Welcome to the July 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!

Dear Readers,
It’s Time to Get Serious About Your Web Strategy

Even if you don’t want to use the “R” word (recession), you have to admit that businesses – especially here in Michigan – have been battling a pretty serious economic slowdown for months now.  And the reality is that tougher times often call for cost-cutting measures, with the marketing and advertising budget first on the chopping block.  But here’s a bit of good news for marketing budgets everywhere: by switching to web-based marketing initiatives, you can get your message out to a more targeted audience at a far lower cost than the traditional, more expensive methods you may currently be using.

To help you stretch your marketing budget a little further this summer, we are dedicating this entire issue of Biz Talk to helping you develop and strengthen a web-based strategy for your business. Because the Internet is changing the way we do business today, and if your small business doesn’t have a solid web strategy in place, now is the time to get one. 

Web Marketing Begins With Your Web Site

Web sites today often feature new, interactive technologies that have become very popular with consumers.  Depending on how old your web site is, these newer sites may have been developed using tools and technologies that might not have been available when you first launched your site. But the bottom line is that to effectively market your business on the web, you have to be able to meet the needs and expectations of your existing customers, as well as attract new customers to your web site.  If you can accomplish that, you will be well on your way to building a solid web strategy to help your business succeed and grow in any business climate.

Set Some Goals

The first step when thinking about your web site is to set some goals.  To establish these goals, ask yourself the following:

• Who is my intended audience(s), and what do they expect?
• What are my competitors offering on their web sites?
• What is the message that I want to convey?
• What is the action that I want my visitors to take?

Then, consider what your visitors are trying to do on your site.  Are they researching information?  Comparison shopping?  Looking to make a purchase now?  Looking for something local?  Keeping this information in mind will help you focus your web content and provide the right information pathways for users when they visit your site.  Ultimately, these pathways should lead your visitors to the actions that you want them to take.

Send the Right Message

Having a good business web site is no longer a luxury, it is an expectation.  As technology continues to improve, your customers’ expectations of your web site continue to grow as well.  An old, outdated site is a huge red-flag to customers, and can send the message that you either don’t care or that your business may be in trouble.  Make sure that your web site sends an accurate message about your business – that you are competent, professional, and completely capable of handling your customers’ needs now and into the future.

In With the New

Today’s users expect a certain level of sophistication in order to take your business seriously, and that means you need to consider adding new features and technology to your site.   Visitors have come to expect well-organized, useful content on pages that load quickly, but you’ll score extra points for adding new technologies such as RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts, video, and interactive tutorials.  

Not sure which web technologies are right for you? Try them out! Go to www.blog-search.com and look at examples of blogs in your industry to get a feel for blogging.  Also check out some RSS feeds from authority sites in your industry, and consider adding one or two to your own web site. Think about what would be useful to your customers, like an interactive calendar of events, interesting articles, how-to-guides, or even a site-search feature on your web site. Show your customers that your company is progressive by embracing new technology, and you can gain credibility and additional web site traffic as a result.

Of course, one of the worst strategies you can adopt is to do nothing. At the very least, make sure your web content is up to date, and that your web architecture is search-friendly (no frames, Flash-based, or image-based sites).  Use an effective navigation system that clearly guides users to the information they are looking for, and make sure each page on your site has a strong call to action coupled with an easy way for users to take that action.  Make sure your site meets or exceeds your customers’ expectations, and it can serve as the cornerstone of a web marketing strategy that will help your business grow well into the future.

The Secret to Search Success

Like it or not, most people use search engines to find information on the web, and the search engine they use the most is Google.  If your site cannot be found in the search engines, look what you may be missing out on:

• People who perform web searches follow up with an off-line action such as a visit to a store or a phone call at least 82% of the time. (TMP Directional Marketing)
• Of all in-store purchases made in key categories, 89% of them were made by people who had done research on the web prior to making their purchases. (BIGResearch)

Clearly, your business needs a web site that can be found in the search engines!

Big Picture Thinking

Since the search engines are constantly changing and upgrading the way they deliver search results to their users, it’s nearly impossible for most small businesses to stay completely caught up. But one thing that does stay constant is the importance of good visibility in the search engines.

Rather than obsessing about how your site performs for your top one or two keywords, look at how all of your keywords are performing, and how many pages of your site are being regularly crawled by the search engine spiders. Monitor your search engine stats at least monthly, and make sure your site shows up for a variety of keyword phrases and pages across multiple search engines to ensure good visibility.

