Posts Tagged ‘Online Marketing’

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Importance of Good Grammar and Word Choice

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

We spend a lot of time here at SEO-e thinking about web copywriting and website content development without ever mentioning grammar…well this post is intended to make up for lost time.

As a professional web copywriter, I often find minor mistakes when editing a piece. No big deal – in the rush of trying to prepare a magnificent article or blog post, I’m often in a race to get my thoughts down before my brain turns to other things.

You may be thinking that grammar in the online environment isn’t too important. After all, there are little grammar rules here and there, like beginning a sentence with “and” that we can ignore. Sometimes bending the rules makes our copy flow much better than it would otherwise.

But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to completely ignore grammar rules.

The first reason should be obvious – bad grammar makes you look unprofessional. Many readers probably have a basic understanding of English grammar. Using “there” when you should use “their” is a common mistake that’s easy to pick up on.

Most of us probably haven’t been in an English class in many years. Especially writing professionally, it’s easy to forget about good grammar. After all, I don’t exactly think about why a comma should go somewhere, I just know it does.

Nevertheless, it can be helpful to take a few minutes to review basic English grammar. DON’T RELY ON SPELLCHECK AND GRAMMAR SUGGESTIONS IN MICROSOFT WORD OR OTHER WORD PROCESSORS. For one, they are often wrong and it’s better to know yourself anyway.

One resource I have found to be very user-friendly and easy to understand is The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation from Jane Straus. Her site has some great tips and sample quizzes you can take to assess your skills. And you can even sign-up to have her newsletter delivered right to your inbox.

Another resource we use to ensure proper grammar, etc. is the Chicago Manual of Style, which is by far the most extensive resource. If you’re mainly focusing on press releases, the Associated Press Stylebook is a great resource to ensure your press releases are correctly formatted.

Pay attention to your formatting and grammar. While one or two minor mistakes isn’t anything to get worried about, you need to ensure that content you put on your site is by and large grammatically correct.

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Posted in Tip of the Day, Writing for search engines | No Comments »

8 Tips for getting your Facebook page Noticed

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Facebook is by far the largest social networking utility with over 400 million active users worldwide. As far as social networking, especially if you’re a B2C company like an e-retailer or storefront operation, Facebook is the prime social network to focus your efforts on.

It can be a great place to build your brand online and interact with your customers. But many businesses try Facebook just to give up amid frustration and seeming failure.

Following these 8 steps can help make Facebook a worthy investment of your time and resources, helping your build customers and revenues in the long run.

1. Have your own unique brand image for your profile

If you’ve been on Facebook for fun, you know everyone has their own picture of them self. But when you’re marketing your business, it may not look too appealing to just see a picture of you and/or your staff. Create something unique that will look interesting to someone, especially if it’s only a thumbnail size picture.

2. Post relevant interesting content

It’s one of the basics on any online marketing or SEO effort. Interesting, relevant content is required to keep people coming back. Simply post relevant content from other sites or link to custom content on your own site. Petty self promotion isn’t going to work too well in this environment.

3. Participate in the conversation

Utilities like Facebook are meant to be interactive. Participate in discussions on relevant topics or comment on someone else’s postings. Find every opportunity to start a discussion.

4. Increase interaction by adding apps

App devices on Facebook provide an entertainment value for your visitors. And if they invite their friends, you could potentially have a bigger pool of visitors learning about your Facebook profile and business. Pizza Hut put this to good use by creating an app to order a pizza through the utility – but an app can be anything from a game to special discounts. Check out AllFacebook.com Leader Board for ideas.

5. Direct new visitors to a custom page

Facebook automatically sends traffic to your wall, which can be uninviting. They do however let you use any page for your Facebook homepage. Create a custom page for new visitors instead and have an inviting place for people to learn about you. And change it periodically…like Skittles’ Mob the Rainbow entry page, which changes every month.

6. Post tags of your fans in photos and videos

This takes a little effort but include your fans in photos and videos. You could perhaps run a contest and ask fans to submit a picture of them with your product.  After posting the picture, you can “tag” them, which their friends will see on their update

7. Create customized “tabs” on your Facebook page

Many large companies who use Facebook to their advantage have custom tabs at the top of their profile, which further personalizes your profile. You can use these tabs when introducing a new product or embedding a new poll or announcing an event, like the Threadless t-shirt company, who  allows fans to vote on new design, comment and even buy their shirts directly through Facebook.

8. Consider Facebook ads to jump start your profile

    It may be worth the investment to purchase some advertising on Facebook to give your profile the initial jump it needs. Getting subscribers to anything is a slow process in the early stages. Facebook ads generate qualified traffic by refining its subscribers by keyword, demographics and category, putting your profile in front of millions of people.

    We can’t all have the millions of Facebook fans like Starbucks or Coca-Cola. But it is possible, using these 8 steps, to harness the power of Facebook effectively and draw in a large number of fans. According to Sysomos, over 77% of companies with a fan page have less than a 1000 fans.

    Make your Facebook profile the best in your industry by considering these 8 steps.

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    Posted in Articles, Online Marketing | No Comments »

    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 »

    Recent Changes Signal Big Transformation with Search Engines Underway

    Monday, February 15th, 2010

    We’ve been discussing over the last few months changes in the online marketing world that can possibly have an effect on how search engines rank and display websites.

