Unfortunately, social marketing services almost make it too easy. A fill in a few forms and it is done – just sit back and wait for the traffic. However, as with most things, a little planning before hand can greatly improve your selling experience.
However, the basics of all online marketing still apply. Whether you are using Pay Per Click or running social media marketing campaign you need do these four thing:
Create A Landing Page
Don’t send the traffic to your Home page and hope visitors will find the information they are looking for, create a new landing page targeted to the your advertising campaign. This is true for all online advertising, but is even more important with social media marketing campaigns. Each social media marketing site has a target demographic. Your new landing page needs to focus on that demographic.
Measure The Future
You are going to get a huge traffic spike at the beginning of your campaign. Very little percentage of that traffic will result in a sale. However, one other benefit of all that traffic is brand awareness. You need to be able to track how much of these visitors come back to your site.
Most analytics tools a have a method of ‘tagging’ a visitor to the website that will allow you to track if they come back to site in the future. If you are doing online sales this will allow you to give the credit for the sale to the marketing campaign.
Technical: While it is possible to do the ‘tagging’ based on the referring page, it is far simpler to just ‘tag’ visitors to the new landing page you created for this campaign.
Check Your Site
It is good a practice to continually check the state of your website.
Sites get hack!
There is nothing worse than going to all the trouble and cost of setting up a marketing campaign and finding that your now has a banner ad for buying Viagra online. It happens — more often that you might think.
However, the biggest problems are usually self induced.
- Is the information on your website correct?
- Have all the prices been updated?
- Is the contact information correct?
- Are there broken links or missing pages?
- Do you have the latest product images?
Prepare To Down Sell
Most online marketing campaigns target the high end of your product line. However, you may have similar products at a much lower price point. While you don’t want to feature them on the campaign’s landing page, they should be mentioned with a link to that page. Don’t rely on the site visitor to find them.
]]>You may not familiar with, it was only introduced on Jan 10th, it is the addition, some say bias, of Google+ information into the search results. In less than a week, and so far, only in the US, it has turned search engine marketing on its ear. For those who weren’t prepared it could be a disaster, for the early adpters it could be a real boon.
What Is Search Plus Your World
With “Search Plus Your World”, Google has integrated your Google+ information into their search results. If this was only done for your personal search, it might not have been that important. However, they are, to some extent biasing, all search results with the information in Google+ profiles and pages.
This bias towards the Google+ profile can best be seen in the search for personal names. In these cases the Google+ profile may be pushed much higher in the rankings. Depending on the number of followers, the G+ profile may rise to the top of the listing.
Another major change is the inclusion of “People and Pages on Google+” at the top of the right hand column. These appear to be ‘experts’ on the topic being researched and, right now, show up in a very limited number of searches.
One example of how this can be used, or abused, is a search for IBM will this the IBM G+ page, and top ‘experts’ based, in part, on the number of people following them. However, by clicking the ‘more’ link, you can see a list of everyone with a G+ profile that has the term ‘IBM’ in their profile. This can also lead to some interesting, or some what confusing, results. A search for ‘Apple’ not only lists Steve Wozniak but also Aaron Strout who has “You like apples? I got her numb-ah… how’dya like them apples?” in his profile.
What To Do Next
The obvious first step is to claim your business name. G+ isn’t verifying the names yet. So, if you don’t claim your name. And, if you think that is unlikely, consider the case of ‘Bank of America’ who was the most prominent company to be ‘name-jacked’.
The next step is to start getting followers.
- Put the G+ button on every page of your website.
- Put the link to your G+ page on the Home page and all landing pages.
- Add content to you G+ page
-
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Turns out it is fairly easy. This is pretty much copy and paste from the API:
<div id="container">Loading the player ...</div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/jwplayer/jwplayer.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
jwplayer('container').setup({
flashplayer: '/jwplayer/player.swf',
file: 'http://youtu.be/3NmA04QgzaM',
height: 270,
width: 480,
events: {
onPlay: function(event) { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'My Video Title']);
} }
});
// ]]></script>
The only part I added was the call to the events. In this case the ‘onPlay’ event calls the ‘_trackEvent’ in Google Analytics.
events: {
onPlay: function(event) { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'My Video Title']);
} }
Note: You need to add the comma after the ‘width’ when adding items to the list.
