As I sit here perplexed by a prospects website, I realize the website isn't necessarily the problem. It is the prospect. In the Search Engine Optimization or SEO business, the primary goal is to get the right keywords to get customers to the customers website. If you have a big enough budget, any SEO can bring you thousands of website visitors and even hundreds of calls. This is no different than buying every billboard in town.
What is all this for anyway. The reality is we all want people to buy something from us, either a product, service or both, or we want them to donate to our cause. In the case of an e-zine or blog, we want them to read the thoughts that have been added to the site and hope they click on an ad so we get paid. Making a living as a blogger that isn't selling some system or high dollar product, can be a tough gig.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Are You Ready For Internet Marketing?
One of the great things about internet marketing is the accuracy of the feedback you can get. For instance even with a simple cost per click or CPC advertising program you can see how many times your advertisement showed up on somebody's computer screen, these are called “impressions”. You also can see what percentage of those people clicked your ad, these are the paid for “clicks”. You can see pretty quickly which ads get a better response. If you put up several ads that link to the same website, it is very easy to determine which ads people like.
The next step is true also, you can see how many of those people that click on your ad got to your website and either called, purchased or quickly left. This is also the reason why internet marketing or advertising can be so frustrating for people who don't do it every day. It might take two or three months of watching ads every day just to figure out what type of ads work. Then you find out people get to your website and don't buy or call, creating more frustration.
You might then spend another three months or more working on a website that matches the expectations of the people who click on your ad, and that is what internet marketing is all about. When you are meeting the expectations of people sitting in front of a computer or tapping away on a cellular phone your internet marketing is working.
A good aspect of internet marketing is you can change any part you like any time. If you think it is the ad that is attracting the wrong people you can change the ad at any time. If you think the website does not really represent your product or service correctly you can change the website at any time. It only takes time and effort to make whatever changes need to be made.
This is why there are so many internet marketing companies and products out there. As easy as internet marketing looks on paper, a lot of time investment is required to create an effective campaign. Also the Internet changes every day. New websites are added, old websites are removed and the competition is always changing the playing field. Some days no one will click on your ad. Other days will be off the charts and if you haven't been paying attention you will never know why.
Even if you hire an internet marketing company, you should pay close attention to what they find. What they find out about your website, your ads in your customers will give you great insight into their expectations. Understanding your customers expectations can be a game changer for any business. If the customers expect something you don't want to do or don't want to offer, then you can use your internet marketing campaign to change the expectations. In order to do this you need to have real feedback you can understand not a pretty picture with no meaning on the screen.
The secret to internet marketing success is the same as all success; the more consistently you apply your time and efforts, the better the result will be. As long as you stay focused and move forward in the direction of your goals the right customers will be there.
The next step is true also, you can see how many of those people that click on your ad got to your website and either called, purchased or quickly left. This is also the reason why internet marketing or advertising can be so frustrating for people who don't do it every day. It might take two or three months of watching ads every day just to figure out what type of ads work. Then you find out people get to your website and don't buy or call, creating more frustration.
You might then spend another three months or more working on a website that matches the expectations of the people who click on your ad, and that is what internet marketing is all about. When you are meeting the expectations of people sitting in front of a computer or tapping away on a cellular phone your internet marketing is working.
A good aspect of internet marketing is you can change any part you like any time. If you think it is the ad that is attracting the wrong people you can change the ad at any time. If you think the website does not really represent your product or service correctly you can change the website at any time. It only takes time and effort to make whatever changes need to be made.
This is why there are so many internet marketing companies and products out there. As easy as internet marketing looks on paper, a lot of time investment is required to create an effective campaign. Also the Internet changes every day. New websites are added, old websites are removed and the competition is always changing the playing field. Some days no one will click on your ad. Other days will be off the charts and if you haven't been paying attention you will never know why.
Even if you hire an internet marketing company, you should pay close attention to what they find. What they find out about your website, your ads in your customers will give you great insight into their expectations. Understanding your customers expectations can be a game changer for any business. If the customers expect something you don't want to do or don't want to offer, then you can use your internet marketing campaign to change the expectations. In order to do this you need to have real feedback you can understand not a pretty picture with no meaning on the screen.
The secret to internet marketing success is the same as all success; the more consistently you apply your time and efforts, the better the result will be. As long as you stay focused and move forward in the direction of your goals the right customers will be there.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Get Your Business, Life and Marketing in Harmony for Better Success
A friend of mine, who is a communications consultant, told me the other day that she couldn't see how my business and consulting life were in harmony. I spent a little time trying to explain it and she just said "work on it". She and I both agree that having a life in harmony makes everything better.
You see in Physics there is a phenomenon known as "sympathetic resonance". The easiest way to demonstrate sympathetic resonance is with two pianos in the same room. If you struck a note on one piano, you could feel the same string moving on the other piano. This is sympathetic resonance and amazingly the second piano doesn't decrease the sound level of the room, it actually can increase it slightly. So by having two pianos in the room, one person can make a louder note without doing any extra work.
There are a dozen ways to apply this phenomenon in business. In my case having a business that is predominantly focused on Search Engine Marketing or SEM and adding some business focus consulting causes a similar alignment of energy. You see when the website tells the correct story about a business, and the Search Engine Marketing is set to the keywords of that story there is an exponential gain for the business. When the business doesn't have a "sympathetic resonance" with the website the website starts to work against the business not with it. If the Search Engine Marketing keywords don't resonate with the message of the website, the people that click the ads will leave the website before they commit to the next action.
