Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

Do you need search engine help?

Great new article in Forbes about how to hire a firm to optimize (i.e., SEO) your site for the search engines. Here's an excerpt:

For small companies that rely on search engines to drum up customers, search engine optimization is an essential part of doing business. While a committed individual can learn the basics of optimization, the process can be complicated and time consuming. But if you're thinking about hiring a consultant, avoid going with a firm whose pitch sounds too good to be true... more

To see some search engine optimization results, see this google search for "san francisco web site design"   GO.  Wheel Media is our result (and also the SEO firm)

For a product specific search, see this google search for "used anesthesia machines".  GO.  Anesthesia Plus is the client.

SEO doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg.  Get a quick quote here.

 

A good read: The New Rules of PR

This Friday I offer you some smart ideas about Public Relations in today's online world.  A few highlights:

• Optimizing news releases for search.
• Utilizing online distribution services to reach thousands of web sites and blogs.
• Leveraging advanced social media features including TrackBacks/PingBacks and Technorati tagging to extend the reach of your news.
• Developing content that attracts your key audiences and drives traffic to your site.

Thanks to PRWeb and David for the open distribution.

Download New-Rules-of-PR.pdf

Search engine optimization tips in USA Today

I was suprised (happily) to see SEO (search engine optimization) mentioned in USA today this week.  A sign that small businesses understand that succeeding on the web is a one-two punch.

Punch One is having a great website.  Great websites have a clean, easy-to navigate design with clear headlines, persuasive content and inviting calls-to-action.  There is no reason to invest time and money in SEO if we can't convert the visitor to your site into a LEAD, right?

Punch Two is search engine optimization.  As the article says, you first need to research the terms (called keywords) that your customers are using on Google and Yahoo! to find a business like yours.  At Wheel Media we do this research up-front.

Next you need a developer to incorporate those keywords into your website code using a formula that works with the search engines.  There is no magic bullet here-- changing one or ten elements on your site won't be enough to make significant impact-- the optimized site needs a cohesive structure.

Finally, get other sites to link to you.  Again the article is on the right track here, but as the reader says at the bottom...the process can be very time consuming and full of trial-and-error.  I suggest you outsource to a firm that has a track-record...and stay focused on running your business.

• Read the article here
• Get a quote for search engine optimization here

New Research on Email Marketing (Hint: Add a link or three)

Oh, and add a few pictures while you're at it.

Research released today from the Email Experience Council revealed that 28% of marketing emails don't have links that take the reader back to the advertisers website.

And many are missing images.

Oops.

If you're going to send email marketing, send it in HTML and include interesting, relevant images and 2-3 links back to specific products/services on your website.  There are a number of other super-important details, including sending from an independent server (not MS Outlook from your desktop) to protect against accusations of being a SPAMMER.  This is key.  The research also shows that the creative-- the design and the content-- are critical to the results, starting with a great subject-line.

The fact that emails are going out without images and without links suggests that small businesses have a great opportunity here:  Do email marketing right and you'll leave the competition in the dust.

• More info on email marketing is here.
• Talk to these guys if you're curious if email marketing will pay off.
• Full article is here.

Keys to great websites (from the New York Times)

THE idea that if you build it, they will come, might have worked for Kevin Costner in the movie “Field of Dreams,” but it certainly does not hold true for Web sites.

Brilliant! Now my clients and readers won't just have to take my word for it.  Recently the NY Times had an article discussing great web design and it's full of smart ideas-- best-practices that every small business website should follow to be an effective marketing tool.  A few tidbits:

• Build a bad-looking small-business site filled with poorly written text, and your potential customers will go away.

• Web pages must visually hit a visitor right between the eyes. If a site does not answer a user’s questions about a business, then you have scored one for the competition.

• Users spend 30 seconds reviewing a home page...a business must encapsulate what they do in very few words.

Does my web design agency Wheel Media make the grade?  Do we design with these principles in mind?  I say yes, but pop-over and take a peek for yourself!
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Read the full article here.  (Free online subscription required.)

Email lists: Be careful

A quick tip for anyone considering an email marketing campaign:  Do your homework on the list you're considering.

I'll back-up.  There are two types of opt-in email marketing lists:  addresses you gather on your website and those that you buy from a vendor.

