Last week, I was given an opportunity to present at a West Virginia Department of Agriculture “short-course”. The presentation focused on how everyone, including small agriculture-based companies, can benefit from having a website.
It was a special opportunity for me to give back a tiny bit to a community that played an important part in my family heritage.
My goal in making these types of presentations is to help other businesses succeed. This particular presentation had additional meaning, as I meant it to be a small tribute to my late Grandfather who was very important to me. If you could humor me for just a moment, I would like to share a story about him.
My Grandfather grew up in lumberjack camps across the state of West Virginia and his high school years working on a family farm in Doddridge County. In that era, education was a secondary priority and in order to continue in school my Grandfather was required to first complete his daily farm chores.
He worked his way through high school in that way, and then with the help of others he worked his way through college and earned a degree in Agriculture from West Virginia University.
He spent time in the Pacific Rim during World War II and then taught Vocational Agriculture at Cairo High School until 1975. Each summer my Grandfather would give his students a summer project, in many cases it was to grow a particular crop.
Some years ago, a former student of my Grandfather’s approached me and shared a story:
I cannot recall what the crop was that this student was growing that year. However, he told me that he was working one day in the field and looked across the field to see my Grandfather walking towards him.
He told me, “I thought, ‘Oh, no, here comes Mr. Strader to grade my project’ and I wasn’t ready to be graded.”
My grandfather walked across the field, and approached the student. The man told me that when he came up to him, he simply greeted him and said, “I was just stopping in to see if I could help.”
He had went out of his way to try and help. He was wanting to impart a small bit of his knowledge in order to help his student learn something that may benefit him in the future.
That is the basis for my desire to help people. To share something I know, that could help a business succeed.
It may seem corny and trivial, but to me my presentation was a small tribute to my Grandfather. A man I respected and loved and learned a great deal from. I miss him everyday.
Ironically, the day of the presentation….was his birthday.
Download the Presentation Files
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Like an old basketball coach would say….”Follow-Through!”.
You spend time and money to drive traffic to your website. Many of us in the travel and tourism industry rely on visitors to submit forms, requesting additional information or to check availability. Sadly, the follow-up on these requests is often lacking attention which can and does cost businesses in the end.
Here are some simple rules to follow to help convert more of those that contact you via email.
To begin with, respond in a timely manner. The Internet makes information available on-demand. Right or wrong, your visitors are not only wanting, but expecting a timely reply to their emails. If you are only checking and responding to email “every so often”, you aren’t serious about leveraging the Internet to help your business.
Check email often and respond in a timely manner. The caveat with timely response is that a high-quality, yet slightly slower response, is more valuable than a “quick and dirty” response. Auto-responders should be used with great care and you should not pat yourself on the back if you consider your auto-responder as a timely response.
Keep the subject line in-tact from the initial message. This will help “remind” the visitor’s that your email is relevant and not spam. Also keep the message thread in tact so both you and visitor can track the ‘conversation’.
This may sound like a given, but personalize the response! Use their name in the salutation and use your own name in the closing. Nothing can come across as more impersonal than an email signed, “Customer Service Rep 22341″.
If you want people to buy from you, you must establish trust, and forging a relationship is the fastest way to make that happen. Something as simple as personalizing an email can help.
Answer their questions. If they ask for specific information or have specific needs, address them! When you personalize a response and address their specific questions it proves that a real, live human being is responding to them.
DO NOT direct them to visit your website for more information! The majority of them will have just come from there and could not find the information they needed.
Be polite and positive. Another, “no kiddin’” tip, but it is surprising how few companies I see doing this well. Which do you think would be more warmly received
“To make a reservation please call 111-111-111-1111 between 8 and 6.”
OR
“To make a reservation please call us at your earliest convenience. We look forward to speaking with you and will be happy to help you reserve your trip.”
Don’t go overboard with the flowery prose and blatant ass-kissing, however, be genuine and let people know you appreciate them and want to offer them the best possible service.
Be clear and simple with your writing. Sadly, the average American reads at the 7th/8th grade level. Skip the big words and keep the sentences and paragraphs short.
Also be sure to proofread for common mistakes and misspellings. Have a list of words you have trouble spelling? Most of us non-Mensa types do. Keep the list handy.
