Internet Marketing by SCORE Orange County

Keywords, keywords, keywords

2008-06-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

I believe more and more that you cannot start too early to determine keywords related to what your website is about. These words should drive traffic to the sight as a result of searchers using them. Doing keyword analysis before adopting a domain name may be wise. A site like computerrepair.com is rather generic when compared to laptopcomputerrepair.com. Or even more precise may be onsitelaptoprepair.com. If you would like to be more geographically oriented you may consider OClaptoprepair.com. This is a marketing decision because choosing one over the other or being too specific may exclude potential customer groups that you want. The marketing question to resolve: is it too broad or too narrow with respect to our target markets.

The basis of keywords is deciding what words or phrases ordinary humans will insert in the search engine of their choice when they are looking for a particular product or service. This is not what you think they should enter or what GOOGLE or YAHOO thinks they mean, but what they actually do enter. This is why much of keyword determination is research and then trial and error, tweaking, tweaking some more and measuring the results. The research will increase your probability of obtaining the objective but will not take you to 100%. Websites like wortracker.com and keyworddiscovery.com can help in research. You can also enter search terms yourself and see what comes up and if it relates closely to your website.

If paid search advertising is used to drive traffic to your site, a big part of the this approach is about keywords. if you have already studied keywords as related to your website you will be ahead of the game because these words or phrases are purchased from the search engines. Depending on relevancy factors of your site as it relates to the search query, it will appear in one of the ad positions on the search page results. Right words at the right place at the right time will result in a click onto the target website.

Keywords are key. They are also nebulous, can be expensive, can be too broad or too narrow and are probably not the silver bullet many website owners are looking for. They are, however, an intergral part of any internet marketing strategy. Avoid thinking that the search engines are on the side of the website owner. The search engine customer is the searcher and their business model depends on providing the searcher results that are consistently credible, relevant and on point. If they do that the customer continues to return and everything else in their business model falls more easily into place.

Planning-the Parallel Universe

2008-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Many years ago some professor or textbook somewhere told me that management was planning, organizing, staffing, contolling and coordinating. Over the years I have found that this is about as good as any definition.

Most are familiar with the basic functions required to run a business. You need a product or service, someone or something to create/produce it, a technique to sell it, someone to count and control the money and some legal assistance along the way. We also know that in most cases, start up funding is limited therby reducing the probability of incorporating each of these functions on staff which results in the business owner or manager making decisions about the functions. Who will be on the payroll, which functions they will outsourced, and who or what will they live without.

The on-line world is a parallel universe. Having or creating a product or service belongs to both universes. You need one or the other or both. Now things begin to change. The sales and marketing departments may become your web developer and SEO (search engine optimizer) person. The developer would provide an effective on line marketing presence and the SEO is there to make sure that the website is found when someone searches for the product or service.

A subset of your marketing department may be your email marketing specialist who would be the direct contact to collected email addressees. Because you may be doing various marketing campaigns that require an ROI (return on investment) your business must also have an analytics function. This function is responsible for understanding the results of website hits, misses, and conversions and to provide a basis for the future on-line marketing campaigns. It would also interpret data used for process improvement.

Just as in the case of more traditional business organizations with limited funding, the business person must prioritize the importance of each function to achieve the objective. A fledgling business might outsource the accounting function while a website business might outsource the SEO function. In fact, in this parallel universe, the website business may choose to outsource most of the functions as they are fairly compartmentalized with each requiring specific training and knowledge.

I think that the important point is to recognize that the parallel universe is comprised of different and specific functions. In a traditional business you may find someone talented and knowledgable enough to manage the finance function and the human resource funtion. In the parallel universe you may find someone who can do both the web development and the SEO functions. However, in the longer view it is not the ideal situation in either case. To mix them up or assume that they are just one function could be a strategic mistake.

Development of an effective on-line business does require those basic management tools mentioned above. It also requires an awareness of all the possibilities of marketing and mechandising that can be used, all the functions required to maximize its success, and the funding available from which to make decisions to allocate those resources.

What's Next

2008-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Now that an overall website objective has been determined (what do you want your website to do?), a sketch of how it will look and how it will accomplish that objective has been completed, and each of the items in the laundry list of options has been examined, what is next?

At this point I see many who just get on with it. They retain a developer or buy some software and start. This is not necessarily a bad route as internet marketing and E-Commerce requires much testing, and much trial and error. You will surely learn something. On the job training can work, but there are other ways that may get a better ROI. Also remember that part time effort gets part time results.

