5 Reasons Your Social Media Isn’t Working? Try Marketing Basics!
The more I learn about internet marketing and effective use of social media the more I am convinced it isn’t really any different then traditional marketing. Amanda Brooke writing for Drop Ship News identified five reasons a social media campaign might not deliver the results you seeking.
Take a look at her list and ask yourself this question – Is there anything on this list which doesn’t apply equally to the off line world?
- Targeting the wrong demographic – This needs no translation
- Failure to use good SEO – In the off line world it would translate to: Failure to use good advertising strategy, placing media in the wrong places
- Your content and contributions were substandard – Offline: Your ads are cheesy, poorly designed or uninteresting
- You came across as shady and untrustworthy – Again, no translation needed
- You spread yourself too thin – On or offline, you can not be all things to all people. Decide where you can be most effective, and commit!
Do you have other examples of how the rules on and off line are the same? Share them here.
Taking SEO Into Your Own Hands
Every once in a while, we get a client who doesn’t just talk about wanting the best ranked website in their field, they are committed to going the extra mile to stand head and shoulders above their competitors. Dr. Jeff Yoder of Meridian Chiropractic is one of those clients. Dr. Yoder understands the importance of measuring each and every marketing effort he puts forth when trying to reach clients.
When we build sites in WordPress, we do several things to improve the overall search rankings of a site. We use All-In-One SEO to title pages. We work with the clients to develop a list of key words to be used in their posts. And then, after we build the site we train our clients how to manage their sites. Once complete, the responsibility is theirs to continue creating fresh, relevant content to maximize their SEO efforts. It’s important that clients create new blog posts and use the tools we give them to put their websites in the best position to be successful.
Often, our clients adopt a set it and forget it attitude. However, Dr. Yoder has continued to challenge us to find additional ways to help increase his visibility on the keywords he wants to build his SEO strategy around.
He caters to busy professionals who need a chiropractor located in downtown Indianapolis. For him, the words “Indianapolis chiropractor“, “downtown chiropractor“, and “Meridian Chiropractic” are keywords Dr. Yoder wants his site strongly associated with.
Dr. Yoder has been tracking his progress from obscurity to visibility on search engines. He has seen progress and we now as he continues to ad fresh content and optimize each new post for search engines, his rankings will continue to improve.
We always love when clients take an active role in their marketing success. It’s that drive that separates most successful business owners from the pack.
SEO Impossible
Many people like to talk about Search Engine Optimization like it’s a magic bullet: one simple dose of keyword magic, and you’ll be burning up the Google search rankings. This is sadly not the case, especially if you’re trying to break into a competitive search term.
This is the problem we encountered when trying to move our clients at Polaris Property Management up the search list. They wanted to search competitively on the term “Indianapolis property management.” Unfortunately, a search for this term returns 5,160,000 results. To make matters even worse, there are only about 1,600 searches for the term each month. So you have a paradox: a competitive term that isn’t searched very often. What’s a company to do?
It all comes back to the 3 R’s:
Relevancy: Did we use appropriate keywords throughout the site? The client wanted to “own” that particular search term, but is that the best strategy? Would we be better off going after a more specific search term?
Recency: It’s important to add new content to your site at least every week in order to stay fresh in the minds of your readers–and to keep Google’s web crawlers coming back. Adding a blog would surely help in this department.
Related Links: This is where things get tricky. It’s not enough to have a well-optimized, frequently updated site. You have to have other reputable sites that link back to you. One great, though often time-consuming way to do this, is to “seed” blogs. That is, find blogs on similar topics and post insightful comments that link back to your own site. In this way, you’ll establish your online street cred, which will also give you a boost up the search rankings.
Simply put, SEO isn’t easy. Anyone who tells you that it is is lying. It’s an ongoing, constantly evolving process. So ask yourself: are you following the 3 R’s?
Jump Start Your Business: Link Love
We’re continuing our look at Inc. Magazine’s great 25 Tips to Jump Start Your Business series.
