Internet Marketing Strategy

Article summary: What's the best way to learn website content writing or to hire a company who provides it? By taking some tips from a veteran website writer. Here come some now!

The other day I did some highly advanced computations to determine how much website content writing I've done over the years. Okay, so I guessed. By my estimation, I have produced somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 pages of website content (if a page of web writing can be defined as 500 - 700 words).

In all that time, and through all of those pages of website content, I've learned some good lessons along the way. So to spare you the trouble of going through this learning process yourself, I thought I'd share some of the things I've picked up over the years.

Website Writing Tips

Whether you are in the process of choosing a website content writing company or you plan to write your own content, these tips will serve you well:

• What you write about is much more important than how you write. A web writing expert cannot make a mediocre product or service seem interesting (without lying). On the contrary, a great product or service will shine even when described with average writing skills.
• Most people dislike reading online. They will scan the content and, if they are interested, print the page out. Make their job easier by creating summaries at the top of each page (like the one atop this blog post).
• Plain language works best online. Be a straight talker when writing website content and avoid jargon. Don't tell me something will help me "leverage my internal knowledge capital" when you can simply say it will "make my employees perform better."
• Hyperlinks are great, when used logically and sparingly. If there is a key topic within a sentence, and you have a page elsewhere on the site that explains that topic, link to it!
  
• Don't write for search engines. Write for people first, and then go back and make sure it's keyword optimized for search engine visibility. Search engines won't buy what you're selling.
• If you have not web writing talent in-house, outsource the job to a content writing company. Your visitors will judge you by the content on your website, so it's worth the money.
• Write your web content around the topics your audience is researching. You can find this out by doing some keyword research. In fact, that's the entire premise behind our content center approach to web writing.
• Create purposeful content for your website. First define the objective of your web page, then write your content to support that goal. Example -- this article is intended to educate you on the web writing services we provide.
  

If you plan to write your own web content, I hope this article provides you with some useful tips. If you need help creating website content, check out the service listed below:

Labels: Website Content

Posted by Brandon at 3:11 PM | Permalink | | links to this post

Many webmasters come to the same stopping point along the path to website completion. They get the website designed, put it online, and then realize they lack content.

Obviously, this will stop a website project in its tracks. You need quality content for your website in order to inform your audience, establish your brand, promote your products and services and more. Without content, a website is nothing more than a shell.

The question is, how do you find content for your website without spending endless hours at the keyboard? Because let's face it ... not everyone can create the kind of web content that performs well online. So what do you do?

Here are some of the ways you can obtain quality content for your website or blog:

• Use our services! We have been creating content for business websites and blogs for many years now, and we have built an entire business around it. Learn more here
• Use a freelancer through a service like Elance. This is also a good way to obtain content for your website quickly and easily. You simply post a project description, review the bids, and choose the content writer who seems best for the job.
• Use reprint content. You can also obtain articles from websites like EzineArticles and GoArticles. Here, you would find the content you want for your website or blog, and then cite the original author as required in the guidelines.

So there you have them -- three great ways to acquire content for your business website or blog. Regardless of how you come across it, the key here is to ensure that only the best content makes its way onto your website. People will judge you by the information your site offers ... not by the pretty design.

P.S. - If you have website that is real estate or mortgage related, check out our free real estate content for webmasters.

Labels: Website Content

Posted by Brandon at 2:42 PM | Permalink | | links to this post

Article summary: An explanation of the main parts of an Internet web site marketing program and how they interact with one another.


Any type of business can benefit from a strong web presence. That's where Internet marketing comes into the picture. By promoting your business online, you can reach a much larger audience than ever before, and with relative ease (compared to the pre-Internet days).

Here are some of the things you should have in place to ensure Internet web marketing success.

1. Planning & Strategy

You can't just rush into a web site marketing program and expect great results. Before you do that, you need to have a solid plan / strategy that accounts for such things as audience, message, selling points, techniques, etc.

The best way to address these things is by asking some key questions:

• What are the key selling points of my product or service?
• Who is my audience, and how does my product / service relate to them?
• How will I reach and communicate with my audience online?
• What are the primary (and specific) goals of my Internet web marketing program?
• What kind of information do I need on my web site to accomplish these goals?
• Who is going to manage my web site marketing program?