    Things like the unveiling of personalized search as a standard feature of Google to the rise of social networking applications are just a couple of examples of such changes. It’s fair to say that based on our research and experience, social networking and bookmarking utilities have gained a big foothold in the online marketing equation.

    Take all of this, along with the release of Google Buzz and some proposed partnership agreements between Google/Bing and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and you’ve got some indications that a major shift is underway in how the search engines rank and display search results.

    Over the years, search engines have evolved a lot from their beginnings. For example, keywords were the only consideration in ’95 but by ’97, search engines began looking at a site’s links. Next, around 1999 and Google’s inception, the PageRank algorithm was introduced. By ’02, anchor-text links were important and by ’05, temporal data, or when links were obtained and the age of the content, became important ranking factors.

    But with the events of the last couple of years, it’s becoming apparent that a site’s “social graph” is becoming as important a ranking factor as its “link graph.” Search engines, primarily Google and Bing, are relying more on social networking sites to gauge the popularity and usefulness of a website’s content.

    Take a look at SEOMoz’s newest Whiteboard Friday video for more insights into the changing world of search.

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    Posted in Forum Watch, Online Marketing, SEO Technology | No Comments »

    Effective Web Copywriting Requires Answers to Three Simple Questions

    Friday, February 12th, 2010

    So what are the most important aspects of copywriting – the things that motivate someone to hit the “buy” button? Is it the headline, bullet points, benefits or testimonials from other users?

    Part of being successful at copywriting is finding that “hungry market” – those people looking for a certain solution to their problem who cannot find one. You could write the best sales copy or content in the world or have one of the superstars do it for you and it won’t matter; you will be dead in the water unless you appeal to that “hungry market.”

    So how do you find that “hungry market?”

    Most conventional sources point to keyword research, which is very useful in determining terms to use in your copy. Some keyword research tools can teach you how to find a market, find out who they are and what they want…but focusing solely on this misses a key point.

    More importantly, in addition to these attributes, you need to find out how they want it. To be successful at copywriting, you not only need to know the right market but have the right offer with the right message delivered in the right way.

    Keyword research simply cannot ensure you deliver a message in the right way.

    So to write effective copy, you need to ask and answer the following three questions according to copywriting pro David Garfinkel:

    1. Who is your market?
    2. What is their problem?
    3. And how do they talk about it?

    The third question is key – which is the one most writers ignore.

    Keyword research is like a recipe, a list of ingredients. However, you need to use the ingredients in a certain order and amount for the dish to turn out right. Keyword lists are simply the ingredients – misusing or leaving out an “ingredient” can ruin your dish, or copy in this instance.

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

    SEO ‘Local Search’ Revolution upon Us

    Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

    Often dubbed “the new YellowPages” by techies and SEO professionals, local search through Google Maps is one form of online marketing that’s slated to see astronomical growth in the next few years…it’s even perhaps a revolution of sorts in waiting with the casualty being the fabled phone book and YellowPages.

    Think about it…how often do you search for local businesses using your phonebook anymore?

    But going forward, people won’t be using their computers to search for local businesses online. No, they’ll be using their SmartPhone – Blackberry, IPhone and more. And 2010 will see a plethora of new SmartPhones sweeping the market from all major service providers.

    What’s the consequence of this? For any local business that relies on YellowPages to advertise their business, it means a shift in how people find them. If their listing doesn’t appear in Google Maps and online, they will be missing out on a lot of opportunities.

    To illustrate, a recent training course at Planet Ocean witnessed a demo of the power and ease of Google Maps’ smartphone utility. A 35-year old attendee used his phone to access Google Maps and search for orthodontist in the area he was located – all possible because most smartphones come equipped with a GPS tracking device.

    Therefore, all he had to do was enter the keyword into the search and the device automatically displayed locations of orthodontists closest to his current location – along with directions on how to get there!

    And these listings come equipped with customer reviews and other relevant information for making a buying decision!

    The moral of the story is this – smartphones are in actuality mobile computer devices jam-packed with features one would normally not associate with a “phone”. Could this be the newest “gold rush” to hit the U.S.? In the real gold rush in Alaska in the late 19th century, real fortunes were made not in gold, but selling the tools to mine for gold.

    So if you’re in search of opportunities in online marketing and SEO, it would behoove you to consider local search and how your business must be able to harness it or lose out to more prepared competitors.

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

    Upcoming Webinar from Channel Intelligence – How to Win in 2010

    Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

    SEO Advantage partner firm Channel Intelligence, a retail marketing consultant from Orlando, is announcing their first webinar for the new year, How to Win in 2010.

    In addition to providing insight into what you can expect for the online retail market this year, CI will outline the strategies that brought success to their retail clients in the toughest economic climate in 26 years.

    Despite the worst recession in a generation, CI clients not only survived but thrived. CI’s upcoming webinar will break down the strategies and tactics that were successful in the face of a severe economic contraction. CI will also present some common pitfalls you should avoid.

    Other insights to be covered include: which tactics and strategies met with success across various shopping channels in 2009, which channels brought the biggest results, how retailers used re-targeting display ad campaigns to their advantage, and the best performing retail products and categories in 2009.

    CI’s How to Win in 2010 webinar will take place next Thursday, February 11th from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EST.  Please visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/828722376 to register today.

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    Organic Search Continues Its Upward Trajectory

    Monday, January 25th, 2010

    It’s always interesting to see the trends in marketing online. How are people looking for information online?

    For me, it continues to be a Google search using keyword phrases that closely describe what I’m looking for. I find searches like these to be very useful most of the time and if not, I can tweak the words I’m using to find what I’m looking for.