As anyone who reads our blog regularlyknows, SEO is one of Lorraine’s favorite topics. While there are many elements which contribute to SEO, one of the most important measures for your website is how many other sites link to it. Links, from credible sources to your site are an indication that your website is trustworthy and contains good content. The more links, the better.
Check out these five great tips for getting serious “link love” for your site:
- Give stuff away: There is not a person on earth who doesn’t love something for free. If you gift it, they will come. Consider a free e-book download, an app, or some worksheets that other people might find useful. Once people hear about the great swag, they’ll link back to your site.
- Share useful information: This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only are you adding value to to the world with a useful article or how-to guide, you’re also establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
- Connect with your community: This is crucial. You can (and should!) be in regular contact with both your local, geographical community and your industry community. Sponsor, or at least help promote with your social media, local events, and add value to your industry community by sharing great articles.
- Reach out to the blogosphere: Don’t be afraid to get in touch with your favorite blogger to offer praise, constructive criticism, or ideas for posts. Offer a product for them to review, or inform them of some big doings in your industry. Just make sure that the blogger would actually be interested in what you have!
- PR: Sometimes, the classics work. When you send a press release, your “boiler plate,” or the standard text about your company at the end of the release, should always include your Web address and blog address. Always! Then, when you post the release to an online source, people can see and visit your site. Just another way of spreading your posts out into the world.
It takes time to build the links, but if you are work at it, even a small business site, an have thousands of inbound links. According to Website Grader, Rounpeg currently has more than 4,500 inbound links.
WordStream Launches SEO Toolset
I guess I have finally become a “legitimate blog” in the eyes of the tech community. Why do I say that? I am now getting press releases about new software and tools.
Check out this release from WordStream. They are launching a new SEO Toolset with Advanced Keyword Research and Content Optimization Features
While not for the average small business owner, this new search engine optimization software provides marketers, bloggers and website owners with host of keyword discovery and content authoring tools. If you are investing in PPC this tool may give you valuable input as you select individual and groups of key words.
BOSTON – April 20, 2010 – WordStream, Inc., a provider of keyword tools for pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, announced today that it has released a suite of custom keyword research, keyword analytics and content optimization tools called “WordStream for SEO.”
WordStream for SEO is an advanced keyword research toolset that many are calling “keyword research on steroids.” The new software suite provides the same keyword analysis and keyword suggestion capabilities that SEO tools like Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery provide, but it moves light years ahead by layering in high-level keyword analytics, keyword grouping and organization features as well as integrated content authoring tools, all for the same price as other traditional keyword research tools (starting at $99/month).
“For the same money I was paying for Wordtracker’s keyword search tool, I get all the same functionality I had with Wordtracker, with a deeper keyword database, keyword analytics, and really powerful keyword organization tools layered on top,” says WordStream customer Kwessi Annor. “So making the switch from Wordtracker to WordStream was a no-brainer.”
Rather than presenting a static list of keyword suggestions along with a handful of related keywords, WordStream for SEO provides users with:
- Traditional Keyword Research: WordStream for SEO generates keyword suggestions that are pulled from a deep database of search engine queries
- Personalized Keyword Suggestions: WordStream for SEO goes further than traditional keyword generator tools by mining site data to discover relevant keyword opportunities that people are already using to find the site
- Keyword Analytics: Instead of vague estimates based on popularity, WordStream provides accurate visit and goal data for keywords from the site on a continuous basis
- Keyword Organization: WordStream for SEO has sophisticated grouping and organization capabilities, which let users segment keyword lists and uncover content opportunities, analyze data in strategic clusters and create a SEO-friendly information architecture
- Content Authoring: The Blog SEO Tool within WordStream for SEO connects keyword research with content creation efforts to help generate better, more focused, search engine ready blog posts, product pages and sales copy
Part of the WordStream for SEO toolset, Blog SEO, is a Firefox plugin that works alongside content management platforms, such as WordPress, Blogger and Drupal. Blog SEO allows users to discover more specific keyword and copy ideas around general or more granular topics as they are writing. The Blog SEO plugin also keeps a running count of each keyword phrase as it is used, working to keep writers “on message” after the initial research stage.
