WSI Marketing, Surf, Search and Social

Search Engines evaluate who is linking to your website to determine how relevant your website is within your industry. Pages that are linked to more frequently are weighted higher by search engines and are more likely to be visited.

Inbound links or “back links” are considered a vote of confidence for your website. Therefore getting “quality links” is an integral part of ranking higher than your competitors on the search engines.

Quality Links:

* Come from popular websites in a related industry.
* Links from higher ranking pages are worth more than miscellaneous links.
* Links that appear higher up in a page are more valuable than links that appear on the bottom of the page in the footer.
* Pages that have large numbers of links may be diluted and less authoritative.
* “Anchor Text” matters. The actual words that link to your webpage are important. For example, linking the phrase “internet marketing Carleton place” to my website is more effective for me than linking the words “Click Here”.

Where do Quality Links come from?
Sadly there is no silver bullet. A certain amount of links will develop naturally over time, but unless you have a very popular site to begin with, playing the waiting game won’t work. Buying links for a link farm typically doesn’t work well either. Those links are typically low quality and can get you into trouble over the long run due to their dubious source.


The first step (the only step I’m going to cover in this post) is to locate sources of quality links. I want to focus on the low hanging fruit:

* Websites that already link to you
* Websites that link to your competitors

In each case it is safe to assume that websites that link to you or your competitors probably link to sites that are relevant to you. Because those sites are relevant to your market, it is safe to assume that sites that link to THEM are also relevant to you and are probably also good link prospects.


There are a variety of methods for tracking down specific links to your site and to the sites of your competitors. The most efficient method is to use professional software that is designed for that specific task. Two that we user are Wordtracker and Web CEO. Keep in mind that there is a learning curve to use them correctly. There is also the associated expense of purchasing the tools, and the time to follow through with the results. I’ll cover that on an upcoming post.

Seeing as how we’re right at the beginning of a new year, we thought it fitting to have our first free webinar of 2011 dedicated to starting the year off right. Coming up on Wednesday, February 2nd 2011, you can join us for a free webinar entitled “Online Reputation Management: 3 Steps to Balance Risk and Reward!”

This particular webinar is specially geared to ensuring that your online brand is ready to effectively leverage the digital marketing realm this year. After all, expert planning and a strategically implemented social media strategy can drastically transform any company’s online presence. It has the capacity to launch a local, small-scale business into an international brand name!

However, on the other hand, a company who chooses to ignore its online presence and what customers are saying about them online can be equally damaging. As many online advantages as there are for your brand, there are just as many disadvantages and risks as well!

So, on February 2nd join us for a webinar, where we’re set to discuss:

* 3 steps to effective ORM
* What “ORM” really means – the ins and outs of online reputation management
* How to protect your brand against trademark / company name violations
* Crisis management strategies

There are 2 free sessions available!

Here are the registration details:

Session One

Date: Wednesday February 2nd, 2011

Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM EST

REGISTER NOW!

Session Two

Date: Wednesday February 2nd, 2011

Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM GMT

REGISTER NOW!

Companies that market to small businesses should focus on creating a social media strategy as a way of promoting their services and be open to trying new methods of prospecting. Companies that are marketing to this sector should have a strong presence at the top or on the most relevant social networking sites. Especially since this is an excellent way of getting the word out about your business.

Here are some other ideas that you can add to your digital marketing strategy to try to increase your online visibility:

Product Reviews and Ratings

When someone is deciding whether to buy something online they will nearly always look for reviews or testimonials; they provide great input to the decision making process. Make sure prospects will find great reviews of your products or services.

Podcasts and Webinars

This year has seen a dramatic increase in the use of podcasts and webinars as a way of educating your prospects as more and more managers are looking online for information. Small business owners consider these as great resources for their professional development and research. They are also not time consuming, so you are more likely to get someone to listen to a short webinar than to agree to an in person meeting.