    So it’s no surprise to me that organic search continues to be a preferred means of locating information online – and growing too.

    According to new data from comScore, over 131 billion searches were conducted worldwide in December, 2009, a 46% increase over December ‘08. Searches in the U.S. alone grew by 22%, despite the country’s now two-year old recession.

    And the U.S. continues to be the largest country on Earth when you consider online searches. While growth for 2008-2009 was much larger in countries like Russia (92%), France (61%) and Brazil (53%), the U.S. still accounts for the lion’s share of online searches.

    So where do these searches originate from?

    Well as we’ve reported here, Google still handles the majority of online searches – over 67% in December, 2009 with 58% growth between 12/2008 and 12/2009. And not just search engines are included in this list, which reflects a large number of searchers who go beyond the “core” search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing. Ebay came in 5th with 2.1 billion searches, growing by 58% year-over-year. Facebook handled 1.6 billion searches, a 43% increase year-over-year.

    Data like this underscores the importance of optimizing websites for the search engines. It’s clear that an increasing number of Internet users rely on organic search to find what they’re looking for online.

    How do you locate information online?

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    Best Practices and SEO Don’t Mix Too Well!

    Friday, January 22nd, 2010

    I’m pretty sure I’ve used the phrase “best practices” here on the search engine optimization e-blog a time or two and now feel like kicking myself for doing so.

    Intuitively, best practices don’t make any sense in the SEO profession.

    Best practices grew out of organizational management techniques that became popular in the mid-to-late ‘90s. The idea was that certain groups who achieve “best practices” could then teach those practices to the entire organization.

    From a practical point of view that makes sense…but in order for “best practices” to work in a strategic sense, the environment must be relatively static and homogenous…two characteristics online marketing & SEO don’t have at all.

    Something that works today may be obsolete by the middle of next week in this business.

    Instead of working under a static rule set that’s worked in the past for something (old) and has been popularized (is average), which is what best practices essentially are, use metrics to experiment with what works and what doesn’t.

    It’s appealing to think there’s a magic formula of best practices you can employ and then just sit back and watch the sales come in.

    But the Internet, you and your competitors are constantly changing.

    In the end, “best practices” can offer the value of a good starting point to begin experimentation but nothing more. Establishing a good feedback loop and basing your decisions on results of your experimentation means you will go much farther than just re-hashing someone else’s “best practices” plan.

    Focus on your business and be ready to constantly modify what works and what doesn’t.

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

    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 »

    Online Copywriting Much Different Than Conventional Writing Methods

    Friday, January 15th, 2010

    A big part of optimizing websites for the search engines involves content. Not only does keyword-rich content attract the attention of search engines, online readers and shoppers seek informative resources to aid in their purchasing decisions.

    Therefore, online content is an invaluable part of both marketing online and search engine optimization. So what’s the difference between writing standard sales letters, essays and other items versus writing online?

    First is the mindset – online readers skim pages looking for the information they need. Hard copy readers are generally more leisure in their reading, spending more time on each page. In a fundamental way, each type of reader interacts with the piece in much different ways.

    Remember receiving direct mail pieces in your snail mail box? What the envelope said and who it was from was a big factor in determining whether you opened it up and read it.

    Online copy on the other hand has other factors at work – like the title. First, readers look at a title and if it entices them enough, they’ll continue reading. Next, Google focuses on the first 65 characters looking for keywords. Therefore, online copy has to have both a title that draws a reader’s interest and contains keywords for Google to index.

    Continuing into the body, online copywriters have to consider different elements than traditional sales letters and other hard copy mediums don’t. Keyword density and calls to action are just a couple. Also, online writers should consider shorter paragraphs, bullet points and other ways to format the document’s layout to make reading easy, especially for blogs.

    And online copy is generally much shorter – a typical article is around 600-800 words, typical blog posts range anywhere from 200 to 500 words. So, a call to action including keywords (not too many keywords though as this is a red flag to search engines and readers) has to be done in a much smaller space.

    Keep these things in mind when writing for online mediums…and remember it’s much different than hard copy mediums. Articles, blogs and even press releases have to factor in these kinds of issues in order for them to achieve maximum success.

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    9 Do’s and Don’ts of Building a Social Bookmarking Network

    Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

    Developing a strong presence on social networking and bookmarking sites doesn’t involve complex formulas or algorithms. Sure, sites like Digg and Reddit have algorithms but it would behoove you to focus on the 2 major pillars of success on these sites – great content and a network of users to promote it – rather than focusing on racing to the front page.

    Building your network involves more than just adding users to your friends list. Participation is required and is how you get noticed. Voting for, spreading and commenting on other users’ content shows you’re willing to work hard and contribute to the community.

    Keep reading for a basic outline of 9 do’s and don’ts of building your social bookmarking networks online.

    1. DO friend, IMvite and follow power users but DON’T become a pest

    The best place you can start building your social media presence is by making friends with power users. They have literally hundreds, if not thousands of friends and a vote on your content from them can often translate into additional votes from their followers.

    But remember, people are busy. They don’t have time to digg, vote or retweet 100 links a day or have time for juvenile questions like “How many diggs does it take to hit page one?” Be sure you vote on their content and they will eventually take notice.

    2. DO participate in the SOCIAL part of social bookmarking but DON’T be a troll

    Commenting and participating in conversations on social networking sites isn’t so much about being social as much as it’s about being noticed and showing you take time to look at other’s submissions.

