Tips, thoughts and topics on marketing for small to medium-sized businesses in Michigan and throughout the world. Contributions by Chris Slocumb, Casey Frushour, as well as other members of the Clarity Quest team.
Great post by Aaron Muller discussing myths related to search engine optimization companies.
You can almost think of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as a somewhat secretive industry. You see a lot of people claiming to be SEO experts, and some charge a lot of money for their SEO services. Some people guarantee results and some don’t. At the same time, almost nobody will tell you the exact methods he or she uses to improve your web site’s rankings, so you are left wondering: am I paying too much? Am I being too cheap? Am I hiring the right person? What should I look for when hiring a SEO company? Is it worth the investment?
If you think about it, there is a reason that the SEO industry is somewhat secretive. For one thing, search engines like Google do not like people tampering with their search results. If you are a dentist in Chicago and you realize that thousands of people type “Chicago dentist” into Google every week, imagine how much more business you would get if your web site comes up first in the search results! When I say search results, I mean the organic search results, not the paid advertisements, since 70% to 80% of people click on the natural search results instead of the paid advertisements.
This brings me to the second reason why search engine optimization companies are somewhat secretive. They take away Google’s revenues from paid advertisements! The more people hire SEO companies to improve their rankings on the natural search results, the less likely they are to use paid advertising with the search engines such as Google AdWords and pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements.
For these reasons, search engines such as Google do not like search engine optimization companies, and the SEO experts have to be somewhat hush hush with their methods. As a result, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions when it comes to hiring SEO companies. However, this does not mean you need to be at a lost. You are likely to get better investment of your dollars with some SEO companies than others. With a little education and understanding of SEO companies, you will be better equipped to choose the right SEO company for you.
Here are the top 3 myths when it comes to search engine optimization…
1. The majority of the SEO work takes place on your web site. The logic behind this myth is that if you design a really search engine friendly web site, your web site would be ranked high by search engines such as Google. Yes, it may be true that having the right keywords and meta tags on your web site help your ranking, but if it were that easy, don’t you think everybody would be doing the same thing? The truth is – only a small percentage of the SEO work is done on your web site. The majority of the SEO work to improve your ranking should be done on other people’s web sites! Search engines tend to care a lot more about what other web sites think about yours rather than what you have on your own web site. This is the reason that a good web designer is not necessarily a good SEO expert, and vice versa. Web designers tend to focus almost all of their energy working on your web site. Good SEO experts, on the other hand, tend to focus their energy on other web sites in order to help improve your web site’s rankings.
2. Good SEO can be done cheaply. There is a saying that people tend to get what they pay for, and this saying applies to hiring SEO companies. However, you should not base your decision on price alone. What you should understand is why some SEO companies charge you so little (such as $49.95 per month). Some keywords are more competitive than others. For instance, let’s say you run a hair salon in Los Angeles called “BJ Hair Design”. Which keywords do you want to optimize? Do you want to optimize “BJ Hair Design”, or do you want to optimize “hair salon Los Angeles”? I can charge you very little to improve the ranking of the keyword “BJ Hair Design”, but potential customers searching for hair salons on the Internet don’t know your company name (which is why they are searching in the first place), so no one is going to type in “BJ Hair Design”. Chances are they will type in “hair salon Los Angeles”, and this is when you want your web site to come up first. It is much harder to get a high ranking on competitive keywords such as “hair salon Los Angeles”, which means it will cost you a little more to get high rankings on highly desirable keywords. So before you go with the cheapest SEO company, think about this… Which keywords are they helping you optimize?
3. SEO stops when your ranking is high. Another myth is that SEO is a one-time investment. If you have a very high ranking on Google, there are probably 9 other companies trying to compete with you. If everyone else is advancing but you, your ranking will eventually drop. That is why you should think of SEO as an ongoing investment for your business. By continuing to invest in your web site’s ranking, you will ensure a steady stream of new customers that will visit your web site and call you up.
I'm reposting a blog post from Josh Freedman of Seattle's Web1Marketing that outlines wonderful criteria to evaluate if your company needs a content management system (CMS) for its website(s). Clients often if they need a Content Management System (CMS) to help manage website changes. In theory, these systems allow organizations to effectively manage their own site changes. This post will delve into the pros and cons of using a CMS.
As their name implies, Content Management Systems are software packages that make website maintenance more systematic and (in theory) easier. Typical features include:
Security — Password protected logins and different levels of control over site design and content.
