Entries from May 2010 ↓

Blogging is a fantastic way of generating traffic on the web.

But blogging without a plan is rather like rowing without a paddle – you’re not going anywhere.

I’m sure you have utilised the power of search engine optimisation for your main ‘sales’ website, but are you using it on your blog too?

Many bloggers overlook this vital aspect of blogging. Generating great content regularly is all well and good, but if you’re not getting it in front of the right people, why bother?

Blogging SEO

So how do you go about SEO when blogging? For your main website you have optimised copy, optimised H1 tags, optimised title tags etc. But the content on your blog will be changing continuously, so can you maintain SEO?

It basically comes down to three elements – keywords, back links and images. So let’s look at each one in turn.

Keywords

Just as you did for the web copy on your main website, you need to research your keywords when you write blog posts. If you have a subject you want to write about, take a look at one of the free tools (such as Google’s) to find the associated words that can be used within your text to enhance your SEO.

Make sure you use your main keywords within the post’s heading and sub headings. As you write your post, don’t get hung up with the number of times you use your keywords, instead write naturally. Don’t just use your main keywords over and over; add in modifiers too – e.g. rather than stiffing your copy with copywriter, intersperse it with phrases like – website copywriter, SEO copywriter, brochure copywriter, marketing copywriter etc.

Back links

Attracting back links to your blog will help your rankings. Therefore the more people you can bring to your blog through your SEO efforts the better.

Generating interesting copy that your audience wants to read will encourage others to link to you. And, the ‘better’ the site that links to you, the more authority you will be seen to have.

One way (unreciprocated) links are the best ones to have as they are seen as more valuable by the search engines than reciprocated links. These should be generated over time by offering great content. Don’t be tempted to sign up to offerings that promise thousands of links over night – your links should be quality, genuine links. And that takes time, but, in the long run, will produce great results for you.

Images

The use of images in your blog posts will attract readers. Including eye-catching, intriguing images will lure readers to you. Although the image itself won’t help your SEO, the image tag will.

This is often overlooked by people. Use your keywords in those tags but make sure they have some relevance to the picture.

Why am I telling you this?

These three simple enhancements to your blogging will help you generate more interest and a greater number of readers. Plus, when you write your blog posts, by adding hypertext keyword links back to your main site, you’ll drive more traffic to your main site. And more traffic means more sales.

Blogging is one of the most powerful social media techniques you can use in your internet marketing strategy. But you must be patient. Shed loads of targeted traffic won’t be generated over night. But if you follow these simple SEO techniques, you’ll soon begin to build a readership.

Whether you’re a copywriter, web designer, SEO guru or business owner, understanding how to use Google Analytics effectively will help you achieve more traffic and conversions.

You can keep an eye on where your traffic is coming from, which keywords are people using to find you, how long they are staying on your site, which pages get the most traffic, which referral sites bring in the most click throughs?

But, when you log in and are faced with the dashboard:

Do you really understand what it all means or how to get the best our of the data?

Probably not, which is why I was pleased to come across a recent blog post on seomoz.org

This post gives you 5 simple tips for Google Analytics that you should be using to get the most out of it. So, grab a coffee, sit back and have a read – it will change the way you use Google Analytics forever.

If you are using email marketing as part of your internet marketing campaign – well done.

It is probably one of the fastest, easiest and most productive forms of marketing when used in conjunction with an in-house mailing list.

The best way to get your new subscribers to warm to you, is to welcome them when they sign up.

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? So why are so many of you failing to do it?

As soon as someone signs up, they should receive a welcome email from you. This serves several purposes:

Your email welcome

Branding

Make sure your welcome email is branded in line with your company’s personality. Sending out the email immediately after sign up will mean your company name will be fresh in your new subscribers mind. Seeing an email with your livery will ensure they recognise it, welcome it and (with a bit of luck), read it.

Value

It should also add value to your new relationship. Thank them for signing up and restate the benefits in doing so. Even though they’ve probably read these there’s no harm in reiterating them.

This is also a great opportunity to thank them by including a special offer. Perhaps a money off coupon, free report or something along those lines. This will show that you value their subscription.

Expectations

Your subscribers will want to know what they’ve signed up for. Although this would have been covered at the sign up point, it’s good practice to tell them again. Let them know what they’ll get from you and how often.

Cross promotions

If you are a business that has more than one mailing list, this is a prime opportunity to offer your other newsletters. But make sure you ask them to opt-in to the other lists, you can’t just add them.

Technical bits

Of course, to ensure your email is fully compliant, you must also ensure it contains features such as:

• an opt-out link
• your company’s physical mailing address
• a link to your email preference centre (if relevant)
• refer a friend link
• a link back to your website.

Ask them

This is also a great time to ask them what they are looking for. Not only will this show you as a caring company that listens to its subscribers, but it will also give you a valuable insight into what people want to read.

Sending a welcome email is your chance to set out exactly what your readers will get and an opportunity to discover what they want to read.

Start your relationship off on the right foot and they are likely to remain a subscriber longer. And, retention is the name of game.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

Most smart marketers and business owners today know that the internet is the place to be. It offers a platform from which to market your business to the world – literally.

But mention internet marketing to many people and you’re met with blank stares. There seems to be so many different forms of marketing, most with baffling names and what’s more…you have to use a computer!

