Think Big Blog

Marketing on any level can be tricky no matter what industry you are in or what business you want to promote. But online marketing carries with it additional confusion simply because there is so much available and things change on a dime. What may be in favor and accepted by the search engines one moment falls out of favor the next. Marketing successfully online, in fact, requires an enormous amount of adaptability. You need to be able to stay on your toes every second, address the next trends, and adapt accordingly. In other words, it’s a lot of work and it’s not surprising that so many web site owners understand the value in hiring professionals to head up their search engine optimization effort. It’s more than a project, it’s a lifestyle, so to speak, that is lived and engaged in every day. You need someone who will drive the bus without fail and never take their eyes off the road – changing direction when necessary.

So what do you look for when you’re searching for search engine optimization professionals? For one you want a company that has been in the business for some time and has experience in navigating the often confusing and tricky terrain of online marketing. You want a company that understands how quickly things can change and has experience with quickly adjusting their clients’ SEO campaigns in order to reflect what is current and effective. Most of all you want a company that understands all of the nuances of online marketing and how these components come together for a successful outcome – from search engine optimization to pay per click, and more.

Look for a web site optimization firm that has your best interests at heart and can take the helm of your marketing campaign with creativity and confidence.

When we talk about web traffic in terms of marketing, the goal is always to increase web site traffic. Web site owners have several objectives in establishing a successful online presence. The first is the web site itself – making sure that the design and content is in keeping with the company’s overall image and message as well as being attractive and interesting to visitors. Ultimately if you manage to get people on your site you want to keep them there. Once the web site is the best that it can be the goal then becomes to market the site appropriately so that it can actually be found by its intended audience. This is where quantity versus quality comes into play.

Web site owners may think that they simply want to increase web site traffic in terms of volume. But ultimately volume may not be enough if the visitors that come to the site are not in the market for what you have to offer. You want to make sure that you have quality visitors who come to your site; those who are interested in what you have to sell and are potential customers.

Quality web site traffic is a consideration for any good search engine optimization campaign. The point of SEO is to implement components such as keyword rich content and linking strategy in order to move the site up the search engine rankings. But the keywords that a SEO campaign uses also speak directly to those using the search engines. It is imperative that the keywords are in line with what will get the attention of the appropriate audience. It’s great to have more web site traffic but if that traffic does not include visitors who may want what you have, then you are surely missing a significant opportunity.

In the last post we talked about the challenges facing all businesses right now but especially small businesses that rely on limited cash flow to keep them afloat; many of whom have had to layoff significant numbers of staff or have succumbed to the economy and closed their doors. Those that are left are doing what they can to get by and spending their money with much more consideration – even more scrutiny than typically given to their bottom line. Marketing, while considered something by many that should be left in the dust at the present time, continues to thrive in particular venues and especially online – the place to which many businesses are turning as an alternative to their bricks and mortar businesses.

The truth is that online marketing with the help of a professional team – a web site optimization firm – can be enormously successful for small businesses as well as bigger companies. Online marketing can be pursued within the confines of a specific budget and will help to get a web site on the radar and ultimately increase web traffic and grow the business. Some of the benefits that a web site optimization firm can offer small companies looking to optimize their online presence include:

• Knowledge of the market. Most web sites that engage in online marketing do so through search engine optimization, the point of which is to get the attention of the search engines and raise the site’s ranking accordingly. A web site optimization firm should have a deep and working knowledge of the search engines and their changing trends so they can adapt the marketing plan accordingly.

• Map out the campaign. By choosing keywords, implementing content, optimizing web site pages, and orchestrating an inbound marketing campaign through strategic linking, a web site optimization firm is challenged with putting together the appropriate marketing plan within the client’s budget.

• Monitoring the campaign. A solid marketing plan cannot simply be put into action and left alone. A reputable web site optimization firm will steer the ship so to speak and make adjustments as necessary as they set a course for success.

There’s not a town in this country that has not been impacted in some way by the state of the economy. It’s difficult enough to see the housing market take the plunge, as homes sit on the market and - when they are sold - command prices that are substantially lower than what they were valued at even last year. But the state of the economy is also noticeable in the faces of the business world in and around towns and cities across the nation. As small businesses – that often struggle with the challenge of cash flow- are hit hard by economic conditions, many have closed their doors - slowly fading away as so many before them and surely more after.

