Digital Marketing Consultant

Generic Solution

By taking full advantage of Search Engine and Social Media Optimization you are able to reinforce your website or brand presence on popular search engines without paying extra for it. Here are some steps you can take to optimize your website organically:

• Content Marketing. A resource website should have articles related to the product or service that you are offering. Websites that contain 100 pages of content or more are likely to achieve higher rankings in search engines and increase your website’s ability to be found for long-tail keyword searches.
• Create Incoming Links. Link building and link popularity is important for all websites. Link popularity refers to the amount of text links that lead to your website from other sites and is the single most important factor that a search engine algorithm considers when ranking a web page.

Effective link building is achieved by blogging on a regular basis, submitting your websites to online classifieds/directories and by taking advantage of the many social media platforms that are available – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

Combine SEO with SMO. Brand your name with social media marketing. Websites like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Twitter can be leveraged effectively to grow your business. By spreading your content over social media channels your website will gain many more search engine positions.

Work with WSI to make Sure You Appear on Google

Developing a search engine optimization game plan is the key to the success of your website. It takes careful keyword research which is an activity that can take many hours followed by carefully sorting them into specific product or service silos to ensure creating relevant content that will attract targeted “long tail” searches.

Let WSI help you by creating the optimal website content blueprint to ensure a successful “lead generating” website. With our proprietary WSI Power Search software, we can quickly identify and obtain creative content ideas that will develop your website into a resource website that will establish your credibility as an expert in your industry. Let WSI become your Internet marketing lead generation partner.

Why is Social Media Marketing Important?

Up until now we’ve heard that content is king. This is even more important as one can now place your content on many social media sites as well.

Content Marketing now moves to video, slideshows, blogs and networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. So many more places for people to find your company and brand.

But with the popularity of Social media networking sites, like forums, Facebook and LinkedIn, we find out that not only is content king, but “conversation is king”. People like to ask others for recommendations and experiences with products and services. What people say about your product, service or company can mean all the difference to closing a lead or losing the business.

Generating Leads Online

Lead generation for most businesses is possible on the Internet. You will be surprised what good relevant content can do for website visibility and lead generation. You will be seen as a resource website and this builds credibility which in turn creates confidence for the visitor to engage with your company.

The Solution

The solution is to think creatively about the types of content you should upload to your website. One of the best ways to come up with content ideas is to do some research and identify other keywords that would help you with writing relevant content.

This is where Search Engine Optimization comes into its own.  It is used to increase your website’s search engine rankings so users can find your products or services easily.

With the addition of Social Media Optimization you can dramatically increase the number of search engine rankings you list in, which in turn will drive more targeted traffic to your website.

Compete Effectively Against the Bigger Brands with SEO

One of the greatest advantages the Internet has over the Yellow Pages is that the Yellow Pages puts your business right next to your competitors, whereas the Internet gives you infinite scope to differentiate yourself from competitors. In addition to this, the various analytical tools available to website owners allows for you to identify areas where you can make an improvement to your website.

I Have Good Content, But I still Don't Rank on Google's First Page.  Why?

This is a question that is asked many times. The way Google prioritizes its search rankings is done in two
ways:

1. On-page optimization – at the very basic level, it is where the good content comes in with the related keywords being used in headings, sub headings, bullets and internal link text.
2. Off-page optimization – These are external links that point to your website from other websites. These links are seen as recommendations and build credibility for your website.  Google ranks your web page based on the number of valuable related links. You could view this as a voting system; the one with the most related votes will do well.

The Study

Yesterday we talked about what search engine visibility was and the studies around it. 

What Information do We Look For?

The study revealed that people who use search engines are looking for the following information in order of importance:

• Easily found prices
• Download info
• Product info
• Product comparisons
• Your company’s approach to business
• Technical papers
• Knowledge base
• General information about your product
• White papers
• Case studies
• Multimedia like video on your product
• Information about your company
• Webinars
• Podcasts

From this list it is easy to see what the secret is; It is CONTENT. I am sure you’ve all heard of the phrase content is king.  Well, since the inception of the Internet, content is what we have all been looking for. It has stood the test of time, while many of us try to keep up with Google’s ever changing algorithms.