The websites that that I see that result in marketing success spend time on outlining their overall internet marketing plan which includes how they will actually market and merchandise their product or service over the first time period which may be 3-6 months. Using the laundry list in a previous post (Planning Part 2), they will determine the following:

When and how each chosen internet marketing technique will be employed
How to get people to come to your site-SEO, Keywords, Outside media, viral, buzz
How and when the website will be updated for fresh content
Cycle of specials, discounts, promotions, new products, fresh packaging will be sketched out
How they will communication to target markets
Human resources/expertise/time required
The total investment/budget for the first part of the program
Establish realistic expectations
How the results will be measured and documented

They will also determine cost or initial investment. This may dictate limitations on the marketing plan. Although internet marketing can result in lower customer acquisition cost it is generally not free. All businesses need customers and all businesses compete to obtain customers and to keep them. This takes time and money.

I have had clients who said they tried Google keywords, purchased them and limited their spending to less than $50 over a few days or weeks. Disappointing results usually follow and they conclude that that did not work. Most of the time the disappointment comes from the lack of employing proper website principles, not having and following a general marketing plan, not allocating the proper funding and not being patient. After all, this is marketing where the one simple secret formula for success still remains a secret. Because of that we must use all the tools available to us to achieve our marketing success. I doubt that many of us would dive into 20 feet of water without knowing how to swim or knowing how to use techiques and tools to keep us afloat. So why do it with your marketing efforts?

Planning Part 2

2008-04-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

So you determined what you want your website to do and made a determination that you could make it achieve that objective. But the planning and thinking is not over. A real goal at this time is to get your ideas into a planning environment that features marketing techiques with measurable results. I see many website clients that have a single snapshot focus as the primary marketing technique, that is, they put the products on the site with pricing and want to get on with it. Below are a few items that should be examined for a good plan:

Viability of Amazon Stores, Ebay, Yahoo Stores, Froogle, Craigslist
Using directories-Yahoo, Technorati, DMOZ
Web host-capabilities, bandwidth
Blogging
Getting visitors-PPC, SEO, traditional media, mailings, promotions, banner ads
Techniques of capturing email addresses-inducements
Email marketing campaigns-developing the relationship
Effective calls to action-buy now!
Landing pages that convert-two clicks to action
Easy check out-credit cards, pay pal, Google check out
Increasing per unit check out dollars-other purchase options, upsell, special packaging
Merchandising programs-holidays, gift cards, coupons, discounts, contests, free shipping
Content updates
Security and website professionalism
Shipping and return policies
Warranty programs
Affiliate programs-pay others to sell
Measuring the results-Analytics (Google Analytics)
Figuring out if it will make money

The list is not all inclusive. A plan may include some of these, all of these or even other items. Going through this process will allow the potential marketer to determine the course of action, and determine the budget that may be required to accomplish the goals. It will also save some time down the road as most marketers will come back to one or all of these when they find their website marketing hopes fall short of their expectations.

Planning Your Internet Marketing

2008-04-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

My experience in counseling internet marketers is that they either have a highly technical background (or know someone who does) or are marketing and sales people with limited technical background. Of course there are many in between. One common denominator among them is the lack of planning the website or blog and answering the basic question of what do you want the thing to do? This leads to the second question that is most important, does it do it?

Most answer the first question with, "I want to sell the stuff that is on my website". Obvious answer. Everybody does, all 400 million websites want to sell you something or tell you something. Does that message really come across on your website? The purpose must be obvious or self evident to the user in the first few seconds of the visit.

If you have accomplished that, then you must design the navigation and the purchase process toward a fictional user that has limited ability to think and minimal time to pick and buy. If you think you have succeeded here you must test it. Do not become your own judge and jury. I see people who come in and can show how easy it is to use the website or explain what the website does. When I try to do something it does not work or requires special knowledge to make it work. If I were a user, I would be gone. It is the forest and tree thing. Test it with your friends, family, business associates and listen to what they say. Take the approach that your first pass at your website is not very good, but let others tell you why. Let them click around. Let them even buy something. Listen, listen and listen some more. Watch them go through your process, watch what they struggle with or when they get exasperated. What seems clear and simple to you is probably not that way to many others.

So take some time an jot down what you want your website to do, how you propose to do it and what it might look like. Even consider an outline or flow chart and write some copy you might include. Starting like this will increase the probablity of having a site the does what you want it do to.

Internet Marketing is Marketing

2008-04-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

Many of my SCORE clients ask me "how do I market on the Internet" or "I have a web site but I get no hits". It seems that many of them are looking for the "Internet" to be the "marketing magic wand" that drives business to them in some kind of magical manner.

