October 2009 Biz Talk Articles

Feature Article:

Are You Scared of Social Marketing?

It seems that a lot of big companies today (with big marketing budgets) have managed to jump right into social marketing and successfully use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in their everyday marketing activities. However, it also seems that small businesses are lagging behind the social marketing trend, even though it is a very low cost marketing channel that almost any small business can afford (the sites are free to use; all it typically costs is time!).

So why are so many small businesses hesitant about social marketing, or seemingly scared of using social networking sites as part of their regular marketing activities?

It could be as simple as not having the time to take on a new marketing activity, or maybe a lack of familiarity with sites like Facebook and Twitter makes them seem hard to use. It’s also possible they’re concerned about negative comments showing up on social media web sites, or worried about employees using these tools appropriately for business. Whatever the reasons, social media marketing is here to stay, and small businesses are going to have to face their fears if they hope to leverage its value as a marketing tool and stay relevant with their customers today.

If you are one of the millions of small businesses afraid of jumping in to social marketing, here are five good reasons you should overcome your fears:

1. Your customers already expect it – More than 86% of consumers recently surveyed by marketing agency Prodo said that they believe companies should incorporate social marketing into their regular marketing activities. Add that to the fact that Facebook now has more than 300 million users, Twitter has experienced quadruple-digit growth this year alone, and more than 50% of online Americans use social networking sites on a daily basis, and you can clearly see where your customers are spending their time. Put simply: you need to be there, too.
   
   
2. Social marketing has become mainstream – Think back a few years to when many small businesses didn’t have web sites yet. They thought “sure, it would be nice to have a web site, but it’s not really necessary for my business.” Now, of course, most small businesses have at least a basic web presence, and web sites are considered a standard part of doing business. The same is happening today with social marketing, and it won’t be long until it is considered just as standard as having a web site.
   
   
3. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time – When implemented properly, social marketing can be a quick, easy marketing activity that can be seamlessly blended with your regular marketing activities. By integrating your social networking profiles with each other, with your web site, and with your existing marketing initiatives, you can minimize the time spent on social networking while maximizing the return on your investment. It’s no longer an option to just do nothing – if you need help developing a social networking strategy, find a professional to help you.
   
   
4. Your message can reach a vastly larger audience – By using social marketing, you increase your reach online to potentially thousands (or millions!) of people who may not otherwise have a chance to see your message or know your company. Rather than waiting for visitors to find your web site and discover your business, social marketing allows your message to travel further through the social channels you use, as well as through viral events where people share your information with their own networks of friends and associates.
   
   
5. Ignoring social marketing will not make it go away – Like it or not, social marketing is quickly becoming the way in which smart businesses connect and communicate with their customers and potential customers. It not only improves a small business’ web visibility, but can also improve search engine rankings (Google already includes results from social sites, blogs, videos, and other alternative media along with regular web site results), and can help create “buzz” about a small business as well.

So if you have been apprehensive about adding social networking to your marketing mix, there’s no better time to face your fears and get serious about using this technology to enhance your online presence, reach new prospects, and meet your customers’ expectations with social marketing. The longer you wait to jump in, the larger the gap grows between “outstanding” and “overlooked”.

Marketing Tips:

Do's and Don'ts for Using Keywords

One of the most important elements in optimizing your web site to rank well in the search engines is to select the right keywords and then use them appropriately on your web pages. Sounds pretty simple, but with all the bad advice floating around on the web today, we thought you might appreciate some simple, tried-and-true tips for correctly using keywords on your web site. Here are some common “do’s and don’ts” that can help you avoid mistakes and improve your search engine optimization results:

DO research your keywords to find out what users are actually searching on in the search engines right now. Be sure to review your selected keywords periodically, since the terms that searchers use will change over time.

DON’T just guess which keywords you think searchers would use to find your site; you know your business so well that you may overlook the phrases that “outsiders” use to describe what you do.

DO limit your keywords to between two and four per page. This will allow for more natural-sounding text, and will help keep the page focused on a single topic.

DON’T cram as many keywords as possible onto a web page. This will only dilute the effectiveness and value of each keyword, and can lead to page content that is confusing for visitors.

