How to Launch an Article Series

"... how to get more marketing mileage out of my blog posts"

We frequently comment in our Internet Marketing Clinic that "Content is King!" What that means is that having good content on your web site is the best thing you can do to achieve good rankings in search engine results.

Almost everyone with a web site feels the pressure of generating good content for their site and is looking for ideas to get more material. This blog posting offers a nice technique for creating more of that content as a spin-off from the work you have already done. The basic idea is that you elaborate on things you have already done. Every good article that you create has points made within it that can suggest further detail that might be of value. Not only can you review your previous articles to look for these points, but you can anticipate this whenever you draft a new article by thinking in terms of lists of relevant points that are easily expandable in the future.

Every time I browse my web site, I find ideas that I could say more about or points that leave me feeling that I have not completely described what I was trying to say. Try this on you own site. Re-read your material and ask yourself, "if I were not familiar with this issue and reading this for the first time, what questions might I still have?" I am sure you will find triggers for more articles with this process!

Keyword-Driven Marketing for B2B

"Understanding what your customers want – and how they express that need – is the foundation of effective marketing, ..."

We all know that keywords are the most important element in ranking that generates traffic to your web site, but the trick is understanding how to make them work for you. The quote above makes the point well, that you have to understand how your prospective customers express themselves in order to be successful.

This author is telling his audience that keywords are important to B2B (business to business) marketing just as in B2C (business to consumer) marketing. He also has a good list of points included in his article.

• Use Keyword-Driven Marketing to truly understand the language of your customer.
• Understand user intent and provide an entry point as early in the buying cycle as possible.
• Develop integrated search marketing strategies to maximize return on investment.
• Provide compelling experiences – not just content.
• Test, test, and test again. Then, test, test and test again…

While these points are good, it is disappointing that there is no more detail provided to help one understand what these guidelines mean in practice.

I would elaborate on his points in this way.

It is crucial that you, as the marketer, understand what keyword phrases the prospect is like to use and what that choice of words indicates about his frame of mind at the time of the search. Specific terms pertaining to the product or service should never be overlooked in keyword marketing, but often the searcher is looking for information to understand a problem better or to get ideas for solutions. This orientation will lead to a different choice of keyword phrases for the search that must be anticipated.

As the author says, particularly in B2B marketing, it is important to enter the relationship with the prospect as early in the buying cycle as possible. With B2b, the cycle is likely to be longer, and the purpose of the marketing is to get into consideration before the purchasing decision begins to be made. Using your web site to convey your knowledge and understanding of the searchers' needs, and the professionalism to assist with them is the goal.

Applying the points described in the preceding paragraph is the strategic consideration. Creating compelling experiences means that you have to engage the interest of the prospect. Providing useful information in understandable form is the challenge.

Finally, testing is always important. One of the things that I liked about the website StartBreakingFree that I recommended in my previous post is the way Brian describes his testing efforts in great detail. It is through testing that you can discover which of various alternative approaches to your market will prove to be the most effective for you.

Paying for Creativity in a Digital World

"Esther Dyson, made a striking prediction: that the ease with which digital content can be copied and disseminated would eventually force businesses to sell the results of creative activity cheaply, or even give it away. Whatever the product — software, books, music, movies — the cost of creation would have to be recouped indirectly: businesses would have to “distribute intellectual property free in order to sell services and relationships.”"

This is a concept that is central to promoting your business over the Internet, and one that businesses new to the web frequently have to struggle to understand. As we emphasize constantly in our free Internet Marketing classes, content is the key to success on the web, and the content must be meaningful and valuable to the targets of the outreach effort that the web site is.

Businesses that are accustomed to selling their knowledge have to realize that their model of promotion over the web involves giving knowledge away in order to attract prospects. This often requires an adjustment in understanding the business model. Different businesses have different problems with adjusting to this proposition. In the article cited, sales of ancillary products are used to make up the difference in income production. Krugman describes how the Grateful Dead gave away their music, but made up for that through sale of "hats, T-shirts and performance tickets." That model will not work for many professional businesses that are now marketing over the Internet.