Multiple users with multiple roles — Different users can have different capabilities so that, for instance, many people can create new content, but only certain editors and administrators can make those changes part of the live website.
Templates — Standardization of web sites and site sections, and removing the need for special formatting of each new piece of content. Also enables some things to be changed site-wide very easily.
Simplified content creation and editing — Most common CMSs allow users to create and edit content without knowledge of HTML and CSS.
Task automation — Automatic creation of menus, navigation tools, sitemaps, RSS feeds, etc.
Expanded functionality — Many CMS systems support “plug-ins” that provide additional functionality like blogs, email list management, usage statistics, etc.
Lower cost — Simplified content creation and editing saves time and reduces the reliance on technical services and outside vendors.
The above list is by no means complete, but they summarize the basic capabilities and point out the most popular benefits. There are hundreds of different CMSs that offer a variety of additional capabilities that may be valuable for particular situations.
The most common alternative to a CMS-based strategy is to built websites using standard HTML and CSS (and perhaps limited use of ASP or PHP). Much of the initial design and development work is the same for sites that do and do not use CMSs. You will either have to know or pay for HTML expertise to make changes, but there are tens of thousands of people and firms that can help, which cannot be said of event the most popular CMS.
So what are the downsides of CMS use? Well, there are many potential challenges:
Software cost — There are many open-source (hence “free”) CMS tools, but there are many that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Installation and configuration cost — Any CMS must be setup and configured for a particular site design, group of users, initial information organization, and any additional features of the CMS or integration of other tools. This process requires significant technical expertise and experience with that particular CMS. The required level of expertise is typically much greater (and more expensive) than HTML and CSS authoring. Typical installation and configuration costs run from the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
Database dependence — Virtually all CMSs rely on database software. This adds technical dependencies that static websites do not share and may require the skills of database experts for advanced configuration issues.
Lack of portability — Unlike static websites, CMS-based sites typically require a variety of technical steps to be relocated from one server to another, and the underlying server software usually needs to be the same. Moving a static site is usually as simple as copying files form one location to another.
Maintenance — While a CMS may make creation of content easier, systematic changes to a site require expertise with the particular CMS and specific implementation, and they can be expensive.
User training — Content authors, editors, and anyone else who will be using the CMS must be trained on its use, which includes how NOT to create new problems in configuration.
Upgrading — A CMS is a piece of software that must be upgraded periodically to insure that any security patches or bug fixes are implemented in a timely manner.
Vendor dependence — The cost of making systematic changes is usually lower if you work with the people that installed the CMS because of system and installation-specific knowledge. This makes it much harder to cost-effectively to change vendors.
Security — Any software that allows multiple users introduces the risk of abuse by a user or someone who gains access through other means. The risk rises as more users are granted access. Integration with other systems (e.g. lead management) can introduce security risks for those systems.
Breadth of failure — In a site that relies on “static” HTML and CSS, problems are typically isolated to a particular page and are not catastrophic. Problems in any software-dependent system can bring down an entire site. Such instances are rare, particularly with high quality CMSs and skilled vendors, but the risk is not zero.
Feature additions — If you need a capability that your CMS doesn’t offer, it may require custom programming that requires integration with the existing system. This can be simple or it can get very complex, and any integration may complicate subsequent upgrades to the CMS.
With all of these challenges, it should be pretty clear that for very small sites and those that are changed infrequently, CMSs can be a very poor investment. For larger sites or those that require frequent updates from multipe authors, a CMS might be a good solution.
Believe it or not, "Twitter" beat out h1n1, Obama and Michael Jackson as the most popular word in the English language in 2009. While it's not completely fleshed out, online social interaction is here is stay. Read the full story.
If your company doesn't already have a social media strategy, now is the time to get one. In the very least you should do a land grab for vanity name URLs on Facebook and claim your company profile on LinkedIn and corporate/product fan pages on Facebook. And start to play with Twitter. There are tools such as Ping.fm that link all these social sites and your blog together, so in 5 minutes per day, you can provide a status update on each site with just one login.
Interview with Matt Cutts more than hints to the fact that the speed at which your site loads may start to enter into the search ranking factors. You can test the speed of your site and get access to many free tools at the this Google site speed page. We especially like the Page Speed Firefox app.