The marketing of businesses has surely taken a hit as well as people have less discretionary funds to use in this pursuit and many more are confused about where best to spend their money in this regard. It is important to note that online marketing is still a viable solution for businesses of all sizes; and small businesses especially that will be hard pressed to get a greater return on investment. At least with online marketing companies are able to reach their audience directly and tailor their message accordingly. Print advertising has largely gone by the wayside and smaller businesses simply do not have the funds to compete in terms of larger and more expensive marketing platforms like outdoor, radio, and television. But online marketing offers a versatile and affordable solution for reaching an audience with the appropriate message and ultimately growing the business.

So how do small businesses most successfully engage in online marketing and increase web traffic as a result? A web site optimization firm can offer solid steps for appropriate and successful online marketing for businesses of all sizes. More to come in the next post…

As the recession continues and the economic climate stifles many businesses, most of us have wondered if the continued marketing of our web sites is worth the effort. It certainly seems like a less than opportune time to spend money on marketing in any capacity - and online marketing surely couldn’t be any different. The truth is, however, that search engine optimization – one of the cornerstones of online marketing – continues to hold up remarkably well in the economic climate. In fact, traditional businesses have turned to online commerce as their lifeboat in the economic storm as the cost of doing business is lower due to decreased overhead and the ability to reach customers is around the clock.

Operating online has given traditional businesses another option when it may have seemed as though all the options were running out. Instead of shutting down altogether companies are channeling their efforts – and their marketing dollars – into search engine optimization in order to compete strongly in the online arena and take advantage of what the Internet has to offer including an attentive audience looking for a deal and a convenient way of shopping.

The demand for staying competitive has meant that many web site owners – looking to optimize their online presence and approach their marketing with Internet savvy behind them – are calling in the professionals in the form of a web site optimization firm. Expert teams of online marketers are able to identify a realistic objective, identify the particular audience that they are looking to target, and map out a viable plan of attack for getting there. Is it time to abandon the marketing ship in these troubled waters? Absolutely not. For those who want to remain viable in this economy - and beyond - the establishment and management of a solid online presence is paramount.

As those in the business of marketing our online presence we want what all web site owners and operators want – more web site traffic. To that end we hire a team of professionals – a web site optimization firm – to help us identify our specific marketing goals, or our audience, and the methods by which we will best position ourselves on the search engines to reach that audience. Whether you choose search engine optimization or pay per click – or a combination of both – online marketing requires a committed effort by all members of a team. This is all a part of branding a business.

Of course, getting people to your site is only half of the battle. Ultimately you want more business - more customers - and in order to make that happen you need to ensure that you are doing all that you can on your site to increase your odds of web traffic conversion. There are several things that should be put into place to optimize your chances of converting web site traffic and it begins with how you position yourself online:

• Choose smart keywords. Ultimately it will be the keywords that you choose that will determine if you are able to connect with the right audience. This is all about choosing keywords that are in line with what your intended audience is likely to use in a search for those products or services that you offer. Align yourself with the right keywords and you align yourself with your audience.

• Have a call to action on your site. Once you get your audience to your site you need to spur them to gather more information. Offer a click to call button or a special offer that they can take advantage of that very day.

• Make yourself available. Whether you offer instant chat to potential customers or a hotline for immediate answers to questions, you need to give your audience the ability to reach your team immediately. Don’t make them search for contact information. Make it easy and you have a better chance to take web site traffic and make them customers.

Most of the good things in life are worth working towards and waiting for; it’s the instant gratification that gets us into trouble much of the time. If we could have what we wanted instantly it may make us feel satiated in the short term but what does this do to our long term opportunities? Will we be able to sustain what we achieved or is it all just smoke and mirrors? This is a very good thing for web site owners to ask themselves when they approach the inevitable subject of search engine optimization. In the pursuit of online marketing many allow themselves to believe that it’s simply a switch that they hit in order to gain more web site traffic; a service for which they pay and which instantly goes into effect.