When I get into this discussion it usually comes down to a weakness in the overall marketing strategy, not to the failure of their web site or the lack of "Internet marketing"

My advice is that "Internet marketing" is only one of the tools that can be used in an effective marketing strategy. therefore one should have a knowledge of how the "Internet' fits into the overall objectives of the marketing plan.

Marketing is the bow; you have a quiver full of arrows and Internet marketing is one of the arrows along with direct mail, media advertising, cold calling, etc. that one might use to reach the targeted customer. Your marketing plan may use one or more of the arrows depending on who is the targeted audience and were are they.

So the questions that you need to answer are:

Who is my targeted audience?
Where are they?
What are they buying now?
Why should they buy my product or service instead of what they are buying now?

If you can answer these questions you are in great shape to design a marketing strategy to reach your audience and be able to formulate an effective Internet strategy as well.

The Social Life of a Blog

2008-04-11T05:46:00.001-07:00

Social media: a tech term you've been hearing about. FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, and Kazaa. On the business side, what about LinkedIn, CraigsList, and EBay? They, too, exemplify:

" ... the integration of technology and interaction" (from Wikipedia, a 'wiki' website and yet another example).

This (or any) blog is also a type of social media. We're blogging to have a conversation with someone having a shared interest: you. You can comment back and tell us what you think: you can interact. And our blogging goal is to create a community to connect, share, and for you to come back: we're marketing. But is a business blog worth your investment of time and money? What's the ROI of social media?

Let's take a look at a community, in fact a merging of several communities, by one example: a recent podcast on the ROI of social media marketing. But, before we listen to it, let's peel back its social layers. It is:

First, it is a podcast, an audio file that can be streamed ('listened to') online, downloaded for later, or (this is important) linked on emails, websites, and blogs;

Second, this podcast was distributed by IT Conversations: a company that has created a community of people with shared interest in tech podcasts (i.e. a social network);

Next, this podcast was originally recorded by yet another company, Talking Portraits, with its own online community; and,

Last, the person being interviewed, Giovanni Gallucci, is an authority with his own community through his blog, The Agency Blog. And, how do we learn he's an 'authority'? That's right, through yet another social community hosted by Technorati.

One podcast. So many connections. So many (potential) ears.

Back to the podcast. It's 41 minutes on the topic of the ROI of social media marketing (SMM). Tom Parish (Talking Portraits) interviews Giovanni G. They are both developers and technologists, and seem to be talking 'to' both providers of SMM services and businesses considering SMM (i.e. you). The first couple of minutes are a bit clunky, but they soon fall into a very informative chat on SMM. Things to listen for:

The difference between campaign marketing and relationships marketing;

Short-term versus long-term marketing goals;

The importance of community trust, and how little control you have over it;

The commitment required - expected - by your audience;

That ROI might not be quantifiable, but there are valuable marketing benefits to be gained;

They use several examples. Here are links to some of them: Mattel's BarbieGirls, Lego, Digg.

Marketing hasn't changed, but these new social media tools introduce some new dynamics. Over the summer, we will offer several 'Internet Marketing' workshops that will span a range of technologies and means of interacting (our sidebar links to the schedule). We hope to see you at one of them. And we hope you will tell us what interests you by taking our quick survey also in the sidebar.

Marketing Your Business: is it time for you to go on-line?

2008-04-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

Measured by what’s being spent, it seems like everyone is doing it. Spending on on-line advertising has surged 60% to nearly $10 billion, while ‘off-line’ advertising is decreasing (according to Fortune Small Business, July 1, 2007). If you don’t already have a ‘web presence’, should you? And, if you do, is what you’re spending resulting in higher sales?

The lure – the web’s potential reach and impact – seems clear: the e-marketplace is as much local as it is worldwide, and it’s ‘always on’. As with any marketing activity, your e-marketing goal is to satisfy a customer’s need. Though this medium may be different, your first challenge is their awareness that you exist.

Can you even be found?

Awareness begins with presence which, of course, requires a website. But, the customer must be able to discover you without specifically looking for you. Using ‘off-line’ marketing tools, such as the yellow pages, the customer looks within given categories. You must choose which categories to be listed.

While fixed ‘yellow pages’ types of listings can be found on the web, most customers search using a web browser and a few key words. Instead of a fixed list, each customer defines the ‘category’ that makes the most sense to them; your challenge greatly increases: you must anticipate – and match – how your customers will describe their need. Clearly, your choice of the keywords that describe your website is of huge importance. A ‘match’ – even a partial one – between the customer’s keywords and yours means you can be found.