DO select keywords that match your business and services. Keeping a narrow focus will help drive the most qualified traffic to your web site.

DON’T use keywords that are only loosely related to your business. For instance, if your site is about auto engine repair, don’t include keywords like “auto body repair” or “oil changes”, even if these terms pull in a lot of traffic. You don’t want to waste your visitors’ time, or attract visitors who are not looking for engine repairs.

DO write keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and link text, since these elements are taken into consideration by the search engines and can help improve your rankings.

DON’T count on the keywords meta tag to help you – Google, as well as other major search engines, have repeatedly said that they do not use the keywords in this tag when ranking sites. You need to know which elements are useful to the search engines and focus your time and attention on those.

DO write content that reads well to your human visitors. Make this a priority, because the text must make sense to your target audience first and foremost. Write your text so the keywords seem natural and they don’t “stick out” as obvious keywords.

DON’T use keywords in your content at the expense of readability for your visitors. Sure, you need to appropriately mix your keywords into the content of your pages, but nobody wants to read awkward, nonsensical content that has been obviously stuffed with keywords to please the search engines. It can also make you look amateurish and can damage credibility with your target audience.

DO pay attention to how often you use your keywords on a page; you need to use them enough to show that the page's subject matches the keywords you are targeting for that page.

DON'T over-use the keywords in the text on your page; high keyword density levels may get your page flagged for keyword spamming by the search engines.

By following these “do’s and don’ts” when working with your keywords, you can avoid some common errors while improving your visitors’ experience, your optimization process, and ultimately your results in the search engine rankings!

Building Effective Web Sites:

3 Web Trends to Watch

One of the most enduring “truths” in building small business web sites is that things are always changing! As the web evolves and talented, creative people invent new technologies and uses for the internet, it seems that there’s always a new standard, a new technology, or a new trend to watch if you want to stay current with the times. Keeping up with the changes can be both exciting and daunting, but here are three current web trends that we think are headed toward becoming “standard-operating-procedure” for small business web sites:

1. CSS-based architecture (Cascading-Style-Sheets). It used to be that to create any sort of graphical layout on the web, designers had to use a tables-based layout as a work-around to the limitations of writing straight HTML code.
   
   Now, however, CSS layout is quickly becoming the preferred architecture for building professional web sites since it provides clean, modular code and is very easy to maintain going forward. Although tables-based and CSS-based architecture is basically invisible to end-users, it is definitely a trend that small businesses will need to be aware of.
   
   
2. Social Networking Integration. As social marketing becomes more and more mainstream, small businesses will need a way to manage not only their web sites, but also their social networking initiatives to ensure cohesive, consistent branding and easy communication with customers.
   
   The best strategy is one where social networking profiles have the same branding (look and feel) as the web site, and where social networking is fully integrated with the web site for sharing information, providing access to the company, and providing value to visitors and customers. An integrated web site acts as a “hub” for visitors, taking them directly to the information and services they want most and providing seamless access to all the facets of a company’s online marketing channels, including social networking sites.
   
   
3. Web Video. Many large businesses have been posting professionally produced corporate videos, training classes, or commercials on their web sites for years. But when YouTube burst on the scene, people quickly figured out that they could easily create their own videos and publish them to the web. For many businesses, the video trend morphed away from expensive, professionally produced videos to a preference for user-created videos, making it much easier for small businesses to use videos on their web sites as well.
   
   Whether they’re posting how-to videos, seminars, training sessions, or product demos, businesses of all sizes have embraced web video. Also, visitors continue to accept web videos as part of a normal web experience on a business site, and this trend will most likely continue due to 1) increased availability of high-speed broadband access, and 2) inexpensive video recorders and cell phones equipped with video capability.

These are just three current web trends that seem to be catching on and becoming fairly standard in web development today, but of course there are others as well. The benefits to your small business will depend on your unique goals and business needs, but watching the trends may also help you make good decisions or get new ideas for improving your own web site. There is almost always something new to add or incorporate into your web site, so watch the trends to make sure you are heading in the right direction!

October Promotion