WSI Marketing, Surf, Search and Social

I get this question all the time. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy question to answer.

To back up a bit, there has been a major shift in the marketing rules in just the last few years. Interrupt marketing (commercials, pop-ups, banners) and passive marketing (magazine ads, flyers and mailers, phonebook ads) have become less effective as more people are engaged with the Internet. I give talks to groups of business owners, and at the start of each talk, always ask two questions:

1. How many of you have used the yellow pages in the last month? (a few hands go up)
2. How many of you used Google yesterday? (every single hand in the room goes up)

This is a poignant illustration that we all use Google and the other search engines to search for products and services, and do research before making a purchase or finding a company to do business with. Unfortunately, many businesses still cling to the “old ways”.

As business owners start to realize that their advertising dollars bring fewer new clients in the front door, they start to wonder, “What would it take to get onto Google and the other search engines?” That’s where the question, “How much does SEO cost?” comes in.

There are so many factors that determine who gets to be “king of the Google hill” and who is relegated to the bottom of the heap. We don’t have a magic wand to wave over a client’s website to make it to the top. It’s been documented that Google actually changes the rules every single day! Furthermore, the client’s website itself usually has significant enough problems that prevent it from performing the way it could on the search engines.

We always recommend that a business that wants to get ahead of their competition on the search engines, must have us perform a thorough analysis. It’s kind of like going to the doctor. You may have a pain that’s bothering you, but the doctor isn’t going to just recommend surgery or a prescription. They have to run tests – blood work, diagnostics, x-rays, and so on, before deciding upon a course of action.

Similarly, WSI’s analysis looks at many factors:

• The client’s website coding structure (think of it as their vital signs)
• A 25-point SEO readiness checklist (health history)
• A WebScan™ that looks at on-site and off-site factors (an x-ray)
• Keyword research – what are people really searching for? (We hate shooting in the dark!)
• Competitor research – what do the client’s search engine competitors look like (environmental factors)

Once our diagnostic analysis has been completed, then we can effectively answer the question, “How much does SEO cost?” It may be just fixing a few things on the site, or it may be “major surgery”, depending upon how aggressive and competitive the landscape is.

If you as a business owner want to get to the top, insist that your digital marketing expert run these tests to diagnose the problem. It’s better to know up front what you’re facing, rather than shooting in the dark and completely missing the mark!

Learn more about how WSI Consultants leverage SEO techniques that will help your business gain competitive rankings for your site.

WordPress is an excellent blogging platform with loads of blogging features. It’s easy to set-up and maintain to make sure you can start blogging straight out of the box. WordPress can be used as a blogging platform, CMS (content management system), E-Commerce platform, social network, press release website, etc.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plays a big role in blog marketing and any other online marketing strategy to make sure your content is listed on the search engines.

WordPress out of the box doesn’t include enhanced SEO features but having one of the biggest open source communities in the world, smart people created a couple of plugins that can be installed without any hassle to make sure your blog gets listed on the top search engines. Find below a couple of plugins to help you optimize your WordPress blog.

WordPress SEO plugins list

• All in one SEO pack (Optimized your blog for the search engines. You can add specific keywords and meta descriptions for your blog posts).
• Google XML Sitemaps (Creates an XML sitemap containing links to all your categories, pages and blog posts)
• Platinum SEO Plugin (Similar to All in one SEO pack with a couple of extra features)
• SEO Smart Links (SEO Smart Links can automatically link keywords and phrases in your posts and comments with corresponding posts, pages, categories and tags on your posts.)
• SEO Slugs (Long URL’s may have a better ranking in search engines because it will contain more keywords. But search engines like Google tends to ignore some common keywords such as “you”, “a”, “the”, and “what”. This plugin will remove all the unused common keywords in your URL)
• SEO No Duplicate WordPress Plugin (If you must have duplicate content on your site for whatever reason, SEO No Duplicate will allow you to state which version of the post search engines should index while ignoring the others.)
• Robots Meta (Robots Meta enables users to control which pages/posts can be indexed and which can’t.)
• Nofollow Case by Case (This plugin allows you to strip the “nofollow” command from your comments, and then you can apply it to only the comments you don’t wish to support.)
• Google positioner (It’s important to know your keywords. And this handy plugin allows you to track the keywords you’re getting searches for.)
• Broken link checker (This plugin will monitor links in your site and list out links that don’t work or any missing images.)

