Creating colossal content is key to competing

Share

 

Be the King Kong of content creation

Why write anyway? Providing content for your business is the most effective way to help more of the right people discover your business online. Without content, it would be like having a billboard on the side of a major freeway – without a message. We can see it, but it has nothing to offer. You see content engages your readers. It’s the one thing that you can use to attract attention to your website and build interest in your company.

You don’t know how much you know. Don’t be afraid if you’re lost for words. Know that you’re not alone. It is the single most talked about dilemma we hear from clients and prospects. ‘I’m not a writer, I’ve never been any good at writing, I don’t know what to write about etc’. You have to realize that whatever business you’re in, you carry a wealth of information in your head: but often that’s where it stays.

Take what you know and turn it into web content. Let your expertise and passion come through. Offer tips, ideas, strategies – educate your industry and potential customers. Here’s a suggestion that comes from the good folks at HubSpot: A great way to start blogging is to think about the 10 most common questions you get asked by prospective new customers. Take each one of those questions and write a short article explaining an answer. Do this once a week for 10 weeks and you have a strong foundation for a successful blog. Remember: content that you write is not about your product, but instead about common industry issues and the problems that your product or service helps to solve.

Content attracts attention. Developing well-written, useful content is a means to our Internet marketing goal. That is: to help find new customers by generating and nurturing demand for your company’s products and services. Search engines look for content that’s new and if you publish regularly search engine spiders will begin to notice and your rankings will improve.

Just ‘cause you write, doesn’t make it right. Content writing, as part of your Internet marketing strategy, requires patience. Buyers find sellers today. What we want is for your prospects to find you and stay with you – all along the buying cycle. We need to stay in touch with potential buyers regardless of their timeframe to buy, and the best way to retain that ‘potential’ customer is to keep them engaged with your company through compelling, educational and informative content.

Writing content for your small business is NOT DIFFICULT – simply decide right now to give it your best shot and you will be amazed with the results you can achieve.

Crank up your business using Twitter:

Share

 

Most often we think of Twitter as a means of informing people what we're up to at any given time. This may be what we see on the surface, but used effectively, Twitter can accelerate the growth of your brand and your business.

What is Twitter?
Essentially, you can reach people in groups publicly, reach a specific person publicly or send a short message to a specific person privately. Twitter is widely used for posting updates limited to 140-characters or less. This limitation allows users to receive rapid-fire, concise information from many, many people.

Twitter is a great social media platform that allows businesses to connect to their customers and stay connected.

Here are some of the immediate advantages that your business can benefit from using Twitter:

1. Speed to market: You can't find a quicker way to share and inform people about your products and services.
2. Intelligence: Grow ears and listen to the network of people that follow you. Gather real-time market intelligence and feedback.
3. Reach: You'll find this blog post on Twitter. Whatever we write will find it's way to all of our Twitter followers. In turn, they may visit our link and find their way to our website, opt-in to our newsletter or better still connect with us to engage in our services.
4. Build credibility: Twitter is a great way to expand your brand and build credibility by sharing information about your business that customers may want to know more about. It's a great way to keep your brand top-of-mind.
5. Recruiting: We've used Twitter as a recruitment tool. Broadcast it to your followers and you'll be surprised just how quick recommendations will come.
6. Market your business: My Favorite - Twitter offers a great opportunity to talk about your company. Let people know about special offers, discounts and provide coupons to your followers. Some of the world's biggest brands are using Twitter to help promote their products and services. Check out how Starbucks successfully leverages the medium – promoting My Starbucks Rewards, Starbucks Card Mobile app, pumpkin spiced lattes to advice on Tazo teas.

 

If you're not using Twitter as an extension to your marketing, I suggest you visit twitter.com/signup and sign up for a free account. Here are a few things to consider when you are signing up:

Use your business name as your Twitter username.
Use the company logo as the profile image for the account.
Create a custom background that will lend itself to your business or your brand.
To find industry influencers and potential customers go to: http://search.twitter.com/advanced

WRITE IT AND THEY WILL COME

Share

 

If you’re a follower of the strategies of Inbound marketing then you know how important content is to the success of your website. Well-optimized, remarkable content has the potential to increase website traffic, create qualified leads and turn those leads into customers. Writing (and I know this because I experience it) can be tedious and time consuming but it is the foundation to your online business growth.

6 Take-aways that may help you as you build your online content:

1. Where is your time best spent? Don’t worry about endlessly optimizing your on-page SEO. Your time is better spent creating new content. Remember that Google and other search engines want unique content that’s different from what’s already out there.