“The Blog SEO plugin is the next step in the evolution of smarter SEO tools, and is a must for anyone who creates Web copy on a regular basis, be it a marketer, blogger, PR professional or social media marketer,” says Larry Kim, Founder and Vice President of Product Development at WordStream. “By integrating keyword research with content authoring, this tool helps make your copy more powerful, compelling and SEO-friendly, so it gets found by search engines and persuades more people to take action.”
To explore WordStream for SEO and experience the full keyword research and content authoring toolset, you can sign up for a FREE trial by going to:http://www.wordstream.com/seo-free-trial
About WordStream
WordStream is a provider of SEO and PPC solutions for continuously optimizing and expanding search marketing efforts, involving large numbers ofsearch engine keywords. WordStream provides a scalable, private, online keyword workbench—which includes a free keyword tool and an AdWords tool—for conducting keyword discovery, keyword research, keyword grouping, search marketing workflow and for turning research into action.
WordStream believes that an organization’s keywords are a valuable, proprietary asset, and that organizing, prioritizing, coordinating and executing of PPC and SEO efforts around a comprehensive, researched and up-to-date keyword taxonomy is the key to search marketing success. Keyword management improves search marketing productivity and enables greater relevance, which enhances the value of search marketing efforts.
####
WordStream Press Contact:
Ken Lyons, Marketing Manager
617-963-0563, klyons@wordstream.com
Without a Website You Don’t Exist
by Allison Carter, Intern
I recently received a great white paper from Steve Schmidt with Effect Web Agency on the 3 major risks of casually investing in the Web. I will be talking about some fo the key points in a series of blog posts, but the entire white paper is worth the read.
The first danger is a lack of brand awareness and visibility. According to a 2007 survey, 65.3% of B2B buyers and 70% of consumers begin their search for products and services with a search engine. So if you don’t have a Web site at all, kiss more than half of your potential business goodbye.
Even if you have a Web site, if you aren’t optimized for search engines, you’re also losing business. 70-80% of Web traffic comes directly from search engines, and 68% of Web users will click on a link in the first page. So if you’re languishing at the bottom of page 3, your chances of being seen decrease dramatically.
Let this be a wake up call: If you don’t have a Web site, you need one. If you have one, do a quick Google search for your industry and geographic location–for instance, “business consulting, Indianapolis.” Where do you rank? If it’s not on the page, consider an SEO overhaul.
Small Business Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Or How to Help Search Engines Find You without Boring Your Readers!
As a writer and person, I have many interests. However, as a blogger, wishing to cultivate an audience, I need to narrow those interests and focus on a few topics to help search engines and readers find me.
So, I write about small business marketing and business planning. But some times I get tired of the same thing. I feel as if I have written it before ( and sometimes when I update a theme, I have!) This creates a challenge because I want to keep the content fresh and interesting, but consistent.
I have studied a number of bloggers to see how they find the balance. And some do it better then others. One of the best is Louis Grey. Primarily tech focused, he gives us an inside view of what is going on in Silicon Valley, human explainations of new technology ( instead of GEEK SPEAK) and the occasoinal look inside his personal life, and the challenges of raising twins. His recent topics have included :
- Hard But Smart Decisions: Blogger Tackles The .5% Problem
- EdgeTheory Conversations: Twitter’s New Suggestions
- Apple & Google are Primary Enemies? At What Cost?
In contrast, local Social Media Expert, Kyle Lacy has moved in a different direction. A year ago, his blog covered a wide range of topics. Today, as his business has become more and more focused on Social Media exclusively, so have have his posts.
- Social Media from a Generation Y Perspective
- Empower Your Employees to Win with Social Media
- Marketing Through Social Media is Not Easy. Plan Accordingly
While I miss some of his customer service rants, and general musings, when I am looking for social media content, he is my first stop. And his strategy is helping him win search. Just type “social media Indianapolis” into your search bar and see who tops the list!