We’ve always known that web content is an important aspect to digital marketing; now there’s a book to prove it. The Yahoo! Style Guide, released July 6th, is the first publication of its kind to cover writing topics specific to the world of online media.

The book is based on Yahoo!’s own in-house style guide developed by working web editors, writers and professionals. Yahoo!’s editors cover everything from basic grammar to how to write for an international audience. Keys to creating an accessible website and how to improve SEO with strong content also are explored in the guide. While no one yet knows whether Yahoo! will score big with the book, we do know the need for strong content is bigger than ever.

So why does content warrant the publication of such a book?

Content is the middle of the sandwich on a website. It’s the tasty filling that users come back for time and time again. With more and more established writers and publishing veterans taking their craft online, great content is becoming the norm. This is a call to action for small businesses and organizations to truly step up their game. Yet, this isn’t as scary as it sounds. With a little thought, a lot of creativity and some help from a seasoned pro or two, anybody can achieve this sort of content.

Great content is content with a vision — your vision. It should express all the unique and exciting things about you and your business. Your voice is the key. Only you can express how fantastic your idea or business is. Go wild when describing your vision of your website — the sky is the limit! After all, it is a reflection of you and how brilliant you are.

But what if you’re not a “word person?” That’s when an extra set of hands comes in handy. Some lively sessions with an experienced writer who understands your vision can produce the content you’ve always dreamed of. With your style guide in hand and writer in place, amazing content is within your reach! Learn even more about the power of content and content marketing right here.

Did you realize that more than 60% of us prefer to do business with a local business in our own neighborhood? As consumers, we’re always searching for “wallet-ready” businesses like auto repair shops, electricians, hair salons, attorneys, restaurants and so on. But each of these businesses has plenty of local competition.

This is precisely why it has never been more important for the business owner to be found in their local town, city or region.

You have people searching for your business online right now and you need to ensure that your business will stand out from your local competition! But competition for placement on the search engines is stiff. How can you possibly guarantee that your business stands out easily and can be found by those who are searching for your product or service?

This question (and more) will be covered in a complimentary whitepaper entitled: “Driving Business with Local Search: Your Customers Are Looking For You!” Written by WSI Search Engine Expert, Tom Petty, this whitepaper can help you realize the benefits, strategies and techniques for developing best-in-class local SEO campaigns.

And to take full advantage of Tom Petty’s search engine know-how, you can also register for the free webinar of the same subject. With both the webinar and the whitepaper, you’ll definitely be well-equipped to improve your business’ online visibility and SEO strategy. This is your free access to invaluable digital marketing expertise and it’s a chance to use gain an edge against your local competition!

Digital marketing has a do-it-yourself, pioneering nature at its core. So it’s tempting to think that search engine optimization (SEO) is one aspect of digital marketing that we can do ourselves. Yet anyone who has tried just that knows how time-consuming and stress-producing it can be, which makes the thought of hiring an SEO professional quite tempting. We know that going pro likely will save precious time while providing relief that the right person is in charge of this important task.

So how do we solve our SEO dilemma? Do we go to the pros or do we forge ahead with our own homemade marketing plan? Maybe we can handle SEO ourselves, but should we?

SEO – Do It Yourself

Done properly, SEO is a digital marketing strategy that utilizes all aspects of search engine optimization. From social media and content marketing to developing strong keywords and monitoring web analytics, strong and effective SEO plans should cover all the bases. Doing it yourself without any prior experience can open a can of worms you may be unprepared to deal with. SEO requires daily maintenance and upkeep that busy professionals simply don’t have time to for.