2. Write often. Set up a calendar of when and what you may be writing about and stick to the plan. The more you write, the better you’ll get. And the better you get will help you build authority.
3. Write quality.The single most important factor to your ranking in Google is your inbound links. And the best way to get links back to your site is to create great content that your audience will want to naturally link to in their blogs and other content sources.
4. Watch the keywords. Be careful not to go overboard with on-page SEO. Placing too many keywords can actually hurt you. Search engines know these things, so if you read it aloud and it sounds awkward, you’re probably overdoing it.
5. Ideal length of copy. Web articles will vary in length but I generally try to keep my blog posts to 300 – 400 words in length. Most people don’t have the time nor the patience to sit and review reams of text, so why waste your time. And, I try and use one keyword for every 50 to 100 words of content. Remember not to overwork those keywords.
6. Keep giving. If you’re an early blog adopter, don’t expect your readers to comment on your articles right away. You need to put in the time to create compelling content that is worth participation. Keep writing, listen and write some more. Be diligent, have patience and it will come.

Remember content is king so polish up your pencil and get writing.

Want to learn more about on-page SEO. Download our FREE white paper and learn how easy it can be.

The Secret to Search Engine Optimization - Part 2

Share

 

Part 2 of 2

Yesterday we unveiled the secret behind search engine optimization. And just in case you missed it… ‘Here’s the truth: there really is no secret or easy street to SEO’. There’s no doubt that any increase in ranking on a Google search results page will increase your traffic. And to get from page 12 to page 1 on Google will be that much easier if you have a better understanding of what makes up a search engine.

What goes on behind the scenes of a search engine –
Essentially search engines are made up of three pieces of software. Together, spider software, the index software and query software make up a search engine. We spoke about spider software in yesterday’s blog so today we’ll make sense of index and query software.

Index software – If spiders (or robots) are roaming the net recording data and links, the index software catches everything that the spider throws at it. Index software sorts through the mass of content, links and URL’s using a complex math formula that indexes the keywords and phrases etc. Index software helps figure out what each web page is all about and eventually ranks each page as to the relevance those web pages might mean to the person who is searching.

Your takeaway – Don’t waste your photographs, videos and Flash intros. Make sure that spiders see them by identifying each by a text ‘alt tag’. Indexed pages are refreshed at different intervals, some every day or two, and others only doing a periodic refresh every week or month.

Query software – As the spider goes through each web page it records everything about that page where it’s analyzed and stored by the index software. It’s at this point that a query is made. When someone types the search words Inbound marketing in the query box of Google, then it’s time for the query software to go to work. Query software is the frontline of what we see when we go to a search engine while spider and indexing is transparent to us yet they do most of the work.

Your takeaway – When you make a search, query software checks all the records that have been created by its own index software. It sorts the massive collection of URL’s, text and links that the spider has collected. In actual fact, the query software doesn’t search the entire web but it searches what they have collected and indexed.
Search engines do all the work. They’ve collected, analyzed and indexed web pages for you – now it’s your turn.

Don’t forget to download a copy of our: ‘A super easy way to optimize your web page’. I know you’ll find it helpful and it’s FREE.

The Secret to Search Engine Optimization

Share

 

Part 1 of 2

Last week we posted a blog article about keywords (Drive customers to your website with keywords) and how long tail keywords can outperform single (more generic) words. However, developing a keyword rich, well-optimized webpage is easier said than done. As Internet marketers, one of the most frequently asked questions we hear is, “Why am I not on page one with Google?” Most B2B website owners know the importance of a highly ranked website but they don’t understand how to get there. They find it frustrating, too complex and confusing. Well, we’re here to help demystify all of this for you. With tongue planted firmly in cheek – I have a secret that will help catapult your B2B website from page 12 to page 1.

Here you go… here’s the answer to all your SEO problems –
Move in a little closer as you read this… that’s it, just a bit closer so no one else can hear. Here it is. Here’s the ‘secret’ behind SEO. The truth is: there is NO secret.

Buyers find sellers today. They find your site by typing words that are pertinent to your business. Words that you’ve researched that match what your customers and prospects are searching for. There is no magic, no secret, no quick answer. Suggesting that SEO is an easy task is an understatement. However, if you have a better understanding of how search engines work, then you’ll have the foundation for improving your search ranking results.