Social Media Company and Brand pages

Creating a great image on the social media sites is now a necessity for most small businesses, but make sure you also include some educational resources. Try to answer the most common questions your company is asked as a part of the profile page. Also consider adding some presentation materials; this is easily done using SlideShare which can be added to your LinkedIn profile, and optimized for search.

Company Blogs

A well written company blog can have a big impact, but this does involve a commitment to keep on creating additional content. So make sure you have a plan for this before you start one. You need both the content strategy and resources necessary to create and maintain a good one.

All of these activities act to engage decision makers in your business or brand and can set your company apart from the local competition.

To keep up-to-speed with the evolving social media technologies and techniques of today, take a look at our Social Media Strategy Kit.

If you have been monitoring the blogosphere closely and someone has just slammed and posted negative comments for your brand or your blog, how do you handle this? In short, helpfully, honestly and diplomatically. There’s really no fast and hard rules, but here’s a couple of tips that you can follow.

Wait and watch

Take a little time so that you can watch and gauge the reaction. If you confront the situation by just jumping in on someone’s comment that is just blowing off steam can create a major controversy. If no one is really commenting or paying attention to what has been said, it might be the best to let the person vent and then die out on its own. Bloggers can quickly move on to a new story that grabs their attention.

Ty to avoid rebuttals

A negative review of your services or products should not bring a strong response. By directly attacking the blogger will always bring others to their defence and just inflame the situation. Never try to take a strong position to bully the blogger.

Be concerned and helpful

If you are entering a blog as a guest you must show respect. This will result that you get respect in return. Always avoid sarcasm and try to always be genuine and helpful. A negative review should always be treated as constructive criticism. You can offer to help resolve the issue and to listen to the complaints. How you handle this situation can convert a foe into a helpful friend.

Be impartial

Try to stay away from arguments and negative opinions. Always use objective information where possible and third-party statistics and data to show your point of view. Links to other sites than your own can be very good convincers.

Online Reputation Management (ORM)

It goes without saying that Online Reputation Management (ORM) is a very important thing to consider for yourself and your company. More and more people are doing research online, and more specifically the search engines, before they do business with a company or individual. Just as shoppers utilize review sites and comparison shopping engines, HR departments utilize Goolge search.

Follow thru

If you make promises and commitments, always follow through on what you have promised.

Recently, Time magazine released its picks for the Best Blogs of 2010. The list is filled with some unexpected surprises from all genres. Hollywood gossip and tech news are, of course, represented, but so are independent cartoonists and guides to greener living. But most importantly, this list of blog successes can also serve as a digital marketing tool for illustrating the best practices to creating a successful and influential blog of your own.

While the list is diverse in its topics, the one thing that every blog on the list has in common with the others is the presence of a strong narrative that speaks directly to their target audience. As with any great movie or classic novel, a strong narrative voice is essential in blog writing. Blogs that have soared in readership are the ones that simply tell a story in a voice that readers look forward to hearing day after day. Your company’s blog can achieve this, too! Let’s turn to Time’s list for some inspiration.

Zenhabits.net, at the top of the best blogs list, does how-to with style and smarts. The site is devoted to helping readers create a more peaceful daily existence. Created by author Leo Babuta, zenhabits features blogs on how to avoid stress and how to de-clutter your life but does so in a narrative that isn’t preachy or judgmental. The blog is a wonderful example of how to convey your message and purpose while also helping a reader or two.

For examples of one-of-a-kind web resourcefulness, kottke.org is an excellent place to start. Creator Jason Kottke covers all of the liberal arts, from architecture to Woody Allen films, while digging up unique trivia and bizarre factoids. Kottke can be used as a template for the “a little originality goes a long way” blogging motto. Plus it’s informative and fun, so the blog is actually contributing something to the blogosphere — a goal that professionals and business owners should all aim for.

Talking about high aspirations, the writing on Roger Ebert’s Journal is also very impressive. Despite losing his ability to speak due to cancer complications during the mid-2000s, Ebert’s voice has never been stronger in prose that describes everything from his passion for films to his health and travels. Ebert’s fighting spirit and frank discussions make his blog a real winner. What company blogs can take away from Ebert is that it’s okay to have a personality — in fact, it’s encouraged!

