Think Big Blog

Online marketing has seen its share of trends; the methods to which search engines respond most pointedly. Link building continues to rank in importance but right now, content - fresh content - continues to be the magic ingredient in helping to get rankings and more website traffic as a result. Content is, once again, king in getting websites ranked; search engines want lots of rich, relevant content and they want it now! So how can you compete?

Start with keyword rich, relevant content that will not only get the attention of your search engines but gain the respect and loyalty of your website visitors. Remember, keywords are important - and certainly instrumental to your SEO campaign - but they are only one half of the equation. You want to create content that will effectively market your product and your business in addition to furthering your organic SEO.

Update this content frequently. Stagnant content can kill a website for many reasons. Search engines want to see new and fresh; they want to see activity. Your audience - those who you are targeting as potential customers - want something to sign back in to see. When you are able to deliver on both fronts you are able to achieve success in your online marketing plan.

Consider additional sources of content. Consider integrating pieces of continually updating content into your website itself. A blog that you continually update will satisfy the search engines as well as giving your audience a reason to log on to your site again and again. An online newsletter will also provide you with fresh content as well as updating your visitors on new products, industry news and more.

Staying on top of your content and refreshing as often you can will go a long way towards getting your site noticed online, gaining more website traffic and growing your business as a result.

While it’s true that many businesses are suffering right now in a troubled economy, online businesses are still holding their own.We are still thriving online and it is the savvy website owner that recognizes this last bastion of successful business in a down market. That doesn’t mean, however, that online business simply happens, without the support of ongoing marketing and quality products and customer service that support traditional businesses. There is still work to be done in order to have a successful online presence and a solid, reputable online marketing company can help you put your priorities in order and attract more website traffic even as traditional businesses are struggling.

First and foremost you need to understand your audience and what they want. You can do all the marketing in the world but if your website doesn’t engage your target audience and - in the end, your products and services fall short, no amount of marketing will save your business. A great website should be a conduit to great products and services so make sure that your foundation is solid before you move any further.

Secondly, the actual look and functionality of your website speaks volumes about your business. Your online presence is a direct reflection on your company as a whole; you want to ensure that it’s saying what you want it to say both visually and in terms of content and its level of user-friendliness.

When all the good bones are in place, a solid online marketing plan - search engine optimization and more - will go a long way towards supporting and growing your business. Work with a SEO team to correctly position your business on the search engines through the use of well-chosen keywords and a campaign that will attract targeted web traffic. Ongoing management that makes adjustments as necessary and is always engaged in the success of the website is crucial.

In the last post we began building our bridge between our targeted web traffic (our customers) and our website. We have identified what we do and what we have to offer, how we differ from the competition, where we stand against the competition in terms of an online search, and what keywords and keywords phrases our potential customers are using to find our products and services online. Now we’re on to:

Step 3. Just because a keyword phrase looks good on paper - and it’s what you think your customers may use in a search - doesn’t mean it holds water in reality or that it will specifically benefit you in any way. Keyword research - thorough keyword research done by a professional search engine optimization (SEO) team - will yield the results you need to move forward. Through keyword research you can determine how competitive a phrase is (i.e. do you have the time, money, and resources to compete on this level) and what phrases remain untapped in terms of SEO. Ultimately it’s determining what is going to give you the best traction on the search engines, raise your online profile, and ultimately connect you to your audience.

Step 4. Integrate your keywords into compelling online content as a part of a greater SEO campaign. Once you have zeroed in on the appropriate keywords - those keyword phrases that are most likely to gain you the best traction on the search engines - a website optimization firm will work with you to integrate these keywords into your website content. Content serves two equally important purposes - it must be engaging enough to gain the interest of your audience and enticing enough to convert visitors into sales, while also including your chosen keywords in order to satisfy the search engines. The inclusion of keyword rich content, however, is a part of the larger SEO picture which will also include on-page SEO-friendly changes and an integrated and comprehensive linking campaign.

