Think Big Blog

In the last post we began building our bridge between our targeted web traffic (our customers) and our website. We have identified what we do and what we have to offer, how we differ from the competition, where we stand against the competition in terms of an online search, and what keywords and keywords phrases our potential customers are using to find our products and services online. Now we’re on to:

Step 3. Just because a keyword phrase looks good on paper - and it’s what you think your customers may use in a search - doesn’t mean it holds water in reality or that it will specifically benefit you in any way. Keyword research - thorough keyword research done by a professional search engine optimization (SEO) team - will yield the results you need to move forward. Through keyword research you can determine how competitive a phrase is (i.e. do you have the time, money, and resources to compete on this level) and what phrases remain untapped in terms of SEO. Ultimately it’s determining what is going to give you the best traction on the search engines, raise your online profile, and ultimately connect you to your audience.

Step 4. Integrate your keywords into compelling online content as a part of a greater SEO campaign. Once you have zeroed in on the appropriate keywords - those keyword phrases that are most likely to gain you the best traction on the search engines - a website optimization firm will work with you to integrate these keywords into your website content. Content serves two equally important purposes - it must be engaging enough to gain the interest of your audience and enticing enough to convert visitors into sales, while also including your chosen keywords in order to satisfy the search engines. The inclusion of keyword rich content, however, is a part of the larger SEO picture which will also include on-page SEO-friendly changes and an integrated and comprehensive linking campaign.

Online marketing, most of us believe, has one singular purpose - to get our website noticed in order to increase web traffic. That’s part of it; but certainly not all of it. Any online marketing company that sells you on a campaign to simply boost web traffic is missing a significant piece of the puzzle. Sure, we all want to better our search engine rankings and subsequently increase web traffic; but if we don’t draw the attention of the right kind of web traffic it does nothing to increase our sales. The bottom line is always to better business, increase sales and earn more money. Targeted web traffic results in a higher likelihood of conversions and the bridge between the two is the choice of keywords.

So think of online marketing as the building of a bridge between your customers and your website. Helping you build it - one rung at a time - is your website optimization firm; a company that knows a thing or two about positioning you appropriately in the online market.

Step 1. Put it all on the table. What is it that you do? What do you offer? What makes you different from other companies? Who are your customers and how do they traditionally find you? This is very much a case of knowing where you were before you can know where you’re going. If your customers are finding your competitors online and not you then chances are that they are positioned in a better location because of their choice of keywords. Know your audience and how they are searching for your type of products and service online.

Step 2. Define what you do and what you offer. This is all about the keywords and keyword phrases; finding the words and word combinations that are being used regularly by your customers. What are they plugging into an online search to find what you have to offer?

Continued in the next post…

Those in a seasonal business that peaks in the summer - or those who are already preparing for the fall season which is their busiest - are undoubtedly always one step ahead of the game when it comes to their business. They realize that certain things need to be put in place many months prior to the season so that the business is poised for success; and this includes making sure that all is right with their website. Seasonal online business is no different than traditional business; allowances must be made and plans must be put in place so that the business can thrive when the time comes to do so. It is so important, therefore, that businesses of all kinds make online plans so that they are ready and able to handle growth and increased website traffic.

Working with a professional website optimization firm means that you will have the benefit of ongoing management by professionals who understand what it takes to succeed online. Your SEO team, in order to build targeted web traffic in time for your season, will:

Identify those keywords that are most often used in a search for your products and services. Perhaps keywords need to be tweaked for your particular season; those phrases that may not have been appropriate - or well-used - during the winter, are now perfect for the summer.

Make changes to content if necessary. Those businesses that run on seasons have different things to offer during different times of the year. Make sure your online content is in line with what you have to offer. Your SEO team will make changes to your website content and ensure that such content includes the appropriate keyword phrases.

Send out a release or two. Optimized press releases - especially when you have something exciting to announce for the season - are a great way to spread the word about your site and increase website traffic.