Lastly, make it easy for people to contact you. Create a simple “signature” in your email client that includes the contact information most important to your visitors.
Tags: email follow ups .
Make it easy for people to buy from you.
Simple enough isn’t it? We are all in the business of selling things whether it be products or services.
The more we sell, the more profitable we become, the more we can invest in our companies and subsequently the level of success trends upward.
However, before anyone will buy from us, they have to traipse down the buying cycle…and develop trust. As business owners we MUST make it easy for people to buy from us or we are wasting our efforts and marketing dollars.
Below you will find an example of why some businesses fail. While this is an offline example, hopefully you will be able to draw parallels and learn from another companies mistakes.
I am in the market to buy a new vehicle. Why not? It is a buyers market, the incentives to buy are great and a shiny new truck would look great in my driveway.
Despite no vehicle sales experience, it would seem logical that “micro-conversions” in the vehicle buying process would include submitting a credit application (online), visiting the lot and asking to take a test drive. Each would indicate “buying signals” and should serve as notice to the dealer that a prospect is very interested.
My experience with a local hometown-dealer is baffling, to say the least.
To begin the process I submitted a credit application online, to have pre-approval before making any trip to the lot. You never know when impulse might strike!
In the process, I indicated that I would like a particular dealership to contact me with vehicles that might meet my self-described needs.
I am no genius, but if I were a car salesman, amidst tough market conditions and was provided with the name of a pre-approved prospect whom had requested prices on specific vehicle types….I would be VERY quick to move.
Nearly two weeks without contact from the dealership, and the contact made entailed the proverbial, “What would it take to put you in a vehicle today?”. Over the phone!
A trial-close given without providing any information about vehicles that might solve my “problems”.
In the past month I have ventured to the dealership 5 times to browse their selection. On each visit, no salesperson ventured out to see if I had any questions. Some may argue that as a tactic, as we all hate being swarmed upon walking on to some high-pressure lots. However, a simple “hello” (to initiate contact) and a, “Can I answer any questions?”, would have went a long way.
Yesterday I decided I would stop again, and take one for a test drive. Despite the dealers lack of effort, I was determined to buy!
I perused the selection, spending 20 minutes or more determining which I would like to take for a spin, without any contact from the sales staff.
Finally I ventured in, found someone and asked for a test drive. Initially, they couldn’t find the keys. So I went back outside to patiently wait.
Five minutes later, the salesman came out and said, “I found the keys…problem with this vehicle is, it has been promised to another dealer”.
My patience, and trust, had met it’s end. They were showcasing (and had a “Dealer Special”) on a vehicle they couldn’t sell to me. My determination to buy was rivaled only by the ineptness of this dealer and his staff.
I was prepared to buy. They were not prepared to sell.
Each buying signal I provided was greeted with another obstacle.
Take a look at your own buying cycle and ask yourself, “Am I making it easy for people to buy from me?”. If your are not, re-evaluate what you are doing and make changes or find something else to do.
If you are interested, I know a dealership that is for sale.
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I have had a number of questions about this lately; “Don’t people read anything?”.
The answer is….yes, visitors do read online, just in a different way.
Keep website copy succinct. Brevity, online, is a virtue…and bullet points can provide information quickly.
For example…
Instead of:
Our cabins include a wide variety of amenities including utensils, linens, towels, appliances, hot tub and a great location.
Try:
Cabin Amenities
- All Utensils
- Linens
- Towels
- Appliances
- Hot Tub
- A Great Location!
Simple enough isn’t it? Keep in mind that the majority of website visitors ’scan’ a page in search of visual cues. Continual blocks of text become monotonous and visitors will quickly lose interest.
Write for the Web With:
- short paragraphs
- bulleted lists
- clear topical headings
Leverage your photography by presenting relevant photos adjacent to blocks of text or bulleted lists.
If your list is about what you offer for lunch, provide a photo of your lunch. If the paragraph is providing information about your location, provide photos of your location.
Quality page content is an essential component of any Search Engine Optimization campaign. Keep page copy topically relevant, use proper heading tags (H2, H3) and bulleted lists in conjunction with relevant photos and graphics.
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Participate! It is your product, your website - invest the time to participate to ensure you receive the type and quality of website you expect.
