Monthly Archives: November 2009

SEO: More Than a Catch Phrase

10 Tuesday Nov 2009

Posted by in Internet Marketing

≈ 2 Comments

Recently, I have witnessed many new self-proclaimed Internet marketing gurus flooding the scene with a plethora of catch phrases and their own recipe for the secret sauce of success. Each time a new article is published or a book is released, my inbox is flooded with overzealous Internet consultants armed with the confidence fueled by their newfound knowledge.While I would never discount the knowledge that can be gained from someone with hands-on real-world experience, I am flustered by those that sell their ideas based on nothing more than theory. I say, “Show me a portfolio of more than one site, then your ideas may have merit… otherwise don’t waste my time.”

The thing that slips their mind is that all of the articles are public domain, and anyone in the business is actively seeking new ways to increase the exposure and marketing performance of their website(s). For those not afraid to do a little research, every search engine has extensive documentation, hints, tricks, and examples on techniques to optimize your website.

Google has done an outstanding job of writing documentation on how their system crawls and indexes a website. You can view the Google Basics site at http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=70897.

As with Google, Yahoo offers detailed guidance for submitting your site for indexing within search engines. The instructions for submitting your site to Yahoo can be viewed at http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/indexing/indexing-06.html;_ylt=Av3OleH86oCfgTXvyRcje4ZYqCN4.

Take control of your own Internet marketing efforts. Whether you create and maintain “description” and “keyword” meta tags or you hire a consultant to do your bidding, the results are the same. The search engines are not able to distinguish between text entered by you or someone else.

The “real” secret as with any marketing effort–Internet or otherwise–is to make sure the content is relevant. Moreover, the keywords and description meta tags need to contain words and phrases that best represent your site.

Of course, to remain one step ahead of your Internet competition, leverage other forms of marketing to drive traffic to your site.

Does it make a sound?

09 Monday Nov 2009

Posted by in Marketing Philosophy

≈ 1 Comment

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We have all heard the basic philosophical question, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Similarly, there is a question posed to marketers, “If a campaign is created and deployed and the product is not relevant to the audience, will there be a response?”

The marketing philosophy question is much easier to answer. Never expect a response from an audience not properly identified as having a propensity to respond. Direct marketing is no place for the faint-hearted. Leave the scatter gun approach to marketing for the corporate branding saturation marketing teams.

Spend time researching and understanding ways to communicate with your target audience. Ask yourself, “Who are my potential customers?” Every market segment has their own preferred method of communication. Not only do we marketers need to use the appropriate conduits when communicating, the content within the communication should be relevant.

Do I need to market?

08 Sunday Nov 2009

Posted by in Marketing Philosophy

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There is a question that resonates, especially during financially challenging times, regarding the importance of marketing. Many people ask, “do I really need to market to my existing customers?” Remembering, of course, that if you are not in constant communication with your customers–someone else will be. My response to the question of maintaining a strong retention-based marketing program is this…

You only need to market to the customers you want to keep!

Retention programs are more important now than ever before. It is your existing customers that will carry you through the economic challenges.