Think Big Blog

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…

In the last post we talked about how traditional marketing and advertising is not only about getting the attention of the intended audience, it is about establishing and sometimes changing perception. You want those who could potentially be customers to have a positive image of you in their mind and you set forth your plan in an effort to grow brand loyalty. The same goes for online marketing where the competition is clear and the fight to get to the top of the search engine rankings wages on a daily basis. Perception - in the mind of a consumer - is reality; and should they type in a keyword phrase for something that you claim to be an expert in doing and they find you on page four, five, or twenty on the search engine rankings your credibility is going to be diminished in their eyes. Ranking is important; there’s no question.

As we said earlier the best way to manage an online campaign so that you are reaching your audience through targeted (and well researched keywords) is by working with a professional and experienced web site optimization firm that can strategy the best campaign and take you through the paces. There needs to be a certain amount of flexibility inherent in such a campaign as things change day to day online; the best online marketing campaigns are able to adjust and move on towards their quest to attract qualified web site traffic.

A reputable web site optimization firm will help you put together a search engine optimization plan that they will not only implement but manage on a day to day basis. This ongoing hands-on management can be the difference between mediocre results and true success in gaining a foothold in a particular industry and certainly in the online market.

When you embark upon a traditional advertising and marketing campaign your motivation is to gain the attention of your intended audience through the strategies that you put into place. Ultimately, however, what you really mean to do through this work is to generate a perception about your brand - lay the foundation for those who have no pre-conceived ideas about your brand and change the perception of those who may have negative feelings toward it. How you do this is entirely within the scope of creative strategizing and execution and while this lends itself to traditional advertising and marketing it most certainly lends itself equally well to online work.

Selling yourself and changing perception online can be tricky. There are few places where consumers - and misaligned wrongdoers - can weigh in so completely and so instantly on your product and service. Almost every day web sites and the companies behind them are being judged by a jury of their online peers and it can be a difficult battle to face. The best resources that anyone has for being successful online is their ability to adjust their search engine rankings. You want to be as close to the top of the rankings as possible so that you can immediately and positively attract the attention of your audience. Of course such rankings increase web traffic as a matter of course, but if you strategize appropriately and execute your plan with equal parts determination and flexibility you can maximize your opportunities to not only get more web site traffic but attract the traffic that will have a higher conversion rate and earn you business.

Managing such an online campaign is best done through the work of a web site optimization firm that can lend their expertise to the process. More in the next post…

It’s that time of year when we head into our closets to sort and discard clothes and turn over our homes to ensure that we clean out the cobwebs and clutter of the past winter. Spring cleaning, in fact, is something that we habitually do as a nation; something that is as traditional as the holidays that come every spring. Just as we put effort into cleaning out our homes so too should we take the time to freshen up our web sites. Our web sites, after all, are a direct reflection of our business and the first impression that many will have of the quality of our products or level of our abilities. If you haven’t thought about spring cleaning your web site then now is the time. To get started you should work with a web site optimization firm that can assess your situation and make the recommendations that will elevate your site to the next level.

Working with a web site optimization firm will give you the insight you need to make whatever changes need to be made. Even a traditional business needs to make changes in order to keep the attention of their audience - stock turnovers, changes in store design, creative advertising, and more. The same can be said for web sites that need to engage their audience in order to maintain interest and to gain the attention of the search engines so that they can elevate their rankings and increase web site traffic.

Making changes and refreshing a site may include the creation and implementation of additional optimized content - utilizing the appropriate keywords that correspond to the products and services that the business offers and are likely to be used in a search.

By making additions and changing things up within the context of a search engine optimization campaign, you can keep your site on the radar of the search engines and engage your audience creatively.

In the last post we talked about the importance of having a plan in place for growing your online business - just as you would put a plan in place to grow your traditional business. In the online arena, however, there is an additional component in the mix - the search engines - that can ultimately make or break a marketing campaign. The search engines are the gatekeepers to web site traffic, plain and simple, and they must be engaged in order to help any web site build business and attract their audience.

As we said, most people in putting a plan in place will work with a web site optimization firm; simply because such professionals understand the nuances of the search engines and the best way to go about getting their attention. Things change on a dime in an online marketing campaign; a web site optimization firm can navigate accordingly. A professional online marketing company will:

Determine the status of your web site going into a campaign - where does it rank? Is it utilizing the appropriate keywords to attract the right audience? Is there enough relevant content on your site?

Make a plan. From there a web site optimization firm will help you choose relevant keywords - the words that the audience you seek will use in an online search; and they will integrate those keywords into an aggressive and well- managed search engine optimization or pay per click campaign.

Manage the details. Going forward a reputable web site optimization firm will make sure to manage all the details of your campaign on a daily basis and make adjustments where and when they are necessary. Things change quickly online and a web site optimization firm will respond accordingly.

With the help of a professional web site optimization firm you can build your online business and find success.

When it comes to building business online there are similarities and differences to building business in a traditional manner. While it is still important to put things in place that will attract the attention of your audience, hold their attention, and inspire a sale, there is an extra element in online business. The search engines. In a traditional business, your actual physical presence alerts people to the fact that you are there - word of mouth, advertising, foot traffic, etc. Online you have to go through a few extra steps to get noticed. The online market is so crowded and so vast that it’s unlikely that someone would just stumble upon you; they need to know where to look and the search engines give them that information.

You can’t grow your business online until you are noticed and subsequently ranked by the search engines so that your potential customers can find you; there’s no other way to look at it. You have to do your homework and put the work in to getting ranked on the engines so that ultimately your audience can find you and you can grow your customer base. Putting the work in doesn’t mean just building a site and launching it; it means working that site everyday in terms of building rankings and marketing your online business - generating more web site traffic and becoming a place that visitors come again and again. Most people do this through the help of a web site optimization firm that is experienced in marketing web sites and helping them building a business.