Attorneys, CPA's, counselors of all kinds who have specialized knowledge have to learn how to present their services with a different value proposition. One idea is that what they are really selling is not their knowledge of a particular environment, but the expert application of that knowledge to a specific situation that the prospect is facing! Anyone should be able to understand the difference between getting general advice over a website and the value of having a knowledgeable professional examine your particular case and help you determine how to deal with whatever problem you are attempting to solve. It is this sort of distinction that professionals have to get comfortable with in order to be successful in marketing over the Internet.

Using SEO as an example, we give away a great deal of knowledge about optimizing a site for substantial performance, but there is no substitute for having a professional SEO marketer work with the particular requirements of your business, your marketplace, and your site to achieve a dominance on the web that rewards your business with a high level of targeted traffic. Every business faces slightly different challenges, and knowing the tools that are available and identifying the best way to utilize them in each particular situation is where the value of the professional practitioner comes into play!

Using Press Releases Effectively

I just read an excellent article offered on the site above as a free eBook download. this piece is chock full of great advice and links that everyone should know about. I recommend that everyone interested in enhancing his/her site performance read, no, study, the complete document, but I will attempt to summarize below the concepts that particularly caught my attention in it.

"New" means marketing directly to the user, not just through the media that press releases used to be addressed to. Media attention now becomes a "fringe benefit" of your press releases!

Press releases used to be about "big news", but no more. Anything your organization is doing can be fodder for a release now. For example (as the author suggests),

• CEO speaking at a conference? Write a release.
• Win an award? Write a release.
• Have a new take on an old problem? Write a release.
• Add a product feature? Write a release.
• Win a new customer? Write a release.
• Publish a white paper? Write a release.
• Get out of bed this morning? Okay, maybe not… but you are thinking the right way now!

Use distribution services to get your news out to the broad audience available. The article suggests four well known services, which can also be found in my file of useful links (Search the links page in the file for the phrase "press release sites".)

Don't forget to include the news on your web site. You should have a PR section of your site where you collect all your releases. Keep them there for as long as the information is relevant (why not forever?)

Consider "answering questions" and "browsability" in creating content! Keywords emphasize the first, but navigation and suggestions emphasize the second. Suggest things to people that they didn't think to ask!

Include the Press Release as a PDF in case people want to print it for any reason.

Pay attention to links in the PR. That gets people to your site, and increases your ranking. This means that you have to have the appropriate content on your site. That may mean writing something for the site before creating the PR.

Speak in terms that your buyers/users/clients use. That may include jargon, but mostly does not.

"On the best sites, content does more than just sell product – it directly contributes to an organization’s positive reputation by showing thought-leadership in the marketplace of ideas."

Segment your audience and release to every segment specifically!

Create something of interest that you can "mail" to people. Yes, snail mail, so you get their real addresses! Downloading is good, but sometimes people will want printed content that you can add value to.

Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool

"But by far the most successful blog, in terms of traffic, turned out to be Free Money Finance, a blog that has nothing to do with Denali’s business. Mr. Nardini’s plan was to create a blog with so much traffic that it could serve as an independent media outlet owned by Denali Flavors, where the company could be the sole sponsor and advertiser.

He chose personal finance because it is a popular search category on the Web and because he knew he would not tire of posting about it. And post he does, about five times each weekday."

We are always on the lookout for new ways to utilize Internet "features" to improve the marketing of our businesses. this article had a new twist described in it that I thought was really interesting.

In all of our classes about blogging, we have emphasized the idea of informing readers about some aspect of your principle business. This article, by contrast, points out how someone can choose a popular topic to blog about in order to attract traffic that the business can benefit from simply by being the sponsor of the blog. This strikes me as being the same approach as used in traditional advertising, where the shows that businesses sponsor on television and radio are not about the business, but attract demographics that are of interest to the business. Education about the business itself takes place only in the ads that the sponsor has attracted traffic to!

This is one of those ideas that seem so simple and obvious that I cannot understand why we have not seen it and talked about it before this time!

One other element of this story also needs to be emphasized, and that is the frequency with which the author of this blog posts to the blog. Note that he posts to the blog "... about five times each weekday." That is a lot of posting, but that is a big part of what makes it work for the author!