An example of a Wheel Media client website with the former is www.pcpipe.com.  This is a very reliable way to gather a list of customers and prospects.  The list will grow slowly, but the quality of the list is high because people have pro-actively taken action.  An excellent strategy.

Buying a list is a bit more tricky.  You'll need to confirm that the names are opt-in, that you aren't paying for duplicate email addresses, and that if there is a problem with the list they will work with you.  The most reliable way to conduct a mail campaign is to use an agency for the content, design and coding, and a dedicated service for the mailing.  This ensures you comply with spam laws.

This mailing service also will also do a cursory review of the list to ensure it's clean.  This review checks for fake email addresses (i.e., fdsfsdf@sfsdf.com) or a high percentage of globally-unsubscribed email addresses.  If it does, you won't be able to send to it, period.  (And you wouldn't want to, because emailing people that don't want to hear from you does more harm than good.)

More info here.

Google is obsolete

I'm sorry to draw you in with such a ridiculous headline.  I couldn't resist, because I just discovered a threat to Google.  And more importantly, a useful new type of search engines for small business.

Retrevo, is a vertical search engine for consumer electronics.  What is a vertical search engine?  One that focuses on something specific.  Use Retrevo to search for some electronic product, like “D200” (i.e., The Nikon D200) in Retrevo and then in Google, and you'll see why vertical search engines are on the rise.  The results are simply better.

Small business owners know that their customers are using their web to do their homework, and Google is where they start.  In a few years maybe there will be a vertical search engine as well.  The bottom line is that professional websites are what people are looking for-- they inspire customers to pick up the phone.  Small time, low-budget websites, well, they make companies look small-time.

With the rise of vertical search engines and local small business directories like MerchantCircle it's never been easier for customers to use the web to find and compare companies.

Companies like yours.

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Thanks to Guy Kawasaki and his blog for the tip on Retrevo.  More wisdom here.

(even) More proof that your clients visit websites.

Do we need more evidence that websites influence buying decisions?  That your customer is using the web more every day, trusting it more deeply, and pulling-out their credit card?

Well, we got some.

I read today that a recent art school graduate used a blog, a social networking website, and an online gallery online gallery to sell her art.  $20,000 worth so far.  She's using a website, blog and good-old-fashioned networking to grow her business.

She's succeeding (in large part) due to a striking design and compelling content.  Her website is attractive, professional and useful to her audience, and her blog sports a clean design and a message well-suited to her customer.  Well done Emily.

Thanks to Seth for the discovery.

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ADMIN:

 SACRAMENTO WEB DESIGN

WEB DESIGN QUOTE

SAN FRANCISCO WEB DESIGN

Elton John earned over $50 million last year. (And what that has to do with your business.)

Good things happen to your business when you make the investment.  The Long Trail from Seth's Blog:

[...Want to guess what these musical acts have in common?

The Rolling Stones
The Eagles
Elton John
U2
Paul McCartney

They each made more than $50 million last year, according to Forbes. They accounted for 40% of the top 10 acts.  The long trail is what happened...

...The long trail explains why so many unprofitable movies turn a profit when the DVD comes out. The Shawshank Redemption got seven Academy Award nominations when it was released, but disappointed at the box office. Now, after more than 1.3 million reviews at NetFlix, it is one of the most enduring DVD hits ever.

The long trail is a reminder to invest like your product might just be around in ten years...]

Local search and web design: A match made in heaven

I wrote earlier this month about the death of the yellow pages, and author and search guru John Battelle has some great insights on the YP and Yahoo! Local Search today:

Yahoo Local has rolled out an update to its business model for local merchants, and it's looking a lot like what the Yellow Pages do, only online, self service, cheaper, and, well, what I've been on about for a while - a step towards the online version of what the Yellow Pages really need to become...  (Full article here.)

My particular focus is on your business, and using the web to help you grow.  If you feel your customer is using search engines to try and find you (probably) and you buy a local ad (they are pretty affordable,) then you need to differentiate your business from the other guys.

You need a clear, smart, compelling website that inspires your prospects and motivates them to call, to come by, to request a quote.

...oops, I misspoke.  You need a great website to differentiate regardless of whether you advertise on Yahoo!, The New York Times, or by trailing a banner by from a plane flying over the Giants game this weekend.

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