Write for Everyman - & Every Person in Your Target Market

We recently read an interesting blog post that talks about engaging “everyman” with your web copy. The author is absolutely right; your copy needs to reach the masses and too many big words or industry jargon tends to drive the masses away.

You can also take the concept beyond your copy and use it across your entire internet marketing program. But be warned, while you have help for creating copy in layman’s terms, like keyword tools, there’s nothing similar to help you decide what web design, social media profile or viral message will work for the masses.

Beginning with your web design, you must appeal to the broadest range of potential customers. Not everyone arrives at your site looking for the same thing and they may not be at the same stage in the buying cycle. For example, if you develop a new High Tech Doodad and introduce it on your web site, you will attract a lot of traffic looking for basic information, like a product description. If you have competition for the Doodad, others will arrive at your site looking for more advanced information that will help them decide which HT Doodad is best. Fortunately, when it comes to high tech items, there’s a large contingent who simply must have the latest Doodad and they will come to your site looking to buy.

See what’s happening? Your site needs to appeal to visitors who are in search of a broad range of useful information. From looking for basic information to ready to buy, they all will arrive at your site and if you don’t give them what they’re looking for fast, you risk losing them, perhaps forever.

The same is true for all your other internet marketing initiatives. You should give the masses what they seek from you.

Get your message across to the everyman – and every person, or at least as many as you can, regardless of where they are in their search for information or products.

By Stephen Da Cambra

Time for Internet Marketing

Internet marketing takes time. Let’s say you started a new site today, including getting a new URL. It will be some time - weeks or months - before Google even indexes your site. It could be the greatest web site in cyber history - no matter, it will take time for the search engines to check out your site, make sure it’s legit and start presenting it in search results.

Your next step should be SEO and PPC. They take time. Many regard PPC as instant gratification internet marketing; it can get you on the front page of search results in no time. While that is true, only between 20% and 30% of surfers choose from paid search results. You need SEO and SEO takes time.

Other internet marketing methods take time too. Have you heard a lot about social media marketing? It takes time. Blogging? More time. Researching ways to optimize your social media and blogging campaigns? Full time.

Who has time for internet marketing? You do. Time is money. The more time you spend on your internet marketing – all of it, from SEO to participating in forums – the better the payoff will be.

You can hire others to do it, but that costs money. Get through the mystique of internet marketing, and you’ll find it’s DIY friendly. Indeed, you’re probably the best person to do it. If you have the time.

Where will you find the time? You’ll make time. Set it aside; regularly; daily; without fail. Do so, give your internet marketing enough time and you’ll start to be found, make contacts and generate business.

By Stephen Da Cambra

Business Networking on the Net

Business networking is as old as business itself. It used to be called “rubbing elbows” or “working the room”, but it was all networking before the term became common.

Being a network, the internet is an great place for business networking – but you wouldn’t know it by how long it’s taken many of us to come to the realization. While LinkedIn, a business-oriented networking site, beat Facebook to the web by almost a year, it never had a chance against its more “social” rival and others, including MySpace and Twitter, which blew by LinkedIn in popularity after only two years.

Online networking is an important part of any business's internet marketing and LinkedIn is as good a place as any to start. A good example is Charlotte Business Professionals. In June, 2008, Jason McKinstry opened a LinkedIn account from his office in Charlotte, NC. While things were slow in the beginning, he began receiving messages from other LinkedIn members in town. Jason decided to start a LinkedIn group to bring together all of his Charlotte business contacts. One year later, the Charlotte Business Professionals LinkedIn group has over 4,000 members, monthly face-to-face meetings and has just launched their own website – www.charlottebp.com.

Fortunately, if you prefer to Tweet rather than link, social networking sites are not just for finding out your mother is getting her hair styled right now. Business groups and networks – and opportunities – exist on every major networking site. There might even be a networking site devoted to your industry or interests.

For most users, online networking success doesn’t just happen by joining a site. Networking requires action. In fact, it usually requires two actions: a) finding contacts, and b) being found by contacts.