All too often I see companies select a designer and SEO, then disappear, leaving design teams, strategists and marketers in the lurch. The end result is all too often a client with a product different from what they had envisioned….and no one to blame.
Why can’t the contract be signed and project handed off?
Easy, the primary stakeholder knows the product best, and must provide direction and the materials (logo, content, photos) necessary to complete the project.
There are a number of different tools available to help keep the project on course, and to keep clients and production team members in constant contact throughout the process.
A simple, and useful, online project management tool is available at BaseCampHQ which allows communication, file sharing and project tracking. The web based application allows you to access project information from anywhere in which you have an Internet connection. Share files, to-do lists, chat and send messages to team members involved in the project. Ideal for production team members, the software allows stakeholders to track the progress of the project using simple visual cues such as strikethrough text indicated a task has been completed.
Another useful tool, for brainstorming and mapping out site architecture, is MindJet - Mind Manager Software. This product allows you to layout thoughts, or content sections, and map them to the central theme and dependents. The maps can be easily customized, and shared via exporting to different formats.
The point of this post, however, is that as the client, your role is not over upon signing the contract. If you want the highest quality product provided, you must make the effort to provide your production staff with the direction and information they need to complete the job.
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This is Part II in a series of posts giving a top-level overview of the components of Internet Marketing.
Pay Per Click (PPC) listings augment (in some cases are the sole results) organic listings in a number of search engines. These listings appear alongside, or adjacent to the organic listings. Additionally PPC listings appear on other relevant (somewhat) websites via paid publisher partnerships and other behind the scenes ad deals.
PPC Search Engines
- Primary Engines
- Secondary Engines
- Microsoft AdCenter
- 7Search
- Many Others
Google and Yahoo! currently offer certifications to show familiarity and competency in using their products; Google Qualified AdWords Individual/Company and Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador. Expect Microsoft AdCenter to be included in this group in the very near future.
These credentials are awarded based upon a number of criteria including passing a competency exam (each are paid exams). Spend levels and duration of client management are also factored in, among other criteria.
Keys to a Successful Pay Per Click Campaign
- Well Crafted, Relevant Ad Text
- Effective Landing Pages with a Clear Call to Action
- Careful Keyword Selection
- Effective Use of Broad/Exact Match and Negative Keywords
- Can Piggyback Keyword Research from SEO Campaign
- Target Most Specific Phrases and Keywords for Maximum ROI
- Segment Keyword Groups with Unique Ads for Each
- Make Use of Available Testing Methods (Ads and Landing Pages)
- A/B, A/B/B and Taguchi or Multivariate
- Utilize Available Analytics and Ad Conversion Tools
Some Common Misconceptions of PPC Campaigns
- Myth: Must Have the Highest Bid for the Highest Ranking
- Quality Scores Are Used by a Number of PPC Engines to Help Determine Rank
- Myth: PPC Campaigns Are Difficult to Track
- PPC is One of the Easier Components to Track
- Use of Analytics Programs and Provided Snippets of Code
- Goal Identification - Micro-Conversions Measured
Pros of a PPC Campaign
- When Done Correctly, Incomparable ROI
- Cost Effective
- Highly Targeted Traffic - Ability to Reach Multiple Levels of the Buying Cycle
- Can Track to Keyword Level
Cons of a PPC Campaign
- Multi-Faceted: Requires time investment and/or investment in agency to perform tasks involved
- Too Many Focus on Top-Level Keywords and Phrases
- Many Fall Victim to “Set it and Forget it”
- Poor Keyword Selection
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Part one in a series giving top-level overviews and information on the components of Internet Marketing.
Search Engine Optimization - SEO
Search Engine Optimization is a process with the intent to improve the volume and quality of traffic driven to your website via natural, or “organic”, search. Pay Per Click, or PPC, driven traffic is not a component of SEO.
There are a number of factors which influence the success of any SEO campaign. The following is a sampling of the more important factors.