When people reference working in a vacuum they mean working in the dark - void of any outside stimulation or information. Many times people are working in this manner and have no idea they are doing so. They are so accustomed to working in a particular manner that they continue to do so regardless of what is going on around them. They don’t pay attention to changing environments and trends, they don’t call upon outside professionals for support or an outside opinion, and they ultimately fail to notice that they are getting left behind. Getting too comfortable is a dangerous situation for any business especially a business that has an online presence and expects to stand their ground in a highly competitive environment. If you work in a vacuum your business winds up in the dark.

Instead new heights can be reached and you can increase web traffic through consolidated efforts between you - who knows your business - and a professional online marketing company that can best lead you in the appropriate direction for branding yourself and attracting targeted web traffic. When you think that you don’t need the help of professionals, you’re working with your nose to the grindstone each and every day, and still you are not realizing growth in your business or traffic on your site this is precisely the time to pick your head up and take a look around; because the competition could easily be passing you by while it goes unnoticed by you.

Time is money; don’t waste time online. Work with a website optimization firm that can give you a realistic, unbiased opinion of your site and the state of the online market and put real and measurable strategies in place to help you not only keep pace with the competition but even come out ahead.

Online marketing has become the new buzz words of the Internet; something that a whole host of companies profess to know how to do and something that we have been trained to fear in terms of not having “enough” of it - a sure sign, according to those in the know, that our online business will fail. The truth is that online businesses count on a lot of factors to realize success. Having the fantastic website and the airtight business plan and the phenomenal products and services are - quite frankly - only pieces in a much larger puzzle. We do need online marketing insomuch as we need to be able to build the appropriate bridge for our customers to find our websites. This is, surprisingly, the one step that so many people leave out of their business plans. You can build it but it doesn’t mean that they will come.

So what does online marketing mean and how does this help you build your business? In terms of getting people - and by people we mean qualified, targeted web traffic - to your site, online marketing is the means by which you make your site known and attract this traffic. In some cases this is a well constructed and equally well managed pay per click (PPC) campaign that allows your site to inhabit the prime locations on a search engine for a price. In other cases this is done through an organic search engine optimization (SEO) campaign that - when done well - will help you reach the prime locations of the search engines on your own, without the paid spot.

Results found through organic SEO campaigns are directly proportionate to the amount of work put into the campaign which is why so many rightfully turn to a professional online marketing and website optimization firm to take the reigns. More in the next post…

Establishing yourself as an online business - even if you have a thriving traditional business and an established and recognized brand - can be a challenge, especially when you don’t necessarily understand the dynamics of the Internet. So it’s not surprising that so many businesses turn to a website optimization firm for help in educating them about the online arena and integrating their website into the world of online commerce. You can launch a website but this does not guarantee online success; in fact it doesn’t guarantee much of anything at all other than the fact that you have your own corner of the online world. With strategic online marketing, however, as managed by a search engine optimization company, you can take that piece of the world that you now occupy and transform it into a living billboard for your products and services. This is, of course, only successful if such marketing is done correctly; marketing which usually begins with a strong organic SEO program.

In addition to an SEO campaign - typically launched to reach out to targeted web traffic - other things can be done to ensure that a company gets as much attention from the search engines and the online audience as possible. Most importantly, businesses must establish their ground in a competitive market and what better way to do that than by establishing themselves as experts?

Look for opportunities to post articles on industry news. Write and submit your take on particular topics.

Answer questions in ask and answer forums. The more you do this the more you will earn credibility in your industry and shed light on your company by extension.

Get out the word on your company by continually submitting press releases announcing news. Keeping your name in front of your audience is always important whether you operate online or through traditional methods.

In the last post we talked about the goal of online marketing - to effectively cut through the hundreds of messages we receive on a given day and reach our targeted audience with just the right message. Challenging? Yes. However, with the right SEO company on your side you are able to cut through the clutter with precision and deliver the appropriate message to those who could likely be your next customer. With online marketing, generating more website traffic is important but, as we discussed, it’s only one piece of the puzzle; because unless this web traffic is interested in what you have to offer, then ultimately the traffic doesn’t do you much good. As we’ve already discussed, one of the ways to turn traffic into targeted web traffic is to make sure that the keywords being used in an SEO campaign are appropriate. A professional website optimization firm will do the research necessary to determine what keywords your potential audience will use to find you; important for making sure that people will search for you most appropriately and those who want to find you will find you.

