on inbound marketing channels like blogs, social media and SEO.

The next section of the webinar focused on changes in business blogging and social media. One graph in particular illustrates the importance of good business blogging. As you will see, the more a company posts something on their blog, the higher the chance they will snag a new customer.

In the end, all inbound marketing channels have to work together in order for your efforts to be successful. You can’t simply focus on your blog without ensuring it is crawled and indexed by the search engines, for example. And you can’t simply focus on SEO without providing timely and valuable content to your readers.

Check out the webinar from HubSpot here – it takes about 30 minutes to watch the presentation but it’s well worth your time.

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Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology | No Comments »

Seven Common Mistakes Beginning Bloggers Make

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Building a blog for your business is a great way to build search engine rankings and develop a following online. All leading online marketing experts agree that providing consistent, relevant and interesting information about your niche through a blog goes a long way to building trust with prospective customers.

But at one time, we were new at something and probably made mistakes along the way. Blogging is no different on that score.

So if you’re just beginning or interested in starting a blog for your small business, here are 7 common mistakes you must avoid if your goal is to turn your blog into a traffic generator and revenue source.

1. Never launching it

Perhaps the most common mistake people make. You write your first post or two while killing some time. They’re great, informative and focused…but they never make it online. You have to get started to finish, and it’s not a blog until you actually publish something online.

2. Using a sub-domain (ex. myblog.wordpress.com)

Another common mistake is simply going to a blogging platform like WordPress and TypePad and opening an account. These are great utilities for posting and managing your blog but if you’re going to the trouble of starting a blog in the first place, it’s worth your time and money to invest in your own domain that you control from the beginning. It’s very difficult to change later on.

3. Spending too much time on design

Many blogs never get launched because the owner spends the majority of their blogging time worrying about design. Looks are great, but the core purpose of a blog is relevant content. Besides, you can easily change the design later on so focus on creating great content instead.

4. Not telling anyone about it

In a blog’s infancy, no one knows about it. There are no links to it and search engines are not ranking you, perhaps not even indexing it. Therefore, the only way to get traffic to it is through direct contact. Tell your friends online and in the flesh of your new blog and utilize social networks to spread the word.

5. Getting discouraged too early

Blogging is no different than most things in one regard – it takes time to build up to success. Give yourself at least six months and maybe even a year before suspending the blog for lack of traffic. It’s hard to get some momentum but once you do, good things start to happen.

6. Too many plugins and “blidgets”

Many bloggers make the mistake of loading their blog up with a bunch of bells and whistles without paying much attention to their content. Resist the temptation to do this and invest your time in content, comments and categories instead.

7. Monetizing too early

Search engines like Google make it pretty easy to throw some ads on your blog. If you’re serious, you need to focus on building an audience first and worry about monetization later. Posting ads for revenue too early will discourage people from looking at your blog long before you have built the critical mass needed to make any real money with it.

Blogging can be fun and rewarding but it takes time, as any real success does. Don’t be discouraged, keep working at it and your efforts will pay off in the long run.

*Subject for this post courtesy of HubSpot’s Blogging Team. Subscribe to their email listserv at http://www.hubspot.com/.

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Should SEO Firms Guarantee Rankings?

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

One question that those of us in the search engine optimization profession constantly wrestle with is whether to provide prospective clients with a ranking guarantee. Many firms will not budge without that guarantee, which makes a SEOs life even that much more problematic.

Forum discussion at Crea8site illustrates the dilemma.

As optimizing websites for the search engines becomes more complex and personalized search options from Google and Bing gain more popularity, viewing success through the prism of search engine rankings alone can be disastrous. The science of SEO has evolved way beyond simple keywords and listings.

Actual traffic and conversions are the important considerations but traffic is the only thing the SEO can realistically do. Without traffic and conversions, your clients will eventually become frustrated and stop investing in their website.

In order to make a SEO firm/client relationship work, each party needs to work in tandem on pricing, rankings, content, service, etc. to get maximum yield from their investment.

Read the forum for more and check out our article in the search engine optimization knowledge center on looking for a SEO firm to grow your online presence.

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Posted in SEO Technology, Tip of the Day | No Comments »

Should I Require Registration for White Papers and E-books?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

One debate that’s always ongoing in the online marketing world is whether site visitors should be required to register (i.e. provide an email) to gain access to a white paper or e-book.

One side of the debate says requiring that information gives you good sales leads…email addresses and other contact information for people that are definitely interested in your products and services…especially if they went to the trouble to provide you with that information.

The other side says simply having a link for valuable content on your site to a white paper or e-book means more people will see it. Site visitors will download the material and be more likely to send it to their friends through email, blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Take this example as an illustration – AIIM, a non-profit organization representing users and suppliers of documents, content and records management technologies released their first e-book on October 1st entitled “8 Reasons You Need a Strategy for Managing Information – Before It’s Too Late”. The book was totally free and required no registration.

In the month of October, the book was downloaded 5,138 times. AIIM also posted a presentation version of the book on SlideShare, which saw 3,353 more views for a total of 8,491 downloads in the first month alone – not bad at all for the first month of their first one!

But for their industry watch research papers in which they require registration, there were only around 513 downloads. Therefore, not requiring registration results in a sixteen-fold increase in the number of downloads. Based on AIIM’s recent experience, they plan to produce three more e-books over the next few months.

So what’s the lesson here?

Based on this experience, it may be better to not require an email address or contact information before letting someone look at your white paper or e-book. It really depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.

If it’s simply getting your production out to as many people as possible, this evidence suggests you do not require any registration.

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5 Ways to Use Twitter to Grow Your Online Marketing Business

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

We’re always looking for new ways to find companies who need search engine marketing and optimization services. Twitter is one of those tools many online marketing professionals are turning to reach prospective customers. Many large retailers and manufacturers are using Twitter to market their products and services, especially those targeting younger more tech savvy consumers.