One of the largest behind-the-scenes updates to Google's search technology in three years is in the works. On August 10th, Google quietly began soliciting feedback for "Caffeine," a new system for Web searching that is being tested. Google makes almost constant changes to its search algorithms and infrastructure, but it hasn't made an update of this magnitude since 2006, said Matt Cutts, a principal engineer at Google who is considered one of the driving forces behind the company's approach to search.
Preview Caffeine to see how it might affect your company's search result rankings. So far we have not seen a huge difference in rankings for Clarity Quest's site or our clients' sites. In all cases tested so far, the changes were actually positive for us. I credit this to the fact we build links the correct way through public relations, social media and rich content.
Feel free to post your comments to let us know what you are seeing.
You can pay a firm like ours to do internet marketing or you can learn it on your own. Either way, we're here to help. If you are into learning some of the basics yourself, download Dan Thies' SEO Fast Start 2009. Dan always gives rock solid info especially in the areas of keyword analysis and link building. Download the free report.
Part 3. Create a master web copy template. In my ongoing series on crafting the perfect copy for your website, this week I'll discuss creating a master copy template. I recommend you setup a master copy document in a word processing application. I create a new page for each web page and insert a table with the following headers at the top of each page.
Page Name Call to Action for this Page URL Title Tag Meta description Keyphrases to use
a) Call to Action for this Page – Earlier you determined the overall goals for this site, now it’s time to figure out what you want the visitor to do as a result of visiting this page. In the case of the Clarity Quest outsource marketing page, I want the visitor to either request a proposal or further investigate our other marketing service offerings.
Clarity Quest’s Outsource Marketing Page Call to Action for this Page: Go to request proposal form, check out our clients or additional services.
b) URL – Use your primary keyword phrase in the URL. In this case “outsource marketing” is the primary phrase for the page. If you do not already own a domain name, it will help your search rankings if you can obtain a domain containing the keyphrases such as www.outsourcemarketing.com. However, since we already owned a domain, we just used the keyphrase at the end of the URL separated by underscores. There’s debate in the search engine community on whether dashes are better separators than underscores. The consensus seems to be dashes are better, although we have not seen a detrimental effect using underscores.
c) Title Tag - Although visitors don’t often know where to find the title tag, it’s one of the most important pieces of information in the eyes of the search robots. It’s located at the very top left of your browser window and it’s the first line you will see in a search engine results page listing. a. Use the title of your site or your company brand at the beginning or end of every title tag. If you are working with a nationally-known brand such as IBM or Apple, put the company name first for brand awareness. For all other companies, I recommend the putting the brand at the end of the title tag. b. Limit the length of the tag to 65-70 characters (including spaces) or less. The search engines limit the number of characters they display on the results page listings. c. Use keyphrases in the tag. Incorporate your primary and secondary keyphrase in the title tag without keyword stuffing. d. Use different keyphrases or variations in every page’s title tags. This is one rule we see violated all the time. If you use the same tag on different pages you’ll force the search engines to decide which page is more relevant. For example, on the Clarity Quest site we use “technology marketing agency” on one page and “high-tech marketing firm” on another. This way I've fulled used each page of real estate to my advantage. e. Use a divider symbol to separate your brand name from the rest of the title tag. We like to use the “|” (pipe) symbol but the forward arrow “>” or hyphen “-“ also work effectively. f. Use the title tag keyphrases in your headlines. Re-using the keyphrases in your H1 and H2 header tags makes search engine robots happy because it is confirmation you didn’t falsely keyword stuff the title tag. More importantly, it makes visitors more comfortable when they land on your page and it actually has something to do with their search term.
d) Meta description - The meta description tag is most often seen as the descriptive text in a search engine ranking page listing.
If you do not provide a meta description tag, the search engines will scrape the content off your page that most closely matches the search terms. However, if you provide the meta description you can target your keyphrases within the descriptive text. This tag is not so important for the search rankings, but it makes a big difference in click-through rates. Here’s where you can write the eye-catching, ad-like copy that is compelling and gets attention. Remember there are 9 or so other listings on the search engine result page and you want your site to stand out. The tag should describe your page clearly and accurately. Google allows the fewest number of characters at 160, so use this as your limit. There is controversy in the internet marketing world on whether or not you should always provide a meta description. Here’s a general rule. If you are targeting 1-3 high-volume, highly-targeted keyphrases on the page, then write one. If your page is a blog or product model catalog with many possible long keyphrases, then let the search engines scrape the best descriptive text off the page. As with many aspects of web copy, it’s always best to test for the best conversion rates.