List-making blog success, however, is not just for the big guys. Any business – big or small – can turn its little blog into one of its strongest online tools and into a daily reading for customers!

Visit our site to learn more about how content marketing can make your business’ blog absolutely list worthy.

Did you know that your blog can be a powerful business tool to influence your customers? Blogs can build interactive conversations with targeted readers. Blogging for your business can get faster results than traditional internet marketing.

To blog or not to

A blog is an excellent tool to boost your online brand, increase your website’s rankings on the search engines, reach new potential clients, communicate with current customers and to publicize information about your company.

There’s 3 main factors you need to take into consideration if you want to start influencing people with your blog posts.

Build relationships, selling your ideas and leadership.

Build relationships

• Positive: Always avoid criticizing others and being negative. You can focus on how to do the best with something and by building others up. Give advice, solutions and tips.
• Interested: Always be genuinely interested in your readers and on their perspectives. What do they want to know? What do they find interesting?
• Solutions: Talk about solutions to problems that your interested readers might have. You can encourage the discussion by asking questions.

Selling your ideas

• Motivation: As you write each blog posting you should always consider why your readers would want to do something that you are saying.
• Explain your ideas: Real life examples and effective story telling can help to make your ideas visual and memorable.
• Arguments: Always avoid arguments even when your readers are making negative comments. Stay objective and to the point. Be thankful for new ideas, opinions and be respectful.
• Agreement: You can respond to comments by first identifying all the areas of agreement. Try to view things from your reader’s perspective.

Leadership

• Mistakes: Admit your mistakes and be open on how you solved your problems. This can be a motivating factor to others that are facing the same problems so that they can see what didn’t work and what did.
• Questions: Try suggesting alternatives and ask questions instead of telling people directly what they should and shouldn’t do.
• Benefits: Focus on the benefits that your readers might receive from your ideas.
• Respectful. Be respectful of your readers capabilities and their situations and how you can help them to succeed. You can encourage them to try new ideas and to empower action.

Successful blogging takes time and dedication any way you look at it. Not only can your blogging influence people, but you can build trust and credibility with your blogging as well. Be the expert in your industry and niche and others will return regularly to your blog to see what you are saying.

There is a difference between a “web designer” and a “Web Marketer”. A web designer can make a web page pretty. A web marketer can make a web page pretty compelling. Although a list of tips is no substitution for a web-savvy marketing professional, there are certain industry best practices that every business can use as a guideline or “check sheet” to avoid some campaign killing mistakes.

Scrolling, Paging & the Fold

Scrolling is the point on a web page where a visitor would have to scroll down to see the rest of the page. If the visitor isn’t intrigued at first glance, you will never even get to show them what is below the fold.

• Do NOT make text-copy columns too wide or fonts too small just to keep content above the fold.
• 10-12 point or larger fonts / no more than 50-60 characters (including spaces) across.
• Women ages 34-45 are more likely to scroll, read more info and     click onto additional pages than men.
• Above-the-fold info must contain enough convincing data to will over the short attention span visitors.

Navigation Bars

It is very tempting to make sure that no information about your company is left out; however the truth is that most people just don’t care at this point. Keep in mind what your goal is… if it is to get visitors contact information, you will have plenty of opportunities to educate them as you build the relationship.

• You will have plenty of opportunity to tell your customers how wonderful you are.
• Would you tell an attractive stranger your life history when you are just trying to get them to agree to a first date?
• The objective is to not encourage the visitor to wander “off-point”

Landing Pages with Links to Other Pages

Use discretion when providing links to other pages or websites from your landing page. You may be tempting the visitor to wander off-point. In some cases it may be permissible or even desirable to offer the visitor an opportunity to lean more as long as each link returns the visitor back to the sales funnel.

• Eliminate any clicks to irrelevant pages or advertisers
• Minimize font size of links to privacy and legal information
• Make the ENTIRE area around a link clickable
• Make the first 3 words of a link descriptive
• Make your Hero shot clickable and open in a separate window of information so the visitor does not lose the main landing page (Hero Shot is a single picture that tells the story).

