3 Keys to a Successful Web Presence

3 Keys to a Successful Web Presence

Whenever I ask a prospect what their goals are, all too often their answer is, "We want to rank in the top three results for keywords A, B, and C."

Is that really a goal?

Now, I understand that high rankings (or, rather, organic search traffic) are important. I sincerely believe that a sound organic search strategy should be the core of every business's marketing efforts.

This goes back to the old adage of running a business (location, location, location). You must be where people are actively searching for your product or service offerings.

However, imagine that you had the perfect retail location and yet your storefront was filthy. Perhaps there isn't as much as a sign with your company's name on the front of the building. Perhaps, once you get into the location, not a single item has a price tag and the salespeople are nowhere to be found.

That traffic coming through your parking lot isn't going to help much, is it?

There are three basic rules that you need to follow to have a successful Web presence:

1. Brand matters.
2. Usability matters.
3. Search engine optimization matters.


Brand Matters

The look and feel of your Web site is a key component to success on the Web. For example, last summer, a retailer that was enjoying great rankings in the search engines approached my company about a possible redesign of their Web site.

When I pulled the site up, it was very evident that these folks needed a facelift (the site was very '90s, with no brand -- not even a logo -- and it was poorly organized). This e-commerce Web site was typical of many: it was graphics-heavy (not even formatted consistently) and had little to offer in terms of (keyword-rich) product descriptions.

Bottom line: there was no way that I would drop my credit card info on this Web site. I didn't trust it. If I were a common searcher, I'd probably spend about five seconds on the page that I landed on, then hit the back button and check out the next result.

Build a Web site that exudes credibility and trust with your target audience. Because online, a competitor is always next door to your perfect location. And, next door to them is another competitor. You get the picture?

Usability Matters

OK, let's assume your Web site looks great now. So, if you manage to get the traffic to your site, you probably want people to fill out a lead form, call you, or buy a product.

Too often, prospects tell me that a phone call is a major point of emphasis for them, yet you can't easily find their phone number on their page. Check some of the most successful e-commerce or lead-gen Web sites and you'll notice that most of them display their phone number on the top right of every page. Little things like this can have a dramatic impact on your success.

Every click/visitor to your Web site is valuable. Yet many don't put the effort to get the most out of every click.

Once you get people to your site, what do you want them to do? Download a white paper? Sign up for a newsletter? Complete a lead form?

Now, be honest with yourself. Are you making this action obvious to your visitors? People on the Web have very short attention spans.

Search Engine Optimization Matters

Now, just because I put SEO last on this list doesn't mean that this is the last thing you should do. Oh no. The creation of your information architecture absolutely should be done in conjunction with your SEO efforts.

Your SEO team should research (or at least approve) the content management system and coordinate the design and site development. SEO is the foundation of your efforts.

Funny thing about how SEO and usability go hand-in-hand. Visitors to your Web site like content. They may be researching and need to read those detailed product descriptions.

And, coincidentally, search engines like that content, too. So, the more search engine friendly you make your Web site, the more usable the site will become. If your content is good enough, people might want to link to your Web site.

You know what else users like? Blog content. They love finding "unbiased" helpful/resourceful information. They love reviews. They love forums.

Guess what. Search engines love this stuff, too! Ever seen Wikipedia show up in your searches on Google?

So, next time you're trying to determine your SEO goals, stop for a moment and think about the bigger picture. SEO is just one part of Web success.

SEO Basics - Content

SEO Basics - Content

Continuing our ever growing list of SEO Tips, we'll step into another batch of really basic optimization techniques which can help you improve your sites appearance, and hopefully, appeal on the search engines.

*Continually update your site-Sites that have new content added on a regular basis are seen as more reliable than sites that rarely do. This also helps you to increase the amount of relevant material on your site, which also improves your rankings. Consistently adhering to this principle, you can over time, become "the authority" in your niche.

*Unique content-Adding all the content you find on the internet won't help improve your appearnce, if none of it is original. You need to provide content that has different information than what is on other sites and other Web pages.

*Try to use your keywords in your headlines-Headline tags (h1, h2, h3, etc.) are a great place to use your keyword phrase and secondary keywords. Search engines recognize that headlines are more important than the surrounding text, and so assign greater value to keywords found there.

*Try to get your keywords inside incoming links-Inbound links are a great way to improve your page rank, and your standings in the search results. But it's difficult to control how people link to your pages. Most incoming links don't use a phrase that has anything even remotely close to any of your keywords. Remember that they are doing you a favor by linking to you.

One way to get your keywords into inbound links is to provide your customers with the link text ready-made. For example:

Please link to this page: a href="http://www.freshtraffic.ca/online_internet_marketing_sales.htm" Search Engine Marketing

Just a few more tips to add to the beginning stretch of beginning SEO. As always, there's always more to come.