    But don’t be too controversial and don’t reply to something just to disagree. You can be funny but not everyone shares your sense of humor so be careful.

    3. DO embrace multiple social networks but DON’T spread yourself too thin

    There are literally thousands of social media networks and instant messaging utilities out there. Joining multiple social bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit is a great way to expand your reach. Manage your time wisely though. Creating and maintaining a profile is a lot of work so don’t spread yourself too thin.

    4. DO submit content from community favorite sites but DON’T submit commercial content

    When you’re a part of a social bookmarking community like Digg or Reddit, it’s likely you will notice certain sites producing outstanding content on a regular basis since they’re always on the front page. Being the first to submit new content from these sites is a great way to get noticed.

    On the other hand, submitting content that has no place in the community you’re in is one of the sure-fire ways to fail at social bookmarking. If you appear as a marketer, folks will vote your stuff down and remove you as a friend. Be sure what you’re promoting is worthy of votes!

    5. DO submit content from a variety of sites but DON’T consistently submit content from a single site or short list of sites

    This may seem obvious but a lot of people will only submit their own content and occasionally make comments on or vote on other stuff. This is a red flag that you’re only in it for the marketing, which is something you don’t want to look like.

    The best way to avoid looking like a marketer is to submit articles, etc. from a wide variety of websites.

    6. DO sign in, vote up, retweet and comment regularly. DON’T leave huge lapses of activity in your account(s)

    One of the keys to successful marketing through social bookmarking sites is being a regular. Taking too much time away could mean all of your hard work going to waste. It’s not that you can’t take a well deserved vacation. But the more available you are to vote and spread submissions of others, the more influence you will have in pushing your own stuff.

    7. DO perform favors for your friends but DON’T ask for too much without giving something back

    Help your friends out and they’ll help you! Don’t wait to vote up or retweet your friend’s submissions. If you go out of your way for them, the more likely they’ll do the same for you.

    Don’t ask too much without giving something in return and if you ask someone to vote or retweet something, be sure it’s top quality content. Eventually, people will avoid or ignore you altogether if it’s not.

    8. DO act like a human being, DON’T act like a computer or robot

    The purpose of social media is to be “social”, not just amass hundreds of friends in some desperate attempt to look important. If you’re trying to get content out to as many people as possible, you need to act like a real person. Be friendly and have conversations with others online from time to time.

    9. DO keep at it and DON’T give up

    Like anything, building a network for social bookmarking sites takes a lot of time and hard work. You don’t have to spend all day everyday on social media to be successful. But you need to find a routine you’re comfortable with and stick with. Persistence is the key to success.

    To learn more about developing a strong social networking presence, read Building Social Bookmarking Networks 101 from Search Engine Journal.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, Tip of the Day | 1 Comment »

    Where Does Site Traffic Come From?

    Monday, January 11th, 2010

    Of all the online marketing channels – organic search/SEO, referrals and PPC – where does the majority of traffic to a site originate from?

    Does someone do a search on Google using keyword phrases to search for the products and/or services you offer online?

    Or, are they referred to your site from an online directory like YellowPages or Google Maps? Or, do they see your PPC or social network ad?

    Data recently compiled at HubSpot definitively proves that organic search is the primary driver of traffic to websites – which underscores the importance of them being search engine friendly. From the survey of 2,100 of its customers, the company shows that site traffic coming from online searches is 67.2% greater than from referral sites and 156% greater than PPC.

    They further break the data down by industry – traffic from search engines is much higher in manufacturing, medicine/health services and retail. Referrals play a more important role in other industries like technology, software and online marketing but still does not exceed online search as a primary source of traffic.

    So from this data, it really depends on your industry in determining what you allocate to each of these online marketing areas.

    In terms of organic search and SEO, Google is by far the most popular search engine still, handling 71% of online searches this past November according to Hitwise. The two closest were Yahoo! at 15% and Bing at 9%.

    It’s clear though – having a website optimized for the search engines is key to driving traffic.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology, Site Architecture | 3 Comments »

    Benefits of Installing Site Search on your Website

    Friday, January 8th, 2010

    As the Internet has evolved over the years, websites have grown more complex. You don’t need me to tell you that many websites contain a wealth of information on their respective niches.

    And with the advent of social networking and other means of finding and disseminating information, web users are growing ever pickier about the websites they visit. That’s why installing site search on your site is an important step in building search engine rankings and boosting conversion rates.

    There’s many reasons why more site visitors are immediately going to a site search to find information on a website. These include confusing navigation, cluttered design and even pure impatience. In fact, studies suggest that a person will leave a site if the search function is poor or not there around 80% of the time.

    But site search has even more benefits for webmasters and SEO professionals. With the proper analytical tools, site owners can get a lot of information about their site visitors and how they navigate around their site. You can transform your site into a “customer centric” from a static “one size fits all” approach.

    Take a look at our newest article in the search engine optimization knowledge center regarding the benefits of site search and stay tuned to the SEO-e blog for recommendations on good site search tools you can easily purchase for your website.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology, Site Architecture | 2 Comments »

    8 Predictions for SEO in 2010

    Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

    2009 is almost over and what a year it has been!

    It’s been fun and a pleasure contributing to SEO-e over the course of the year. I’ve certainly learned a lot researching and writing posts on optimizing websites for the search engines and online marketing in an all-encompassing manner.