Color Choices

Believe it or not, color choices have remarkably little influence on the effectiveness of a landing page. However poor color choice that impacts reading comprehension does have a negative effect. Keep in mind that a higher percentage of the population than you probably realize is color blind and may have trouble with the contrast of certain color combinations.

• Copy: Black (or dark) text on a white (or light) background
• Headlines: Large enough to be readable in most colors, so largely irrelevant.
• Hotlinks: Blue until clicked and then turns purplish. Designer colors are OK…but test first….
• Branding Colors: OK if branding is more important than copy.

Typeface Fonts

It is hard enough to get a visitor to actually read your copy, so don’t make it any more difficult than necessary. Generally small font sizes “look” better because they mentally form a block which is a convenient design element. However, effective trumps pretty every time.

• Make copy easy to read as possible. Many visitors will bail just because the page “looks like work”
• Use 10 point or larger font. Consider a larger size if you are targeting children, adults or if you have very long copy
• Captions, form field names, legal and some tech-specs can be smaller
• Smaller texts promotes slower reading and a drop-off in comprehension
• Text should never run more than 52-60 characters across the screen. People can’t comfortably read long or wide columns.

• Keep columns at a fixed width (no liquid designs)
• Use “Web-safe fonts” to control the appearance of the page. (http://www.efuse.com/Design/web_fonts_basics.html#WebSafeFonts)
• With the possible exception of one-line headlines, all text should be flush left and NOT centered.
• Headlines should be significantly larger and possibly bolder. Sub-headlines should be close to body copy size and bold

How many elements should be on a page?

The correct answer is…. As many as necessary… no more no less….
These are just some items that MAY go on a landing page. It is not meant to be a checklist of items that should be on every landing page.

Trust Icons

Data and Case Studies prove conclusively that trust icons do make a difference in conversions. Multiple icons may help even more. Make sure you place the icons above the fold and at critical decisino points such as form submissions or transaction point in a shoping cart.

Consider using the space around your logo to identify it with a trust image and slogan  like the Kelley Blue Book logo to the right Notice that Kelley Blue Book awarded themselves their own trust icon, however it gives the appearance of an award or certification.

Video on Landing pages

Video can be a powerful tool or an unwanted nusance depending on how it is used. NEVER start playing the video automatically when the visitor arrives on the Landing Page!!!

No one lieks a commercial forced on them. The visitor just may not be prepared. In fact visitors might be in the work place and might bail as soon as unexpected sounds start blaring from their computer. They may want to scan the page before investing in the video, or simply adjust their speaker volume. The quikest way to shut down an unwated video is to close the web page. That is the last thing ou want.

There are many reasons to use video; to educate, to demonstrate, to entertain and become viral… One of the more successful commerisal applicatoins of video on a website is the “As Seen on TV” scenario.

• The purpose is not to sell, but to brand and reassure the visitor that they are in the right place
• Use a shorter version (30-seconds or less) than the original TV version
• Typically works best on the top left side of the page or in a featured area

Video Testimonials are very powerful. There is eveidence to support that amature video of a real person is more credible than professinal video of a model. Not all video should intentionally be poor quality, but in the case of testimonials, or product demonstrations, it does give it a sense of realism.

Response Devices

Unless you are cultivating a branding only web presence, you are probably trying to elicit a particular response from your visitors (remember your goals). It’s important to consider that different personality types prefer to communicate using different media. Some people prefer to pick up the phone for the comfort of a human voice, others prefer the anonymity of email.

Phone Numbers:

• Bigger is Better….don’t be shy
• Some consumers just prefer to call
• Some consumers just want to be reassured there is a real person available (even if they never intend to call)
• Put phone number on EVERY page, not just the Landing page or Contact page

Buttons
Next to Headlines, button copy, color and shape as the most important element on the page. Don’t be afraid to test; Red vs. Gray… Round vs. Rectangular. Wording is important as well. You may get different results from “Buy Now” vs. “Try it Now”.