Some writers have found the balance by creating multiple blogs. ( I have no idea how they get anything else done). For me, the balance seems to be, writing primarily about small business marketing, but allowing myself, from time to time, to ramble off in different directions and hope my readers enjoy the detour.
Great Web Copy Begins with a Word
Everyone wants the key to success. The one right way to do something. Unfortunately when it comes to web design, like many other marketing strategies, there is no one right answer. Especially when you are working to please multiple audiences.
One of the great challenges of web design is creating a site which serves the needs of the search engines and the real people who visit your site, and hopefully buy something along the way. How do you find a balance between the needs of these two very different audiences?
Your task is to develop content which is interesting and eye catching to your visitors, and informative for search engines.
Search engines like lots of copy, containing key words, repeatedly if possible. Your readers, with serious attention deficit want you to get to the point quickly. One strategy is to start with the very best phrases.
I use the keyword tool from Google Ad Words as a starting point for word selection in my copy. I simply type a phrase I believe clients will use when looking for a particular type of business and the tool generates a list of alternative phrases. It will also rank how often these phrases have been used in recent searches.
Example:
I tested ”small business marketing” and found the term ”marketing strategy” was searched significantly more often. I found it was used an average 201,000 times a month. I also noticed ”small business ideas”, a phrase I have never deliberately used, is searched more than 20,000 times a month. This is not the most popular phrase, but it has a steady following. I am going to try to adjust my copy to add it to the mix!
The Lesson
Researching key words will give you a great foundation for your copy. Be sure you don’t create copy which overuses the terms like this: Small business marketing strategy should include novel ideas for small business owners, which expand their current small business marketing activities. Search engines will love it, but your readers ( the people who buy from you) won’t!
Creating a productive website does not require more flash or more pictures. A great website requires simple navigation and great content.
New Niche Marketing Tools
I have finally arrived as a blogger! I am now receiving press releases to share on my site.
I received this one from Wordstream. After I got over the initial shock and residual feeling of being flattered, I actually read the release. I decided to share it with my readers because I think the tools will be valuable to small business owners trying to manage their SEO and PPC campaigns.
WordStream Launches Two Free Niche Marketing Tools for SEO and PPC
WordStream adds to their suite of free search marketing tools, introducing two new products to help search marketers better identify profitable keyword opportunities
BOSTON, MA – December 16, 2009 – WordStream, Inc., a provider of keyword tools for pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) efforts involving large numbers of keywords, today launched a pair of tools designed to help businesses identify and optimize highly profitable keyword niches.
Tie Your Shoes
Today’s post is by our intern Neil:
Have you ever tried running in shoes without shoelaces? It is difficult, and risky as you can easily trip and fall on your face. 
Running your business website without taking advantage of SEO tools creates a similar scenario. While you are unlikely to be in danger of physical injury, the risk to your business is real. Without a solid focus on SEO, you will find yourself tripping and falling as you attempt to drive traffic and connect with potential prospects and clients.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) according to Wikapedia
is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion
There are many tools you can use to improve your position with search engines such as Google, Yahoo and BIN. Moving to the top of the search list means potential customers find you faster and easier compared to your competitors. This in turn will improve the quantity and quality of traffic to your website.
I have been researching SEO tools for the past few weeks and here are two of my favorites.
- Google Analytics which analyzes your web site’s performance by helping you understand what terms drive traffic, what information visitors search for when they arrive, and how long they stay. By looking at the data you can make adjustments in your site to improve your performance.
- Linkscape from SMOZ.org In the internet world you are judged by the company you keep. These relationships are measured in links. Using this tool you can discover who links to you and more interesting, who links to your competitors.
At Roundpeg we rely on these tools to help our clients rank higher on Search Engines and drive more traffic to their sites. Do you have a favorite SEO tool?
Neil out!
