November 2007 Archives

More and more of us are avoiding the malls and shopping online. Loren Baker reports some eye-popping Black Friday shopping stats.

From SEOmoz, Five Interview Questions You Should Ask PPC Candidates. Asking the right questions can be as difficult as listening!

Publishing articles online is a fantastic way to drive traffic to your Web site. Tinu Abayomi-Paul explains how to get article exposure and runs down 24 publishers worth investigating.

Is there life beyond Google for Web marketing? Wendy Piersall thinks so.  She discusses 27 ways to increase traffic to your Web site without using the "G" word.

In our previous post I talked about "Long Tail" economics in very general terms. Taking advantage of all these new mini markets requires a bit of adaptation. Instead of concentrating on one product or service with the widest appeal, focus on one or two with limited but well-defined appeal.

For example, if you are in financial planning, you have products for every conceivable demographic. But a marketing message that says, "We have investment products and services for everybody" doesn't appeal to anyone in particular. Consider defining some niche markets such as -

• Financial planning for recently divorced women.
• Supplementary retirement programs for non-union employees.
• Investment strategies for newlyweds.

A good niche for your business is one in which you have a passion for and a competitive edge. The difficult part of Long Tail marketing is defining your niche. But you once you do, finding the right combination of marketing tactics follows right along.

Identifying and testing keyword phrases for the niche is a good first step. For paid search engine marketing, niche keyword phrases may be more affordable, since fewer companies are marketing to the niche and bidding on the keywords.

For organic search engine marketing, niche keyword optimized Web pages have a better chance of rising to the top of  search engine return pages (SERP's), again because fewer companies are optimizing for your niche.

Here are a few examples of how niche focus narrows the field for niche markets. The numbers are the number of Web pages returned by Google for the following search phrases.

"financial planning" - 1,790,000
"financial planning women" - 19,200
"financial planning divorce" - 3,740
"financial services divorced women" - 0

(Hmm. That might be a pretty good niche...)

"guitars" - 34,200,000
"acoustic guitars" - 1,670,000
"left handed acoustic guitars" - 51,900

"packaging films" - 240,000
"stretch films" - 80,600
"opaque stretch films" -  8

Niche markets open up marketing opportunities well beyond traditional pay per click search engine marketing programs. For instance, blogs are quite effective for niche products and services. If your company is pursuing one or several niche markets, launch a blog for each. The blogs will draw traffic to your site and build a community of customers and evangelists around your product and company.

Niche markets also open up highly effective marketing opportunities for off line marketing programs. If you help recently divorced women with financial planning, you can seek speaking engagements at women's groups, churches, community service groups, etc.

All these Long Tail marketing activities succeed because although niches are by definition small, their constituents tend to identify strongly with their interest, enjoy participating in a niche community, and feel under-served. So - concentrate on communicating strong interest, providing a community forum, and serving the under-served.

You will be rewarded.  

Anyone with a company Web site needs to read Chris Anderson's groundbreaking book, The Long Tail. Anderson's insights are crucial for search engine marketing and search engine optimization, whether you are selling software or underwear.
  
Consider Amazon. Digital technology enables them to cost effectively offer every product under the sun - literally. Consequently, although best sellers are still best sellers,  there is now an exploitable market for hundreds of thousands of smaller sellers that appeal to tens of thousands of niche markets. These new niche markets that extend to near infinity represent the Long Tail.

Anderson demonstrates Long Tail economics apply to non-digital as well as digital goods, by examining the success of companies such as LEGO and KitchenAid.

Good news for companies that understand the new market dynamics well enough to capitalize on emerging niches. Next time I'll discuss specific SEO and SEM strategies geared to the Long Tail.

Robert Gorrell explains why personas are a must for increasing conversions.

Want to get dug by Digg? Khalid's analysis of top 100 Digg articles will help you figure out how.

Steven Peron put together an excellent list of resources for SEO newbies.

More good stuff for the SEO newbie from Ryan Gibson.

Have questions about personalized search? You won't after reading this from David Harry.

What happened?? Brian Kaminski details 5 ways search marketing campaigns fail.

Here's a list of our favorite posts over the last year and a half.

How Blogs Increase Traffic to Your Web Site

How W3C Affects Search Engine Marketing

Is This Blog Legal?

Good Stuff In, Good Stuff Out

SEM Trends for 2007

PPC Ads Take Off with a Landing Page

Use Keywords to Make Good Content Great

Taking Your Business Global

The New Google Analytics - Making SEM Easier for Everyone

How Do Search Engines Work?

Free SEO Tools

Local Search, Part 1

LinkedIn is the premiere social network for professionals. I've been a member for about a year now, and while I haven't discovered all LinkedIn's possibilities by a long shot, these are the things I have found enormously helpful.

1. Reconnecting with old colleagues. LinkedIn tells you which (current and) former colleagues are in the network and when new ones sign in.

2. Reconnecting with old classmates. Works the same as with colleagues, drilled down by years of attendance for your convenience.

3. Job search. Lots of quality job postings, PLUS, you can see who in your own network is hiring. A fantastic tool for employers and job seekers.

4. Establishing credentials. You can recommend members and be recommended by them. You can display your recommendations on your profile - very helpful indeed! (Your personal profile is similar to a resume, only more robust.)

5. Getting answers. LinkedIn recently added an Answers feature which I really like. Members ask business related questions and  members respond. Questions are broken down into categories for convenient browsing.  I've stumbled across several questions I had myself, and was able to read 10, 20, 0r 30 replies from experts in the given field. Quite powerful. I've also answered a several questions and received "Best Answer" recognition, which helps establish credentials.

7. Making new contacts. That's the whole point, right? Your contacts can introduce you to their contacts - an ideal way to meet peers, potential employers, and potential clients. In the LinkedIn world, it's hard to contact someone without that personal connection, making LinkedIn introductions high quality.

Looking for ideas about how to monetize your website or blog? Jeremiah Owyang provides a neat summary of options for website monetization.

Looking for a new approach to search engine marketing? Joanna Young shares her newly acquired wisdom about podcasting.

Afraid your website design is driving them away instead of drawing them in? Web Design from Scratch offers a comprehensive "how-to" on website design.

Confused about what it means to be an online "marketer"? Skellie explains what a marketer is, and how to be an effective one.

Thinks search engine marketing is not for your small business? Small Business SEM lists 8 things the search industry can teach small companies.

Feeling a generational disconnect at work? Reem Abeidoh explores the controversy over whether or not companies should allow social networking at the office.

How do you feel about Google? Scott Bartesh's article about Google giving major paid search customers the inside track on organic search placement is disturbing.

 

 

 

Speaking to a group of new bloggers the other night, I was asked about the trade off between SEO and authentic content in terms of keyword optimization. The idea that keyword phrases should be repeated often and obnoxiously for maximum search engine effect is still prevalent. In reality, search engines penalize too many keywords just as much if not more than too few.

Search engines use complex algorithms to rank Web sites. While these closely guarded algorithmic formulas vary from search engine to search engine, they are all designed to identify Web sites with the most relevant content for a given search phrase.

It's a perpetual game of cat and mouse between search engines and "black hat" search marketers. Black hats devise methods of "tricking" search engines into assigning higher rankings to a Web page, and search engines respond by adjusting their calculations to penalize it.  "Keyword stuffing", as it is often called, is one such black hat technique that involves packing text and/or meta tags with a set of keywords. Once popular and effective, keyword stuffing accomplishes nothing positive today. Quality content is more than mindless repetition of keyword phrases, so that's what the search engines look for.

When in doubt, follow your instincts when writing Web and blog content. Your natural tendency will be to use relevant keywords, make them part of headlines and in bold text, and repeat them at search-engine friendly intervals. Search engines, after all, are looking for Web pages that are authentic, not ones calculated to manipulate the system. Good copywriting practices result in good SEO. 

This doesn't mean you shouldn't do your homework to identify the keyword phrases your customers are likely to use. It doesn't mean you should ignore basic "white hat" SEO techniques, either. But in the end, SEO starts with great content.

Further reading ...

Using keyword research, from Marketing Virgin.

Star copywriter Robert W. Bly explains why he doesn't believe in SEO copywriting.

Granted there's no one size fits all formula. But some basic navigation elements apply to most every business Web site. Here they are.