On Page Factors
- Search Engine Friendly Design
- Sound Information Architecture and Navigation
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Based Layouts Recommended
- No Frames or Use of Flash Introductions
- Avoid JavaScript or Image Maps in Navigation Schemes
- Good Internal Linking Structure
- Text Links Within the Page Body Copy
- Keywords Within Anchor Text
- Correct Usage of Coded Page Elements
- Page Titles and Descriptions
- H1, H2, H3 Tags
- Technical Components
- Correct Use of 301 Redirects and Robots.txt
- Site Maps
- HTML SiteMaps for Humans - Like a Table of Contents
- XML SiteMaps for Bots - SiteMaps Protocol http://www.sitemaps.org
Off Page Factors
- In Bound Links
- Not All Links Are Created Equal!
- Look For Topical Hubs, Authority Sites
- One Way Links
- Algorithms Can Detect Link Exchanges - While reciprocal links will not harm your rankings, they are no longer as valuable as before. Instead of spending hours sending and responding to emails about “I saw your site. I like your site. Let’s link!”, look for potential one way, higher authority links.
- Anchor Text is VERY Important
- Link Sources
- Large Directory Sites (Yahoo! DMOZ, Business.com)
- Niche Directory Sites (cabins.com, raftinfo.com)
- Resources and Sites that Contain Information to Which Your Site is Relevant.
If you are considering investing in an SEO campaign for your company, there are some pros and cons to consider.
Pros
- Profound Impact When Correctly Implemented
- High ROI
- Residual Effects from Laying the Groundwork
Cons
- Anyone Can Say the Are An SEO
- No Guarantees - Be Wary of Any SEO That Guarantees Rankings
- With New Sites, Lag Time in Seeing Overall Impact
- Design Elements Must Be in Place to Maximize
When choosing an SEO ask for references, ask about the tactics they intend to utilize and insist on thorough keyword research. Basing an SEO campaign on assumed ‘best’ keywords is a recipe for disappointment.
Download Presentation
This is part of a recent presentation regarding Internet Marketing and the Travel and Tourism Industry. To download the complete presentation, please use the links below
Power Point Slide Show Format - Download
Microsoft Word Format - Download
Tags: internet marketing overview, search engine optimization, seo basics .
This is a brief recap of a poignant presentation I made at a recent conference. I crammed a tremendous amount of information into a roughly 16 minute period. Brief, quick hitting…and admittedly, cursory.
Here it is in a nutshell.
In developing your website you need to take a number of things into consideration before going to market.
One of the most common questions I am asked is, “How can my site rank highly in the search engines?”
Rarely have I been asked the most important question, “What can I do to improve my website?”
Before you begin to market your website, you must consider the following things:
Do you offer quality, relevant content that a member of your target market would find useful?
Are you offering things which will help them plan a trip and learn about your area and offerings? Or are you busy telling them how you are the “best” and the “greatest”? If you are going to make superlative claims, you’d better back it up as people’s BS meters are more sensitive than ever. Make sure you are providing useful information on the visitor’s frequency, WII.FM. (what’s in it for me?!)
Make it immediately clear what you do and who you are
Make it easy for people to find what they need, to do what you want….you do know what you want them to do don’t you?
This is a component of what is termed, ‘usability’. Steve Krug has written a great book on the topic and the books title provides us all with a mantra to put into use when developing and designing our websites, Dont Make Me Think
. If people have to stop and figure out what you do….they will leave.
Provide thoughtful, intuitive navigation systems for people to move about your site in finding information to help them. With smaller sites, this is a rather easy task, however when you have a wide variety of products, trips, or lodging options, you must implement a thoughtful navigation schema using a practice known as “Information Architecture”.
All too often I see homepages with dozens and dozens of links which confuse and intimidate the visitor…..remember, make it intuitive, logical and consistent. As Mr. Krug says, “Don’t Make Me Think!”
Compliance and Availability
Ensure that your website works on all browsers, is not entirely dependent upon technologies such as Shockwave, Java and Flash, and ditch the intro pages.
All too often I see over-designed websites that have a great number of visual cues and are “cute” …yet in the end are just junk in a fancy wrapper.
Use technologies such as Flash, Shockwave and Java as a component of your website, not its basis, and keep them at least one version behind the most currently available. The overuse of animations, and video can clutter your site, cause your visitor to lose focus and distract from the primary goal of converting them into a paying guest.
2 no-no’s…auto-play video and embedded mp3’s. People at work don’t want to be found out and if people want to watch your video, they will….when they want to.