Search engines 101 –
Different search engines work in different ways but they all utilize the same basic principles. Search engines are comprised of three pieces of software: the spider software, the index software and the query software.

Spider software – search engines create databases by performing periodic crawls of the Internet. Robots or spiders crawl from web page to web page recording all of the data on that page and following every link to new pages. Robots are constantly moving their way through the web and refreshing their indexes, some on a weekly basis.

Your takeaway – Spiders are reading text and not images. It ignores your colorful images and cool Flash intros. So, make sure your photographs, videos and other images are identified by text ‘alt tags’, or they simply hold no value to search engines.

Maximize your opportunities. Remember that spiders are only interested in text and links and the URL from which they came.

Tomorrow: The Index Software and The Query Software.

You have keywords and your long-tails… now optimize your site. Download this guide: ‘A super easy way to optimize your web page’ here.

Drive customers to your website with the right keywords

Share

 

Finding the right keywords is instrumental in driving customers to your business website – with the ultimate goal to getting them there. It’s clear that you need to put a real priority into choosing the best keywords that best suit your business.

Choosing your keywords –

• Pertinent to your business – Obviously you want to make sure that your keywords are relevant and meaningful to your business. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think about how they may be searching for you.
• Most searched for – You want to target the easiest words possible that also have a lot of monthly searches. 
• Make it easy – Identify relevant keywords that are searched often (high volume) then take those same keywords and select a subset that will provide lower volume and give you a better chance of getting results faster – see long-tails below.
• Build on your current success – The keywords that already bring response are your low-hanging fruit and are ready to be picked. Leverage the winners but also look for long-tail phrases that you think suit your business. Don’t use single words; rather use keyword niches or phrases.

The long and the short of long-tail keywords –
There’s no doubt that any increase in ranking on a Google search results page will increase your traffic. And to get from 4th to 2nd is easier than getting results from a starting position. And, using long-tail keywords will help you get there.

Long-tail keywords are three or four words that combined become a phrase. Phrases are usually very specific to your business and relate to whatever you are selling. Highly specific multi-word phrases tend to be far easier to rank well for than a more generic single keyword.

Here’s an example of how we have turned Inbound marketing into long-tails.

– inbound marketing (our starting point)
– inbound marketing services
– inbound marketing strategies
– inbound marketing solutions Toronto
– internet and inbound marketing strategists
– expert internet marketing services

The good news is: long-tail keywords are much easier to rank for and people who search using phrases are usually very targeted and generate traffic and sales sooner than later.

You have keywords and your long-tails… now optimize your site. Download this guide: ‘A super easy way to optimize your web page’ here.

Will Facebook overtake Google?

Share

 

A week ago we posted a series of ‘HOW TO’ blog posts: How to leverage your social media marketing with Facebook.

We talked about the world’s largest social network and how it’s finally emerging as a big-time B2B tool. After all the potential of reaching 500 million users (no matter what business you’re in) is something that shouldn’t be ignored. Both companies have found a place in our lives that most of us simply take for granted. ‘Google it’ has become a part of our vocabulary with Facebook clearly the leader in social networking.

If you’re in business and you’re still hedging on Facebook – think again. I came across a chart this morning that I thought I’d pass on. According to Jacques Mattheij, a programmer and sometime blogger, thinks that if Facebook continues to grow with the same intensity we’ve seen recently, we’ll see it outpacing Google in the next 18 months. And, based on what I see, it’s a fairly safe prediction to assume a takeover is on the horizon.

Using public sites Alexa and Compete he plotted out the growth of the two sites. Alexa shows steady growth with Facebook keeping pace, but still entrenched in the number two position. However, based on their current growth rate, when you compare the two sites the graph will show you that at some time in the not to distant future Facebook will overtake Google.

In his Alexa graph he has extended the trend lines to the right showing how and when they could possibly meet – which according to this graph is sometime in the first quarter of 2012.

Just to be fare, we’ve also included a chart prepared by Silicon Alley Insider. They asked ComScore to prepare a graph using the same data. As you can see the trend holds, however it appears that the takeover won’t happen as soon.

Judge for yourself. The question I pose is: how can Facebook help your B2B company and will it be a part of your Internet marketing strategy now or in the future?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-google-facebook-unique-visitors-2010-8

Cost-effectiveness of Inbound marketing

Share

 

Smart marketers today are realizing the advantages of Inbound marketing and the ROI that their initiatives are delivering. It’s obvious that the marketing landscape has changed and the shift continues from traditional methods of marketing to online marketing methods – and for good reason.