Clarity Quest’s Outsource Marketing Page Meta description: Clarity Quest provides outsource marketing services serving as the virtual marketing department for technology companies across North America.
e) Keywords to use - I like list primary and secondary keywords to use on the page just so I have them staring me in the face when I go to write the body copy for the page.
Writing website copy which appeals to both your website's visitors and search engine robots is part art, part science.
Over the next few weeks we we detail a step-by-step process for creating effective copy on your technology business website. This is not a guide on writing award-winning taglines and catchy phrases. It is, however, a step-by-step formula for writing copy that compels visitors to act while helping you get ranked highly in search engine result pages.
Step 1. Determine your overall goals for the site. Many B2B companies do not conduct online transactions, however, there should still be clear visitor goals for the site. Are you trying to educate customers or trying to get them to call your business development team? Are you attempting to increase the perceived value of your company or products? It’s crucial at this stage to determine if catchy copy or search engine rankings are more important to your overall goals, because at times during the copy writing process you might have to choose one over the other.
At this stage also determine which pages on the site you would like to be the top landing (entry) pages. Having clear positioning goals for the site will result in more effective copy.
Stay tuned for Step 2...Compiling the best keyphrase list.
Only 13 percent of firms believe they have the in-house talent to implement effective digital marketing, according to a recent Heidrick & Struggles International report.
Internet marketing firm Lotame found that 300 x 250 "medium rectangle" online ads averaged 13 seconds of "viewing" exposure per user served vs. only 5.4 seconds for leaderboards and 1.9 seconds for skyscrapers. This result is liable to shake up advertising rates since leaderboards and skyscrapers command premium prices over rectangle ads. The study, however, did not look at clickthroughs and conversions which are the most important metrics.
In December 2008, we launched a new website for optical company SVS Vision. As a result of our on-page internet marketing strategies, SVS now ranks on Google and Yahoo! page 1 for "optical centers" behind just JCPenney , Sears and D.O.C (now owned by PearleVision). As importantly, the SVS website is getting organic traffic from more than 1,100 key phrases such as prescription safety eyewear thanks to an extensive keyword analysis and implementation on the new site.
Thanks to Cathy Walker, SVS Vision's VP of Marketing for the following quote:
"Clarity Quest replaced our outdated website with one that is wonderful! Response has been greater than anticipated. We are hearing from our customers more than ever before and they are telling us that the look, feel and ease of use have helped them in making buying decisions. Everyone on the Clarity Quest team is a true pro and we look forward to a long-term relationship with them."
A study by comScore Networks and TMP Directional Marketing, found that local search grew 24 percent in 2007, while general Web search grew only 14 percent. Piper Jaffray notes that 30 percent of all queries conducted today contain a city, state, or ZIP code. According to Yahoo! Research, 88 percent of sales revenue generated from online advertising is derived from consumers who have conducted their research online, then made their purchase in a brick and mortar store.
So what does this mean for your business? Your internet marketing and corporate blogging strategy should include ways to include city names, counties and zipcodes in your site and blog copy.
Compedium Blogware goes as far as recommending you have a separate blog for each location you serve based on key phrases.
At Clarity Quest, we use this strategy as well. Although we serve clients throughout the U.S. and the world, we concentrate our search efforts on "Michigan marketing" based on the location of our headquarters. Next up: More location-based blog posts and individual web pages for our Seattle and upcoming Oregon offices.
Welcome back to our blog post series on marketing tips for technology firms. Here are tips #4 through #7.
4)Make sure your brand is clear. There is nothing more frustrating for prospects than trying to figure out what a brand is all about. Be precise in what you are selling and to whom. And as a technology company, your branding should also align with your current and future product and services roadmaps.
5)Clearly articulate your technology products or services. In order for your clients and prospective clients to understand what you are truly selling, then you must be clear in your presentation. This is especially important for technical services.
We recommend answering the 6 questions in Harry Beckwith's Selling the Invisible. a. Who are you? (Your company’s official name) b. What business are you in? c. For whom…what companies/users do you serve? d. What need…what are the special needs of the company you serve? e. Against whom…with whom are you competing? f. What’s different…what makes you different than the competition? g. Unique benefits…what are the unique benefits a client derives from your services? These seven questions work equally well for products. By answering these questions, your customers and prospective customers should be able to get a better understanding of what you will provide for them.
6) Get testimonials and endorsements. In order for potential clients to validate your offerings, it is imperative to have your customers vouch for you through testimonials. It is very simple and sometimes overlooked. Testimonials are easily accessible and all it takes is a simple quote. Online video testimonials are now easy to produce and even more effective than written quotes. The testimonials should be posted on your company’s website, but can also be used in other documents and advertisements.
7) Use word-of- mouth technique. Whenever you see a movie you like or try a new restaurant that was amazing, you usually pass this information on to a friend or acquaintance – why not tailor this technique to marketing your products? Word-of-mouth marketing is a not a new technique but it is one that has been overlooked by many marketing professionals. There are many websites that can help you identify what word-of-mouth is and how to use it to the best of your advantage. For example WOMMA is the official website of the word-of-mouth Marketing Association. It that helps business owners network within their industry. WOMMA shares the 5 basic elements to word of mouth marketing: 1) Educate people about your products and/or services 2) Identify people most likely to share their opinions 3) Provide tools that make it simpler to share information 4) Study how, where, and when opinions are being shared 5) Listen and respond to supporters, detractors, and neutrals.
In this vein, URefer is an interesting online referral engine that was just launched. Now folks can refer business to you online and the site also has interesting word-of-mouth possibilities.
If you revamping a site or doing on-page search engine optimization, then you know finding the keywords and key phrases for which your buyers is crucial. I recently found Seed Keywords which lets you come up with a scenario question such as "What would you type into a search engine if you were looking for web marketing services?". Once you enter the scenario the site generates a unique URL which can be sent to clients, friends, co-workers, etc.
This is a great tool if you can't afford a full-blown keyword analysis or if you want a starting terms for keyword analysis.
Cisco and Facebook? Yes, folks they have a relationship. B2B Marketing recently reported on Cisco's use of social networking and Web 2.0 tactics to launch their Aggregation Services Router 1000 series. Usually stoic Cisco even has a Second Life property.
Research firm Universal McCann has a detailed report out with social media statistics. One of the more interesting stats is 36% of survey respondents thought more positively about companies with blogs. It's interesting blogging is becoming part of branding and corporate validation.
So does your company have a Facebook group, Squidoo site or Twitter page? In this new landscape the daring companies which try it will come out ahead I believe. We already see fabulous search engine ranking pages for Squidoo sites on niche topics and Twitter tweet pickup. So dive in...the water's fine.
View my appearance along with Linda Girard, co-founder of internet marketing company Pure Visibility on Michigan Cable 15 in Bloomfield Hills. We discuss all things marketing including internet marketing, marketing for small business and how marketing can help the stagnant Michigan business climate. Thanks to our host Robert Katchadorian for the invitation and lively discussion.
A number of respected SEO experts have lately been somewhat negative on the use of press releases as part of internet marketing campaigns. Press releases with keyword-rich titles do work - a little better on Yahoo! than Google, but they work. Here's an example... if you type "michigan marketing firm" into Yahoo! Search you'll see the Clarity Quest website at #2. However, check out #1 - it's a PR Web link to a press release we issued back in June 2007! Now I don't recommend you fabricate topics for a release or issue junk releases. There should be an actual news story as the basis for the releases. But completely ignoring SEO PR as part of your internet marketing strategy is a mistake.
Words, Words, Words The foundation of any successful internet marketing effort is establishing a list of keywords and phrases to emphasize on your site. Most search engine optimization and full-service marketing firms offer keyword research and analysis. You'll find deals on the web offering keyword analysis for under $100. But beware, those low-cost marketing firms do not take the time to understand your business, your target markets and your competition. The best keyword analysis is performed by a marketing firm that truly understands your marketing plan and product positioning. The phrases with lots of volume and lots of competition are easy to find. Finding those keyword gems with large volume and no competition in most cases demands the researcher really understands your business and product offerings.
Free Website Evaluation Tool Website Grader is a free tool that performs an analysis of the online marketing effectiveness of your website. It analyzes your website in a detailed way and gives you a score. What's unique is that it measures your website on a relative basis compared to other site. It also gives you some very detailed information on how to make your site more effective.
Google today released a new version of its popular internet marketing analysis tool Google Analytics.
Upon first review, the date selection tool is vastly easier to use and the dashboard interface is much more appealing to the eye. I'll post more info as we use the tool more over the coming month.
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