    Along with our search engine optimization library, SEO-e communicates news, tips and best practices in a range of areas – SEO, copywriting, site architecture, current events at Google affecting webmasters, social media and more. We take a lot of pride in bringing you important information to optimize your site for the search engines in an easy-to-understand fashion.

    We look forward to bringing you the best in 2010…now on to what we’re all here for!

    Naturally, we all look forward with anticipation to what next year will bring. Our industry is constantly evolving so it’s absolutely necessary we look forward and see where we’re headed. Certainly in any effort, being malleable in adjusting your strategy to changing circumstances is a critical component of success.

    Our friends over at SEOMoz recently compiled their 8 Predictions for SEO in 2010 where they share their insights into where the industry is headed. Some things are out – like real-time search at Google and Bing. Since its hastened introduction last month, reaction to it has been mostly negative. SEOs are concerned about the quality of content searchers bring up for instance.

    But other things like personalized search are here to stay. It’s not clear what affect this will have on optimizing your site for the search engines but we’ll be sure you know when we learn something new.

    There’s other developments in the search engine business world that’s going to affect us in 2010 as well, especially if the feds approve Bing and Yahoo’s proposed merger. We just might be referring to it as “Binghoo” this time next year.

    But take a look at the 8 predictions and see what’s expected for 2010. And of course, check with us into the New Year for the latest events and tips on optimizing your site for the search engines.

    Happy New Year!

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

    What Extension Should I Choose for My Domain?

    Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

    Choosing a domain name for your new website is the first step to developing your online brand and building rankings in the search engines.

    But in addition to the domain name, you need to choose the domain extension as well – the .com, .net, .org, .biz or .info at the tail end of a web address.

    In terms of ranking high in the search engines, .net or .org extensions are given equal weight. Plus, you are likely to find more domain names available with these extensions which can be purchased from their owners for a cheaper price than .com extension domain names.

    .com extensions hold some advantages, mainly because of most web users’ familiarity with that domain extension. Not controlling the .com version of your domain means you could perhaps lose out on what’s called type-in traffic, or traffic that comes when a searcher types their query directly in their browser’s address bar.

    Also, if someone else owns the .com version of your domain name, they can possibly bleed traffic from your site if people type in your domain with the .com extension. This is okay if your main goal is to rank high in the search engines but if you think this diversion of traffic will be a problem, be sure you can at least control the .com version of your name or choose another name altogether.

    If you’re based or your target market is outside the United States, you can also consider country-specific domains like .co.uk (United Kingdom) or .co.in (India) for example. You will certainly garner an advantage in the search engines for people in the respective country performing search queries.

    .info extensions are generally very cheap and abused by spammers, which is why they’re not recommended for building rankings in the search engines. The other domain extensions you’ve probably seen, .gov and .edu, are reserved exclusively for recognized educational institutions and agencies of the U.S. government.

    Links from these sites though are extremely valuable.

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

    5 Basic Elements of Good Web Copywriting

    Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

    As you know – especially if you’ve read us in the past – web copywriting and content are one of the main pillars to successfully marketing your products and services online.

    Thus, it’s invaluable to learn good web copywriting skills or hire someone (either full-time or freelance) that’s good at the craft.

    Web copywriting is an art but has some key elements that can help you learn that art. While it takes time to master the art of web copywriting, there are some fundamentals you can learn to continually improve your craft. Continue reading for the 5 basic elements of good web copywriting.

    Your Headline

    Web surfers generally move very fast – many will simply read a title/headline and use that to determine whether they will read more. It’s all about drawing their interest to continue reading.

    The title of this post for instance “5 Basic Elements of Good Web Copywriting” is simple to understand and helps solve a problem. People looking for tips on web copywriting certainly will look forward to reading more.

    Introductory Copy

    Copy in your introductory paragraph(s) need to reinforce the title/headline. It must maintain one’s interest to continue reading. The intro paragraph for this post for example expands a little on the importance of good web copywriting skills in marketing your business online, which leads us too…

    Benefits

    Web copywriting would be remiss without mentioning benefits – or how your product/service solves a problem for the reader. Remember, with inbound marketing like you see online, it’s more likely someone who makes their way to your website is looking for what you offer. Therefore, they don’t want to hear about how your product is better than the rest but rather what benefits your product brings and how it solves a real world problem for them.

    Call to Action

    Perhaps one the most important elements of good web copywriting – a call to action that tells the reader what to do next. It would be sad if you were successful in piquing one’s interest all the way through your home or landing page just for them to give up and leave because they don’t know what to do.

    Phrases like “Click here to order now” or “continue reading to learn more” – things like that – are what you want to include in any sales type environment. Especially in a blog like this or an informational article, a call to action is also suitable at the end of your intro.

    Assurances

    Last but not least, prospects will not become customers in larger numbers if there aren’t any assurances that you’re legitimate. Things you can do to make buyers feel more comfortable include: displaying a secure server logo, your picture, your contact information and/or a guarantee. This reinforces that your site, business, products and services are legitimate and makes prospects more comfortable that they are not wasting their hard earned money.

    These 5 elements are some of the basics of mastering the art of good web copywriting but it’s a continual learning process.

    Learn more about good SEO/web copywriting in the search engine optimization knowledge center from SEO Advantage today!

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

    Successful Social Media Marketing Requires Understanding and Targeting the Right Demographics

    Monday, December 14th, 2009

    Knowing the demographics of your target market is one of the necessary steps in any marketing effort – social media marketing is no different.