Many end-users simply no longer have the time for the old-school sales process method. Previously, decision makers used a wide variety of sources to find the information they needed to solve business problems. Inbound marketing contrasts traditional ‘outbound’ marketing, in which businesses push their messages at customers. With techniques that include direct mail, telemarketing and trade shows, TV, radio and newspaper advertising, outbound marketing has become less effective over time as buyers have behaviourally and technologically tuned these interruptive campaigns out.

Successful B2B companies have followed their customers into this new online space, taking full advantage of this cost effective medium. A recent poll by HubSpot demonstrates the relative cost/lead/channel with these numbers. Not surprising: SEO,48%, Blogs/Social Media,55% and eMail marketing, 49% scored ‘below average’ cost per lead.

As expenditure cut backs persist and as online sophistication and anytime access continue to grow, B2B marketers are adopting new methods by meeting buyers online and not at tradeshows. The truth is, buyers find sellers today.

It’s time for B2B marketers to adopt the strategies of Inbound marketing and start leveraging and maximizing Internet applications like search engines and countless social media applications.

What action can your company take? Start Inbound marketing for improved ROI. Turn your website into the hub of your marketing department.

1. Drive demand for your products and services by providing rich content
2. Think about your buyer – add relevant, educational content, answer to real business concerns
3. Leverage social media channels to extend your reach
4. Continue to fill the pipeline by nurturing decision makers along the buying process
5. Become the ‘trusted advisor’.

To learn more about Inbound marketing strategies and how your company can leverage these cost effective marketing methods go to: http://whitespace.on.ca/services/tools-for-success/

How to leverage your social media marketing with Facebook

Share

 

In our continuing series:
Start leveraging Facebook to grow your business. Part 4 of 4

Facebook, the world’s largest social network is finally emerging as a big-time B2B tool. Businesses today shouldn’t ignore the potential of reaching 500 million users – perhaps most of your clients and prospects are all in one place. So if you’re not leveraging this great resource you should be. Or, if you’re already up on Facebook and you want to know what and how to push the envelope with your Fan Page, we’ve provided a few links below that will help you leverage this great social media channel.

7.) 5 Fantastic Facebook fan page ideas to learn from -
Leveraging social media can be very effective for your B2B. Especially if you can tap into a market of 500 million potential customers. But you have already realized the potential and your business is on Facebook. You see a blip in the screen as your brand engagement is up but you’re interested in further distinguishing your business by offering real value to your fans. Matt Silverman of Mashable offers some insight with samples of big-name brands and how they’ve stepped up their engagement with their Facebook Page.

8.) 5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories -
Who doesn’t love a success story. Mashable provides a few case studies of B2B companies and how they made Facebook work for them. Facebook may not provide your business with instant rewards, however it is the future and it should at least be a component of your marketing strategy. If you don’t think it fits with your business read how an equine dentist builds relationships or how an aviation company uses this medium to positively shape the conversation and improve their reputation.

How to leverage your brand marketing with Facebook

Share

 

In our continuing series:
Start leveraging Facebook to grow your business. Part 3 of 4

Over the past few days we’ve been posting resources filled with tips, advice and strategies on how you and your business can leverage Facebook, the world’s largest social network.

To help illustrate their explosive growth rate we’ve attached the chart below. Recent data from comScore revealed the social network added 9 million new (U.S.) unique visitors in May, bringing its total to 130 million on a monthly basis.

And, as we all know Facebook has recently surpassed the 500 million mark - what will they look like a year from now? If you haven’t even started a Facebook Fan page you can get one started here.

5.) How to use Facebook for professional networking -
With a population of 500 million Facebook offers a ton of opportunities for professional networking that business users would be remiss to pass up. Boris Epstein from Mashable provides some great advice on how to set up your Facebook for professional use, what features work best for professional networking, and ways that your business can leverage and maximize the value from those features.

6.) How to build a Facebook landing page for your business -
Facebook has a uniformity to layout and design constricting your profile look the same as everyone else - up until now. Thanks to Facebook Fan Pages you can customize what people see when they land on your page. Companies can now create what essentially are mini websites, promote deals and offer coupons, create call attention to new products or simply welcome visitors to an attractive home page. Mashable has some great advice on how to – with a little effort – create a custom Fan Page.

Take a look at how Oreo and Reese’s have customized their Fan Page to include contests, videos and more.

Tomorrow: 7.) 5 Fantastic Facebook fan page ideas to learn from and 8.) 5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories