Search Engine Marketing: November 2007 Archives

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.

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!

 

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?