But it can work the other way too! Using Twitter for lead generation is another way many online marketers and SEO professionals are finding new clients in this tough environment.

Five ways sales people can use Twitter include:

1. Research prospective companies

Before you even call a prospective client, do some research about their company through their website and Twitter. Know what employees and customers are saying about the company so when you call, you can build a better rapport with them. Understanding the company and their needs will give you an edge when you make that call.

2. Stay abreast of industry news

Check into Twitter to find updates on things happening in your lead’s industry. Real time updates from Twitter mean you can learn about big news before it’s even published across the web.

3. Find the best time to call your lead

Twitter can also be a great way to find out when your lead will be in the office. Calling every day at 9:00 AM used to be the standard but with Twitter, you can find out when someone is out of the office or in a meeting. There’s no guarantee they will answer the phone if they’re at their desk but the chances of you talking to someone goes up nevertheless.

4. Get honest feedback on your pitch

After the call and pitch, logon to Twitter to see what your lead is saying about it to their friends and colleagues. This method allows you to learn in an unvarnished way where your pitch is strong and where it can be improved.

5. Stay in touch when customers change jobs

Phone and email may be the primary means to communicate with a prospective customer but they are useless when your prospect changes jobs. Twitter is a great way to stay in touch with contacts when they change jobs. And a new job for them could mean new and expanded opportunities for you!

Check out this post on HubSpot’s internet marketing blog for more tips on using Twitter along with an informative webinar Twitter for Marketing and PR.

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Dramatic Video Documents Impact of Social Media

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Have any doubts about the current social media craze sweeping the Internet? Think it’s just another fad whose demise hasn’t come yet?

Well I was quite surprised the other day when I received an email from my dad linking to a YouTube video entitled “Social Media Revolution”. Certainly not something I would expect to get from him (I know, I taught him how to use email and the Internet)

But I was impressed at his recognition of the facts outlined in this video from SocialnomicsTM, a blog covering the latest trends in social media.

The speed at which social media sites like Facebook has caught on is impressive – could social media be a new industrial revolution?

Consider this…social media is now the #1 activity on the web…1 in 8 couples married in 2008 met online…if Facebook was a country, it would be the 4th largest on Earth!

I don’t want to give anymore away – you have to watch the video below to fully appreciate it.

But it illustrates the impact social media marketing can have on your business. While it shouldn’t be your entire online marketing strategy, ignoring it could possibly have negative consequences down the road.

Checkout SEO Advantage on the social media circuit – read our SEO blog and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Remarkable Content – 10 Attributes of Great Copy

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

As we all know, content is one of the driving forces to not only build rankings in the search engines but captivate visitors and turn more of them into paying customers.

But what constitutes remarkable content?

You may be asking “What makes content on my website more useful in accomplishing the two-pronged goal outlined above?”

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch a webinar that gave some great insights into SEO copywriting and elements your copy needs to effectively make content “remarkable”

Read on to see the 10 attributes your copy needs to be remarkable.

1. Helpful – Rather than closing sales, does your copy help someone? In this age of information overload, helpful content goes much farther than simple sales jargon.

2. Timely – Does your content relate to your target audience? Be certain topics you include on your site address issues that are relevant to your target market/audience.

3. Interruptive – Does your content contain a captivating element that grabs a person’s attention and maintains their interest?

4. Entertaining – Does your content have a novel and enjoyable tone and aspect to it, like reading a story?

5. Shareable – Would someone who reads your content want to forward it or post it on a social networking site?

6. Progressive – Does your copy contain a call to action or outline the next step to take?

7. Versatile – Can your content be leveraged in media channels other than the Internet like TV, radio and newspapers?

8. Crowd-sourced – Does your content have a community or cooperative spirit to it? Does it make someone feel they are or can be a part of something?

9. Efficient – More concise copy is much more effective…lists like this one can be extremely effective for instance.

10. Integrated – Does your copy fit with existing and future materials on your website?

This is just a basic outline of elements your copy needs to be remarkable. Take 30 minutes or so and watch this informative webinar from Tippit to learn more about the methodology of creating content that works.

A quick registration is required but it’s free!

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Posted in Online Marketing, Tip of the Day, Writing for search engines | 1 Comment »

BtoB’s Media Power 50 Ranks the Top Places for B-to-B Advertising

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Every year, BtoB Magazine lists the top 50 places to advertise to other businesses. Here are the top 10:

  1. Wall Street Journal and WSJ.com
  2. Google.com
  3. The Economist and Economist.com
  4. Yahoo
  5. NFL partnerships and advertising
  6. TechTarget’s network of websites
  7. Forbes and Forbes.com
  8. CNBC’s ‘Power Lunch’
  9. BusinessWeek and Businessweek.com
  10. InformationWeek and Informationweek.com

To arrive at this list, BtoB editors and reporters examined media outlets with both objective and subjective criteria. They evaluated data such as ad revenue and audience, and interviewed top media buyers, advertisers and industry analysts for their options on the most powerful and targeted b-to-b advertising venues.

Among the other 40 top places for b-to-b advertising are cnn.com, Newsweek, USA Today, Barron’s, New York Times, Msnbc.com, Allbusiness.com, Bloomberg.com, BNET, Business.com, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Inc., Linkedin.com, ThomasNet and more.

What’s interesting is to see the mix of media outlets ranging from the traditional print publications (WSJ) to social media (Linkedin.com) and even sporting events (NFL). And they got it right when they said “Google may dominate search, but Yahoo is the leader in display advertising. Small b-to-b markets rely on Yahoo’s targeting capabilities to find new customers on the Web.”

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