A web site optimization firm will then put a strategy into place that will allow the company in question to make a plan to grow their online business; and a reputable web site optimization firm will manage that campaign every step of the way. More in the next post…

In the last post we talked about how web traffic and smart web traffic are two different things. While it has always seemingly been the goal of web sites to generate more web site traffic the real work has been in trying to generate more appropriate web site traffic. What good is it to flood a web site with visitors who are not in the market for that site’s products and services? At the end of the day this doesn’t make the business any money. At the same time this is exactly what web sites are opening themselves up to when they simply launch a site and don’t spend any time or energy in online marketing. A web site optimization firm can help a web site not only put a strategy together that will help elevate their rankings on the search engines but will also help them reach out to an audience that has the potential to grow their business. Here’s how it’s done.

A web site optimization firm will help a company embark in online marketing in whatever capacity they are most comfortable. For instance, the company may want to engage in an SEO campaign - an organic search engine optimization campaign in which case there is not only the choosing of keywords but also the optimization of pages on the site and often a strategic linking campaign. Another company may wish to pursue web site traffic through pay-per-click or PPC in which they purchase their top spot on the search engines. In either case the magic rests with the keywords; the right keywords can deliver smart web traffic, the wrong keywords can deliver traffic that is only confused when they arrive because you don’t offer what they want.

Work with a strong and reputable web site optimization firm to identify those keywords that will give you a pinpoint accurate way to reach the appropriate people - to generate smart web traffic.

In the last post we talked about the importance in online marketing of putting together a solid plan and - beyond that - working that plan each and every day. There is management that is needed in order for an online marketing strategy to be successful, to generate more web site traffic and grow the company’s brand on another level. Those who understand how hands-on this process is hire a web site optimization firm to not only implement the strategy but manage the details.

We first discussed the management necessary in search engine optimization. There is the choosing of keywords, the creation and implementation of keyword rich content, the management of a comprehensive linking strategy, and much more. This is not a one and done process - something that is put into place and allowed to run its course. Management is absolutely critical to success and a web site optimization firm offers ongoing management that includes course correcting an SEO plan to adjust to changing trends, changes in the company, and more.

Pay-per-Click - If SEO is a public relations campaign, then PPC is an advertising campaign. Either way it must be managed. In this case, the web site owner - the advertiser - purchases a top spot in the sponsored ad section of the search engines in order to capitalize on the keywords that they think are most effective for their business. PPC management is an integral part of making sure this goes off without a hitch and is ultimately successful in delivering the site with increased web site traffic - and hopefully visitors that are in keeping with the company’s overall customer base.

Whether you choose SEO or PPC, management is essential to success. Turn to a web site optimization firm to help you realize your goals and grow your business online.

When you’re looking for consistent branding, there’s no getting around how important web site traffic is to marketing survival. In this day and age an effective web site can be the glue that holds the whole thing together; and you wouldn’t trust something this important to just anyone. A reputable web site optimization firm helps to define a marketing plan and works that plan day in and day out; there is nothing more important than having a professional team that is wholly committed to your web site and the web site traffic it generates.

So there is the marketing plan - the strategy that is developed and put into place that is meant to catapult a site to the top of the search engine rankings and, as a result, generate more web site traffic; and there is the working of the marketing plan - the elbow grease that goes into managing and fine tuning an online marketing strategy every day. No matter what method of online marketing is chosen there is management that goes along with that method.

Search Engine Optimization - This is the nitty gritty of online marketing - the elbow grease of getting your name out there the same as you would with any comprehensive public relations campaign. A solid SEO campaign will include the choosing of appropriate keyword phrases, the integration of a linking campaign, and the work on the web site itself to make sure it is search engine friendly and easily searched. There is day to day management that goes along with an SEO campaign and web sites that want to see success must work with a web site optimization firm that not only develops a solid strategy for online marketing but can manage that strategy along the way - in addition to making changes when they are needed - changes which are inevitable. More in the next post…

In the last post we talked about competing online - finding your niche in your chosen industry, recognizing your competitors and engaging in the competition according to strategic rules of play. Those who are successful online understand how important it is to align themselves with professionals that can offer true leadership in this arena; a web site optimization firm that knows the rules, what you’re playing for and how quickly those rules can change. Previously we discussed some of the things that are important to know when engaging in successful online competition including understanding strategy and finding ongoing online marketing management that has proven leadership experience. Strategy differs for every web site but includes some combination of search engine optimization, pay per click and a variety of other strategies that may include linking campaigns, optimized content, optimized video and more.

Some of the other things to consider when you’re getting into the online marketing game include:

Flexibility - There is no science to online marketing - it is about knowing the market, knowing the search engines, accepting the fact that things change on a dime and being able to adapt seamlessly. Ongoing online marketing management should include working with a team that is comfortable within an environment that is always changing.

The Element of Surprise - Any good battle can be won with the element of surprise. Online marketing doesn’t have to predictable and it should never be cookie-cutter. Look for ways to present a product, announce news and create a buzz while still honoring search engine optimization techniques. A reputable web site optimization firm will work with you to create a strategy.

Pick Your Battles - Not every battle needs to be fought. For example, while a number of competitors seem to have cornered the market on a particular keyword phrase it doesn’t mean that you have to compete for it when it may be too highly competitive and require too much of a financial investment to see any traction. Look to your web site optimization firm to provide sound advice and alternative means to capturing your audience’s attention.