Search engine visibility is determined by a number of factors, including:

1. How many of your site’s pages are referenced in the search engines (also known as saturation)
2. The number of inbound links pointing to your site from other quality sites on the web
3. Where else your site is referenced on the web (industry profiles, directories, news sources, etc.)

It can take a lot of work to get your site listed in the top 10 results, and of course that is the goal for most businesses no matter how big or small.  But before you can land a top spot, you must make sure that your pages can be read and indexed correctly when the search engine spiders come to visit. (And in the case of Google, you cannot achieve high rankings without a good inbound link building program in place as well.)  All of these factors directly contribute to your site’s search engine visibility, and a visible web site is more likely to be found by customers who are searching for products and services like yours.

The Best E-Marketing Tool You’re Not Using

Imagine a low-cost e-marketing tool that your customers look forward to receiving, reminds them of who you are and what you do, supports your web site and search engine efforts, and has results that can be measured almost instantly.  Sound good to you?

I’m talking about an E-Newsletter, which is simply the best e-marketing tool that you’re not using.

What’s so great about E-Newsletters? Well for starters, businesses that regularly send E-Newsletters typically have higher customer retention rates, better name recognition, and gain a competitive advantage over businesses that do not regularly send E-Newsletters. 

So why are small businesses seemingly hesitant about sending E-Newsletters to their customers and prospects?  It could be that they lack the staff (or confidence) to write articles, or maybe the time commitment required to make E-Newsletters a regular marketing activity seems too big.  Although these are valid concerns, they are small in comparison to the benefits gained by implementing this highly successful e-marketing tool.  To help your business take advantage of this invaluable web strategy, try these tips:

1. If you’re not comfortable writing your own articles, try using free, syndicated articles from sources such as www.goarticles.com or www.ezinearticles.com (two sites where Biz Talk articles are syndicated as well).  All you have to do is include the author’s resource info at the end of the article, and you can reprint it in your E-Newsletter at no cost.  You can search for articles by subject, title, or author to find articles that would be valuable and interesting to your own readers.
   
   
2. Include a section in your E-Newsletter that highlights your company’s value proposition or showcases something special about your business.  Change this section each month to include a special offer or announcement.
   
   
3. Add each E-Newsletter issue to your web site, and make sure you include links with good anchor text back to the other pages on your site.  Consider creating a newsletter archive or adding each issue to your “What’s New” page.
   
   
4. Avoid using your E-Newsletter as a sales pitch. Instead, focus on providing your readers with useful information that reinforces a positive image of your company and helps establish you as an expert in your industry.
   
   
5. Be consistent in sending out each issue.  Sending E-Newsletters sporadically can cause a disconnect with your customers and may instead only remind them that they haven’t received an E-Newsletter from you in a long time.  Put your E-Newsletter on your marketing schedule and then stick to it.
   

After your E-Newsletter has been sent out, be sure to review the results of your campaign in the stats tracking section of your listserv service.  Take note of which topics receive clicks, and which topics don’t seem to generate much interest from your readers.  After several months of watching your stats, you will probably see patterns emerge that can help you fine-tune your E-Newsletter content to better match your readers’ needs and interests.

So in building a strong web strategy for your small business, don’t forget to include E-Newsletters as a way to reach your customers and prospects on a regular basis with a welcome addition to their inboxes.

Two FREE Inbound Link Reports

When you purchase Five Sparrows Search Engine Friendly (SEF) Service for your small business web site during the month of July, we will include TWO free Inbound Link (IBL) Reports at no additional cost to you. The first IBL report is a report of all the inbound links that currently point to your web site, and the second IBL report is a report on all the inbound links currently pointing to your top competitor's site.

Why Do Inbound Links Matter?
Inbound links are one of the most important factors in determining where your site ranks in the search engines, especially Google. It's important to know how many inbound links your site currently has and where they are coming from, but it's also important to know the status of your top competitor's inbound links as well. Once you see where your competitor's inbound links are coming from, you can make sure that you also use those sources to help prevent the competition from ranking ahead of you in the search engines.

Biz Talk is a Free Publication of Five Sparrows, LLC

Five Sparrows is a Michigan web site development firm and search engine optimization provider offering a complete line of web site marketing strategies and services designed especially for small businesses.

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.

Our services include web site development and re-design, online shopping, search engine optimization, e-newsletters, email marketing, search engine reporting & monitoring, and more.

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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