    Demographics is defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary as “the demographic characteristics of a population, esp. as classified by age, sex, income, etc. for market research, sociological analysis, etc.” Other characteristics of people demographic researchers may consider are race, disabilities, mobility, education level, home ownership, employment status, location and whatever characteristic can be used to describe someone.

    Understanding your demographic is critical to understanding your target market and thus, the social media outlets you use to market your products and services online. Are you targeting men or women? How old are they? What’s their class? (i.e. lower, middle, upper)

    After you have determined your target demographics, you need to research social networks that cater to that group. Wikipedia has a great resource that lists major social networks and also provides each one’s description/focus, estimated number of registered users, registration requirements and also what’s called an Alexa page ranking.

    There are other resources out there that detail social networks and their target audiences.

    Let’s say you specialize in tutoring and study guides for college students. Looking at Wikipedia’s list, you can consider “Classmates.com”, “College Tonight”, “Facebook”, “Ning” and perhaps “Playboy U”. Combined, these networks can probably expose your products and services to nearly ½ billion people.

    So the lesson here, social media marketing has striking similarities…you have to know your target audience’s demographics if you’re going to reach the maximum number of individuals that are conceivably interested in what you offer.

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

    Real Time Search Goes Live at Google!

    Friday, December 11th, 2009

    Here we’ve got a new and interesting development out of Google…one we reported before that could be a revolutionary date in online search. And that is real time search – integration of “tweets” from Twitter, Facebook postings, etc. in search results on Google, Bing, etc.

    Google is partnering with several social media outlets to post real time results for users. Go to Google and type in any popular search term or story of the day. After a few seconds, you will see it constantly update with users’ postings from social networking sites in real time. From my experimenting, you need to click “show options” after you enter your search terms and click latest for the time range.

    As you can see in Google’s promotional video below, this utility may be very useful for learning about things currently happening that have an immediate impact on people’s lives – like the search for traffic update in a large city.

    Many search engine optimization experts conversing about this in a couple of forums – WebMasterWorld and DigitalPoint – seem a bit concerned about this – and I can understand where they’re coming from.

    The consensus is that this clutters up search results and it runs the risk of pushing their hard earned rankings farther down the list. One questions how Google will filter out useless postings that happen to contain the keywords the user searched for.

    In any event, SEOs can adapt by using Twitter and Facebook to ensure their results show up in that area when applicable.

    How will Google’s change affect you? Let us know in the comments field!

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    Posted in Forum Watch, Online Marketing, SEO Technology | No Comments »

    News Corporation and Microsoft Consider Web Pact

    Monday, November 23rd, 2009

    Following up on our previous posts regarding content from news sites appearing in short form on sites like Google News and other blogs and news/information sites, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and Microsoft are reportedly in talks to pay the media organization to “de-list” its sites from Google.

    Reportedly, Microsoft is approaching other news organizations with the same offer in an attempt to grab market share from Google. In October, Microsoft’s Bing accounted for just under 10% of online searches according to comScore.

    Actions like this could prove to be a boon to the ailing newspaper industry, who has been struggling with declining print readership and advertising revenues for years. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has said he will use all legal channels available to prevent Google from “stealing” news stories.

    News aggregators and search engines like Google contend that collecting short pieces of articles – usually the headline and first two sentences – is allowed under the “fair use” doctrine of the U.S. Copyright Act.

    Microsoft’s move is also seen as a direct assault on Google, putting pressure on the leading search engine to pay newspapers for content.

    Google is downplaying this news, saying they don’t need news content to survive and that it constitutes just a sliver of their revenue.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology | 1 Comment »

    Pros and Cons of Canned vs. Custom Shopping Cart Optimization

    Friday, November 20th, 2009

    Since the holiday season is upon us, now is the time to think about your shopping cart…anytime is good for that matter.

    It’s relatively easy to optimize a shopping cart – the buyer has already been persuaded as they are well into in the buying stage. You don’t need pages of persuasive content to get them to convert. Shopping carts are often where the low hanging fruit is so a small investment can pay off big.

    Shopping cart optimization solutions span a wide-range from really simple to really custom and complex – this post is only intended to outline the pros and cons of 3rd party and custom shopping carts

    3rd party shopping carts

    Also known as “canned” shopping carts, pros of a third party shopping cart are lower cost, quicker marketing time and the convenience you get from having a shopping cart that comes with all the bells and whistles like payment gateway, fraud protection, SSL encryption and so on.

    On the flip side of this, the cons include a lack of control over the look and feel, the user experience, and difficulty in testing and analyzing user data.

    Custom shopping carts

    They are just that, custom. So one of the pros of course is how a custom shopping cart can more easily integrate with the rest of your site. Also, you can analyze user data more easily, make changes much easier and integrate it with testing tool like Google Website Optimizer much easier than canned shopping carts.

    But they do cost more, carry more operational overhead and it’s slower to market custom shopping carts than canned ones.

    Which route you choose mainly depends on the financial and IT resources you have at your disposal. Even if you’re currently using one the most restrictive 3rd party shopping cart, you can optimize it and see a worthy return on your investment. Many who initially optimize their 3rd party carts move on to build a custom one in the future to tap into more opportunities.

