Digital Marketing Consultant

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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.

Have you found your business is caught somewhere between quantity and quality when it comes to your Internet marketing strategy?  If so, you are not alone.  All Internet marketers recognize the dynamics of advertising have been changing for quite some time.

The marriage of branding and social media has occurred and Internet marketers have had to learn to implement social media strategies into their overall marketing strategy.  Commonality is the basis of social media has proven to take advertising campaigns and more on a viral journey.

This is where quality begins to demonstrate value rather than quantity.  Even the search engines recognize the quality over volume.  The more viral your campaign becomes on the social media sites, the more recognition the search engines provide.

The growth of the various social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and other interactive platforms such as blogs, forums, video sites, and message boards continues as the number of users continues to show growth.  It is worth noting these sites grow according to the users, not according to the Internet marketers. 

Social media will probably continue to be the greatest opportunity for the Internet market, but it may also be the greatest challenge for the Internet marketers.  Meaningful marketing with factual information will be the basis for successful Internet marketing on these social media sites.

Providing quality marketing directed to a very specific target market will be key in defining Internet marketing success.  The more skillfully defined your advertising and marketing campaigns become, the greater your online success will be.

The good thing about this is both your individual market segment and the search engines find value in this type of marketing.  Let us help guide you through 2011.

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

Syndication of Content

Syndicate your content and take advantage of social media sites as they enable you to get to your target market on a “many to many” basis as opposed to a static website which offers a “one to many” interaction.

• Blogging – use blogs as a marketing tool by publishing educational and relevant information about your products and services. Don’t sell; become a “thought leader” and develop your online credibility. Blogs will consistently attract new visitors and increase the online visibility of
your company. Blogs enable easy interaction with your readers and provide a quick way to syndicate your content across the web.

• YouTube – create short videos showing how your products can solve problems that your ideal persona is interested in. Upload videos that provide the answers to your most frequently asked questions. Many people add the word “video” to their search term as they prefer to get a visual and audio view of your content.

• LinkedIn – develop your online network of contacts with professionals in your particular industry. Review questions that are posted and provide answers that address these questions without selling directly. LinkedIn provides you with the ability to network with thousands of subscribers that can interact with you or your company.

• Facebook – create a business profile and encourage your clients to become a fan. That way you can attract and communicate to thousands of fans.

• Twitter – allows thousands of followers to be updated on the Internet or mobile phones with the messages that you wish to publish.

• Social Media Bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit make it easy for your valuable content to be quickly spread throughout the web.

Create and publish good content and you will stimulate good conversation.

Content that Creates Conversation

Your online marketing strategy should include creating and publishing remarkable content that builds credibility and improves conversation by being found on social media sites that are indexed in Google’s top 30 search engine results.

Without content, conversation is mere networking.
Without conversation, content is dead. It goes nowhere.
- www.tippingpointlabs.com

When your ideal persona searches for the information they are looking for with regards to your company, its products or services, you will have the opportunity to present your content via various social media channels. This provides them to choose the communication channel they wish to engage with your content.

This diagram illustrates the type of links that would refer to your website by publishing content in various forms such as video, audio and the written word.

Relationship building is important in many aspects of life.  Families who have developed healthy relationships are considered functional families whereas those who do not have healthy relationships are considered to be dysfunctional families.  This same concept follows into the business environment also.

Building networks and relationships for marketing Internet business can make the difference between success and failure.   As an Internet marketing business owner you should take advantage of the wonderful world of social media to grow your business as you develop a relationship with various communities and networks.

Some of the different types of social media available include:
•    FaceBook
•    LinkedIn
•    Twitter
•    Blogs

FaceBook is a great avenue for sharing thoughts, pictures, and favorites with your clients.   FaceBook takes the sharing opportunity to a new level for business owners as they can share information about their business through their network of contacts through FaceBook.   FaceBook has a far reaching effect as your friends receive your business information and then share it with their friends.  Some of these contacts would never be available directly to you, but through mutual friends your information as far reaching effects.

Blogs are a great way to interact with your online customers.  Business owners understand the value of making the customer feel special and unique.  Launching or promoting new products and services can be effectively managed with use of social media such as Twitter or blog postings.  The Internet marketing business owner can even provide coupons, special discounts or other sales promotions to the customer base by use of online social media.

LinkedIn is a social media tool that can contain your profile with your professional information available for others to review.   LinkedIn allows a business owner to share business related information across the Internet.

Social Media can be used to post industry or business specific information and data for a specific business.  Some of the information which can be included on the social media sites includes:
•    Post meetings
•    Project details and check in
•    Shared documents
•    Products and Services

Social Media is one of the newest ways to maintain branding for your Internet marketing business.  Twitter is an effective way to create branding for your business.  Social media sites, such as Twitter, are an effective way to keep your business in front of your target market.  Having said this, and even more effective marketing is via cell phones for certain products and services, but that is for another day.

Get involved with social media for the sake of your business.   I strongly suggest that you go back in this blog to the Social Media Marketing Series and read it carefully.  If you would rather have a printout, I will send you a copy for free.  Don’t you want your internet marketing business to succeed?   Following these basic concepts can put your business ahead of the competition quickly.

Multiple channels of social media should be tapped to help you market your company, product, and service.   Allow your target clients to contact you and connect with your content on a variety of media choices including:
•    Twitter
•    Linkedin
•    Slideshare
•    Squidoo
•    Facebook
•    YouTube
•    Blogs

This will give them the opportunity to connect using their choice of communication.   Your website continues to be at the center of your business, your core business, but you will use the other social media channels as an attraction to your site.   The easier you make access for your clients with more points of access, the more popular your site will become.

The use of social media does not replace the need for quality content for your website.   This just gives more opportunity for your selected market to connect with your website.  The more you use these avenues of connecting with your clients the more your online business will continue to show growth.

Syndication on multiple social media sites opens the door for conversation regarding your content in a broad manner.   This will also help build your brand visibility online.

Placing rich content information on the various social media platforms builds your company’s credibility.  To become successful with your online business you must obtain visibility throughout the internet.

The return for the time, cost, and effort utilized to have a presence on these various sites can be substantial.  The more traffic you can direct to your website the more opportunities you have for conversions.  Conversions result in income on your financial statement and money in your pocket.

And if you really would like to know more, go to http://bit.ly/WSIwisdomBook.  It is a big book, so don't miss the white papers near the end.