When you join a network, you should actively search out those with whom you are most likely to make a connection. If you’re a real estate agent, you might want to search for mortgage brokers or lawyers. When you spot them, make contact.

Being found means developing a web profile that makes it easy for other searchers to find you and know what you are about. That way you are more likely to attract the sorts of contacts you want to pursue.

Finding and being found – that’s networking on the ‘net.

By Stephen Da Cambra

Keyword Wars - Episode 1

Keywords deserve more attention than the brief discussion on the long and short tail in our last post. If you do any business on the internet, or believe any of your customers use the internet to find your company, the more you know about keywords the more you will be able to take advantage of their power to attract customers.

Keywords are the words and terms web surfers use to find information on the internet. Studies indicate that surfers respond better to information that repeats the keywords they used to find it. In other words, if someone enters the term “red tissue paper kites” into a search engine, he or she will be more likely to choose a result that delivers exactly that keyword term.In addition, search engines will present results that most closely fit the search term. So, if you sold kites and created content and link information for your web site using the term “red tissue paper kites”, and your competition didn’t, your site would be listed at or near the top of the results – and the customer would be more likely to choose your link because it’s near the top of the rankings and it reflects exactly what he is looking for.

The big question is – what are the words and terms that potential customers use to find companies and products like yours on the internet? Search engines want you to succeed on the internet because, if you do, you will likely spend more on internet marketing. To help you get started, there are a number of free keyword search tools, such as Google Adwords Keyword Search Tool, that you can use to find the search terms that relate to your company, product and market segment.

That’s the start. Keywords are very powerful tools and your competition has the same access and ability to use them as you do. Depending on your business segment, keyword competition can be fierce – and costly. Fortunately, there are ways to put keywords to work for your internet marketing without necessarily breaking the bank. Using the long tail keywords we discussed in the last post is one of them.

In Our Next Episode:

Luke finds Leia in grave danger – what keywords will he use on his PDA to find a solution?!

By Stephen Da Cambra

The Shocking Truth About Google Ranking

If you have any interest in internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and/or pay-per-click advertising (PPC), you know how important it is to get a high ranking in search results when customers search the net for companies and products like yours.

An examination of the exact numbers, as published by SEOBook.com, really drives home the point.  Without further delay….

The Distribution Of Clicks According to Search Ranking

          Rank Position      % of Clicks         

1                                                  42.13%                

2                                                        11.9

3                                                     8.5

4                                                         6.06

5                                                        4.92

6                                                        4.05

7                                                       3.41

8                                                         3.01

9                                                       2.85

10                                                     2.9

2^nd page +                10.18

 

While the bare numbers are incredible, a closer look really shows what the difference in moving a single position can mean for your web results.

Right off the top, there is an almost 400% increase in clicks between second and top spot.  Imagine getting four times the web results you get now.

On first glance, the difference between subsequent ranking positions does not seem very profound.  However, when you consider that you would get an immediate 19% increase in clicks if you managed to move your site from seventh to sixth – and a 33% increase from fourth to third, all of a sudden you realize there’s a lot at stake between almost every rank position.

There are two important points to be taken from this information. 

First, if you are not on the first page of search results, you are invisible to 90% of your potential customers (and probably more, because a large percentage of those going to the second page and lower are conducting non-business related research.) 

Second, if you’ve managed to get your site onto the first page that’s good, but you shouldn't stop trying for a higher rank.  You can increase your business exponentially each step you take up the ladder to number one. 

So start climbing!

By Stephen Da Cambra

The Story of SEO & PPC

You may wonder whether SEO or PPC is better for achieving your business goals.  Their purposes are the same – to get your site listed on the top pages of search results.

As with most internet marketing, there are few rules to follow in making a choice.  Many companies rely on the “quick to the top” guaranteed rankings that come with PPC advertising.  Others prefer to avoid the click charges and concentrate on the “natural” rankings that SEO produces.