Optimize Your Text for Search Engines!

"Notice that I also changed the sub-title of the book from “Fire Your Boss, Toss Your Alarm Clock, and Double Your Income With An Easy Transition Into Self-Employment” to “How To Work At Home With The Perfect Small Business Opportunity” for the Amazon copy."

Reading an excellent blog about how to start a business on the Internet, I came across this quote. I have often talked about how newspapers have had to change the way they write their headlines in order to accommodate search engines, and I thought this was a great illustration of the point I was trying to make.

Brian Armstrong, the author of this fine blog, goes on to say that "... very few people search for terms like “breaking free”, “fire your boss”, or “self-employment”... " so he rewrote his text to something that people would be searching for. In this article, and in several other of his posts, he talks about the importance of keyword research to determine what people are actually searching for. This is crucial to making your website deliver the kind of traffic you need to support your business.

I highly recommend this blog as a reference for great information about making money from the Internet. Brian's focus is more on how to make money from a blog than from moving product or services, but his writing style is easy to read and full of great information.

Optimize Your PDF Files!

I should say at the outset that I am not a fan of having web site content in PDF files. Opening such a file always takes longer, and that is pretty much always bad for search performance. Having said that, "... many businesses have a lot of PDF assets. These may include sell sheets, brochures, white papers, technical briefs, etc. The purist simply says why not convert these to html? In the real world, not everyone has the time, budget, and expertise to do that."

I just came across this article that provides some real insight to making PDF files work better for your site. There are a number of good tips (11, to be precise!) included in this article, but there are three that stood out in my mind while reading through it:

1. PDF files have titles! These are set within the document properties, and are the most important improvement one can make to making these files perform.
2. Copy should be optimized just as any web page should be. In other words, pay attention to the keywords in the documents when you are drafting them. Many times, companies are simply posting documents written for other environments onto the web to make them available to their readers. If it is possible to modify these documents to incorporate keyword phrases, that can make a lot of difference. It may also be possible to write a short summary introduction to append to the pre-existing document. Think about your alternatives!
3. Build links into the PDF files wherever possible. These files may get forwarded to others out of the context of your web site, and these links can travel with the document!

If you have PDF files on your site, this article is well worth your time to read and understand. The more such files you are working with, the more important this article can be to you.

Notwithstanding all this good advice, I still recommend creating HTML pages to summarize the content of PDF files as the most effective technique for optimizing your content for search. This gives you faster load times, the ability to really focus your content on the phrases you want to emphasize, while still having the PDF available for your users to create documents that they can print and carry around for their convenience.

Meta Description Makeover

"The quality of your snippet — the short text preview we display for each web result — can have a direct impact on the chances of your site being clicked..."

This article from a member of the Google "snippets" team outlines the appropriate strategy for crafting meta Descriptions for your pages that will contribute to the quality of traffic you receive from ranking in the search results.

As a reminder, and as the author points out, descriptions do not contribute to the ranking of your pages. What they do is allow you, the writer, to communicate directly with the reader to tell them what you think they should know about the content on your page and, therefore, why they should visit this page rather than the others displayed in the search results.

What are the key points?

• Each page should have its own unique description.
• Targeted keywords should be included in the description.
• Descriptions should be brief, but comprehensive.

As we continue to stress in our weekly clinics, the desired end result of search engine optimization is to get the searcher to visit your site, but the desired end result of the effort overall is to get the searcher to communicate with you, either as a lead, or as a sale! Better descriptions can contribute to the quality of traffic that you get from the web, and to the conversions that you experience!

Scientific American Mind: When Words Decide

"Researchers are discovering the myriad ways in which language can have a profound effect on the choices we make..."

A recent article in this magazine points out three ideas that can influence people in the choices that they make. These can be applied to how your web site is set up to encourage more conversions by your visitors. Unfortunately, the article is not available on-line without a subscription, but you can subscribe at the link if you are interested.

The ideas are:
1. People are more inclined to avoid pain than to gain something.
2. Most people will take the default option.
3. A more expensive option makes other options seem like bargains.

One: Avoiding pain motivates people. People are more motivated by the idea of avoiding losing $100 that they are by the idea of gaining $100. If your product or service can help people avoid losses, that should be emphasized in your marketing pitch.