Different buttons work for different audiences

But don’t get too cute with the labels….say what you mean!

Registration Forms

As a rule the less you ask for, the more likely you are to have people fill out the form. Go on the premise that you will have future opportunity to get the rest of the information as you build a relationship with the visitor.

Be patient. Ask for only what you need… you will have more chances to get the rest. Roughly 40% of visitors may answer a few extra questions on the “Thank You” page for example.

On certain occasions however, you may actually want to use a longer form as a screening or “qualifying” tool.  You might want to trade volume for quality if there is a cost associated with following up.

Copy Tips

• Use half the copy that you would use in printed material
• Headline should exactly match the headline that got them there
• Stay on point…. Headline match Body Copy
• Nothing more than needed…nothing less than needed
• Don’t waste valuable real-estate with “Welcome…”
• “You” and “Your” trumps “We” and “Our”
• People read only the first few words of bullets and paragraphs
• People read the tops and bottoms of lists…not the middle
• Keep your first few paragraphs short and inviting
• Alternate long and short Paragraphs
• Paragraphs shouldn’t be longer that 4 or 5 lines long
• Numerals have more impact than written numbers

Long Copy vs. Short Copy

Face it, the USA Today newspaper is written at a 6th grade reading level for a reason. Attention spans and motivation to invest time reading is contingent on the demographic of the visitor, and the nature of the product or service. Long copy works well for….

• Expensive Products & Services
• Money related products and services
• Health related products and services
• Older consumers
• Reading related products
• Technical pro

A Facebook fan page is an essential part of online marketing. You can see some outstanding examples of how large brands use their pages in this list of the top 50 branded pages of 2010.

1. Use your personal profile for professional networking. Having a personal profile allows you to reach out and add select individuals as friends, comment on their walls, and begin to build key relationships. Plus, be mindful of your status updates and posts—you never know who’s reading your content in their stream!

2. Make use of Friend Lists. To better manage your friends, create lists with specific influentials, for example; you can then more easily view your News Feed each day and quickly Like and Comment as appropriate to continue nurturing those important relationships!

3. Use @ tags strategically. You can have up to six “@ tags” in any update/wall post (on your profile or fan page) consisting of a mix of friends, fan pages, events or groups. Use @ tags to give credit, thank, acknowledge and be enchanting!

4. Add an attractive landing tab to your fan page. A popular tab is a simple “welcome” message with custom graphics and possibly a video message. The purpose of this tab is to inspire visitors to join (like) your fan page. Check out these examples: NHL, EzineArticles, Steve Spangler, SocialMediaExaminer, and my own fan page.

5. Provide an area for your fans to promote themselves. To honor your fans and to help minimize any possible spam posts on your wall, give your fans their own forum using the Discussion tab. Specify exactly how and where you want them to post. For example, I have a long-running, popular thread encouraging fans to promote their Twitter accounts.

6. Respond to fans posts promptly and personally. Implement an effective engagement strategy (you may need team members to help) and reply to your fans’ comments and questions. Personalize your replies and use fans’ first names for an informal feel. BestBuy is an excellent example of enchanting engagement!

7. Surprise your fans and think outside the box. From time to time, give your Facebook fan page a burst of excitement by introducing initiatives like “Fan Page Friday” or “Share Your Blog Day” and invite all your fans to share their links on your wall. Every wall post creates viral visibility for your page throughout Facebook!

8. Give away a special free gift. Using the FBML app on your fan page, you can add any custom content as a tab or in the left column, including an opt-in box. Offer your fans a valuable, free download and you’ll grow your email list as a result. You can then continue building your relationship with your fans via email.

9. Chat live with your fans. Your fans will love to interact with you LIVE from time to time. Use the Vpype or Ustream apps to stream live video and get your fans to interact and chat. Also, try out the Clobby app (Chat Lobby) to chat real-time with your fans. Your fans will love you for the enchanting live element and you’ll stand out from others on Facebook!