SEO – Hiring a Professional

If you are like most business owners who barely have time to Tweet or write company blogs, then hiring out your SEO development is the best move for your business. Not only will a WSI SEO expert take advantage of tools like Google, but they will also dig deeper into search engine optimization. By analyzing your specific needs, SEO experts can customize their services to suit your specific business needs. Instead of trial and error, digital marketing consultants know a variety of techniques to help bring an immediate increase in targeted traffic to your site. Ultimately, a certified SEO expert could provide you and your business a sense of security and maybe a few extra moments of relaxation.

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

Content marketing, much like SEO and social media marketing, is a snap if you have the right tools and techniques to reach your desired audience. Read on for some “gotta have ’em” strategies for content marketing in today’s new media world.

Content Marketing Tools

The tools for content marketing cover a lot of ground, but don’t get flabbergasted. Multiple means of content marketing help your business’ visibility in the crowded content population. E-newsletters, company blogs, social media pages and press releases are some tools to help push your brilliant content to the front of your customers’ conscience. The more places for content to be read, digested and forwarded, the better. Social media is a fast-acting tool that encourages spreading the word. By discussing content with followers on Twitter or fans on Facebook, you can speak directly to your clients while delivering content right to your intended audience. Your company blog can be linked in tweets, while press release information regarding new services and products can be posted on social media pages. Homespun publications like emailed newsletters or e-magazines are another brilliant home for original content — as well as an invaluable tool for new clients.

Content Marketing Techniques

When it comes to techniques, there are dozens. But one of the most effective is ROI (return on investment) tracking. ROI tracking is a technique that allows you to peek in on how well your content marketing is working. Tracking should be implemented into all strategies with early reporting to establish basic baseline metrics (the barometer of how our content plans are performing). After taking a peek at our baseline metrics, we then can determine which content marketing strategies stay and which need to be tossed out.

Why Content Marketing?

All of these tools and techniques, however, are of little use unless we see why content marketing is important to your business’ digital marketing strategy. Content is the bread and butter of the Internet. If you don’t have anything unique or interesting to say, then you won’t gather readers or attract new customer. Likewise, if you don’t market your witty, wonderful, one-of-a-kind content, then it simply goes to waste.

Content marketing is a fun and exciting way to reach readers and, more importantly, buyers. Contact us now for more dish on the latest content marketing tips and techniques.

Title tags is one of the most important tags on a web page for on page SEO. A website title (defined with the title tag) is the first thing that appears on search engine result pages (SERP) on which the site visitors click to go to the site.

Simple on page Search Engine Optimization methods like the title tag can make such a big difference on how well a website does on the search result pages. Many website owners are not even aware about the title tag defined within the HTML of the page (<title>page title</title>). Most website owners confuse it with the big bold text on the page.

SEO Title Tag Tips

1. The length of your titles should not exceed 65 characters including the spaces.
2. Use your keyword phrases in the title tag, taking care that the title looks natural and does not appear keyword stuffed.
3. If you wish to use your site name for branding, use your brand or site name at the end of the title tag on every page of your site. A good way to separate your title from your brand/business name is by using the “|” symbol between them.
4. Each page of your site should have a unique, descriptive title tag which should match with your page content. It also makes sense to reuse the text in title tag of each page in H1 header tag too – from the viewpoint of on-page optimization as well as for enhancing user experience.
5. Shorter page titles are usually better than long ones. However, longer titles make sense when you don’t want to lose traffic from long tail keywords. You may also combine or overlap many keyword phrases in the page title. For example, a title such as ‘Search Engine Optimization and Marketing Tips’ can help you to rank for keyword phrases such as ‘Search Engine Marketing’, ‘Search Engine Optimization Tips’, etc.
6. A compelling title can attract more eyeballs and clicks when your page appears in search results. You should therefore focus on the art of writing headlines and titles for improving your conversion rate.

