WorldLight Media : News and Resources » SEO

3-Prong Strategy: Website, Search, Branding

Nathan Solla — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:55:08 +0000

Every demographic, every age group is using the internet to shop, especially in the pnw. Not just ecommerce, but any professional service can be researched and compared online. If you don’t have a professional website, you’re losing money, I promise you that.

1. SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITES

The Website is the new store front. It’s vital for a small business websites to make a powerful and lasting first impression. If you drive up to a store and it looks run-down and broken, are you going to feel good about going inside?

WE OFFER PROFESSIONAL WEB DESIGN SERVICES

Our designs are always professional and attractive. You don’t want to build a web site that makes your company look cheap or insignificant. You want to please your clients, not frustrate them. Our web sites are pure pleasure to surf, informative, and we always make it easy to find what most people are looking for.

2. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

How many of you prefer to use Google over the Yellow Pages.

The American Dialect Society has just recently named “Google” the word of the decade. The previous decade’s word was “web”. Did you notice the trend?

Social Media Optimization is another service that we are starting to get a lot of requests for. A recent survey of online retailers found that 86% of businesses already have a Facebook Fan Page, and 99% of businesses plan to get one this year.

It’s an immediate priority. We can help you with that.

3. STRATEGIC BRANDING AND CORPORATE IDENTITY

If you want your business to be attractive you’ve got to look sharp! Most companies understand that it’s important to promote your brand. ITS been proven to be effective countless times. Our most successful clients get a world class logo to go with their new web site

How to refer business to us:

Now giving us referrals is very easy. All you have to do is find someone who wants to be more successful in business. Any business owner who wants a raise is a good candidate. People who are truly serious about succeeding in business will have a polished and professional image online and in all their marketing.

If you meet someone who has an unprofessional email address (like hotmail or Verizon or Comcast) on their business cards, that is a serious problem. It’s likely they don’t have a website, or if they do, they are very ashamed of it. Send them to us and we will help them to grow.

How to use Facebook and Twitter to promote your business

Nathan Solla — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:19:15 +0000

When it comes to tweets (twitter posts) and status updates (FB posts)… less is more. Too many posts could be considered spam, and that is the last thing you want.

Quality is key.

You can follow/friend request as many people you want, but your actual posts should be limited to only things your followers/friends would find useful, interesting, or relevant.

For example, if you find a great article online and want to share the link, this is a great twitter post idea. When you launch a new video on the website and/or youTube, your tweet should be in the form of a thank you to the person for saying such nice things.

What about buzz?

I would suggest skipping the gimmicks mentioning buzzworthy terms like swine flu, etc. It may send a short term spike in traffic, but in the long run, it will hurt more than it helps (unless you are telling people that you are the only chiropractor in town that DOESN’T have swine flu! Then, it’s relevant AND necessary info that will build business.)

Here is an excellent list of guidelines that I found for more info: http://www.rollingout.com/v2/ro_today/082109/facebook_and_twitter_promote_business.php

Relationships Rule

The bottom line is this: It’s STILL all about relationships between people. Twitter and Facebook are merely ways that make it easier to extend your personal relationships to your online network.

6 Buzzworthy Laws All Web Marketers Should Understand

Nathan Solla — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:34:26 +0000

This is an excellent piece from TheFutureBuzz.com. These six Laws are very important to understand, and a few of them you’ve probably never heard of!

Moore’s Law

The Tipping Point

Participation Inequality

Metcalfe’s law

The Streisand Effect

The Long Tail

6 Buzzworthy Laws All Web Marketers Should Understand.

Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 ‘08 at Nearly $5.9 Billion – MarketWatch

Nathan Solla — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:21:57 +0000

Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 ‘08 at Nearly $5.9 Billion – MarketWatch
PRESS RELEASE
Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 ‘08 at Nearly $5.9 Billion
11% Increase from Q3 ‘07, Up Slightly from Q2 ‘08 Despite U.S. Economic Woes