These are just a few of the question you should ask about your web site promotion and Internet marketing campaign. Obviously, the questions listed above will generate even more questions. And that's the whole point.

2. Online Visibility

So let's say you have answered all of the questions above and addressed the issues they present. Now you have a web site and you are ready to promote it in order to generate business. What next? The next key component of your Internet web marketing program is online visibility. By this, I mean the ease with which people can find you online.

The size of the Internet is measured in billions of documents / pages, and it's growing every day. Even within your industry and niche, there will be many web sites for your audience to choose from. So you need your site to be extremely visible and easy to find.

There are many ways to accomplish this kind of visibility. Search engine marketing can obviously help, but that's not the only thing you can do. You can also publish articles online to drive traffic and increase visibility, distribute press releases online, publish a business blog and more.

3. Lead / Sales Generation

Website traffic is important for Internet web marketing success. There's no doubt about that. But traffic is only one step along the path to your ultimate goal, which is to increase sales and grow your business via the Internet.

That's where lead generation / sales generation come into the picture. These are also referred to as online conversions. For example, if somebody visits your web site and joins your newsletter, then a conversion has taken place. The person has "converted" from just a visitor to a newsletter subscriber. Other forms of conversion include lead capture, sales, inquiries and other forms of contact.

Here are ten good ways to increase conversion rates.

4. Tracking & Analysis

How will you know what's working and what's not if you have no tracking system in place? The answer, obviously, is that you cannot. So in order to further your Internet web site marketing success, you have to track and analyze your results.

This will include such things as watching your website analytics program to a customer feedback form at conversion points. There are many ways to track and monitor performance, so the important thing is to find what works for you and stick to it.

One of the great things about Internet marketing is that you can get nearly instant results and feedback. You can try something, judge the success, and then try something new for comparison. But you can't do any of this until you track and analyze your web site marketing efforts. This is the strategic side of Internet marketing.

5. Constant Evolution

As consumers, we are motivated by the same things today as ten years ago. We still seek products and services that will help us in some way -- by making us smarter, healthier, wealthier, happier. etc.

But while the motivations of consumers haven't changed much, the methods for reaching those consumers are constantly evolving. This is especially true online, where new technologies emerge every year.

To ensure the long-term success of your Internet web marketing program, you need to keep track of emerging trends and technologies in this arena. For example, few business owners had heard of a blog five years ago, but now it seems that everybody has one. This is one evolutionary example of many.

Labels: Internet Marketing

Posted by Brandon at 11:30 AM | Permalink | | links to this post

Article Summary: A look into what makes a "professional" SEO consultant, as well as some of the things you should expect from such a professional.



So you have a new website and you're ready for traffic and online success. You've done some research and discovered that search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the ways to get web traffic, so you are now searching for a professional SEO consultant to help you out.

What next? How can you tell one search engine optimization consultant from the next, when they all claim to be professional consultants and experts ... and all the other self-promotional claims that SEO professionals make?

Here's how:

How to Screen SEO Consultants

Here are some of the most important questions you should ask a search engine optimization consultant before signing a contract with them (much less paying them for their SEO services).

1. How long have you been an SEO consultant?

Sure, everyone has to start somewhere. But pricing goes along with that as well. In my opinion, a person who is new to the world of search engine optimization cannot justify the same prices as a professional consultant who has been doing it for years. It's just something worth knowing up front.

2. Can I speak to a few of your current clients?

If a professional SEO consultant says no to this question, then they are not a true professional. It's a red flag that either (A) they have no current clients, or (B) they have burned a lot of bridges by providing a bad service to clients. In either case, they are not a professional SEO consultant worth your time or consideration.

3. What SEO techniques do you use?

Some search firms will tell you that it's all "proprietary" and they don't share their "secrets." Let me deflate that statement for you. There are no secret techniques in the SEO business. It's public knowledge. Most of the work revolves around content development and link building work. Hardly proprietary techniques, if you ask me. If a so-called professional SEO consultant keeps their techniques hidden from you, it's probably because they use black hat SEO techniques.