1. Home. It's a smart practice to have a text link to "Home" so visitors can easily find their way back.

2. About Us. Make it easy for visitors to learn more about you and your company. "About Us" is a popular destination for customers and potential business alliance partners. Generally, I like to include a "Company History" page in this section to avoid creating an overlapping navigation element.

3. Contact Us. It always raises a red flag with me when the  "Contact" link only appears in fine print, buried in the page footer. It's not exactly a signal that the company wants to hear from me!  Make it easy for customers to get in touch, and use a contact form that's not overly complicated.

4. Our Products/Services. After a visitor gets an idea of who you are, the next thing they'll want to explore is what you do. Provide that information as straightforwardly as possible. Layer your information, starting with a summary page and using secondary pages to provide greater depth.

If you can keep it as simple as that, good for you! Here are some other top line navigation items that apply to many businesses, but not all.

5. Careers. If you're really looking for people, a "Careers" section is an opportunity to showcase your firm as a great place to work. You just have to be prepared to follow up sincerely on inquiries, or it will backfire.

6. Media Room/Information Center. If the media is interested in you, this is an absolute must. A Media Room is the place to  feature bios, press releases, company news, and more. For more information, here's an article by new media expert David Meerman Scott, Online Media Room Best Practices.

7. Customer Support. If your site is interactive and/or your company offers complex products or services, a simple "Contact Us" page won't cut the mustard. More and more, purchasers think of the Web as their first line of communication when doing business, as opposed to a phone call or even a face to face meeting.

8. Special Offers. Everybody likes a deal. If your business lends itself to promotions, discounts, loyalty programs and the like, highlight your special buying opportunities in your top line navigation. But don't do it unless your offers are meaningful and you're prepared to offer them on an ongoing basis.

9. Blog. If you have a blog (and you should), don't be shy about letting people know - a blog home page may wind up being more popular than even your home page.

In general, the fewer top line navigation elements, the better. Visitors are intimidated by scores of links, just as they are intimidated by endless blocks of copy.  But don't be overly stingy, either. If customers need the information, give it to them. And by the way, if you wonder whether your site is giving customers what they need, there's a sure fire way to find out.

Ask them!

 

We've been talking a lot about social networking, a skill most of us aren't born with. Case in point - Courtney Tuttle.

Jennifer Laycock reveals Five Common Paid Search Mistakes that Can Sink Your Campaign.

Protecting our personal information is a rapidly growing concern among consumers, and will certainly influence search engine marketing in the future. My recent interview with PrivacyBuilder's TJ McDonald provides background.

Looking for a search engine marketing benchmark? Select from this list of the Top 10 Retailers by Conversion Rate.

LinkedIn is the preeminent network for business people. Tom Tsinas takes an in-depth look at LinkedIn by the numbers.

Do you like to read? Here are 5 search marketing book recommendations from SEOmoz.

Design is an integral part of effective search engine marketing. In the spirit of learning by example, Blogstorm reviews the Top 10 Worst Websites You'll Wish You Hadn't Seen.

Yesterday I touched on the need to think strategically about your Web site navigation so it can adapt to your changing business without turning into a monster.

Often, companies view a site design project as a one-time event - let's put up the site and not worry about it again for five years. Two problems.

First, companies change more rapidly than that, much more rapidly. Entrepreneurs change their business models continually, sometimes radically so. Large companies shed divisions and add new ones, introduce sweeping programs, roll out new marketing campaigns and products - on and on.

Second, radical changes to site navigation tend to freak out visitors. Done repeatedly, top level navigation overhauls may drive visitors away permanently, leaving them with the impression your company is disorganized or fickle. We're creatures of habit - we don't want to learn our way around a site any more often than necessary (unless the site was impenetrable in the first place).
  
Obviously, there is no one size fits all navigation scheme. However, a good rule of thumb is to keep your top line navigation elements as simple and as few as possible and handle business changes by adding, deleting, or editing secondary pages.

For example, have a top level "Services" link go to a Services page that offers a brief summary of each service component you wish to highlight, with links to a more detailed page. This structure allows you to add, delete, or modify service descriptions easily and quickly.