Online marketing, most of us believe, has one singular purpose - to get our website noticed in order to increase web traffic. That’s part of it; but certainly not all of it. Any online marketing company that sells you on a campaign to simply boost web traffic is missing a significant piece of the puzzle. Sure, we all want to better our search engine rankings and subsequently increase web traffic; but if we don’t draw the attention of the right kind of web traffic it does nothing to increase our sales. The bottom line is always to better business, increase sales and earn more money. Targeted web traffic results in a higher likelihood of conversions and the bridge between the two is the choice of keywords.

So think of online marketing as the building of a bridge between your customers and your website. Helping you build it - one rung at a time - is your website optimization firm; a company that knows a thing or two about positioning you appropriately in the online market.

Step 1. Put it all on the table. What is it that you do? What do you offer? What makes you different from other companies? Who are your customers and how do they traditionally find you? This is very much a case of knowing where you were before you can know where you’re going. If your customers are finding your competitors online and not you then chances are that they are positioned in a better location because of their choice of keywords. Know your audience and how they are searching for your type of products and service online.

Step 2. Define what you do and what you offer. This is all about the keywords and keyword phrases; finding the words and word combinations that are being used regularly by your customers. What are they plugging into an online search to find what you have to offer?

Continued in the next post…

In the last post, we talked about how consistency when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) is what wins in the end; the continuous work to keep a site on the radar of the search engines and, ultimately, their intended audience. Good, solid, consistent effort is what wins every time. Unfortunately, most business owners who are operating a website to boot don’t have the time to focus on generating more website traffic each and every day; that is why they turn to a website optimization firm - a team that will act as their online marketing arm on a day to day basis. It is the singular focus of the SEO team to implement a plan and continuously work that plan. It’s like riding a bike. If you stop pedaling, you may coast for awhile but eventually you will come to a stop. A strong website optimization firm does the pedaling for your website so that you always maintain your momentum - you always remain strong and consistent in your message and your purpose.

We already talked about some components of a strong search engine optimization plan including identifying your audience and what keywords are being used online by people to find the services and products that you offer. Keyword research is a huge part of being successful through organic SEO. Once you determine what keywords are being used by your audience and what keywords and phrases will benefit you the most, an online marketing company will:

Integrate keywords throughout your online content.

Implement and continually manage a strategic linking campaign that utilizes the chosen keywords.

Manage your campaign from day to day. Like anything else, an online marketing campaign such as organic SEO must be continually scrutinized and adjusted to changing market trends as well as other factors. A solid SEO team is put in place to help manage your campaign every step of the way.

Most of us will often hear that it’s the tortoise that wins the race - the slow, the steady, the consistent; and surely many of us have had cause to see that first hand in our own lives. It’s the losing one pound a week that keeps the weight off in the end, it’s remaining consistent and unfettered that allows us to emerge victorious in whatever our pursuit; no get rich quick, no magic pill, no secret formula - just doing the work day in and day out. This is very much the case when it comes to organic SEO. There is no tactic that will give you longer lasting results - consistent results - than consistently working the search engine optimization of your website.

This is the reason that companies turn to a website optimization firm to help build their website traffic and expand their business; because of the daily work that it takes to not only get a site to the front of the search engine results pages but keep them there consistently. Each piece of an organic SEO campaign is important and must be worked consistently; a website optimization firm offers the benefit of their consistency and their singularly focused drive and management. A company offering reputable SEO services will:

Examine the intricacies of your business. Who is your audience? What sets you apart from the competition?

Determine how your audience is finding you - or your competition - online. What keywords and keyword phrases are people using to find products and services like what you offer? What are the most competitive phrases? How often are they being used?

Determine what keywords and keyword phrases will serve you best based upon that research. Keyword research - thorough research - is crucial to good SEO. The research will help determine what phrases you should be using to attract your audience.

More in the next post…

Generating website traffic is - for websites - the obvious goal in their online marketing but it is much more than that; it is finding more website traffic among their own unique audience - those that will ultimately have an interest in what the website has to offer. Conversion as well as traffic is the goal of any website so any online marketing programs that are considered should work towards those objectives. In other words, it is one thing to get people to stop and check out your site, and quite another to attract those people who are more than tire kickers; who are there because they have a real interest in your services and can be swayed to eventually become a customer.

