Welcome to the November issue of Biz Talk! This publication is a free, subscription-based resource from Five Sparrows, LLC, which specializes in new web site development, web site re-designs, and complete online marketing services for small businesses.

We welcome your questions, comments, or inquiries at editor@fivesparrows.com. Enjoy!

A New Twist on an Old Technique

For small businesses to effectively compete in this ever-changing, cluttered web environment, it’s important that they consider using the latest interactive technologies on their web sites.  One such technique, called a “microsite,” is emerging as a powerful strategy that small businesses can use to attract new visitors, generate new leads, encourage visitors to spend time on the web site, and ultimately turn potential customers into buyers.  

So what is a microsite? 
A microsite is a new twist on the tried-and-true technique of web site “Landing Pages.”  With a microsite, a business creates a group of highly personalized web pages that are designed to appeal to a particular buyer segment.  For instance, a construction company could create a microsite (group of specifically targeted web pages) to address the needs of residential clients that contains different information from the web content presented to commercial businesses.  By using a microsite, companies can provide visitors with exactly the information they are looking for, and also gather information from prospects that applies directly to their needs and interests. 

A Versatile Strategy
Microsites can also be developed to work with a specific promotion, such as an email campaign or post card mailer, which leads visitors directly to information related to the campaign.  If a heating and cooling company is promoting winter furnace maintenance, it could create a microsite that completely skips information about air conditioners and focuses only on the furnace products and services that are currently on sale. 

Target Information = Better Conversion
Because microsites are so highly targeted, they are an effective way to provide the right information to web site visitors right when they are looking for it, often producing more qualified leads and improved web conversion rates.  Microsites can also provide small businesses with the valuable customer data they need to build strong, lasting relationships with their prospects. 

To compete on the web today, small businesses may want to consider adding an interactive technology like microsites to provide visitors with targeted, relevant information as quickly as possible.  After all, four seconds goes by fast!

Mixing It Up Online

According to a recent Marchex report, small businesses are not establishing a web presence as quickly as customers online are looking for their products and services.  It’s not that small businesses aren’t spending marketing dollars, they are just not spending very many of them online.  The report stated that small businesses will spend more than $100 billion on promoting locally, but only 5% of that money will be spent on web and online marketing.

In fact, the second-most common web activity today is customers searching for products and services online, second only to using email. Since it appears that your customers are already looking for you on the web, make sure that your marketing mix includes online strategies to help your customers find you, instead of your competitors.

Online marketing is more than just banner ads or pay-per-click campaigns. It involves investing in strategies that strengthen your web site and overall internet presence.  Here are some marketing strategies that you can use to improve your company’s online results:

• “Friendly” Web Pages – Make sure you site can be read by the search engine spiders and included in the search engine databases
  
  
• Optimization – Use quality sources to research and select appropriate keywords for your business, and optimize your site for keyword use, densities, meta data, internal linking structures, etc.
  
  
• Inbound Links – Build an inbound linking program to create “votes” for your web site in the eyes of the search engines (especially Google)
  
  
• Relevant Content – Be sure that your web site content is informative, interesting, and useful to your visitors
  
  
• E-Newsletters and E-Campaigns – Use the power of the web to promote your business and reach your customers and prospects through various email techniques
  
  
• Internet Trends – pay attention to new technologies like web video and blogs, since visitors expect this type of functionality from business web sites today

Using the internet in your marketing mix is not only highly effective and measurable, but it is also very affordable compared with old-style media like TV, radio, newspapers, and magazine ads.   By using email marketing tactics, keeping your web site information up to date, and adding new web features and technology, you can reach potential customers quickly and establish additional credibility for your company.  So when you’re planning for next year’s marketing budget, be sure to consider using online marketing strategies as part of your overall marketing mix.

Reading content on a web site is quite different from reading text that is printed out on paper.  Reading web site text can cause eye fatigue, slower reading rates, and can even lower the reader’s comprehension of the material.  That’s why writing for your web site requires a different approach from other types of writing that you may be more familiar with.  When writing content for your web site, try to remember these tips:

1. Use lots of white space on the page, and keep sentences and paragraphs as short as possible.
   
   
2. Use plenty of headings, titles, bullets, and numbered lists to help present information effectively and break up the look of the text.
   
   
3. Make your links stand out, so visitors can easily tell a link from ordinary text.  Underlining and changing the color of link text helps readers identify links quickly.
   
   
4. Cross-link information on your pages, and use links to keep related topics connected.
   
   
5. Use “universal” navigation; that is, use a menu on all web pages to make it easy for users to find information on your site and also find their way back.
   
   
6. Write for human visitors, not search engine spiders.  Although it is important to use your keywords in your page text, that doesn’t mean you can write sentences that are awkward or unclear.  There are lots of other optimization techniques you can use that don’t affect a reader’s experience.

By adjusting your writing to be web-friendly, you can make it easier and more comfortable for your visitors to spend some quality time on your web site.  And if visitors are willing to spend their time, it won’t be long until they are spending money as well.

Got Inbound Links?

Do you know how many inbound links your site has? One of the most important criteria for search engine rankings is the number of inbound links that point to your web site. Let us run a free inbound link report for your site and help you build a search engine strategy that works for your business! Inbound Link Report>>

Biz Talk is a Free Publication of Five Sparrows, LLC

Five Sparrows offers a complete line of web site and marketing services designed especially for small businesses, including web site development and re-design, online shopping, search engine optimization, e-newsletters, email marketing, search engine reporting & monitoring, and more.

Because Five Sparrows specializes in working with small businesses, we understand their specific needs and challenges.  We offer a full range of products and services at a fraction of the cost of what traditional marketing and web site firms charge, all designed to help small businesses get a big-company presence on a small company budget.

Contact us today at editor@fivesparrows.com, or call us at 810.923.1874 to see how we can help your business!

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