Ideas for New Direction in PR, Sales and Marketing

Above the Fold Part 5 - Creating a Blog Web

2012-06-09T07:04:00.001-07:00

Driving Traffic with Blogs

So one of the keys to my success with driving our site to the top for our designated keywords was building a series of expert Blogs based on industry specific topics and our keywords. We created these Blogs to be a resource on our primary desired topics, but we built them to provide content, but also to shape market ideas, and of course to drive traffic and leads to our site. They have become a primary referrer of targeted leads looking for our solutions, and also have a great following. Here are some tips in creating your own BLOG web:

Create valuable content. This is so important. You have probably seen attempts at BLOG webs that just fall short, appear cheesy, and way to sales focused. You want people to come back, follow and participate. Focus on key industry solutions, overviews, topical articles that can easily lead back to your site.
Make sure you add links to similar content. Obviously you want links in articles to help users find your site, but also provide links to other sites/blogs with similar content. This will drive your BLOG up in rankings, and also make sure you focus on creating a valuable resource or portal for information.
Post often. I try to create non-product posts in a 4 to 1 ratio to make sure the BLOG does not focus on any one topic. This allows me to inter-weave my company focused content with objective content. 4. Vary your posts. Blogs that are just static content are boring. You need to add pictures, polls, video, etc to engage your audience and have them "participate" in the discussion.

Above the Fold Part 4 - Aggressive Linking

2012-06-03T07:55:00.001-07:00

Linking for SEO Results

Ok, so now that you have completed part 1-3, established keywords, focused on content and structure and checked your work, now the long arduous road begins: linking. Where and how? Below is a quick guide to linking and what works:

Blogs - If you have not put blogging into your daily routine, get it there. When I say blogging, I not only mean writing your own posts, but also participating in discussions that surround your product and industry, and placing content specific links back to your site. In part 5 I will discuss an overview of creating a blog network to help in this area. If you already have a blog, create a links module with some of your core keywords back to specific site content.
Press Releases - Most of the major press release houses now allow the creation of dedicated links, release embedded links as well as highlighted links within their interfaces. This is a great way to get your information on the street, and also provide keyword-based links back to the site.
Partners - in the business to business world, your partners can be a phenomenal linking resource. Don't be shy about asking for specific keyword links back to your site to be placed on their web site.

The steps above cannot just be done once, you need to constantly link, and get others in your organization to participate. The more the better. Encourage employees to create their own blogs, and contextually link back to home base.

Above the Fold Part 3 - Checkpoint

2012-05-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

SEO Testing Tools

A key in my journey in towards SEO nirvana was to make sure I used checkpoints along the way. In the two previous articles, I shared how I focused on keyword optimization and web architecture and structure for SEO. Once you have taken the time to implement your keywords and phrases throughout your content, and also placed them into your folders, page names, titles, etc., now you need to take a snapshot in time to figure out how the web sees you. Below are some tools to see how you are doing, and make sure your plan is coming together:

Google Webmaster Tools

I cannot emphasize enough how helpful the Google tools can be in your SEO tasks. If you read an article on how Google analyzes the web, you will see just about all that information in Webmaster Tools. Internal links, external links, keywords, content, errors, reused title tags, and more will all be laid out for you in the tool set, and it is an absolute snapshot of your content and how the bots view your site. At this point, the key focus will be the Content Keywords. This tool will show you a count of words, and how often they occur on your site. Obviously, you want your desired keywords to be in this list in the order of required priority.

SEO Workers

My other tool that is an absolute must is the SEO Workers Tool. This is a fantastic free tool that does just about everything you need from a content analysis perspective. I used this to do a page by page analysis of my site, and fixed all the outlined issues. The tool grades your pages in a number of areas: meta tags, title tags, content, etc.

So, this checkpoint step should be used on a consistent basis, and I advise you incorporate it into your procedures, and run it once a quarter, or anytime web changes are made.

Above the Fold - Part 2 - Content and Structure

2012-05-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

Now that we have gone through Part 1, our Keyword Analysis, I will now share the next step in my methodology: A Focus on Content and Structure.

Content

Read any tome on SEO and Rankings, and you will no doubt read about the importance of content, and see the phrase, "Content is King". Let's take the concept a step further. We have gone through an analysis in Part I, built our keywords and phrases, and defined how we want to be found on the web. A key theme here will be Content = Keywords in Context. Have you ever gone to a site and scratched your head and said "What?". I see it quite often, especially in the tech industry: Content in the wrong context. Keywords gone bad. This usually occurs when organizations either have non-industry third parties write their content, just for content's sake, or have a junior individual new to the organization take on the content chore. Obviously, it is paramount to include keywords and phrases within site content to drive rankings and traffic, but sites that lack a context for the key terms will usually have high bounce rates and low conversions.

Structure and Dimensions

In Part 1, a key component to the step was to examine the top-ranked sites for desired keywords and phrases. If you go back to the exercise, and dig a little deeper, you will find that keywords are not only embedded within the content, but also core to the site structure: url paths, folders, file names and destination pages. Creating a site structure either through folders or categories ( in your CMS) can pay great dividends in driving traffic. This creates another dimension within the site in which words and phrases can be expressed. Along with structure, it is imperative to includes keywords and phrases within every "dimension" of the site:

File names, folders, categories, etc.
Meta tags: keywords, description, etc.
HTML titles
Alt tags
Image names
PDF brochure names
And anything else I missed

Creating keyword focused structural dimensions adds to your search engine pow.

Taking one or the other above is easy, a decent amount of work, but not rocket science. The real challenge is to tie the two together, and create a flow and a meaningful user experience.

Above the Fold Part 1 - Keywords

2012-05-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we have heard it all before, and when I first began my Above the Fold journey focused on SEO, keyword research and analysis was first on my list. But where would I start, how would I begin? In my structured approach, I asked what I thought was a simple question:

How do I want to be found on the web?

At first it seemed such a simple question, but our sales model is multi-tiered, as is our marketing. We sell through resellers, distributors and OEM partners. So not only would I need to define keywords for attracting our business-to-business customers on the web, but also, I would need to target end users of our application to generate leads for the channel.

Step 1: Create the Keyword Lists

For our purposes, we built two lists: one focused on end-user SEO keywords, the other focused on attracting business-to-business customers with industry focused keywords. In other words, keywords that focused on layman's terms, and keywords focused on industry terminology, acronyms, and phrases. In the end, we analyzed the list and combined them to simplify our content focus. Now that we had the lists, the focus would be on optimizing them for maximum web traffic.

Step 2: Analyze the Competition

Now that we had our totally awesome lists, my goal was to see the current status of the web-o-sphere, and what we were up against. First, I wanted to see if we ranked for any of them, and "Surprise, Surprise", we got nothing. But I knew that going into this journey. Secondly, as I entered the keywords and phrases, I started to see some trends, of those who had attempted the journey before me - My Competition. They were several early players in the market that ranked here and there, and when I was done, I had a firm grasp of the who's-who for my keyword base. I used a great set of tools for this phase that makes life quite simple: SEO Power Tools. The Keyword tool lets you load lists, check rankings and even enter competition URLs for keyword analysis.

Step 3: Keyword Deep Dive

Ok, now that I had my lists, were they any good? Were they optimized for traffic generation? Where to go next...hmmm...Google. So, if you don't already have a Google account, get one. Sign up for an AdWords account, as there are several tools that are invaluable in your quest for SEO gold. In the Tools and Analysis menu, you will find the Keyword Tool. With the Keyword Tool, you can get a quick feel for several metrics on your list:

The Competition Level: High, Medium or Low: This gives you a feel for how high the overall web competition is for the keyword or phrase.
Global monthly and local searches: This is what it is all about, right? You may love a keyword, but if it means nothing to the web community, and has no love from a search perspective, you may want to remove it from your list.
Other Phrases: This tool is a critical eye opener. It will provide you insight, as well as possibly give you ideas for higher traffic combinations or related keywords you may have missed.

These first 3 steps are critical to your web reformation and the journey to SEO greatness. Be sure to do all three, completely and with great zeal as this will lay the foundation for your web presence, and future SEO initiatives.

Great, now I have a list...what's next? First of all, don't keep it a secret!!! Get it to the marketing team, your bloggers, tweeters, everyone. Make this a pervasive mainstay to your overall marketing strategy. The next step in the Above the Fold process will be Content and Structure, coming soon...

How I Got Above the Fold: Steps to the Promised Land

2012-05-07T06:19:00.002-07:00

When I arrived at my current company, web traffic was less than stellar, with a handful of web hits per day, mostly sourced on our product or company name, which is fairly unique. The question was: Where do I start with a blank slate, and how do I get on the radar for desired keywords? It took a solid year of diligent, structured work to rise to the top, as there were several well established "Kings of the Keywords". Over the next few weeks i will break down my method into several posts on how anyone can achieve top search placement. Below are the key focus areas:

Keyword research and analysis
Web site structure, content and dimensions
Checkpoint-How do they view me?
Aggressive linking
Creating a blog web
Follow on techniques

I should have the first one out in the next day or two, and share my path to success and SEO suggestions.

iPad 2 Apps for Sales and Marketing

2012-01-17T01:03:00.000-08:00

I have had my new iPad 2 for almost a week now. I wanted to purchase it prior to my trip to Australia, and needed to get it loaded with apps. I am amazed at how it has simplified my morning rituals, especially with news and all my feeds. Below are some apps I would absolutely recommend for any sales or marketing individual:

Flipboard - oh my goodness. Every morning I had gone through a ritual, reading all my feeds from Google Reader, hitting tech news sites, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Flipboard was recommended from numerous sites, and it is absolutely fantastic. The app provides a tiled, "flipable" interface for all your information sources, and presents them in a newspaper like fashion, making it a breeze to get your morning briefing quickly.
HootSuite - for those who want a quick and easy way to distribute posts, tweets, etc, this is a must have. With one app you can write a single post, and send to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I find it a necessity, as I have multiple accounts on some social networks, and it makes it oh so easy to manage.
Dropbox - It really amazes me how pervasive this app's functionality is throughout other apps. If you want centralized cloud storage that is included as a save destination in just about every app, this is the way to go.
Keynote - I bought the whole apple office suite, including Keynote, Numbers and Pages, and it saved my rear today. I had left my power converter in my room, and arrived at my business partner's office with no way to run my laptop. I opened up the iPad, browsed to my Dropbox, and opened my training presentation. Fortunately for me, I had an iPad to VGA cable to run my presentation all on the iPad using Keynote.
ThinkBook - what a great organizational tool. ThinkBook provides a fantastic and intuitive interface to organize notes, todos, projects, questions, etc. It also allows dashboard creation, with a master list of todos or questions as a reference based on tags. And it integrates with...Dropbox :)
Notability - one of the things that most excited me about the iPad is that i could get rid of my Journals. For years i have carried around a "book of life" with all my meeting and call notes, todos, etc. Notability, along with my stylus now gives me a digital notepad, and it integrates with...Dropbox.
WorldClock - having distributors in 6 separate areas of the world is always a challenge, and add to that traveling and changing time zones. This app lets me know when I can make that call with Skype.

This is my short list, and I have already been using these apps religiously from day one. If anyone has any others, please comment and let me know.

A few Marketing Reminders from the Outback

2011-09-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

During a business trip down under, I took my last day to trek to the edge of the Outback in the Northern Territory of Australia, an amazing experience. I took my observations, and thought I would apply them to some primary rules in social media and marketing:

1. Don’t just jump in without reading the signs. Northern Australia is beautiful, but can be deadly for those who don’t pay attention to posted signs. Take for instance, the beaches, infested during the summer months with the Irukandji (Box jellyfish or Sea Wasp). This match tip sized creature packs a wallop, and will put you in the hospital in no time flat, and if they don’t get you, the saltwater crocs will.

Marketing Message: Do your homework before any initiative. Don’t jump in blindly. A little research can make all the difference.

2. Adapt to survive. The rules of Darwin are in full effect in south of Darwin, Australia. Only adaptive species have survived. My favorite example is a species of termite that builds tall habitats called mounds that have vanes. The vanes provide cooling for the mounds and keep the temperature close to constant.

Marketing Message: Many businesses have not adapted their marketing plans to the Internet Age, and their profits have suffered. Be aware of new technologies, and adapt your programs to leverage their advantages.

3. To navigate vast territory, you need local, specialized knowledge. Just about the whole center third of Australia is a vast desert, with brutal conditions and sparse resources, but there are Oases of beauty and thriving life located within. You just need to know where they are, and how to identify them from afar, and the locals have all the knowledge.

Marketing Message: The Internet is broad and vast, and with so many Social Media outlets, it takes some serious expertise to create a focused effective marketing program. Seek expert help, as no one can do it all.

4. The road less traveled can reap rewards. After driving for the better part of a day, one of my business partners and I looked at the map, and found a “gravel” road that was 42km, a connector that would cut an hour off our time back to Darwin. We took the plunge, and did not realize “gravel” is Australian for red dirt. After several airborne incidents over ruts, and almost drifting off the road, we finally made it back.

Note: Red dashes = unfinished, red dirt roads

Marketing Message: Finding new paths and taking calculated risks can reap great rewards. Be bold, be different and try new things.

Press Releases and the Social Circle of Life ( PR Wise)

2011-09-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

In the age of new media, press releases can be a great driver for leads, awareness and overall message delivery. It amazes me in this day and age, the lack of "socialized" releases. Using Social Media as to add dimensions to an otherwise one dimensional message is key. Below are some great rules to follow:

Use a press release organization that has built in Social Media tools. We utilize MarketWire, and they have a great SM tool set for releases. You can really socially enable, with tagging, keywords, etc., and drive your message into the Social Channel.
Place links to social pages and applications within your releases. A prime example: If you are releasing a new feature, place a link to your YouTube channel in your release to provide that second dimension of engagement.
Ensure that the ground work is in place in your social channels. All roads lead to a unified message...and your audience should be able to find information and additional links on your release regardless of where they land. Make sure you have the theme pervasive throughout your web presence.

A few simple rules I have found effective.

The 3 Degrees of Content: Context, Terminology and Concept.

2011-08-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Content is content, right?

Have you ever gone to a web page for your industry and said, "Huh?". Companies seemed to be so focused on getting content out there, they miss the notion of quality. So what constitutes quality content? I have always subscribed to what I call the 3 Degrees of Content, as outlined below:

Context. In order for content to be relevant, the context needs to be correct. Context issues usually occur when you have a non-industry individual or non-expert in the field write the content. Many businesses utilize the saturation method, outsourcing their writing tasks to the lowest bidder. What is the theme, and how are terminology and concept implemented?

Terminology. Correct use of terminology is absolutely required, and the overuse of acronyms can kill a site quickly. In the technical/software space, you should always shoot to provide content based on the audience. You may even need to go so far as to create micro-sites or paths for different users to avoid "term saturation". This is typically where you want both marketing and technical folks to work jointly on content to avoid a tech heavy feel.

Concept. Last but not least, is concept. What are you trying to get across? Are you trying to sell? Inform? Explain? Having an overall concept for a site, micro-site and page is critical and can go deep. Stay on task, focus on concept, and incorporate it into your page flow, your graphics, and how you interact with users.

Taking Shots at Google and Gmail

2011-08-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

The Social Whirlpool: How do I keep from drowning?

2011-08-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

With so many social media platforms on the web, how in the heck do you pick your poison? In a marketing meeting yesterday, we drew a ton of circles on a white board to map out our strategy, and plot where we are today, and where we want to go from a Social Media perspective. I keep coming back to several core themes that will influence where we focus:

Marketing is a dynamic beast, and you need to go with the flow. New feature out? Create a YouTube video. Trade Show on the horizon, twitter your heart out to drive traffic to your booth. Just established a partnership, leverage LinkedIn to insure the industry and other partners are aware. I
Use Social Media Synergy to create a Social Web. Sending out a press release on a new feature? Coordinate the deployment of a video, landing page and postings to drive interest and generate leads.
Don't drown in the Social Whirlpool. Choose your poison. Is it really necessary to use all platforms at all times for everything? Choose pertinent platforms for your business and strategy, and focus on quality information on those apps.
Careful of the "Noise" factor. I see it all the time on twitter where folks have automated technology to help them get their job done. They do a BLOG post, and it auto-updates their twitter feed, with no has tags, and sometimes with replicated tweets. Overdoing social media can lead to your company becoming ignored noise.

So, who should write web content?

2011-08-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

So, a concept we always struggle with internally is: Who should write our web content?

I was checking out a contracting site the other day and noticed a ton of projects for writing web content. Many of the companies listed were extremely technical, and i could not believe they would have a "lowest bidder" write their web info. I scratched my head, and thought a bit. Have you ever been to a web site within your industry, maybe a competitor, and said "Who the heck wrote this stuff?" Improper use of terms, errors in context, and even issues with the overall concepts. See the forest through the trees, and focus on the 3 degrees of content: context, terminology and concept. This is especially true within the software and technology industry. Some key tips for making sure you hit the mark:

Know your audience. If you are in a highly technical market, and your audience is technical, your content needs to be accurate in all degrees: context, terminology and concept. It is always advisable to have multiple reviewers, to make sure there is no lapse in credibility.
Create paths within your site for different audiences. Perhaps you create multiple subsites, or "site paths" that different users can follow depending on their depth of expertise. For the standard users, marketing written content might be just fine, but for the technical subsite, an engineer/technologist is involved.
Writing teams work best. We all know that engineers are not always the best writers (I am one so I can say that ;) ), and having tech and marketing work together to build content is always the best solution. Marketing folks do well in rounding out technical verse, and tech folks/subject matter experts can check for validity. And don't forget the SEO/keyword gurus!!
Third parties can be invaluable. Having an objective third party as an overall reviewer, one with industry expertise, can help with the overall quality of the site and may help find any issues before production.

I guess it all comes down to not letting the new marketing intern write the new web site ;). There is strength in numbers and differing experience levels. Follow some basic rules and create great content.

I finally found it: Social Synergy

2011-07-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

So I have been trying to come up with a term to define what we are trying to achieve within our overall strategy towards the web and Social Media. I think the term Synergy truly defines the overall theme we are always working to achieve. Synergy can be defined as combined cooperative action or functioning. This synergy can provide a "multiplier" effect on your web-based efforts, driving traffic and really improving your overall standing within search engines and just in general.

I believe this concept is one that is typically missing in most Social Media and Web Strategies, so below I have outlined critical strategic steps towards reaching this state:

How do you want to be seen and found? An absolutely required step is to outline your overall strategy. At its simplest, just answer the question. Obviously you want to be found based on your company name, but to truly build synergy, you need to define a cross-platform strategy. What are your key words and phrases? Does everyone working within your social media accounts know them? Are they published? When this was established within our organization, we had remarkable lead numbers and overall quality of traffic to our site.
How are you linked? SEO basics demand using proper keywords/phrases within links back to home base. Are proper linking techniques being used across all social media platforms? Are all marketing folks on board? This is simple to verify, just do a broad based search across twitter, Facebook or any other platform and see how you are linked. Note: With true synergy, users will use links to traverse your web presence and gain information about you.
Can users leap frog to other Social Media platforms from any established web presence? Creating a synergistic presence on the web requires cross linking from all Social Media platforms. Ensure that your BLOG, website, twitter landing page, Facebook page, etc. all link to each other. This creates an "engagement ring" that interlocks all your web-based platforms, with a mesh of paths anyone can take.
Time, patience and content. The path to true synergy requires time and patience, but most importantly content. If you truly build a Synergy Strategy, you will engage users, and provide them paths through the web to find more and more information about you.

The Twitter Egg and the Twittfully Challenged: A letter

2011-07-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

How Not to Use Twitter

With so much information on how to use Twitter on the Internet, I still scratch my head every day and say “Really?”. I wish TweetDeck had an “Ignore the Twittfully Challenged”, or just block the damn eggheads. Look at this one…what is the goal here?