Those who are just embarking on their campaign of online marketing may feel encouraged to do anything and everything to simply spike traffic but in the long run it’s the tailored marketing efforts that will increase your bottom line as well as the traffic to your site. To this end, working with a reputable website optimization firm that can offer guidance through pay per click and search engine optimization will enhance your site and ready it for the appropriate audience. But first you need to find your audience.

A website optimization firm will work with you to identify your online audience - those who are interested in your products and services. What keywords and keyword phrases are they using to find you or companies like yours? These are the keywords that form the backbone of your online marketing campaign; that will form a bridge directly between your website and your online audience.

Working with SEO services allows companies to really fully explore the ways in which an audience may find them online and to tailor their message to find that audience.

Those in a seasonal business that peaks in the summer - or those who are already preparing for the fall season which is their busiest - are undoubtedly always one step ahead of the game when it comes to their business. They realize that certain things need to be put in place many months prior to the season so that the business is poised for success; and this includes making sure that all is right with their website. Seasonal online business is no different than traditional business; allowances must be made and plans must be put in place so that the business can thrive when the time comes to do so. It is so important, therefore, that businesses of all kinds make online plans so that they are ready and able to handle growth and increased website traffic.

Working with a professional website optimization firm means that you will have the benefit of ongoing management by professionals who understand what it takes to succeed online. Your SEO team, in order to build targeted web traffic in time for your season, will:

Identify those keywords that are most often used in a search for your products and services. Perhaps keywords need to be tweaked for your particular season; those phrases that may not have been appropriate - or well-used - during the winter, are now perfect for the summer.

Make changes to content if necessary. Those businesses that run on seasons have different things to offer during different times of the year. Make sure your online content is in line with what you have to offer. Your SEO team will make changes to your website content and ensure that such content includes the appropriate keyword phrases.

Send out a release or two. Optimized press releases - especially when you have something exciting to announce for the season - are a great way to spread the word about your site and increase website traffic.

While building web traffic may seem to be something that happens by a stroke of luck (someone spots your website, likes it, and spreads the word), there is much more to it than that. Sure, luck doesn’t hurt and a great buzz surrounding your website never hurts either. Word of mouth will continue to be one of the great ways that you can increase web traffic, create a following, and increase your sales. However, there are the nuts and bolts of website traffic that can’t be ignored and they are typically addressed by professionals who understand the steps that are integral to the process. Above and beyond anything - before the linking strategies and the content building and the attention from the search engines - there is the choosing of keywords based on extensive and pointed research.

Choosing the right keywords is absolutely essential to building web traffic because in the end it is the search engine users who will determine if you are worthy of higher rankings simply by virtue of visiting your site. And why will they visit your site? Because you have what they want and to prove it, your website showed up in the search engine results when they used particular keywords. In order to choose the right keywords you need to know what it is your audience wants, how they go about finding it, and what words and phrases they typically use - in terms of an online search - to find the products and services in which they have interest.

A website optimization firm will help you determine what your audience is searching for and how they are searching for it. They will also determine which of those keyword phrases are most competitive - how many times they are being used - and how you can have a piece of the pie.

Those who have built a business from the ground up share the entrepreneurial spirit with others in the same position; the motivation and passion that allowed them to initially head down such a road. They will have found - as so many do - that while there is a team of people at their disposal and perhaps those who are just as invested as they are in the success of the business, that in many ways they feel on their own. After all, starting your own business is something that is fiercely personal and it costs blood, sweat and tears as the saying goes. Unfortunately this means for many business owners that they wind up taking on way too much; they don’t know how to delegate or they feel uncomfortable and out of control in doing so. What this translates to, ironically, is many things can fall through the cracks because - like it or not - one person can’t do it all and this includes online marketing.

Of course, a company’s online presence is absolutely crucial to its success in this day and age. Those businesses without a website - and a successful one at that - are not capable of reaching the entirety of their audience and the potential for failure is high. It is therefore absolutely necessary that any company interested in success pay careful attention to their web presence and their ability to garner qualified web traffic; and doing so successfully often means turning to others for their professional guidance. This team mentality is so very important to the success of a website and a company as a whole.

Those looking to increase website traffic and build their online business must be brave enough to delegate such work to a qualified and professional website optimization firm that can lead the way in optimizing a site for success.