Think Big Blog

It’s summer; and for a great many of us that means heading off on vacation where there preferably is a body of water in which we will immerse ourselves for several days. If we’re lucky we’ll get to ride a few waves – give up the control that we have to absorb every day of our “normal” lives and just let go.

Control is a sticky subject for many people especially when it comes to their businesses. After all, they have built them – their blood, sweat, tears, and money is what has kept it afloat; and the idea of turning over control often doesn’t sit very well. Our new “babies” of business are our web sites. It’s probably been a long time since we had the chance to really sink our teeth into something and watch our vision come to life. But it’s not easy to turn them over so that someone else can give us the scoop on what we are doing that may or may not be interfering with our ability to increase web traffic.

But this is precisely what has to be done in most cases if there is going to be any traction made in not only attracting more web traffic but also attracting the quality traffic that can help grow a business – i.e. those who are in the market to buy what you have to offer.

Consider it riding the wave; letting go so that something more powerful can take the reins. The role of the web site optimization firm in this case is to harness the great power of the Internet – consider such a firm your surfboard or other method of transportation that allows you to enjoy the ride and takes you were you want to go. It’s time to give up control and see it where it takes you!

The great debate continues in the world of online marketing. Why search engine optimization when I can just pay my money for pay per click and be exactly where I want to be when I want to be there? There’s nothing that can take away from the effectiveness of pay per click. There is no question that it is a very effective means of online marketing –a way to get your company name out there, brand your business, and be directly in front of the people you are trying to reach. The difference between search engine optimization and pay per click often comes down to simply a matter of preference. But it also comes down to perception.

Internet search engine users understand that the space at the top and to the right of their search engine results are referred to as sponsored links; they know that this is purchased ad space and they appreciate that. But this is not a perception that can be avoided because it’s the truth. So while your link may come up in response to their search query it does not mean that you came up because you are the best in that realm, or the most notable, or the most popular; it means that you paid to be there.

This is not say that sponsored ad space is bad – not at all; it just is what it is. Search engine optimization is the effort that is put into making sure a link comes up organically in response to a query and this is often perceived by the online community as more credible.

Ultimately the decision to choose search engine optimization or pay per click is one that only you can make. Work with a web site optimization firm that can help you determine the best course of action in accordance with your goals and your budget.

In the last post we talked about the importance of marketing for all businesses – traditional and otherwise. The online business community may be growing by leaps and bounds but there are many industries that have had a difficult time adjusting. For instance, bricks and mortar businesses have understood the importance of professional marketing guidance for some time. But web site owners are too often still trying to grasp how crucial marketing is to their online success. To make matters worse, the market is saturated by less than reputable companies that profess to be online marketing experts…and are anything but.

This may be enough to put many people completely off the process of looking for a web site optimization firm but it doesn’t mitigate the fact that such professional guidance is critical for success. But with a few ideas of what to look for you can begin the process of seeking the expert advice that will see your online presence growing by leaps and bounds:

• Experience, experience, experience. Experience may be an obvious thing to look for but people often fail to look beyond the few nice words a web site optimization firm throws their way to advertise their services. Not only should the firm in question have some time under their belt they should be well versed in a variety of services including pay per click and search engine optimization.

• Ability to do for themselves what they claim they can do for others. It wouldn’t make sense to choose a web site optimization firm to do for you what they can’t do for themselves. Look for a web site optimization firm that has managed to find success for itself through its own system.

• Word of mouth. The Internet is at your disposal when looking for expert advice. Use it to your advantage and look for a company that has good press and positive testimonials.

• Customized solutions. Marketing a web site is just like marketing a traditional company; not every path is the appropriate one for reaching a goal. Look for a web site optimization firm that looks to increase web site traffic through proven and customized solutions.

Setting out to market any business requires a certain amount of understanding about the process; as well as the willingness to put trust in the professionals who can help you achieve the goals that you may not be able to reach on your own. Traditionally speaking, businesses have been putting their faith in marketing professionals for decades. But in the online arena, there are many web site owners that are, not surprisingly, hesitant to put their faith in those that profess to be experts in online marketing.