Some other pieces of online marketing include:

Strategic linking. Making sure that people can find you and that the search engines are taking notice also includes making sure that you have inbound linking from relevant and reputable websites.

Establishing expertise. The world of online marketing is as much about public relations as anything else. Establish you expertise and standing in the industry by distributing press releases about company news, writing and publishing informational pieces about your industry in general, and getting your name and website out there in a variety of ways. Professional SEO services will not only help orchestrate the plan but manage these efforts and help you reach the targeted web traffic you seek.

The minute that most of us get out of bed in the morning we are bombarded by thousands of messages - from our televisions and radios to the information that comes at us online. When you really stop to think about it - how is it possible that all of these messages are delivered? That all of them reach their intended audience? The answer, of course, is that they don’t. With so much coming at us rapid fire everyday, a ton of information falls through the cracks. It is only the savvy marketing person that can craft a message that tunnels through the interference and it hits its mark. Of course, this is the most important concern for everyone promoting a product or service - and especially a website that competes in an often chaotic online arena everyday. Online marketing is one of the toughest things to do successfully because so much of what we deal with online is not tangible - we are dealing in things we can’t really see but must still measure. We need to be able to get the attention of targeted web traffic and deliver them to our site.

Define your business through keywords.

Any business that has worked with a website optimization firm or online marketing company has been introduced to the concept of keywords. This is much more than just choosing keywords that can be used throughout your website content. These are the words that truly define your business in the ways that are most important because - if done right - these are the words that are most likely to be used by your targeted web traffic in an online search. An online marketing campaign will use these keywords to target website traffic with pinpoint accuracy - to the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer and be converted into customers. More in the next post…

Marketing for traditional businesses tends to follow a relatively set path in most cases, although the mediums have certainly changed as technology has grown by leaps and bounds. Online marketing, however, follows a much less direct path in many cases; there is much to consider and there are many variables. You are essentially building a marketing plan on a foundation that tends to shift considerably according to the latest trends. So how do you know how to approach online marketing in a way that allows you to grow targeted web traffic? There is still a relatively systematic approach in the beginning that - above all - involves working with professionals that can give you the guidance and momentum to set goals and achieve them. Working with an online marketing company gives companies the ability to see their whole marketing picture and make decisions accordingly. In their quest to deliver targeted web traffic, an SEO services company will offer:

Intense keyword research. There is no better way to increase rankings in a search engine optimization (SEO) program than to use the most appropriate keywords; the keywords that will drive targeted web traffic to a site. An online marketing company will research keywords to determine what will work best in terms of competitiveness and what people are using to guide them in their search for these particular products and services.

The elbow grease of an organic SEO campaign. Elevating search engine rankings takes time and ongoing management. Website optimization is a process that must be driven - a journey. Professional online marketing companies have the time, ability, and resources to stay engaged in the process and make adjustments as necessary on the road to success.

A look at the complete picture. There are many different facets that go into a successful online campaign - including work on the website, integration of keyword rich content, linking strategy, and more. When all components are addressed in tandem, a campaign has the best chance of success.

When it comes to any business it’s important to have a solid foundation in place before you do any of the work to grow the business. Otherwise, anything that you do will sink in the end. For many people, the idea of building a solid online foundation begins and ends with creating a dynamic website. While a great looking - and obviously functional - website is important, setting the foundation for solid online marketing for that site is just as significant for its long time survival and success. How do you set your sites on growth without making absolutely sure that your audience can find you? Matching a website with its audience online is about generating targeted web traffic; something that a website optimization firm can help put into place through the choosing of keywords, integration of keyword rich content and the orchestration of a strategic linking plan.

What is important to remember is that this is the foundation of your online marketing campaign; something that - if you do right - will catapult you to success by making sure that you are able to find your audience and that they can find you. An organic SEO campaign will afford you:

A focused look at keywords that will help to drive traffic appropriately. You want to utilize the keywords that are used most often by those who are participating in a search for your particular goods and services - and to integrate those keywords into your content to not only get the attention of the search engines but draw the attention of your audience.

Solid management strategies that will keep you on track through a campaign that could include many twists and turns. There is nothing predictable about the Internet and those who find success do so because they are able to adjust fast and keep on moving.