Learn More About Professional Consultants

I hope this article has given you the kind of confidence and insight you need to choose a professional SEO consultant who will serve you well. Here are some more articles on the subject:

• Search Engine Optimization Firms - 5 Key Qualities
• What to Ask an SEO Firm

Labels: SEO Services

Posted by Brandon at 5:44 PM | Permalink | | links to this post

Message on home page: "Our strategic website marketing services are designed to help you leverage your resources in a way that maximizes your response while ensuring optimum performance at all times." [Usually supported by a stock photo of chess pieces on a board]

Jargon-free translation: "Our website marketing services are designed to work."



If you've been operating a business website for any length of time, you've probably encountered an example of jargon-infused puffery like the one I've translated above. Perhaps it came to you in a spam email from some company that claimed to take your online success "into the stratosphere." Or perhaps you read it on the home page of a web marketing firm, right above the ubiquitous stock photo of chess pieces on a chess board.

But what is "strategic" website marketing anyway? If you ask me, it's one word too many, because the first word is a given and therefore completely unnecessary. Strategic marketing is the only kind worth pursuing, online or offline. It's common sense. It's a no-brainer. It means, basically, that you have some goal behind your website marketing program -- a strategy of some kind. Marketing programs without strategies are like cars without engines.

So in essence, a company that uses the "strategic" adjective to describe their services is simply trying to impress you with big words. After all, if you have no strategies behind your website marketing program, then you have no objectives either. And if you lack a clear objective, you have no way to measure your success.

So let's strike the word "strategic" from the record, and replace it with the word "successful." No we have something worth pursuing -- successful website marketing. Who cares about chess pieces? You want results, right? Right!

Beyond Chess Pieces - 5 Parts of Website Marketing Success

So let's put the jargon aside and speak frankly for a moment. Here are the five things you need to ensure your success in the online arena:

1. Your Product or Service -- We should get this straight before we go any further. A bad product with effective marketing is still a bad product. So the first step to online business success is to have a product or service that's worth talking about in the first place. If what you have to offer is no different than what your competitors are offering, then your website marketing program has already failed. Back to the drawing board!

2. Your Intended Audience -- Quick, tell me five things about your intended audience (the people to who your are marketing your product or service). In other words, five characteristics that define your prospective customers. Are you stuck? Can't past item #1? Then you haven't done the proper homework to make your online marketing successful. Regardless of all the shiny new technologies the Web has brought, people still need solutions to their problems. How can you address these problems if you don't know your audience?

3. Your Online Messaging -- Flashy websites and animated "greeters" will not motivate people to act. On the Web, people respond to clearly explained benefits and helpful instructions, not glitz and jargon. At some point you will have to tell your audience, in plain English, why they need your product or service. You also have to explain how it's different or (ideally) better than similar products on the market. Does your website currently do this? If you have trouble explaining these things, see item #1 above.

4. Your Observation and Tracking -- One of the best things about marketing online is the fact that you can get nearly instant feedback. For example, let's say I get 1,000 visitors per day to my website's home page. I have a call to action on the home page that is intended to generate inquiries from visitors. I can swap out the home page message for an alternative version, and within a day or two I'll know which one works better. Of course, before you can track results, you need some form of analytics in place to tell you everything about your website traffic, marketing results, website conversions and more.

5. Your Eternal Vigilance -- Success comes from trying things, learning from your mistakes, and adjusting your approach. This is true of sports, the arts, and -- yes -- website marketing as well. To get the best possible results, you must constantly try new things, test one approach against another, and analyze your results to learn from them. And don't every listen to somebody who says, "Oh, that technique didn't work for me, so it won't work for you either." There is actual experience, and there is hearsay ... only the former will reveal the truth.

The only website marketing strategies worth pursuing are those built around solid objectives and planning. The process begins with the product or service, which must be worth marketing in the first place. Then the process should identify the intended audience. It must include a clear message about the genuine benefits of the product or service. And lastly, the process must evolve over time through trial and errors.

Labels: Internet Marketing

Posted by Brandon at 11:57 AM | Permalink | | links to this post