    The moral of this story – don’t think just because you’ve got a generic 3rd party canned shopping cart you can’t optimize it. Especially with the Christmas season fast approaching, the time to optimize is now.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology, Site Architecture, 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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    Posted in Online Marketing | No Comments »

    Being Successful with Social Media Requires Valuable Content

    Monday, November 9th, 2009

    Recent announcement of licensing deals between social media sites Facebook and Twitter and search engines Bing and Google took the online marketing world by storm…indexing and ranking public data on these social networking sties means a new avenue to organically grow your rankings.

    These two forms of online marketing are no longer mutually exclusive from one another.

    A lot of online marketing firms will urge you to create a Facebook profile or start a Twitter account for your small business. However, you need to stop and ask yourself why. Are they simply trying these as tactics to get an angle in the search engines?

    As we’ve discussed here before and what any honest SEO will tell you, unique and valuable content is required for social media to be a successful marketing vehicle. High search engine rankings may be a short-term benefit (if you manage to get there) of simple keyword-rich content.

    This won’t matter too much – in the long-term, online shoppers will look at your products and services as simply another sales pitch they’ve heard a 1000 times.

    What makes content valuable? That’s for your audience to decide. Their needs and pain points may not be the same as yours so that’s why it’s important to diligently research your target audience. Ultimately, they have to decide if your product will solve their problem.

    And content isn’t just text…videos, audio/podcasts and even graphics that show the user how to use your product and how it works is helpful too.

    Consumers who use social media are much more discerning than traditional avenues…traditional advertising practices simply won’t work. Content needs to have value to the reader if there’s any hope you will close sales. Take some time to listen and research social media communities to see what your target audience is thinking before investing a lot of time in creating content.

    And you will know pretty quick if your audience finds what you have is useful to them or not.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology, Writing for search engines | 1 Comment »

    Getting Lucky with SEO Copywriting and Content Marketing

    Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

    Ever wonder how some people marketing online get all those readers and subscribers to their blogs, e-zines, white papers or articles? Feel like you have to fight to get just a couple of people to read your posts?

    It’s tempting to think it’s just luck but playing the victim never got anyone anywhere. They’re either doing something you’re not, or something you are but much better.

    Read on for some ideas on how to change that (it’s interesting how this Copyblogger post compares this to dating and life)

    Listen before opening your mouth

    It’s a well-known online marketing axiom that SEO writing content needs to provide as much information as possible to potential customers. Especially in today’s environment, consumers need reassurance your product or service can be a solution to their problem.

    People aren’t going to line up to just learn about you and your product.

    Think about this – two guys walk in a bar and spot an attractive woman having a drink.

    The first guy walks up to the woman and begins telling her about his successful job, padded bank accounts, nice car and house. He assumes because of this she’ll just be anxious to go out with him.

    Guy number 2 sits down at the bar and overhears a conversation between the woman and a bartender about her difficulty in finding a good Italian place. When the conversation breaks, the guy eases on in and says “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing about your bad experience with some of the local Italian restaurants. Have you tried Nero’s? It’s really excellent.”

    Who do you think got a date with the lady?

    Rather than blabbing about himself, guy number 2 started a conversation around a shared interest. He was able to easily capture the woman’s interest and go from there.

    Look to other website copywriting pros for ideas but don’t copy them

    You have to develop your own style…simply copying the style of some veteran website copywriter isn’t going to work. Generic copywriting techniques can be useful if they’re malleable to your market so it’s better to harness these skills into your own style, not copy them.

    We’ve all heard those cheesy pickup lines: “If I could rearrange the alphabet, I would put U and I together” or “Are you an angel? I think I just died and went to heaven.” Now these may have worked for some guy somewhere but probably isn’t going to be too effective in getting a date.

    The same idea is applicable to your website copywriting. Just peppering your copy with flattering talk may sound funny and cute to someone, but it doesn’t mean they’re going to jump on the bandwagon.

    Stop talking to yourself

    If your blog gets a few visitors a day, you can’t expect posting the same kind of content will draw anymore readers. You need to get out and meet some new people and get them interested in your blog.

    Let’s say you move to a new town and want to throw a party at your place. Simply sitting at your apartment or condo and shouting that you’re having a party isn’t going to get people to drop by. Instead, going to the next condo or neighborhood association meeting and mingling with your new neighbors is a much better way. You can get to know them a little bit and then invite them over Friday evening for drinks.

    The same concept is in play with your blog – join LinkedIn and get active in social networking. Provide thoughtful comments and develop relationships with other bloggers. Write a guest post for a similar blog.

    These are just a few tips you can employ to enhance your SEO copywriting and content marketing to get a more loyal, and numerous, following.

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

    Ecommerce Websites – the Case for Writing Unique Product Descriptions

    Monday, November 2nd, 2009

    Especially in a down economy like we’ve had for some time now, consumers are very cautious when shopping for products and services. They want all the information they can get before they buy so retailers who provide this information enjoy significant advantages over those who don’t.

    One valuable source of information is a product’s description – investing the time and resources to generate your own unique product descriptions can yield higher conversions and differentiate you from the competition.

    1. Unique product descriptions gain more visibility in the search engines

    Products from your site appearing in organic search results like Google is a wonderful benefit of customizing your product descriptions. Organic search engine listings can bring valuable traffic directly to your product pages without the per-click cost of paid search.

    Duplicate content is a red flag to a search engine – using a generic product description from the manufacturer like other retailers will mean your products will not appear when someone enters those keywords into a Google search.