So, I decided to compose a letter:

Dear Egg Head,

I have noticed that you have decided to use Twitter, and I applaud your decision to get involved and utilize Social Media to attempt to expand your business and drive market awareness. I am by no means a Twitter Expert, Twexpert as I call it, but I have done some research, and actually used several of the 1.83 million Google results on “How to use twitter” to form my tweets, and it has actually led to increased web traffic, improved market awareness and a new found interest from our current customer base. If I may, can I make some suggestions:

1. Lose the Egg. I am not sure if you are aware that you have not added any profile information, or if you even look at your Tweets and how they are viewed, but I wanted to let you know that right now you are being represented by an intermediate result of the chicken reproductive process. A faceless, deformed orb with a random colored background. I do find the baby blue Egg Head the most calming and assuring, much better than the aggressive purple or distracting yellowish orange, but I am sure this is not how you would like to be represented. So log into your Twitter account and edit your profile. Maybe add a logo, or perhaps the picture of a scanner to let us know who you are.

2. Thank you. After looking at your Tweet, I clicked on your link and went to your landing page which was totally unimpressive and confusing. I did need a scanner though, so I went to your competition’s site, which was engaging and informative, and purchased a scanner. Note: Tweeting links to totally boring and useless content will not give you the results you want.

3. Maybe use Hashtags? Obviously, you do not know what a hashtag is, or how it can help you. According to the Twitter Wiki, "Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets.” So in a nutshell, you can get more exposure through their use, and they help to categorize your Tweets for ease of search. Seeing that your marketing method borders on the “canned block of meat” method, be sure never to use more than 3 hashtags. Some great info from twitter’s help here: What are Hashtags?

4. Rethink Your Message. Maybe try and peak my interest. Being that my desk is an absolute paper nightmare, how about “You can get rid of the paper on your desk”, or perhaps some catchy saying or statistic about the #paperlessoffice. I am glad that I now know the product ID number of the Fujitsu ScanSnap 1300, did you really waste your twit characters on that?

Hopefully this letter will catch your attention, and you will no longer be a faceless twitter entity. More information below to help:

wikiHow – How to Use Twitter

Twitter Help Center – Twitter Basics

Sincerely,

A Concerned Twitizen

Is SEO Really Necessary?

2011-07-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

I just read a popular discussion within an executive group on LinkedIn focused on Sales and Marketing. The entire discussion was about SEO, initiatives and strategy. Some of the comments were quite interesting:

“I don’t believe SEO will drive 'leads and profits' for any and every industry.”

“SEO is not for all industries”

There was entire section of the discussion where folks went back and forth on the pertinence of SEO, and how certain industries just do not benefit. The primary example was Berkshire Hathaway, who was used as an example over and over.

My initial argument and post was below:

Obviously as sales people, we want our SEO efforts to drive leads, and ultimately revenue. But so many SEO initiatives run right out of the gate with that as the immediate goal, day one (damn sales people are impatient ;) ). I see so many companies hire “I can get you to the top in 5 days” guys we are so familiar with. SEO should be a broad reaching program based on content, that if done correctly, can help you:

1. Shape your market and industry attitudes
2. Establish your organization as a thought leader
3. Ultimately drive people to your site and produce high quality leads

It took our company quite a while to get to the top 10, but we took a slow and calculated approach designed to shape certain niches of our industry with defined and specific content for our target markets, and the results have been fantastic.

I disagree that it is not pertinent in all industries. All organizations can benefit from the above, regardless of industry.

I woke up this morning, and began to think about my post topic, and decided to rethink my post. I started with a look at the Berkshire Hathaway site:

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/

I started laughing…it looks like my first site I built back in the Day. But it got me thinking. Does a company that is a massive owner of all different types of businesses really need an SEO optimized site, or content for that matter.

So, being the informed investor I am, I logged into my ETrade account and did some research. I found that the analyst community is just hammering the company. The company is rated at Hold, Poor, Neutral, Negative, etc. Could Berkshire Hathaway benefit from a massive PR overhaul, starting with their site? What would be the direction and strategy?

Thoughts?