The reason that this is not surprising? Because the Internet – while all-encompassing for most of us – is still very new in the overall scheme of things. It has taken some businesses - and some industries at large - a fair amount of time to recognize that not only is the Internet not going anywhere it is going to play an increasingly tremendous role in commerce in the future. Of course, this has also sparked the growth of many less than reputable online marketing firms that profess to be able to raise online rankings; firms that leave web sites high and dry in the end with nothing to show but money lost.

Has this tarnished the reputation of online marketing as a whole? Absolutely. But this does not in any way mean that all online marketing firms are unable or unwilling to deliver.

Where does this leave web site owners? Squarely in the position of having to vet those online marketing companies that they are considering hiring to help them elevate page rankings and grow their company brand. There are very particular things that web site owners should look at when looking to pair with a web site optimization firm. In the next post we’ll talk about some of the things to look for when considering a web site optimization firm.

There are those marketing efforts that businesses do to garner speedy results in order to get them noticed. But it is the more comprehensive marketing plans that allow for more long term and sustainable results; those marketing plans that require commitment and consistency. For web sites, this kind of long term sustainable marketing plan includes search engine optimization.

Pay per click is a very effective marketing effort that consistently draws attention to a site - positioning a web site in a choice position on the search engine results pages. But search engine optimization can provide a longer term solution to sustainable marketing efforts by organically and highly positioning a site on the search engine rankings.

Of course achieving such a position and maintaining it means committing to a marketing plan that is in line with your company’s branding strategy and is best positioned to propel a site ahead of the competition.

When looking to the future for your web site it can have the most impact to work with a web site optimization firm to lead the way towards success. A web site optimization firm is charged with marketing a web site and they are consistently and completely focused on this effort. This is a huge bonus for companies that don’t have the resources for an in-house online marketing team. A web site optimization firm acts as an arm of a company – an off-site marketing team whose role it is to strategize a customized and affordable plan for marketing a web site to the top.

Shortsightedness will not deliver longstanding success online. Look to the future of your site by putting solid and consistent marketing plans into place and professionals in charge of the journey. A web site optimization firm can help deliver more web site traffic now and well into the future.

It is official – summer is here; and with it comes the inevitable slowing of most of the business world. That, of course, is something that historically happens no matter what the economy but in an economy such as what we are experiencing right now, this slowing has even more impact than ever. Why not make the most use of this time?

It can be difficult to focus on marketing efforts throughout the year. You do what you can to make sure that your business is promoted effectively but it cannot compete with the time it takes to actually run the business. Not surprisingly most people turn to professionals to take over the marketing reins so that they can focus on the business at hand. Web site marketing should be no exception.

Take the summer months to explore the potential that a web site optimization firm brings to the table. By making sure that professionals head up your marketing efforts you can rest assured that everything is being done to make sure that your site is promoted to the appropriate audience. This period of time can allow you to focus on such things as search engine optimization, pay per click, and other marketing vehicles that will better position your web site for success throughout the year.

Most importantly now is the time that you want to look for the web site optimization firm that will work best for your needs and help you grow your business through your web site. Look for a web site optimization firm that has a strong reputation in the marketplace and a distinctive plan for marketing your site. Within this general idea for a plan, however, should be flexibility for customization depending upon the state of the site and their ultimate goals for the short and long term.

Many web site owners and operators that come to a web site optimization firm for help in generating more web site traffic are nervous to say the least. Many do not understand the importance of having professional marketing on their side; the impact that it can have on their business. It’s much easier for people to understand the need for a traditional bricks and mortar business to have an advertising agency or marketing firm. But they fail to make the connection between an online business and its equal need for an online marketing firm.

What’s also scary to some web sites is the penchant for a web site optimization firm to deconstruct their web site. The site owner may feel that they have put the time and the money into creating a well-designed site and they only want to market it, but a lot of what a web site optimization firm does is making sure the site itself is optimized to be found by the search engines, thus generating more web site traffic.

To start, a web site optimization firm will look to determine the appropriate keywords that should be used for a web site. These keywords will correspond to the phrases that potential customers may use to locate your services; not just potential visitors, potential customers. The keywords that are chosen are chosen for this reason, as well as their competitiveness in the online market which impacts a site’s ability to climb the rankings for that phrase.