SEO Marketing Helps UK Retailers Maximise Internet Sales

SEO Marketing Helps UK Retailers Maximise Internet Sales

The run up to Christmas, 2008 has seen e-commerce become the focus for retailers across the UK.In the light of rising costs and consumers reigning in their spending to save money, the Internet is now seen as the place of choice for consumers, for comparisons and significant savings. Internet marketing for e-commerce sites has become the chosen method of promoting retail businesses.

“With Internet marketing and digital advertising budgets increasing, traditional advertising is being replaced by cost-effective, targeted, digital advertising and marketing campaigns”,

The credit crunch recession has seen closures of retail outlets, both in London and across the United Kingdom, leading to an increase in Internet sales with the Internet being viewed as the buyer’s market.

The UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that between May and June 2008, retail sales volumes fell by 3.9%, the largest monthly drop since records began in 1986.

Yet online sales have been strong. In fact, Internet sales may be rising more rapidly than anticipated because hard-pressed consumers are determined to find value for money. Also, the rocketing cost of fuel means many shoppers are cutting visits to brick-and-mortar stores and turning to the Web instead.

Major online retailers are realising that to maintain a presence in the market, they need to offer true multichannel shopping and delivery/return options, as well as value for money. This strategy ensures they will gain and keep their market share in the future. The businesses that are not moving towards Internet marketing, and digital advertising, for whom traditional print or broadcast advertising is now too expensive, are likely to stagnate or go out of business.

business advice on using Facebook as a marketing tool

business advice on using Facebook as a marketing tool

As consumers are spending more and more of their online time on social networking pages as opposed to traditional brand websites, many business experts are now recommending that businesses incorporate

Facebook has made a huge impact online: there are now over 100 million monthly visitors to the site, and this figure is on the increase. While some businesses are beginning to use social networking sites in their marketing efforts, most business experts say that few companies are investing enough time and effort to make the most of this opportunity.

The benefit of Facebook, and other social networking sites, is that businesses can communicate directly with their customers. This provides an enormous marketing opportunity for brands, but it is crucial, say the business experts, to ‘get it right’.

There are a few key rules that are critical to making good use of sites like Facebook for marketing. Firstly, according to the business experts, consumers do not want to be advertised at. Instead, consumers want conversation, and they want businesses to add value to that conversation. Once you become known as a ‘good brand’ online, consumers will begin to start spreading the word for you, according to business experts.

Next, business experts caution that it takes more than simply having a high number of contacts online to leverage social networking benefits for your business. You need to ensure that you have a quality connection with each individual friend online otherwise you will risk not appearing genuine.

With the increasing popularity of social networking sites, some business experts are even questioning the need for traditional brand based websites. If you can build your branded social network page, they say, then you may not need the traditional website.

Dont Cut Back SEO

Dont Cut Back SEO

When the economy turns sour just about every company starts to cut expenses and usually the first thing that goes is the one service where the perceived value is less. Search engine optimization is one of those services that could be threatened by the recession.

I would strongly caution against cutting back on your SEO for your business. Companies that I’ve seen do that have in the past regretted it. Typically what happens is they’ll see their search rankings decline. After dropping off the first page they’ll see fewer and fewer visitors to their websites and that will result in fewer conversions and less overall sales. Almost always these customers restart their optimization and they have to claw their way back up the search engine ladder to top rankings. That takes longer usually than the drop off and takes more resources long term.

It may seem that a recession is the time to cut expenses, but you don’t want to cut your marketing expenses. It’s really the time when you should be marketing more, not less. If you think of search engine optimization as a part of your overall marketing strategy then that puts it a little more into perspective.

Don’t you think?

SEO Internal Link Stucture

SEO Internal Link Stucture

Much has been said of links, but it’s mostly inbound links that get all the attention. Internal links - links that point from one page of your website to another - should also be considered a part of your overall link structure.

Internal links can have a big impact on your overall SEO. There are a couple of primary ways to make sure that you get the most out of your internal links. The first is to ensure that you use the proper anchor text. When you link from page A to page B you should use your primary keyword on page B as the anchor text for your link.

If you do that on every page then you should improve your SEO tremendously. Always use the primary keyword of the page to which you are linking no matter which page you are linking from.

The second way to use your internal links is to make sure they are html links and not dynamic links. Mouseovers, blinking text, and drop down menus are often used as features of navigation bars and they generally work against webmasters where SEO is concerned. The best way to improve your SEO with internal links is to make sure that your navigational bar is HTML-based.

If you do these two things on your website then your internal link structure will be stronger than ever before