10. Get your fans involved in product and content creation. Involve and include your Facebook fans when creating new products or when seeking ideas for new blog posts, etc. This is called “crowdsourcing.” You might also run a contest. Wildfireapp.com is a good choice for contests on Facebook.

Nearly every website out there has a goal, some action they want their visitors to take. The goal may be to generate leads, buy products, click on ads or even just subscribe to an RSS feed.

A call-to-action is the copy or graphic you use to entice and persuade your readers to take that action. Well-designed calls to action can dramatically increase a site’s rate of conversion to its goal.

So what’s a well-designed call to action? I’ve done testing on countless different sites, and here are the 7 most important best practices I’ve found.

Create Urgency

Use discrete measurements of time in your call to action. Phrases like “click now” or “try our software today” give the user an understanding of how easy and immediate the action will be.

Use Numbers

Concrete digits including prices make the action very specific for the user and in nearly every case I’ve seen test very well.

Indicate a Specific Action

Make your call to action as specific as possible. Tell the user exactly what you want them to do and how. Avoid vague generalities and instead tell them to click, sign up, contact us or download.

Use Images

It often helps to direct a user’s attention to a call to action by placing a stock photo of a person looking directly at that call to action. Images with actors looking directly at the user tend to distract them.

Make Your CTA Clickable

Make sure your call to action uses the accepted web conventions of clickability. If it’s a text link, it should be at least underlined, if not the standard link-blue. Buttons should have a 3-d effect that simulates the buttons found in web and desktop interfaces, and both buttons and links should change the default cursor when the user hovers over them to the pointer hand.

Use Contrasting Colors

Contrasting colors can draw the user’s eye to the action you want them to take. If your site is cool blue and gray, use a red or orange graphic.

Pay Attention to Position

Calls to action “above the fold” on a page (in the first screen viewable on a page without scrolling down) do very well. Calls to action in a sidebar don’t perform as well as those in the central content area of a page. Put the call to action where the rest of the page will naturally lead a viewer’s eyes.

Bonus Tip: Test, Test, Test!

One great digital marketing tip to legitimize your customer feedback is to use LinkedIn to encourage customers to post testimonials about you and your business to your LinkedIn profile. These testimonials are many times more powerful than listing testimonials on your website from “Kevin B,” for example. Who is Kevin B? How do I know it is even legitimate? For testimonials to show on your LinkedIn profile, they must be submitted by other LinkedIn members, so they have the appearance of being much more legitimate. Once you have several nice testimonials on your LinkedIn profile, you can include a link to those testimonials in your proposals for work, or link to them from your blog, Facebook or other Social Media sites when you do a post announcing the completion of a customers’ project, new partnership, etc. These testimonials are some of the most legitimate PR for your business since they are clearly coming from other LinkedIn members.

Using LinkedIn to solicit testimonials can be done in three easy steps.

1. First you choose the position you want to be reviewed for.
2. Second, you select the list of people (up to 200) that you want the request to be sent to.
3. And third, you add a personal message requesting the testimonial, hit send and that’s it!

When I email proposals to clients, I include a link to my LinkedIn testimonials at the end of the proposal so that prospective clients can easily read these unbiased reviews of my business. I can also include a link to them in emails I send out, or even better, in my email signature file.

None of us like to ask customers to give us testimonials about our business, but those testimonials can have a significant impact on your ability to attract and close new business so they cannot be ignored. Testimonials may be from business partners, former bosses or former clients, current clients, associates, or friends. Consider that you can also write your own testimonial about someone else you highly recommend, and this often encourages them to respond by writing you a testimonial.

Human Resource Managers are also reporting an increase in resumes that contain LinkedIn testimonials about the candidate at the end of their document and they consider that a great idea to include with job submissions.

You should make soliciting testimonials a regular part of your business processes. As soon as a project is complete and you know you have a happy client and you’ve just received a thank you comment or a brief thank-you email, it’s time to use the LinkedIn Testimonial Request feature to kindly ask your client to give you a testimonial.