The keywords will be infused into online content and this is where the onsite work begins. Web site owners need to be comfortable with the optimization firm that they pick as such a firm will help them upload newly optimized content, among other things. Those other things may include looking deeper at the site’s nuts and bolts and potentially making changes to make sure it is optimized to receive more web traffic and future customers.

In the last post we began to talk about the state of modern society and our propensity for having it all in the grandest scale possible. Many of us are definitely of the mindset that the more we have of something the better we are; but this is often not the case, as we previously discussed. In the example we set in the last post, businesses would be doing themselves a disservice to only be concerned with quantity as it relates to visitors. A traditional business that happily rejoices in the throngs of visitors that come in to their store on a daily basis are partially missing the point. They have every right to be happy with the attention and should continue to encourage visitors but ultimately it is the quality of the visitors that will impact the bottom line. And in this case, quality visitors refer to those who are in the market to buy the particular product and service that the business offers.

Again, this is especially true of web sites. The responsibility of a web site owner is two-fold. They certainly don’t want to be cast into the great World Wide Web without a plan on how people can find them. So they turn to a web site optimization firm to start the process of online marketing – which will often include search engine optimization, pay per click, public relations, and other marketing efforts – to increase web traffic and make sure the site is indexed by the search engines and can be found by Internet users.

But this, again, is partially missing the point. Web sites that will ultimately find success will do so because of the quality of their visitors. The web site optimization firm that truly understands this differentiation will ensure that they not only increase web traffic but increase the right kind of web site traffic by using the appropriate keywords that will draw an audience that is also likely to become customers.

The world moves so fast; remaining stagnant is not an option, especially if it is in terms of business. Companies of any kind need to be able to stay several steps ahead in recognizing the next big thing; that which will draw a wider customer base so that they can continue to stay in the game of business.

For web sites this is even more important because the online market moves at such a rapid clip. Web sites that want to stay viable, continue to draw an audience, and continue to increase web site traffic must continually reinvent themselves to stay current and in the line of vision of those who are likely to become customers.

Helping web sites appropriately stay on track is the web site optimization firm. The web site optimization firm is the marketing arm of the online world – helping web sites to identify their audience and implement search engine optimization tactics and other web marketing methods to stay elevated in the search engine rankings and find the audience that is interested in what the site has to offer.

Marketing a web site – like marketing a traditional business – is not just about getting the word out there. Branding is important. But branding that is directed at the wrong audience is simply not effective. Conversion is the most important thing; to make sure that the message is strong and that it is delivered to the right target market.

The web site optimization firm helps to not only market the overall business but also determine what it is that the audience is searching for so that they can direct the message appropriately. The result is more than just to increase web site traffic – it is to increase web traffic with the people who will stay on the site and are most likely to be converted to customers.

So you’ve designed and launched what most consider to be a pretty great web site. You’ve done all the research on how best to present your products and services to your intended audience and you have spent an inordinate amount of time designing a site that meets your needs and is in line with appropriate marketing. But when you’re all done – when the site is launched and you’re convinced that everything is perfect – you wonder where to go from here. How do you make sure that people even know that the site exists and they can find it; that they can find the products and services that you have made available to them?

This is the time that web site owners will invariably find themselves in need of a web site optimization firm so that the site is best poised to be found on the search engines and that the target audience is able to find the site amongst the online competition.

What is the role of a web site optimization firm? Essentially it is the role of such professionals to help focus the site – to identify the target audience, identify keywords that such a target audience will use to locate such a site, and to engage particular processes to allow such an audience to find what they need on the web site.

A reputable and experienced web site optimization firm, once they help identify keywords, will infuse those keywords into content found on the site and will also launch a strategic linking campaign that will ensure that relevant and highly ranked sites are linking to the client’s site.

All of this work – done consistently throughout a search engine optimization campaign – will help elevate the site’s rankings on the search engines. If a web site can be found on the search engines then the target audience – in search of products and services offered by the site – will be able to find the web site. This will, in turn, increase web site traffic and ultimately grow the business.