Affiliate Marketers and Super Bloggers have this down to a science. They work the system backwards like picking a note on the piano first and making sure every other instrument in the room has that same note.
For instance a blogger might start with the keywords "stop dog digging". Then he builds a marketing campaign around those words. Then he builds a website that is centered on those keywords. Finally he finds books and products related to those keywords to sell.
Traditional business can't really work backwards like that can it? In some ways it can. If you start with your product and skip to the end to decide what the keywords are, then work backwards you can do it. If you come up with more than three sets of keywords longer than four words each, you haven't yet focused enough.
For instance an attorney might jump forward and focus on the keyword phrases of "Truck Accident", "Auto Accident" and "Work Accident". Since the keyword phrases are all accident related, it becomes easier to write advertisements online that fit the keyword phrases. When people search on those keywords and see the compelling ads, then they click. When they click the ad, they find a website that is centered on those keywords. There isn't any mention of divorce cases or real estate cases. The law firm then focuses on becoming the best accident law firm in the area.
Once the law firm has aligned it's operation, it's website and it's marketing, the business is in harmony. The law firm will grow faster and with less effort than it did before applying the benefits of sympathetic resonance. Initially this approach may feel like a step back because they lose the divorce and real estate business. It isn't, it is re-trenching the business to the core competency and giving it new life. Give this program 90 days and see what happens.
You see in Physics there is a phenomenon known as "sympathetic resonance". The easiest way to demonstrate sympathetic resonance is with two pianos in the same room. If you struck a note on one piano, you could feel the same string moving on the other piano. This is sympathetic resonance and amazingly the second piano doesn't decrease the sound level of the room, it actually can increase it slightly. So by having two pianos in the room, one person can make a louder note without doing any extra work.
There are a dozen ways to apply this phenomenon in business. In my case having a business that is predominantly focused on Search Engine Marketing or SEM and adding some business focus consulting causes a similar alignment of energy. You see when the website tells the correct story about a business, and the Search Engine Marketing is set to the keywords of that story there is an exponential gain for the business. When the business doesn't have a "sympathetic resonance" with the website the website starts to work against the business not with it. If the Search Engine Marketing keywords don't resonate with the message of the website, the people that click the ads will leave the website before they commit to the next action.
Affiliate Marketers and Super Bloggers have this down to a science. They work the system backwards like picking a note on the piano first and making sure every other instrument in the room has that same note.
For instance a blogger might start with the keywords "stop dog digging". Then he builds a marketing campaign around those words. Then he builds a website that is centered on those keywords. Finally he finds books and products related to those keywords to sell.
Traditional business can't really work backwards like that can it? In some ways it can. If you start with your product and skip to the end to decide what the keywords are, then work backwards you can do it. If you come up with more than three sets of keywords longer than four words each, you haven't yet focused enough.
For instance an attorney might jump forward and focus on the keyword phrases of "Truck Accident", "Auto Accident" and "Work Accident". Since the keyword phrases are all accident related, it becomes easier to write advertisements online that fit the keyword phrases. When people search on those keywords and see the compelling ads, then they click. When they click the ad, they find a website that is centered on those keywords. There isn't any mention of divorce cases or real estate cases. The law firm then focuses on becoming the best accident law firm in the area.
Once the law firm has aligned it's operation, it's website and it's marketing, the business is in harmony. The law firm will grow faster and with less effort than it did before applying the benefits of sympathetic resonance. Initially this approach may feel like a step back because they lose the divorce and real estate business. It isn't, it is re-trenching the business to the core competency and giving it new life. Give this program 90 days and see what happens.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Go Local for Better Reach
As Google moves through it's process of continuous improvement, subtle changes are happening in the search and marketing worlds every day. Let's put some things in perspective, and in following the intent of full disclosure, I am an owner of a Search Engine Marketing and Optimization company.
The most recent critical change is the improvement and increased use of “local map” displays for search. Adding the map and phone book style results changes how much real estate is available for SEO's to compete. Getting a “Top 10” is no longer good enough, most screens can only show two or three organic entries after the new and improved map.
What does this mean to me as an SEO? It means as an SEO, we have to put more effort into getting our clients into the top spot. This means fewer clients per manager, and higher fees for the SEO clients. It also means we must make sure our clients map data is correct and that they are spending the right money on the paid search advertising. Oddly, this paid space on the right has not lost any real estate.
What does this mean for Google? Simply put, more paid ad space, less free or “organic” listing space.
What does this mean for a business owner? It means you will need to spend more time on your advertising campaign and your search engine optimizing in order to maintain visibility. We all knew the free deal had to come to an end soon, free search doesn't pay the bills at the big search companies.
What can you do now? Get on your Google, Yahoo, and Bing accounts, make sure that your address and phone number are current and correct. Get your adwords fine tuned to put your ads only in front of buyers, skip the “maybe's”. Finally go out and look at all the other sources that might have data about you such as yelp and jigsaw. If you don't have the time, hire someone or hire and agency, because everyone uses search and you can't afford to be overlooked.
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