Two: Defaults rule. A study of 401(k) participation rates showed that participation increased from 49 to 86 percent when people were required to opt out of the choice rather than being asked to opt in to the plan. When you offer your users a choice, it is better to ask them to opt out if they don't want it than to have to ask to be included.

Three: Always have a more expensive choice. Several years ago, Williams-Sonoma offered an automatic bread maker for $275. That seemed an expensive way to make bread. Months later, they introduced a "deluxe" version of the item for $429, and sales of the regular breadmaker shot up, because it now looked like a good deal!

In summary, how you present things to your readers will have a lot of influence on how they respond. Put yourself in the best position to make your web site marketing efforts pay off for your business's.

The influence of semantic indexing on your search engine rankings

"Semantic indexing means that search engines try to associate certain terms with concepts when indexing web pages."

Semantic indexing is something that webmasters and developers should understand in order to more effectively utilize the keyword research that should underlie all site development efforts. Semantic indexing is another technique that search engines use to try to "understand" better what particular web pages are "about".

The technique is built on associations between words that the search engines find in their crawling of the web. Words that are frequently found together on pages are taken to bear some meaningful relationship to one another. Simple, but effective and reasonable!

How do you make us of this knowledge to improve your site? Consider it when creating your focus for your pages and the keyword emphasis on the page. Consider it also when you create your links within your site for site navigation. And, finally, consider it whenever you look for related sites with which to exchange links. Finding sites with the same words on them that characterize your site will help you join "web neighborhoods" that are relevant to your business.

Using Keywords Effectively in Copy!

"One primary goal is to write copy so that the keyphrases are virtually undetectable when read by someone with no knowledge of SEO. "

Here is an article with some nice tips on how to utilize keywords in the copy that you write for your web site.

As we point out in our clinic, the point of your copy is to provide valuable information to your readers, and not to offend them with padded or unreadable content. The author of this piece, associated with Wordtracker, one of the sources of keyword information on the web, makes some very useful suggestions about how to write copy that makes use of keyword focus without being offensive to the reader.

Her suggestions?

• Keep It Sounding Natural
• Don't Use Keyphrases To Describe Your Products/Services
• Add A Word
• Break It Up

Natural: Keeping it natural is common sense. If it doesn't read right to you, it won't to your reader Don't feel compelled to add in keywords to meet some quantitative measure.

Keyphrases: "DON'T use keyphrases to describe your own products or services. Instead, use them to describe what your product or service is not, or what it is similar to or what it is better than."

Add: "The phrase "web design for small business" seems out of place because, most often, we would use the plural term (small businesses) when we were writing. To correct the problem, just add a plural word to the end of the phrase. Perhaps you might talk about web design for small business startups or web design for small business owners. "

Break: "One keyphrase I had to work with was "Texas Hill Country real estate." That would get pretty cumbersome if it were left as it is seen there. But by breaking it up with some punctuation, it sounds perfectly natural. Here's how it can be done."

There is no more beautiful place than the Texas Hill Country. Real estate listings in this area are filled with stunning homes that …

Note that the search engine will not notice the period. It will consider the phrase to be coherent.

*****

Always remember that you are writing to the reader (while considering how the search engine reads).

Understanding the True Value of a Resource Library for Your Website

"The most common objection a search engine optimization company hears when recommending that a site add a resource library is 'I want to sell my product, not educate.' However, this is shortsighted. It is important to reach buyers at all stages of the sales cycle. "

Here is someone who understands and explains the importance of CONTENT on a web site! In the quote cited above, the author addresses the principal objection and misunderstanding that one encounters when trying to get site owners to support creation of content.

He points out quite clearly what the benefits of this material can be to the site, and provides illustrations of sites that employ the technique successfully. For a good example of how this can be implemented effectively look at one of the web sites we discuss frequently in our clinic, Jason's site dealing with air tools. Jason also carries battery chargers and jump starters, so he provides an article on "How to jump start a dead car battery".

When you look at this page, note the references on the page to additional informational articles provided on the site. Also note that the article provides an easy step for the viewer to get to the listing of the products related to the article content.