There are a number of events to choose from. I will be adding the onReady and onComplete for tracking. The difference between onPlay and onComplete should give me the number of abandoned views.
]]>I created my first micro site today.
Micro sites are small sites that point back to your main site. I know some supposed SEO experts that say they are a good idea. The theory being the more links to your site the better. That is pure BUNK.
The search engines are getting very good at detecting when they are being manipulated. But even if search engines didn’t detect that these sites were all owned by the same person, their value is still questionable. They are either low value sites with little content that pass no ‘link juice’ or high value sites with great content that only pass some of their ‘link juice’. Why not put all those great content on the main site and get all the ‘link juice’.
So when do you use a Micro Site?
Here is my situation.
I just signed a client, Section 8 Snowsport. They are busily getting ready for a major ski and snowboarding trade show in London. ( Who knew the UK was home to skiing trade shows? ) With very little time to generate any buzz, I am trying an ‘end run.
I registered the name www.section8atmetrosnow.com and made a ‘quick and dirty’ page from content found on the main website. There is very little competition for the shows name ‘Metro Snow’, so hopefully I can get some traction in the search engines before the show is over.
These are my rules for using a micro site.
- Short duration – just until the show closes
- Keyword rich URL
- Low production costs
“Customer: A person who purchases a commodity or service
Client: A person who is under the protection of another”
Like many small businesses, we are looking at the bottom line and it finding it isn’t where it should be. And, like many small businesses, we are looking to see how we can improve our situation.
For many service businesses, the temptation is to lower prices by offering less service. Moving from having clients to having customers.
I wrote about this earlier in the current economic situation. While the downturn has dragged on longer than many people expected, my ideas on how to handle it haven’t changed. Service related businesses need clients – not customers
Having customers is not a bad thing. Many bushiness, such as MacDonald’s, have made vast profits by having customers. However, moving from clients to customers in a service industry is a one way street. Once you get a reputation for lower prices but poorer service, it is hard to go back.
Then you are in a race for the bottom. There will always be new businesses trying to provide the same service cheaper or faster.
A better strategy is to keep your prices the same, but increase services. Give your clients a reason not to switch to a lower cost service. Implement strategies to keep your existing customers. They may be as simple as a ‘Buy 10 get one free’ coffee card or as complicated as making one of your services free for existing or long term clients.
Don’t get into the ‘race for the bottom’.
]]>For a variety of reasons I am creating the map manually. Which means I need to get the address for each business being listed. To my amazement, many businesses, particularly restaurants and pubs, don’t have there address on the Home page. Or, if they do it is below the fold, so I have to search for it.
Chasing Away Customers
I don’t particularly care if the address is there or not. If it is a business I REALLY want to list, I will find the address. If not, I just skip it. But, why are these businesses hiding their address from potential customers?
Marketing 101 – Be Easy to Find
How to purchase your product or service is what your website is all about. Its NOT the copy, NOT the great images, and definitely NOT the great web design. Your website is there to make it easier for your customers to find you and BUY YOUR PRODUCT.
Don’t make it hard on potential customers. If you want them to visit your place of business, make your address prominent and above the fold, on every page. If you want them to contact you, place all your contact information at the bottom of every page. When in doubt, the closer to the top of the page the better. And, having the information in more than one location doesn’t hurt.
Add A Map
There are a number of map services. We like Google, but there are others that are just as good. Place a map on your contact page, or on its own page, and link to it from every other page on your website. Add a input box so your potential client can get the driving directions to your business.
Making your business easy to find is the quickest way to increase sales.
]]>Google Analytics Site Speed metric has changed that.
Using Sync
If you have not upgraded to the Google Analytics Async code you may want to do so now. As the name suggests the code is asynchronous, which means your page will still load even if the Google code is now available. Plus the code is easier to use and offers many features now available in the older code.
Getting Started
Again, if you haven’t already done so, update your Google Analytics setting to us the new reporting system. It is much easier to use and has many new features.
Adding the code for tracking the page speed is as simple as adding one line of JavaScript to the async code.
_gaq.push(['_trackPageLoadTime']);
See Google Answers for more information.
Results After One Day
Results are available after one day. It is important to be aware, as Google points out, the page speed is not run on every page load. It is also important to remember that the dashboard, shown below, shows the average speed. You need to drill down to see how each page loads.