Another handy approach is to create a top level "Information Center" link that leads to a summary page  sub-categorized to list links to press releases, case studies, company announcements, bios, testimonials, external links, etc. This expandable structure prevents oddball links from sprouting up all over your site in the form of text links or buttons, and eliminates the problem of placing such information in non-intuitive places. Many Web developers advocate a Press Center or Media Room, which covers much of this type of material. However, not all companies want or need a media room, and some of the above mentioned material doesn't fit naturally into that category. But now you have a couple options to consider.

Put It on Paper
Lay out your Web pages on a spreadsheet starting each column with the top level pages you need for launch, such as Home, About Us, and Products. List secondary pages you need for launch underneath. Then list pages you think you'll need within a year or two.  See how many you can fit in without adding new top level pages. You may end up adding new top level pages anyway, but you'll be fairly certain you need them as opposed to slapping them on because you never had a real plan in the first place.

One of the most important factors in determining the usability of your Web site is its navigation. You have to make it easy for visitors to find what they need, or they will leave - quickly. Confusing navigation nullifies the value of strong content, search engine optimization, and search engine marketing. Here's a quick self-diagnostic.

1. Do you have a text link to your home page?  Many sites make their logo serve double duty as a home page link. I suppose this is fairly intuitive, but why take chances with the most important page of your site? When visitors lose their way home, they feel adrift.

2. Do you have too many navigation elements? Just as thousands of words of content overwhelm visitors, ten or fifteen options on the navigation bar cause them to give up and click off. High level navigation should be limited to a handful of commonly expected categories, such as About Us, Contact Us, Products, Locations, etc. Nav categories easily spin out of control when initial site design strategy is lacking. (I'll come back to that in a future post.)

3. Are your links intuitive? Many of my clients favor clever phrases in lieu of standard category descriptions. For instance, they'll want to say "Making Life Simple" instead of "Products". As much as I admire creativity, I don't think site navigation is the place to use it. To draw people into your site, create a familiar environment. People are accustomed to seeing certain navigational phrases on Web sites, so use them. Don't make visitors scratch their heads and wonder what is where - more often than not, they will simply disappear.

4. Do you use drop-down menus? Some sites attempt to solve problem #2 by using drop-down menus. I am not a big fan. Drop-downs, especially when they are as long as a menu in a Chinese restaurant, are confusing and sometimes disorient visitors after they click on a particular option. I think a better approach is to create summary pages for each top line navigation element - cleaner and more scalable.

What ideas do you have for making site navigation hearty and hale?

It's easy to forget that online social networking still remains at its core, a relationship building activity, a way to increase or keep tabs on your social circle. That being said, just like networking in the "real" world, there are  pitfalls and opportunities aplenty when networking in the "virtual" world.

About.com has a pretty straightforward list of online networking sites for the business entrepreneur in their post Online Business Networking. One link included in this post is particularly important - Networking on the Net -Professionalism , Ethics, and Courtesy on the Net. Some tips may seem like common sense, but unfortunately a lot of people still need to be reminded that just because they are online doesn't mean that courtesy stops in the virtual world.

Michael Jones' Leveraging Social Networking Sites to Generate Business talks about his experience with online social networking and how it would work for the entrepreneur. Here he says:

Often, the key to using a business network successfully involves the creation of your personal friends -- or business connections -- group. The registration process is similar across the various social networking websites but LinkedIn boasts one of the simplest methods of inviting and maintaining your social network. By simply uploading an exported file from your contact manager, LinkedIn can immediately tell which friends of yours are members of the service. This method of contact maintenance and connection group development makes LinkedIn a breeze to start with, immediately enabling you to gain access to your contacts, without having to laboriously enter emails to discover if associates are already there.

Much like in-person networking, virtual networking takes work and practice as well - Susan Roane runs through some of the do's and don'ts in her post  Business Networking: How to Work the "Virtual" Room.
 
Let me end with an important thought - whether virtual or real networking- it's important that your entire organization or team is together with you in this effort. Ivan Misner tackles the opportunity of networking in his article Teach Your Employees To Network! 

 

That conversation reminded me how critically important it is to teach your employees to network!  Many business people simply don't do this one simple thing which could dramatically boost their networking efforts.  It doesn't matter how much you may know about networking, or how well you network to promote your business, you never know what you could be missing out on if your employees were trained to network for you.