Once we find out that content is all we need to achieve search engine visibility, we see many business owners get excited about participating in their website marketing with great results.

The best way to get a return on your website investment is to create an asset out of your website. This is achieved by adding content to your website on a regular basis. This strategy is called Content Marketing. By adding content pages you increase your chances of ranking for long tail keyword phrases. These are phrases of 3 or more words that often result in highly focused and targeted search results.

Anchor content and being an authoritative domain are both very important: but maintaining both while successfully building links can be challenging.  This can be accomplished with some simple methods.

Guest Post

One of the most powerful ways to get linked by domains and pages of authority is to obtain guest posts.  By sharing content, you can effectively build links with guest post.  You can search for blogs that will be most flexible with the allowed content.   Domains that offer self syndication and are known as a power-packed domain offer many advantages to link building.

Staff Member Site Links

Staff which have blogs, websites, and other media sources that can offer links can also prove to be a viable way to build links.   Links developed in this manner provide for the most flexibility and control when it comes to content.

Testimonial Links

Offer testimonials of other website products and services in exchange for a link.  A couple of good sources for testimonial links include consultants and contractors you may work with. Virtually any company or anyone you may do business with is a potential for a testimonial link exchange.   You can also reach out to select customers for testimonial link exchanges.   A little research to identify potential testimonial links can be very rewarding.

Keywords

Attracting links by strategic keywords can lead to high quality links.  Obtaining links with your exact content text can be beneficial in your link building campaign.
Internal Links

A lot of Internet marketers miss the opportunity for Internal link building.  Ranking on the search engines will be enhanced by building internal links to pages within your own domain.  These are just a few of the rock-solid methods to use in building quality links to your website.  Talk to us about how to do everything better.

With just a little bit of effort and research, you, too, can be successful at building links without compromising your site content.

One of the hottest topics on Internet or digital marketing is content marketing.  There are several important facts about effective use of content marketing.  Google has realized that "junk" content farms are fooling their search algorhythm.  Now the rules have changed.  You need to do it right.

1.  Conversational content is most effective.   To get attention content does not have to be tricky or splattered with jargon.  But it does have to connect with the reader.  By writing your content in a conversational manner you will be speaking directly to the heart of your market.   Rather than talking about product talk about the benefits your customers receive from your products.   Allow your content to show more than it tells.  Let your content be personable with your market.

2.  Recognize that your market is more interested in themselves than they are in either you or your product.   You will attract the attention of your market when you focus on their needs rather than what you have to offer.  Always put your markets needs above your product or services. 

4.  Create content from your existing content.   Reengineering your current content by breaking it up into smaller bits of content by way of blog post will get the attention of the search engines in a positive way. This is the easier way to build content more effectively.

5.  Focus your content on your niche.   Maintain content that is direct to your niche.  It may be tempting to expand to other areas within your big picture.  But staying on target within a specific niche that provides solutions to your target markets problems will be provide the most effective marketing.  Go deeper into the niche rather than taking a broader look at the niche.

Content created and delivered in this manner will bring results from your target market and allow your expertise to be demonstrated validating your products and services.  It is not easy to have the time to complete such and important marketing function.  If you need help to decide what to do, don't hesitate to speak with us.

Some specific skills are required for Internet marketing success.  The purpose of Internet marketing is to get visitors to your website and then to take the action to purchase your product or sign up for your services.

Anyone involved in Internet marketing of any degree understands the importance of quality content.  If there would be one word to define Internet marketing, it would be Content.

Enough cannot be said about the need to develop excellent writing skills when it comes to developing your content for Internet marketing.  If this is a challenge for you, it would be wise for you to consider outsourcing your content development. 

• Blogging
• Article Writing
• Forum marketing
• Classified Ads including free ads
• E-zine Ads
• Podcasts
• White Papers
• Content for various social media sites.
• Newsletters

Each of the identified methods of Internet marketing directly involves content.  It is this content that will determine the success or ranking of your website.  Content is where Internet marketing starts and ends.