As with most internet marketing, you go with what works for you.  But don’t let what works for you blind you to what can work better. 

As with most internet marketing, there are downsides to individual tactics.  PPC ads will get your site listed on top search results pages almost instantly, but most surfers are aware that PPC ads are paid advertising and prefer to choose from the natural rankings. 

SEO will get you those coveted natural rankings, but it will take a long time and concerted effort to do so.

To avoid the downsides of SEO and PPC, and take advantage of the upsides, use them together.

If you have a long-term internet marketing plan, and you should, make sure it includes a concerted SEO and PPC strategy. 

The real beauty of a combined SEO/PPC strategy is that the advantages of one counteract the disadvantages of the other.

If a first page natural search ranking is your goal, there is little chance of getting there quickly.  Especially with a new web site, the search engines have to find the site, register it and then monitor it for legitimacy and relevance.  Unless you use buckets of cash, it can take many months or more than a year to get a decent natural search ranking. 

That’s where PPC comes in.  PPC immediately puts your site on the first page of search results, so it get’s exposure while you build the site’s reputation naturally with SEO.

When you start seeing decent rankings from your SEO efforts, you can start reducing your PPC spend until the natural rankings are where you want them to be.

By Stephen Da Cambra

The Secret of Internet Marketing Balance

“Balance” is becoming an increasingly popular word.  Instead of careers, some of us now pursue a work/life balance.  Long ago, many of us ate what we pleased and suffered the consequences of not eating a balanced diet.  There’s even Balance TV.

The word’s popularity is well justified; too much of anything is not good and balance keeps everything … well … in balance.

 

Marketing is no exception.  Taking time to develop a balanced marketing mix will increase the payoff from your marketing budget. 

The right balance is especially important for internet marketing.  Unlike most other forms of marketing and advertising, there is no lag between message and action on the internet.  In seconds, a web surfer can go from not knowing of something to owning it.  The lack of mediating time between messages and customer conversion can make the consequences of unbalanced web marketing more severe than with other forms of marketing.

Fortunately, the secret to balancing your web marketing is simple – balance your web marketing goals.  The ultimate goal of any marketing is to increase sales – no balance needed.  On the internet, making a sale or generating a business lead results from completing a chain of three main goals:

First goal: To be found.  Your company or product needs to be found when potential customers search for it.  If your web site does not rank highly in search results, it is invisible to potential customers.

Second goal: To be chosen.  Search results are crowded with competing messages.  Customers will choose the result that addresses their needs most directly.

Third goal: To convert the visitor.  On retail sites, a conversion is a sale.  Your conversion may be different – provide a quotation, arrange a consultation or get customer information.  Whatever it is, it is the ultimate goal of your web marketing.

Not keeping the goals of internet marketing in balance creates a weak link in the chain – and you know what they say about the strength of a chain.

By Stephen Da Cambra

Your Economic Stimulus Package - Internet Marketing

“Fantastic!”, I thought when our small company launched its first web site in 1996 (otherwise known as 2 BG – 2 years before Google).  I immediately grasped the awesome possibilities and saw the future of this powerful new medium -  “I won’t have to hand out so many brochures!”

If you choose to use your web site as a surrogate brochure or calling card, that's fantastic.  But, it is like using the roads for a donkey cart instead of a tractor-trailer.  A donkey cart can carry a lot, but a tractor-trailer uses the same roadway to do so much more.

As each new medium comes along, its content has a tendency to imitate the content of the media that came before.  Until we realized its power to entertain, radio programming was a rehash newspaper copy.  The first television stars were old radio personalities; doing what they did on radio, but in front of the cameras.

The same is true for the internet.  Even the old “information superhighway” name probably originated in reference to the idea that the web could convey any print, audio or video content, but it does not reflect what the internet has become.  

Like the media that preceded it, the internet has matured and forged its own identity by connecting all of us in ways that other media cannot.  Not just single lanes of traffic, like a highway, but multiple communication pathways, going in every direction – like a living organism.