Pagespeed Test
Update
Information from other sources indicated the present sample rate is too low to be useful on sites for site with low traffic volumes.
I have only tested one site with a traffic volume of about 100 page views a day, so far, . There was an initial test on the top landing pages and a few interior pages, then nothing for the last two days.
Current ‘guesstimates’ of the sample rate is 2% of page views are sampled. If that is true, sites with a large number of pages, but low volume, may take some time to get completely crawled. And, as pointed out before, the ‘Avg Page Load Time’ is a fairly useless measurement. Drill down to get load times for specific pages
]]>I planned on doing a few client accounts on Monday, once I had finished testing everything with my own account – but the tool has been removed.
Who Would Need This
Up to now – businesses that wanted a Facebook presence were forced to have someone create a Facebook profile, then create a ‘business’ or ‘fan’ page for there business. Facebook’s terms of service did not allow the creation of a Profile for a business. This was a problem for many businesses, my own included, that didn’t want that link between their personal information and the business account.
The work around was obvious – but if Facebook picked up on it you could loose all your accounts.
WARNING
This process was irreversible – there was a warning that ALL your ‘friends’ data would be lost. Which makes sense ‘fan’ pages can’t be friended – only ‘liked’.
Of course you know what is going to happen don’t you. Some, OK a LOT, of people didn’t take the warning seriously or, perhaps, weren’t sure what irreversible meant. The result – LOTS of complaints and Facebook dropped the procedure.
Fortunately, I got my site done in time. Hopefully, Facebook won’t force it back to my profile.
BTW – like everything in Facebook – the procedure was a real bear. If they do reinstate it, I hope they make it simpilar
]]>Adding this information requires getting the latitude and longitude of each location. An application at itouchmap.com makes this a simple operation. One option is to put in the address and it will spit out the latitude and longitude.
Problem #1 – the two most popular local pubs didn’t have their address prominently displayed on their websites. In one case the address was there, but way down on the page. In the second case the address was not on the Home page – but on a inner page.
Problem #2 – In both cases the addresses was not found in Google maps. They were using a local variant of the street address ‘Island Hyway S.’. Google shows the same road as ‘Island Hyway W.’ (Which is strange since it is to the East of the ‘Inland Island Hyway’. )
To be fair to Google Maps – it will actually find the right address if you enter the closest town. However, it displays the address as ‘Island Hyway W.’.
Should you be a slave to Google Maps? (MapQuest couldn’t find the address at all.) I guess it depends on whether you want you want only local people to find you?
]]>Like the old map search results, the Places results are placed near the top of the page. The map overlay has been enlarged and placed in the right column, previously reserved for Adwords (PPC). Surprisingly, the map overlays the PPC, so as you scroll down the page – the top PPC listings are hidden ‘behind’ the map.
The Places listings are much ‘richer’ than the normal results. If an image was included in the Places listing, it will be displayed along with the number of reviews, and address.
The Places position is to a large extent based on geographic location and your distance from that location. Which, if you are in the right location, can lead to some interesting results. For example a search a search for ‘accommodation Vancouver Island’ produces a map center around the geographic center of the island. This completely eliminates Victoria, the largest city on Vancouver Island.
Other blogs are reporting significant changes in the SERP based on the Places results. For example, the Barry Hotel, a small Bed and Breakfast on Sussex Place in London has top ten SERP in a search for “accommodation london england”. Higher than many 5 star London hotels.
For many terms the standard methods of on page SEO are no longer enough to secure a top SERP. The Places listing can take up to seven of the top ten positions. The exact relationship between Places position and SERP isn’t immediately obvious. While businesses like the Barry Hotel that rank well in Places, and have a good Page Rank may be getting a boost in their SERP, none of the top ten SERP positions for “rental cabins vancouver island” appear in the Places listing.
Getting Optimum Results
Of course, the best results for your business would to be in the top results for both the Places and SERP. The first thing to do is make sure your Places listing is up to date. Once that is done, start optimizing the web pages for Places. This is a much slower process than you are used to with SEO.
Five things to check are:
- The business address is correct and on every page.
- The business address is the same in all external references. eg Is it ‘Sreet’ in one place and ‘Avenue’ in another
- Get listed in local online directories
- Get reviews
For a more complete list of ideas on Google Places ranking see David Mihm’s article on Local Search Ranking Factors.
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