Making sure your target market reaches your website is the single most important goal you should have as an Internet marketer.  Your content, whether it is on your website, in an article, on a blog post, placed as an ad, or presenting on the various social media sites, is the vehicle which will move traffic to your website.

Assuring you have killer content working for all aspects of your Internet marketing strategy plan is essential to build and maintain a successful online presence.

Static content regardless of how good it may be will not continue providing ongoing Internet success.  Content needs to stay fresh and be updated on a consistent basis to maintain success.  Quality content is the life blood for your business success.

The Internet provides the ideal platform for any business to generate leads. The way to increase your online presence is through “Content Marketing”. By continuously publishing valuable and relevant information you will be creating an online asset for your business.

The key to generating business leads online is to provide relevant content that persuades your visitor to engage with your company.

Set up your goal metrics in Google Analytics to support your company’s business objectives and measure your results regularly.

The goal measurements show the lead generation goals that were achieved online.

The new ways to be found is to syndicate your optimized content onto social media platforms and be found on search engines for more
than just your website content.

Good content will lead to conversation about your company and its products creating “word of mouth” referrals. 

I am taking a break between Christmas and New Years, but don't hestitate to write.  Have a great New Year, Please!

Copyright © 2010 by Research and Management. All rights reserved.

Benefits of Content Marketing

• Syndicating your content on various social media sites will encourage conversation about your content and will support any “word of mouth” strategy that your business has.

• Good information encourages people to link to your content thus creating increased referral visitors to your website.

• An additional benefit is that good content can generate many referral links which improves your Google rankings and in-turn increases the number of visitors and online brand visibility.

• Good content reduces your need to use paid advertising as you will continue to attract more qualified visitor traffic, instead of continually having to pay to keep getting more visitors.

• By including social media into your company’s communication strategy you will be able to target and get to the “Generation Y” population that is increasingly becoming more important in the business world.

Below is a screenshot of the number of keyword phrases that visitors entered into Google when arriving at a Flower Shop website that is a client of the author.

Creating a Content Blueprint

It is easy to fall into the trap and just start adding content to your website and syndicate it to social media sites. People can confuse “article marketing” with content marketing. Article marketing is mainly used to create links to your website and to attract search engine traffic. In many instances, these articles are of low value to the reader and although they bring attention to your brand, they don’t always contribute to your conversion goals.

The first step in implementing a content marketing strategy is to create a content blueprint.

Step 1: Define your business goals

What do you want to achieve in the following 12 months in your business? Goals to consider are:

• Revenue targets
• Increase customer base by 15%
• Upsell to existing customers

Step 2: Identify your ideal website personas

Who are the ideal personas that you would like to visit your website? These are normally the decision makers or evangelists of your products or services:

• Chief Executive Officer
• VP of Marketing
• Chief Financial Officer
• Housewives, etc.

Step 3: List the types of information they require?

For each of these personas, create a list of:

• Questions they typically ask
• Information they seek about your company, products or service

Step 4: Determine the action you want your persona to take

• Download white paper
• Download case study
• Listen to podcast
• View company video
• Subscribe to your newsletter

This information should help your visitor solve their problem, build your credibility and ultimately persuade them to engage with your company.

Step 5: Research search keywords

Use keyword research tools such as Wordtracker, SEO Book, Market Samurai or similar tools to:

• Identify the list of questions used in search
• Identify niche topics that you can create content for
• Look for Top 10 lists, Best of, etc. ideas

Step 6: Create your blueprint

Sort your content by persona and create a sitemap and navigation plan to channel your content effectively to your visitor. For each content piece, decide which Internet channels you will syndicate to:

• Website
• Blog
• YouTube video
• Podcast
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Squiddoo
• And others that your persona would frequent

Create your online marketing plan

Schedule regular dates on which to create and publish your content. Publishing regular content will increase your online visibility and create an online asset for your business.

Measure your business objectives

• Install Google Analytics to monitor your website and blog performance
• Set the business goals that you need to measure
• Review goal achievement and keywords used to get to your site
• Brainstorm creative ways of providing content related to your industry