    2. Shoppers will be more likely to buy

    As a web copywriter, I can tell you that most manufacturer product descriptions are pretty bland. Studies show that online shoppers are reluctant to buy from sites that don’t provide enough information to answer their questions. Unique product descriptions boost your site’s credibility – consumers are more likely to trust and do business with a site that includes well researched and thorough information about their products.

    3. Create greater brand equity for your store

    Using product descriptions provided by a variety of manufacturers whose products you sell can make your site’s copy seem inconsistent and incomplete. Investing in unique product descriptions means you can tailor the tone of those descriptions to your own store brand, providing a seamless voice for your customers wherever they may be on your site. (And building better rapport and loyalty at the same time)

    While it takes a significant investment to write unique product descriptions, the long-term benefits well outweigh the costs through higher search engine visibility, conversions and brand equity. Online retailers who recognize this position themselves well to survive and thrive in today’s online marketplace.

    Learn more about how writing unique product descriptions can greatly benefit your online business in this SEO knowledge center article today.

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

    Collision of Social Media Marketing and SEO Revolutionizing Online Search

    Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

    It’s long been held that social media marketing and search engine optimization are mutually exclusive – one has nothing to do with the other. Tweets on Twitter or public messages on Facebook have up until now been the exclusive domain of those sites. The only people who could see those messages were friends of the person or company that posted them.

    But that’s changing thanks to some new licensing deals between social networking sites and major search engines. Bing is partnering with both Twitter and Facebook to include public content for crawling and indexing. And Twitter has also secured a deal with Google to include their updates in general search results.

    What does this mean for online marketers and SEO professionals?

    These developments are indeed pioneering a new world in search engine marketing. Content from social media sites will now play an increasingly large role in driving traffic to your website. No longer are these two forms of online marketing exclusive to one another.

    Eventually, search will become even more personalized to each user based on their social media activity and their friends’ activity. All of SEO things we talk about here will still be very important but having a strong social media presence will now take on a more critical role in building traffic from search engine results.

    As illustrated by this slide from HubSpot, social media will now become just as important as content creation and inbound links to building search engine rankings. Expect social networking analysis to become an integral part of search engine ranking algorithms going forward.

    Search engine marketing firm SEO Advantage invites you to learn more about social media marketing and how it can be an effective tool to help you reach more people online at our SEO knowledge center.

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    Posted in Online Marketing, SEO Technology | 1 Comment »

    SEO Copywriting Authority Comments on New FTC Rules

    Monday, October 26th, 2009

    A few weeks ago we reported on new guidelines emanating from the Federal Trade Commission regarding bloggers and testimonials – first, and regretfully, our reporting on the story wasn’t complete as the initial news reports we came across only addressed one part of the new rules from the FTC.

    (Catch up on that part of the story on our SEO blog post from October 7th – we sincerely apologize for only including half the story at first.)

    There’s been a lot of buzz around the blogosphere by search engine optimization and web copywriting pros as to the impact of the FTC’s new rules…suffice it to say that much of it has been over blown.

    But December 1st, the effective date for the new rules, is fast approaching so we need to try and understand what the FTC is doing and how we can deal with it. To my relief, veteran web copywriter Michel Fortin gives us some good guidance on what this means for your website copy and how it can actually be a net benefit in the long run – however, I need to briefly explain the new rules first.

    Since 1980, advertisers could describe unusual results by simply including this simple quote in small print at the bottom – “results not typical”. However, advertisers featuring a testimonial from a consumer who conveys his/her experience as typical when that’s not the case will now have to disclose the results a consumer can generally expect.

    Michel uses the example of a marketing program in his blog post.

    Say someone purchases this program and immediately starts making $5000 per week. If they do a testimonial proclaiming this fact, they are not lying per se. It may be true they made that kind of money using this program. But a testimonial of that nature usually fails to include the circumstances, or unique situation, that made that kind of income possible.

    This person may have been a veteran marketer who had a RolodexTM full of contacts and been in business for many years…a newbie will probably not, initially anyway, make that kind of money using this program. Beginning December 1st, the testimonial will have to ensure people know this from the onset.

    We’ve all heard the saying “lying by omission” – well that’s the general principle in play here. In essence the FTC is trying to ensure people come away having reasonable and realistic expectations. To quote Michel, the “…truth is no longer good enough.”

    Starting on 12/1 you will need to provide a clear understanding of how and under what circumstances results were achieved. Blanket disclaimers will no longer work.

    So how can an SEO copywriter comply with these new rules?

    How would it be possible to change all of my testimonials so they comply with the new rules? Michel suggests converting testimonials into case studies. And heck, it may prove to be more valuable to your bottom line in the end.

    Case studies give a testimonial more meaning – you have more room to provide context of a particular consumer’s experience. Case studies allow a potential customer to consider all angles so they can realistically judge whether your product/service meets their needs and expectations.

    And stay calm, there’s no need to freak out over all this. The FTC is being gracious enough to allow a warning for a first offense so if your stuff is not in compliance, you will have the opportunity to fix it without incurring a fine.

    Read Michel’s post on the matter, but remember, what he offers and what we’re offering here isn’t legal advice. Consult with an Internet attorney to fully understand what the new laws and regulations mean. For a more legal perspective, read this handy guide from attorney Mike Young.

    And the sample scenarios from the FTC can help you understand the new guidelines much easier than simply reading the guidelines themselves.

    Check back soon with the SEO blog for more information regarding the other aspect of the FTC ruling we reported on earlier this month.

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

    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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