5 Tips for Getting Started In Link Building

We explained in a previous post why it is important to build links to your website.  But after reading that post you are probably wondering “how, exactly, can I get started building links to my site?”

To be honest, there is no surefire, quick way to build up tons of links in a very short amount of time.  And you should be very wary of any person, company or service who tells you they can build massive amounts of links with very little effort because those methods are not usually above board.

With that said, there are some ways that you can start building links now so that you will continually increase the number of sites that link back to yours.

Here are five ways you can get started:

1. Be smart with anchor text. Anchor text refers to the words that you click on in order to be directed to another site. Rather than using yourwebsite.com as the anchor text, you can use words that refer to your product and make sense in the context where the link is found.
2. Try content syndication. Syndication refers to when someone uses an article, blog post or news item you wrote and publishes it on their site. When they give credit to the source, they will link back to your site.
3. Directories can also be a great way to build links. The Yahoo Directory is a great one, or you can try to find one that features topics related to your product or service.
4. Bookmarks. Sites such as Digg allow people to share their bookmarks with one another, allowing people to bookmark and share your site. This works best if you have a particularly interesting picture, blog post, or event on your site that people would like to talk about.
5. Ask clients, associates and organizations to put a link to your website on theirs. When you work with people, it is a good idea to see if it would be possible to use the relationship for link building. Also, for any organizations in which you are a member, ask the people in charge what it would take to get your link on their site, and then see if that is feasible for you.

Aim for Quality over Quantity

I’ll share a quick story with you to demonstrate why quality trumps quantity in link building.  A client of mine in the IT business has a very large company that they serve.  I suggested they request a link in the footer of their very popular and well established site saying “Technology consulting by ABC…”  And within a few weeks, our client moved up quickly in the rankings.

Now, this digital marketing strategy does not yield the same results every time.  However it does demonstrate that when Google, Yahoo and Bing find a link to your site on another site they trust, this helps your credibility in the online world.

The easiest websites to optimize are the horrible ones. In fact, the hardest part about optimizing a site that has a million and one problems is deciding which ones to go after first. However, where do you begin if you have a beautiful, clean, profitable website? If there are no clear issues – if the calls to action are visible and the page uncluttered and the buttons big and shiny – then what can be done short of remaking the entire site (an idea as scary as it is unnecessary)?

Sometimes, all you need is a change in perspective. We, the web savvy, see the Internet through big, clear monitors and 11 point font. We look at our site and we can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t be able to perform whatever task the site is designed to do. Well, to that end, Google Labs has created Browser Size. This nifty little tool allows you to see how much of your web page is immediately visible to your visitor depending on the size of their monitor and resolution settings.

The concept of “the fold” of a web page (as in “above the fold”, i.e., what can be seen upon landing on a webpage without any scrolling) is not a solid line that snips the bottom off every page, but rather a subjective experience. The notion of having important links, buttons and messages above the fold is taken for granted as a good policy, so what if you found out that 20% of your visitors couldn’t immediately see what you thought they could?

Plug your site into Browser Size and you’ll get that perspective. Each band of color represents approximately how many visitors will see that section immediately upon landing (the seemingly shaky lines are actually a true representation of the visible area excluding the title bar, toolbars, etc). If you have important information or buttons in the 70% range, that means 30% of your visitors are forced to scroll to see that information and convert.

Take a look at this example from the Website Optimizer homepage:

As you can see, most people can see our primary call to action, the “Start testing now” button. However, some of our educational content like Benefits and Testing 101 sections is below the fold for 50% of viewers.

Think the numbers are different for your site? Browser Size bases its data on a sample of visitors to Google.com, but you can check out your screen resolutions report in your web analytics tool to see the most common visitor screen resolutions for your own site. For most sites the list of dimensions is quite long, and the ones we in the industry tend to use – 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024 – typically only represent about 50% of the visitors at best.

So get back to the optimization grindstone, squeeze another percentage point or two into your conversion rate, and give all of your visitors the experience they deserve. You can start using Browser Size at http://browsersize.googlelabs.com