When you use your web site only as a surrogate brochure, you are not taking advantage of the internet’s ability to connect.  Connect to your markets, connect to your customers, connect to your competition.

Internet marketing offers the opportunity to connect along those multiple pathways – whether your customers are “kicking tires”, or ready to buy; whether they need lots of info or they purchase on impulse and whether they are looking for the purple widget or green thingme.

When you connect with your potential customers on new levels that relate directly to their buying process, you increase the chance of converting them to paying customers.

With the right internet marketing, you can turn your web site into your leading source of business and business leads.  Just the economic stimulus package your company might need.

By Stephen Da Cambra

Working the Room

Why is it that some people seem to “work a room” effortlessly while others shudder at the thought of starting conversations with strangers?  Personality type might make it easier for the extraverts, but it’s common for introverts to walk away from a conference with more business cards than they know what to do with.

The ability to work a room goes beyond personality because anyone can learn how it’s done.  This is not a primer on how to work a room, but there are a few basics.

First, those who start working the room by talking about themselves will last as long as it takes their victims to find an exit-from-the-conversation strategy.  If you have just returned from an Everest expedition, maybe you will keep your audience rapt for a while.  But, regardless of your story, ramble on about yourself long enough and you will eventually find yourself alone in the conversation.

Successful room workers know that we all like to talk about ourselves, so they will give you the opportunity to do so.  But, again, the vast majority of us grow tired of telling our stories, or at least we realize there is a limit.

This is the point at which the ability of those who know how to work a room really comes through.  Every conversation is a multi-point exchange.  Ideally, there is a point for each person in the conversation.  The great room-workers will add their relevant input to the conversation and encourage others to do the same.  A conversation is better when more people make relevant contributions.

Good internet marketing means knowing how to “work the room”.  Other marketing media are generally single-point forms of communication – you send your message to your customers.  Like a room, the internet allows multi-point communications between you and your customers – and amongst your customers.

To be a successful participant in the conversation, or successful internet marketer, you need to encourage your customers to speak.  You must listen to what they say; find out what they seek.  Then you need to respond with the relevant information they need to make the right decisions about your company.

By Stephen Da Cambra

Balance Your Web Marketing Strategy

We’ll be the first to admit that what follows is not a scientific test.  However, we believe all SME owners and managers should develop their internet marketing strategy with the results in mind.

We googled a few internet marketing terms just to see what we would see.  Below are four of the six terms we searched and the number of results for each term:

Web marketing – 103,000,000

Internet marketing – 103,000,000

Web marketing search – 84,600,000

Internet marketing search – 54,000,000

When we searched the first term, “web marketing”, we were struck by the number of references to “search engine optimization/rankings/marketing” in the results.  

Any surfer would get the impression that web/internet marketing revolves around getting higher search engine rankings.

We added the word “search” to our original terms to get an idea of the realtionship between the two.  It's quite strong.

It should be.  If your site is not found when your customers search for businesses like yours, you are as good as invisible on the internet.

However, as vitally important as high search ranking are to your internet marketing strategy, no strategy can stand on search results alone.

We searched two other terms:

Web marketing conversion – 4,030,000

Internet marketing conversion – 3,720,000

Again, this is by no means a scientific test, but the overall trend it exposes is undeniable.  While at least 50% of internet/web marketing results included some reference to “search”, a maximum of 4% included a reference to “conversion”.  Even after randomly clicking on 25 to 30 of the results, references to conversion were found on the home pages of only two internet marketing web sites (all of the sites we visited had some reference to search engine optimization/marketing/seo, etc., on their home pages)

You can get all the traffic you want to your web site, but if you don’t convert them, it’s like being invisible again.  In fact, it may be worse.  At least if you’re “invisible”, you can take steps to become “visible”.  But, if you make the effort to get a customer to your site and then fail to convert them, there's a good chance they will not return - effort (and money) wasted.

The moral of the story: beware of an unbalanced emphasis on search engine results when choosing your internet marketing partner. 

By Stephen Da Cambra