To reiterate the authors points, this content does three things for the site. It provides a good reason for visitors to return to the site, it can attract important inbound links from other sites and blogs, and it can boost rankings on important keyword phrases. This last point is particularly relevant for phrases buried in what we refer to as "the long tail" of less frequently used search phrases.

As we say in every class, "Content is King!"

Report Endorses Our Clinic Techniques!

"Two such areas where retailers should pay special attention include shopping search and search engine optimization (SEO), according to a new report from TrafficLeader, a search marketing consultancy and subsidiary of Marchex.
By adding these elements to the marketing mix, a retailer can boost traffic and conversions, increase lead-generation, and improve cost efficiencies of search marketing efforts, says the '2007 Search Marketing Insights for Retailers' study.
Many retailers are struggling to get the basics. Their Web sites are geared toward selling, not being an information resource. But those are the kinds of sties that rank well in search engines,..."

A recent analysis of retailer site performance points out several techniques that may retailers overlook to the detriment of the performance of their commercial sites. These are the very techniques that we repeatedly emphasize in our clinic sessions.

Note the three critical points in the quote above: listing in shopping search engines, search engine optimization of content pages, and being an information resource for the searcher. The first point we usually cover under the concept of obtaining beneficial links. We have often talked about getting your site listed in directories and other related sites to increase links. We have spent less time on specifically getting listed within the various shopping search engines, but there is a clear correspondence in intent.

The second two points are recommendations that we stress in almost every session of the clinic. Our motto has always been, "Content is King!" What that means is that the site that provides useful content to the searchers will always have a natural advantage over those sites that do not emphasize being useful.

Further down in the content of this article, the writer says, "Another challenge for some retailers is the lack of a text-based navigation system, which leaves search engine spiders unable to access many of the products on a site."

Note the important points: text-based navigation system, and the idea that search engines need these to find pages within the site! We have sessions that are devoted entirely to the concept of linking structure and the importance that it has in making sites navigable and in allowing the developer to emphasize the important elements or areas of the site.

We have long known that these techniques make a crucial difference to site owners, but it is always nice to see documentation of the concepts from other sources!

Internet Marketing is Marketing!

"I often find myself talking to people who still believe ranking at search engines is all about some technical voodoo done to Web pages. I try to explain doing some basic tech-tweaking to Web pages to get them indexed isn't difficult, but getting a decent top 10 rank is. And there's this kind of astonishment from them when they discover that instead of instantly wanting to talk about technology, I first want to discuss marketing.

... So talking to anyone who seems to believe that ranking at search engines is still something you achieve via a technical process, I'm sorry, but get real!"

Here is a realistic look at what it takes to succeed in Internet Marketing. It is not a technical issue. You cannot "tweak" the pages on a website and make it an effective marketing tool without doing the basic work of making the site itself an effective marketing instrument.

In my discussions with clients about their sites, I emphasize that they are entering a publishing business. In order to succeed, they have to publish useful information the web.

In addition, they really need to look first at the competitive arena that they are entering. Every search result is a competition for attention. If you are competing against sites that have done a good job positioning themselves, you are going to have to work harder to compete effectively than if you are competing against sites that do not understand the basics of search engine operations.

No matter how much I emphasize these points, the client does not seem to begin to understand the requirements until it is time to begin adding information to the site. That is when the realization hits home. Success in this business results from persistent and effective work on the site, not magic tricks!

Targeting Likely Advocates With Web Ads

An article in the Washington Post points out some interesting information about attracting clicks on the web. The subject here is political, issue oriented advertising, but the message is the same for web site developers: Content and context work best!

"It turns out that ugly is better than pretty when it comes to lobbying commercials. Elaborate and beautifully colored ads tend to fall flat, said B.R. McConnon III, chief executive of DDC. Straightforward, text-heavy displays work much better."

Bear this in mind when creating your pages where you are trying to get your visitors to respond to your proposals, "tell them what it is about", and "talk to them about what their interests are."

Don't waste your time and budget on beautiful images and marketing copy. Put your efforts into telling your story clearly and concisely.

Your FAQ Page - A Sales Tool? You Bet!

