Small Business Marketing Blog

12 Inbound Marketing Tips To Discuss With A Web Expert Before...

Hiring a web expert? Below are 12 things to discuss with your web expert before making a decision.

From the recent webinars and research Ive been involved with, 2010 appears to be the year of the website redesign. If you're planning on a new website or a redesign in 2010 it's important to think about why? What are your objectives, what do you hope to achieve? Don't lose site of the fact that you're in business to make money, not to have the best looking website. Research shows that a good looking website doesn't equate to more traffic or more leads.

A web expert who understands optimization for business goals and how to convert visitors to leads will ask about your business and offer training or ongoing support for search engine optimization. Here are the 12 key things you should discuss before hiring a web expert:

1. Who is your target audience?

2. How do you solve a problem or meet a need?

3. Why would prospects buy from you?

4. What are your business goals?

5. How do they decide on the best keywords to target?

6. Ask them to explain the optimization process. What is done initially and what is done on an ongoing basis.

7. Do they know how to set up a landing page designed to convert?

8. Will they provide training or ongoing support?

9. If they provide a link-building strategy, how do they do it?

10. Are they conducting a competitor analysis?

11. What analytics are they measuring and why?

12. Blogs should be a part of your optimization process. Can you post blogs on your website? Do they offer any training or support for blogging best practices?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies such as blogging and link building are ongoing.  If you're getting a price to start this know what the ongoing cost is going to be. If you're going to be trained to do it yourself make sure you're clear on how much time it will take versus paying a professional to handle it for you.

In conclusion, make sure the web expert you decide to employ takes the time to learn about your business.

If this is overwhelming, confusing or you have some questions. Please feel free to post them in the comments or contact Inbound Marketing Solutions directly to discuss the best Website Marketing and Search Engine Optimization strategies for your business.

 

 

 

Inbound Marketing: How to convert website visitors

The most overlooked marketing tool that (almost) every business has is their website.  I continue to meet many business owners, especially in small business, who have a misunderstanding about the purpose of their website, and as a result aren't seeing the results they should and can get.

The average website conversion is 1 percent to 2 percent. 
Proper search engine optimization could double your traffic and an effective call to action can boost conversion to 4 percent to 5 percent.

Optimization is a key component for driving qualified traffic to your site, therefore it must be done correctly. Because search engine optimization (SEO) is something most people don't fully understand, it overwhelms them and so they trust the SEO "experts." What's concerning is that I see many websites that have been "optimized" by an "expert," when in fact they haven't. The first thing to remember when it comes to SEO is that this isn't something just done once - it's ongoing and needs to have an ongoing strategy (and training if needed).

 CHOOSING THE 'RIGHT' KEYWORD PHRASES

In order to determine the "right" keyword phrases for your business, you need to know (not guess) what keywords your prospects use when searching online for the products and services your company offers. You need to know why they are searching for your product or service, and what their need or problem is. Knowing the answers to these questions will help determine the right keywords that will increase the chances that your visitors will convert to leads.

Choosing obvious keywords that have a high monthly search volume can be extremely competitive and almost impossible to rank. Often keyword phrases that have a low monthly search volume are highly targeted and will attract your target audience, giving you a better chance of converting them to a lead. Just getting visitors to your site that don't convert to leads means nothing to your business. Focusing on quality rather than quantity will yield a better result for your business.

KEYWORD PLACEMENT

Each page has its own URL, title, meta description and header, and all of these need to be optimized with the keywords for that page.

Keywords need to be used not only on your website but as part of an ongoing marketing campaign. Keywords should be used in e-mails, blogs, online articles, press releases and social media with links to relevant pages on your website. Keywords that are used in other online content (not your website) that include links to pages on your website are called inbound links or back links.

INBOUND LINKS (OR BACK LINKS)

These are hyperlinked words that link to your website and are a major influence when it comes to search engine rankings. A link building strategy should be part of your ongoing marketing, implemented by someone who understands how to develop and implement a link-building strategy. There are obvious ways to get inbound links, such as listing your company with online directories. However, there are other clever ways to encourage links through blogs, press releases and other online activities. Purchasing links and doing link swaps may negatively affect your search rankings so make sure that if you're paying someone to develop a link-building strategy you understand how they are doing it.