But if you are willing to spend a bit of time getting to know your way around the internet, it can be very rewarding. I began my freelance copywriting business 3 years ago and have done all my marketing online. Now, all my clients come to me through my website (or via referrals) – no costly adverts and no cold calling.

So how do you get started? What are the key aspects of internet marketing?

The how and why of internet marketing

1. Search Engine Optimisation

Search engine optimisation (or SEO for short) is something just about everyone has heard of, but very few understand.

Basically, when you make a search in Google, SEO will determine what results are returned and the order in which they appear. But SEO is changing (and that’s not including Google’s constantly changing algorithm that determine where your website appears in the search results). You may have noticed in searches that now Google also lists videos, images and even Tweets. This opens up new possibilities for internet marketing with more businesses setting up YouTube channels.

SEO is really the way to go for most businesses but it isn’t fast. You have to identify your keywords, produce excellent content that utilises these keywords, work on your site structure and infrastructure to make it SEO friendly. And then you have to build high quality one way links into your site.

It’s not a quick fix and it is a constantly ongoing job but it is ideal for businesses with a limited budget. Plus, the potential ROI is staggering.

2. Pay Per Click

Pay per click (PPC) is basically paid advertising on Google (and the other search engines). When you look at a page of search engine results, the PPC adverts are the top highlighted results and the list that appears down the right hand side.

The main advantage of PPC is that it’s fast. Once you’ve set your advert up it will begin to appear in the results. But, it can be very money hungry. PPC basically works on a bidding system whereby you compete with a number of other businesses all bidding for keywords. The higher the price you pay, the more prominent your advert. That is quite a simplistic way of looking at it as the actual price you pay is also determined by the number of click-throughs you get.

But, at the end of the day, if you don’t have deep pockets PPC probably isn’t for you – certainly not in the long term.

3. Email marketing

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market online. Sending out information and offers to your own in-house list is the perfect way to market to your customers.

So long as you give information as well as just sell, your recipients will be happy.

It is one of the cheapest forms of marketing and it’s so fast. But just be careful you don’t send out unsolicited emails – they are probably not going to be welcomed. The last thing you want is for your business to be labelled as a spammer.

4. Social media

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay (for the foreseeable future anyway). It can be done cheaply and easily and, if you have a strategy in place, it won’t eat into your time.

But, social media calls for a completely different way of selling. Basically you sell without selling – let me explain. Social media is about building relationships. You have to chat and engage with people; give them information that is useful. Then, occasionally you can add in a sales message.

The main thing to remember is to start a conversation, listen to your followers/readers, answer their questions and give advice and, maybe, in the long run they will turn into clients.

Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon…there are many different forms of social media you can use. But remember, they are called ‘social’ for a reason.

5. Banner ads

Love them or loath them, they exist and are used by many businesses. They may not always give the best ROI and not easily measurable, but they might work for you so don’t immediately discount them.

6. Your website

Whichever route you decide to go down for your internet marketing plan, one thing you can’t overlook is your website.

What’s the point of driving traffic to your site if it isn’t going to convert into sales when it gets there?

The copy on your website has to be conversational, customer orientated and benefits driven. If you manage that, it will engage with your reader and help convert them into a buying customer.

Why am I telling you this?

Internet marketing is a term that is thrown around without many people really understanding what it involves.

If your campaign is going to be successful it will need a combination of the above – which ones you use depends on your business and what you are looking to achieve.

Do you …

You’re in business and therefore everything you do revolves around your customers – right?

Do you know who your customers are and what makes them tick?

Do you know how to solve all their business needs?

Do you constantly think about how you can solve their problems in the fastest most efficient way?

Do you constantly try to think of how you can add extra value to your relationship with them?

Do you think about them all the time?

Successful business are customer centric – urgh! Sorry, I hate that term. It’s just another fancy way of saying your customers are the key to your business. If you don’t put their needs first, they won’t stay customers for long.

But are they your only focus or do you get caught out sometimes when your competitors launch a new product or service? What do you do then?

Follow my leader marketing

Every business keeps one eye focused on what their marketplace is doing. You want to know every move your competitors make. But should you mirror their every move?

I am a freelance copywriter and there are a lot of us out there. Do we all offer the same service?

No.

Yes, we all write, but not necessarily the same type of copy. Some may specialise in web copy, some in reports, some in specific industries, and some (like me) provide copywriting services across the board (any industry any format, and very well even though I do say so myself).

You see we have tailored our services to the needs of our clients – we are giving them what they want.

The danger of follow my leader marketing (i.e. doing whatever your competitors do) is that it may not be what your clients need.

Your competitors are tailoring their services for their clients. But their customers are different to yours.

Be an individual

Of course that doesn’t mean to say you should ignore everything your competitors do.

If they come up with a service you haven’t thought of and you think it may be of interest to your customers, ask them. That is the best way of finding out whether it will work. If you send out a regular newsletter, use that to survey them.

They will be happy to help. Wouldn’t you rather deal with a business that asks your opinion on things rather than imposing things on you? Wouldn’t you be happy to help tailor a service so that it matches your needs precisely?

Exactly, and so will they.

Why do you need to know this?

The only thing that is keeping your business going is your customers. They must always been in the forefront of your mind. You should think about them constantly.

By keeping them at the heart of everything you do will lead to improved service and very happy customers.