Last update: 12:11 p.m. EST Nov. 20, 2008
NEW YORK, Nov 20, 2008 BUSINESS WIRE — The Interactive Advertising Bureau IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP PwC today announced that Internet advertising revenues reached almost $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008, representing an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2007. While double-digit annual growth continues, the quarter-to-quarter curve remains relatively flat compared to recent past performance. The Q3 2008 figures, published in the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, are 2 percent higher than the Q2 2008 results. Set against strong economic headwinds in the U.S. economy, Q3 ’08’s $5.9 billion represents nonetheless the second-highest quarter results ever. For the first nine months of 2008, revenues totaled $17.3 billion, up from $15.2 billion in the same period a year ago and surpassing the record set in the first nine months of 2007 by nearly 14 percent.
“The growth of interactive advertising that we’ve been experiencing over the past few years has stabilized due in large part to the difficult current economic climate,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “Interactive advertising continues to be the most measurable and cost-effective way to reach consumers, and we see more and more marketers seeking to harness its power.”
David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, added that, “a weakening economy will continue to be a challenge to all forms of advertising-supported media. However, the Internet should be better poised to withstand the storm given its ability to combine performance-based advertising along with broad-based branding.”
Conducted by the New Media Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Internet Advertising Revenue Report was launched in 1996 by the IAB and aggregates data from all companies that report meaningful online advertising revenues. The results are considered the most accurate measurement of interactive advertising revenues as the data are compiled directly from information supplied by companies selling advertising on the Internet. The survey includes data concerning online advertising revenues from Web sites, commercial online services, ad networks, free e-mail providers, and other companies selling online advertising. First- and third-quarter revenue reports are estimates, with actual figures released with the second- and fourth-quarter data respectively. PwC does not audit the information and provides no opinion or other form of assurance with respect to the information.
About PricewaterhouseCoopers:
PricewaterhouseCoopers www.pwc.com provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 155,000 people in 153 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice.
“PricewaterhouseCoopers” refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.
About the IAB:
The Interactive Advertising Bureau IAB is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.
SOURCE: The Interactive Advertising Bureau

The Interactive Advertising Bureau
Marla Aaron, 212-380-4714
Marketing Communications Director
marla@iab.net

Getting more traffic to your website

Nathan Solla — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:08:07 +0000

For many small companies who delve into the exciting new level of business that can only be obtained by getting a website, often times they don’t understand “why” they need a new website. The good news is, they do understand that they need a new website, so understanding “why” is of minor importance. Many business owners need a website to serve as a glorified, modernized version of what the yellow-pages once were, an easily accessible way to find your contact information. Increasingly so, yellow-pages are becoming obsolete due to the benefits of a website over a static yellow-page ad. (When was the last time you used your yellow-pages, versus simply searching for the information online instead?) Other businesses have more complex needs, such as the need to sell products on line, or the need to establish their brand in interactive ways, and so they need a website to perform these functions.

If you build it, will they come?

A common misconception among business owners is that simply building a website is enough. As I tell all of my clients, it is emphatically not enough. You must have a website, granted, but you must also drive traffic to that website. A website without a marketing strategy designed to bring visitors to your website is essentially worthless.

Getting Traffic

Now, there are many ways you can bring traffic to your website:

Do it yourself - via word of mouth, you directly tell a prospective customer of yours to visit yoursite.com
Print it on your marketing materials - Business cards, brochures, etc., can all be used in conjunction with your other marketing strategies to drive more traffic to your website.
Online Marketing campaigns - Ads (text ads, banner ads, content ads) can be used to drive traffic to your site from other pages where visitors might be looking for products and services similar to what you offer.
Google Adwords (Pay Per Click) – These ads target users where it counts, on the search engine pages. If a user searches for a keyword that matches your ad, then a link to your website will come up, often in the first page of results.

Now, these methods are for those who want a pro-active approach to actually drive traffic to their sites. But what about a more passive approach?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a method of optimizing your web pages so that your site will come up higher in the list of “organic” results. Organic results are more attractive to searchers than paid search results. You need to make sure your website is optimized so that people can find your website amid the billions of others out there. Relying solely on SEO is not an effective web marketing strategy, in and of itself, but it is imperative that SEO techniques are incorporated into your web marketing activities.

How many visitors do I need to be successful?

This question is commonly asked by businesses. The truthful answer is, “it depends”. Some sites I have built need only 10 visits per day to be effective. These 10 visitors were driven to the site by the business owner via word of mouth. They would check out the site, get more information, and decided to engage with my client in business. This same client tried much more broad-reaching strategies, and found that the increase in clients only succeeded in wasting his time, because of his unique selling proposition.

Depending on factors such as local competition, Internet competition, and factors unique to your product, service and business model, your web strategy needs to be custom designed for your needs. It’s a fairly complicated process that should be entrusted into the hands of a competent professional.

WorldLight Media would love to help you create your web marketing strategy. Contact us today via our contact form, or at (360) 547 – 1177. Of course, as we’ve already established, the first step is to get a website, which, incidentally, we would love to help you out with that as well!