THE LANDING PAGE

This is the page that the visitor lands on after clicking an inbound link to your site. The keyword used in this link needs to be prominent on the page they land on. You have three seconds to provide this visitor with the information they're looking for, or you may lose them forever.

In order to have this visitor convert to a lead you should have some understanding where this visitor is in the purchase life cycle. If they're at the research (information gathering) phase, make sure this is what's available on the page they land on. Provide a call to action that would encourage the visitor to sign up for more information such as a free e-book or subscription to your blog or e-newsletter.

If your visitor has clicked on a keyword that indicates they're ready to speak directly with a salesperson -in other words they're a little further along in the purchase cycle - make sure your call to action offers something along the lines of a "free consultation with a sales representative" or "free tool, to test your product/service."

When choosing an expert to develop your website and search engine optimization, make sure they understand your business and marketing objectives. Specifically inbound marketing and how optimizing your site will do more than just drive traffic to your business, but increase conversions that have a direct impact on your bottom line.

Does this information help you? What other questions do you have about your website and attracting prospects and converting them to leads?

If you found this blog article helpful please share with your online social network, thank you.

 

 

Inbound Marketing Is About...

 

... the customer! Not YOU, not your company, not your brand, not your product nor your service.

It's about marketing to your prospects when they want to hear from you, how they want to hear from you and what they want to know.

It's about building relationships.

It's about listening their needs.

It's about giving your prospects an option to receive your emails and status updates.

It's about having a web presence when and where your prospects search online.

It's about offering information that is of value to your prospects.

It's about making the conversion process clear, painless and quick.

It's not about emailing your social media connections to push your product or service to, with relentless monotony.  If you want to use your social media connections for marketing take the time to find out what they need, and offer valuable information sparingly. You'll get a better result!

And as for search engine rank don't try and take any short cuts with promises of front page rankings. This isn't sustainable marketing for long term success. Take the time to do the research on your market and competitors, and identify the ‘right' keywords for your business.  Integrate search engine optimization (seo) into your marketing mix so that you start to rank organically for your keywords. This is a long term strategy that generates better quality leads and is extremely cost effective as there is no additional expense involved in paying for your search rank.

In my opinion, Inbound Marketing  isn't a numbers game... its about quality and relevance.

What do you think?

Is Your SEO Aligned With Inbound Marketing Goals?

Take the time to evaluate your business goals before jumping into search engine optimization (SEO) for your business.

A friend of mine sent me an email that she had received from an SEO firm seeking her business, several months ago. The email started with something like, "we tried to search for your business on line and couldn't find it, which means your prospects can't find you either."  It went on to say that they could guarantee top search rankings (for a monthly fee). It was quite a lengthy sales pitch but basically what they were promising was top search rankings for my friend's company, for what they (the SEO firm) perceived where the relevant keywords.  My friend thought this sounded great, so she presented it to her management team. After all isn't that what we all want, to be at the top of the search results and drive more traffic to our site?

This concerned me, because there was no reference to aligning SEO or top search results with the business and marketing goals. How do you know the best SEO tactics to implement if you don't understand the client's business and their goals? Before employing a firm or individual to implement SEO ensure what they recommend is in line with your business goals, and not their business goals.  SEO is more than just top search engine results. What is the purpose of the website? Who is your target audience? What are the best keywords and phrases to drive qualified leads to your website? Have you set up landing pages for the relevant keywords and phrases?

Let's assume it works.  You're top of the search rankings for your keywords and this is driving qualified leads to your site. What is happening to these leads once they're on your website?  What is your sales funnel? Are you offering them the information they are looking for? How are you capturing these leads? Do you have a call to action? How are you converting these leads?  Do they know what they need to do?  

This is why implementing SEO must be aligned with your business goals. Your goal isn't about being at the top of the search rankings, or driving lots of traffic to your site. Your goal is to convert! It's all about the bottom line!

Before you decide to employ a firm or individual to handle your Inbound Marketing make sure they understand your business goals, your website goals and your audience.

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Thank you.