Make sure your designs work in at least Firefox and Internet Explorer and begin taking mobile devices into consideration. If you are starting a new project, insist on a CSS based layout which will help eliminate cross-browser issues.
Provide a site that works on all browsers and put the emphasis on substance over superficial fluff and eye-candy.
If you have a website that contains these basic elements you have a website ready for market that will be a success.
There are a number of effective methods for marketing your quality site. I am going to provide some very quick overviews of two of the most important ones.
Organic Search
Holy Grail – free clicks based upon the relevance of your content to the search terms used.
There are a number of things which you can do, in addition to providing quality content, to help in this regard. However, ALWAYS, build your sites for people, not GoogleBot.
You can however, leave a mint on the pillow for GoogleBot by making sure you have quality, unique page titles, H1 tags and keyword rich text links within your site. Do not keyword stuff your titles…it is no longer 1997 and Alta Vista no longer cares how often you can stuff in a keyword.
Also, eliminate duplicate content. If you have multiple domains which “mirror” sites or you utilize tracking links you are creating multiple sets of the same pages and you are confusing the search engines. Use what is known as a 301 redirect, NOT a META redirect and eliminate your duplicate content.
Build quality inbound links. Stay away from link farms, FFA links pages and links from casino, pharma or porn sites. Obtain links from topic relevant sites.
Keyword research is paramount.
Pay Per Click Campaigns
Pay per click campaigns are a great way to increase traffic, extend your online footprint and reach new markets. However, if you are uninformed, utilize poor tactics and bid on the wrong keywords you will walk away disappointed, with little return on your investment and a lighter wallet.
Done correctly, you can realize a tremendous ROI.
Utilize your keyword research your organic campaign and craft quality ad titles and descriptions and test them using A/B and A/B/B methods until you find the best possible combination.
Utilize the new tracking and conversion features available from the major ppc engines, including Google and Yahoo! search marketing.
Do not fall into the set it and forget it mindset. You need to monitor, adjust and be careful not to fall to the temptation to bid the farm for the upper-most, top-level terms. These are people just entering the buying cycle…you can hit them when they get closer to the purchase by bidding on drill-down terms that are more relevant to your specific area of trip offerings.
Other important marketing considerations include email marketing, social media marketing, and article marketing.
Tags: online marketing tips, website development .
Some local search information that is going to help people find you…this is going to be posted as I have time to review it.
Here are two solid options to get you started.
Yahoo! Local Merchant
You can choose from three different levels of service, depending upon what you are trying to accomplish…and will assuredly be dictated by your level of competition.
Very easy process to sign-up, include your business and make it available for people to find easily. If nothing else, test the free version, then go from there…the free version DOES include a link to your website!
Try it out - http://listings.local.yahoo.com/
YellowPages.com
Visit the link below, click the ‘Get a free listing’ link and use your common sense.
http://www.yellowpages.com/sp/advertise/
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Those that use CSS for page layout, know what I mean. As I have learned more and more about CSS and ways to use it to position page elements and provide unique styling options, (beyond the typical font and link styling) I find myself saying, “why didn’t I use this sooner!”
This afternoon I took my wife out for Saturday afternoon beer and pizza and I proceeded to bore her to tears as I babbled about CSS and how great it was.
Apparently, I sounded like a teenage girl jacked up on Red Bull…and her obvious distaste for my love of geekdom was crumbled by….”What CAN’T CSS do?!?”.
Therefore…I was inspired.
Top Ten Things CSS CAN’T Do:
10. It can’t help (insert friend of family member) with their ‘I can’t get online’ or ‘my email isn’t working’ problem of the day.
9. It can’t make pizza, tacos or melt cheese for nachos.
8. It can’t make DaveN like Digg Nation (Or Google!).
7. It won’t turn off my lights when I clap twice.
6. It can’t discuss my health status with my doctor to ensure that I am healthy enough to engage in sexual activity.
5. I can’t apply it directly to my forehead when my head hurts.
4. It can’t help the sorry ass Front Page site your cousin’s friend built for you.
3. It can’t stop pop-ups or mute background sound files.
2. It can’t keep your competitors from deleting your wikipedia entries.
1. It can’t get me another beer because I have fallen and can’t get up!
What do you love about CSS?
Tags: css design, lists .