Here is a great little article explaining how to make better use of your FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your web site.

This is a good article because it not only tells you what you should do to improve your page, it provides examples that illustrate the principle! This is the kind of detailed help that is most beneficial to web developers who are struggling to learn how to apply sound marketing principles to their own web sites. I definitely recommend treading this article!

The sole additional comment that I might make here is that it would be good practice to insert a link in the answers to another relevant page on your web site. I did not see that suggestion in the article. This kind of linking can add additional strength to your answer if there is more detail available elsewhere on your site, and will also add linking value to your pages, further helping to boost your page rank on important concepts. Remember in doing so that the anchor text for the link is adding ranking significnce to the page the link is pointing to!

"The FAQ page... a standard addition to almost any site. It usually lists questions customers ask on a regular basis, and the answers to those questions. But what befuddles me is that hardly any sites I've visited use this page as a sales tool.

Did you think of that? If not, you're losing out on the use of some valuable real estate! FAQ pages are generally well-trafficked areas of your site. With just a few adjustments, your FAQ page could become one of your leading sources for sales conversions."

Yahoo modifies search results pages!

Yahoo has just notified its advertisers that the way their listings will be presented will be changed beginning January 18, 2006. The changes are summarized as:

* Yahoo! will display shorter descriptions for Sponsored Search listings
* You don't have to make any changes to your listings; they'll be automatically shortened for you when displayed on Yahoo!
* If you'd like to optimize your listings for Yahoo!, begin your description with one short sentence that includes your keyword and focuses on your most important information in the first 70 characters
* Over time, we will fine tune the exact character count that we believe works best for advertisers and search users
* Most of our partners, including MSN, CNN, ESPN and Infospace, will still display longer descriptions for your Sponsored Search listings, though the exact length may vary from partner to partner

Common Sense Search Engine Optimization Article

"Common sense tells me that most people would rather be presented with information on the types of products or services offered in clear, concise language, right on the main page of the site they're visiting. Luckily for us, that's exactly what the search engines want to see also!"

Search Engine specialist Jill Whalen writes a good article debunking several common myths about effective marketing on the web.

Number one is pointing out the absence of any need for Flash and other fancy graphics on a web site. She also emphasizes the value of good content on your pages, pointing out that the reason people will come to your site is because they see something there of value to them!

Another myth is that a webmaster has to keep changing pages to keep up with changes to the search engine algorithms. Jill points out that the search engines are always attempting to solve the same problem, which is delivering good content to their users. If you stick with that approach (putting good content on your site), you will be a winner over the long term

I have a summary of the elements of good web page design making much the same points.

Jill's report is one of the places on the web that I review regularly. I have found her advice to always be reliable and sound.

How search engines affect purchases.

comScore Study Reveals the Impact of Search Engine Usage on Consumer Buying: "The comScore research studied the buying activity of Internet users who conducted a consumer electronics or computer (CE/C) search at one of the top 25 search engines in Q1 2004. Among the other findings, the study revealed that 25 percent of searchers ultimately purchased a CE/C product and that an estimated 92 percent of these purchases occurred offline. Among the 8 percent of post-search purchases that were made online, the vast majority occurred in subsequent user sessions (not directly after a search click-through). "

The study goes on to point out that most (85%) of purchases occurred later than the original search, in other words, the user came back another time before making a purchase!

They also point out that few purchasers utilize product specific search terms (for example, "Sony Plasma KE-42M1”). Their finding emphasizes that marketers have to appeal to their prospects on the basis of more general terms (such as, “plasma TV”). This is consistent with our recommendation that webmasters utilize both general and specific terms on their sites.

In our classes, we have shown how to utilize "down-list" terms, or, those terms that appear in your site statistics further down the list of keywords that have brought visitors to your site. Previous classes have also covered the concept of the "sales funnel", where prospects enter the funnel on more general search terms and work their way down the funnel to the purchase decision, often by refining their search terms. Capturing traffic on the general terms at the beginning of the funnel is an important element in converting the traffic later in the process!

As the representative of Overture (who sponsored the study) said, “This research supports the theory that all types of terms play an important role in influencing the consumer’s purchase decision.”