But, will you be noticed?

A web search of ‘web marketing’ using the popular search engine, Google, returns 402 million websites matching these keyword criteria; at ten results displayed per page, that’s a lot of pages to view. Studies show that web searchers, on average, do not look beyond the third page of results. If so, to be noticed, you need to be among the first 30 results. Page ‘ranking’ is a process totally controlled by the search engine, in this case, Google.

How search engines rank individual web sites is a well-guarded secret. However, it is widely believed that, among the possible ranking factors, the frequency that a web site is mentioned or linked-to by another web site is the most influential. The search engines determine these frequencies through continuous assessment of the entire web; as your site is increasingly mentioned or linked-to, your rank should rise. So, to stand out from among others whose keywords also match the customer’s, a high ‘page rank’ is crucial.

Will they look? More importantly, will they stay?

You’ve made the cut. Now you must convert a web searcher into a visitor by compelling the potential customer to click on your web site. Your original choice of web domain name plays a factor; obscure names may confuse the prospect and cause them to proceed to a site that is more recognizable.

The average visitor stays at a web site for just a few seconds before clicking the ‘back’ button. Getting visitors to stay at your web site longer involves your product and message, and how they are presented on your site. Once they have landed on your page, web site design – appearance and navigability – becomes a critical factor in keeping visitors aboard, and potentially converting them into customers.

A new set of tools to conquer a new marketplace

E-marketing involves new technologies, new unknowns, and new decisions to be made. Fortunately, strategies and tools have evolved to guide a credible web presence and monitor its effectiveness. Included are terms you may have already heard or seen: ‘natural (or organic) keyword search’, ‘paid keyword search’, ‘search engine optimization’, ‘pay-per-click’, and ‘web analytics’, for example.

If it is time for you to go on-line, or just to learn more about the strategies and tools that you can use, arrange a session with a SCORE counselor or attend one of our ‘Internet Marketing’ workshops. We hope to see you there, and to visit your site sometime soon.

Removing Website Obstacles

2008-04-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

This post was written by Michelle Howe, President of Internet Word Magic, and was originally posted in our April, 2008 client newsletter.

When someone lands on your homepage, how clear is your marketing
message? Is it easy for them to decide to do business with you
or do they have to maneuver through a series of obstacles on
your website to get the information they need?

Let's take a look at some of the obstacles on a website that
sabotage the sales process:

Confusing Navigation
How many times have you gone to a website, ready to buy, and
then can't figure out where you need to go to make the purchase?

One of my first clients hired me to write sales copy for her
website because she had written the copy and she felt it was not
doing a good job converting sales. So I went to the website and
pretended I was a customer to experience what her customers
experience when they go to the website.

I actually spent over 10 minutes trying to figure out where I
needed to go to buy her products and the only reason I didn't
give up is because I had been hired to solve the problem of poor
sales.

What I discovered is that her biggest problem wasn't the sales
copy, it was poor navigation. First we had to solve the
navigation problem and then I rewrote the copy for her products.
And you know what happened? Literally hours after the website
went live with the new changes she started selling products.

Confusing Jargon
You may be an expert in your field but what about your customer?
One of the biggest problems I find with website copy written by
the business owner is that it is too technical. The content
tends to be filled with jargon or words that would be unfamiliar
to a potential customer or client.

A few years back I was working on a website for a client who did
remodeling for commercial buildings. He insisted that the
website content include construction terminology that only a
builder would understand. I asked him who his customers were and
he told me they were store managers (who may or may not be
familiar with construction terms).

It never occurred to him that the website content needed to be
written using words that would be familiar to his customers and
to leave out the jargon.

Confusing Marketing Message
When someone comes to your website they are looking for
information to help them solve a problem. In order for them to
get an answer to their problem, you need to make sure the answer
is not hidden on your website or completely missing.

Since most people who come to your website will land on the home
page, it's vitally important that you have bold headlines that
clearly express your marketing message in a way that is easy to
understand.

It doesn't matter whether you are selling a product or selling a
service, what's most important is that people can immediately
figure out what to do without having to think too much. If you
make them think, they will leave your site. No one has the time
to read through long paragraphs and long sentences.

You want to present a simple headline, easy-to-understand
benefits and a clear value proposition. By scanning the
headlines on the home page, the reader should immediately be
able to make a decision about whether they want to do business
with you or not.

Conclusion
Simple language, clear direction and benefit driven content are
key to a successful website. If you want to increase the sales on your website, maybe you just need to remove the obstacles
that sabotage the sales process.