A friend sat me down recently and asked me to explain what
Internet marketing is. In one respect, it's marketing your
site by getting exposure, but in another respect, it means
using the Internet to help people find the site--what we
call search engine marketing. I told her about improving
the search results for her site, about how the search
engines work, and how page content was probably what needed
to be fixed. She was nodding all along, but then she asked
"But why spend money on the Web site when what I really
need to do is increase my sales?"
This was one of those EUREKA! moments. "You need more
prospects to get more sales." Suddenly, I realized that she
really didn't understand how the Internet works, or that
she could literally drive prospects to her site. She simply
didn't know that this practical, common sense
approach--Internet marketing--is the most productive
marketing investment she could make, for the least amount
of money, with the fastest return on the investment.
By tapping into the power of search engines with a freshly
optimized site, you use the Internet to deliver prospective
customers who are actively looking for a solution right to
your door, and can do so without ANY incremental cost. You
can also advertise on the search engines, paying only for
people who actually visit your site. It's an exciting time,
because search marketing can often eliminate the cost of
advertising.
Even a small business can be the #1 result when people
search for your solution--and today, 85% of people with
Internet access find new products or services by searching
the web (even for well-established brands!). Here's another
interesting (or scary) fact: if your site isn't on the
first page of search results, 63% of people won't find
you...they just don't look any further. On the positive
side, visits from top rankings are up to 4 times more
likely to convert into customers.
Making It To The Top
So, getting to the top of the search engine results list is
important. On the other hand, there are billions and
billions web pages. What do you do to get your pages to the
top? Here's a quick overview of the search engine
optimization process.
The ABCs of SEO
There is a four-step process to search engine optimization
(SEO), understanding that search engines look at meta tags
in the HTML document, page content, internal link structure
and external link popularity to determine your ranking in
the results.
1. Brainstorm, research and analyze the key words and
phrases that will draw profitable traffic to your site. Try
wordtracker.com to do your research, and use their keyword
evaluator tools to select keywords with the highest Keyword
Effectiveness Index. These are the terms you can optimize
effectively.
2. Optimize your content against these key words and
phrases a. Create pages specific to three or four terms b.
Include key words/phrases in title tag c. Write meta
descriptions around key words/phrases d. Develop or improve
headings and text tailored to key words/phrases e.
Incorporate links and alt image tags appropriately
3. Register site with directories, submit optimized pages
to search engines a. Free directories and search engines b.
Pay-for-inclusion on Yahoo (about $250) c. Optional:
pay-per-click advertising
4. Monitor the results, tweaking as needed to increase
traffic and improve your position in the search results.
SEO is a long-term process...commit to a full year of
activity. As you add content and continue your keyword
research, you can succeed.
What To Do In The Meantime
Paid search, or pay-per-click advertising, can be very
cost-effective, especially if you target a single
geography. Using Google AdWords to gain experience and
setting up a free Google Analytics account to see where
your traffic comes from and what terms convert well, you
can gain a lot of insight into search marketing. This data
can help you make good decisions about the "why" of your
organic SEO work, at the same time it drives customers to
your site. I recommend you set your bids high enough to be
in the #1, 2 or 3 position. These are the positions that
get the clicks.
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Specializing in marketing technology-based companies since
1987, and active in Internet marketing since 1992, John
Rasco's skills as a marketer, team leader and strategist
are key to successful client engagements. Founder of
RefreshWeb, John has an entrepreneurial gene, a creative
bent and a passion for challenging projects. More at
http://www.refreshweb.com
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