Search engine optimization, however, is often referred to a marathon rather than a sprint. It is something to which everyone involved must be wholly committed – from the web site owner to the web site optimization firm; the team in its entirety must be aware of and ready to ride out the inevitable waves of SEO. The core of search engine optimization is trust; you are asking the search engines to trust that your site is reputable, that it will continue to have relevant content, that it will continue to sustain relevant, high quality inbound links. In the beginning of an SEO campaign all of these things are put into place but a site may experience initial bounce in their rankings as the search engines notice change and before the site settles into a good top spot when the engines realize they mean business.

Much of marketing in general is a game of patience and consistency; and SEO is no exception. In order to increase web traffic in the long run and sustain good rankings you have to put the work in on a continual basis and ride out whatever bounce may be initially experienced.

When you first come into a company in a new position you immediately want to do everything there is to do. That’s natural. You are, after all, in a position of having to prove yourself and you want to come out with your best foot forward. For those in a marketing position, coming out of the gate with some great new ideas is a way to get noticed and start putting the company on the map. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective.

If you are just venturing into marketing efforts for a new company, don’t ignore their online presence. If you want more attention paid to your company – more notice of your brand – then you need more web site traffic. The web site has become such an integral part of a company’s overall marketing campaign that whole departments are dedicated to it. Those taking over the reins of Internet marketing in a new position will do best to:

Assess – What, if any, online marketing strides has the company taken? What have they tried and what has been the outcome of the strategies they have implemented? Has there been an effort towards search engine optimization? Pay per click? What have they done to increase web traffic?

Define – Detail the objectives of online marketing going forward. Define the budget and the return on investment you want to see at particular benchmarks.

Find Professional Guidance – A web site optimization firm can act as an off-site marketing “arm” for your company – helping you to plan and pursue a strategy that is in line with the objectives you defined and within your budget parameters.

Measure – Determine if your strategy is working step by step by staying engaged in the process. A reputable web site optimization firm will provide you with an ongoing status and will be flexible about adjusting the strategy in order to optimize your chances for success.

Business across the board has embraced online marketing in the modern world; to ignore this important market is to create a chasm in an overall campaign that is so wide that it’s difficult to bridge the divide. Without an online presence any company is missing out on reaching a tremendous audience. Having a web site, however, does not automatically mean that you will reach that audience; without online marketing it’s possible to be online without ever being found by your intended market.

A marketing plan is, unfortunately, one of the important components that are so often missed by companies. While larger corporations understand the importance of having – and managing – a dynamic web presence, smaller companies often think that they are not at the level where they should be concerned with marketing their web sites. They may automatically think the process to be too cost-prohibitive. They may even consider their web site as an addendum to their more traditional marketing methods rather than a fully functioning, independent marketing vehicle capable of culling new business on its own.

It is important to understand, however, that the online market does not discriminate between large and small corporations. Having a dynamic presence is important for any size company and marketing that web site is equally important in order to deliver more web site traffic and reach the audience that will ultimately be most interested in the products and services the company has to offer.

A reputable web site optimization firm will offer online marketing plans – search engine optimization, pay per click, and more – tailored to meet the specific needs of the client that will meet their online goals and stay within the confines of their budget.

Pressure. We may think of pressure as stress in most cases but, put simply, pressure refers to the amount of force that is applied to something. An object that is subjected to constant pressure may undergo a change in shape. Clay, for example, to which pressure is applied can be molded to be anything that the artist chooses. This is a physical example but pressure works in more theoretical ways as well. In fact, when we are going after any goal the more pressure we put on this pursuit will likely achieve us the results we are after.

Online marketing is a very good example of this. Most web site owners understand that in order to make any headway online they need to engage in online marketing efforts – search engine optimization, pay per click or a combination of both. Pay per click – as long as the program is being paid for – applies its own sort of pressure as the ad is online as it should be and the program functions accordingly.

Search engine optimization, however, is a process by which a web site is helped guided to the top of the search engine results pages because of a consistent marketing effort. A web site optimization firm is often called in to tackle such a job and it’s a good thing because this is something that must be attended to each and every day – beginning with the choosing of appropriate keywords, the infusion of the keywords into the content, the optimization of the pages throughout the web site, and the constant monitoring of the site’s progress. There are no days off in SEO – this is an effort that must be attended to daily – but by applying that pressure each and every day and making the necessary adjustments, a search engine optimization team can help lead a web site up the ranks and increase web site traffic.