Articles in The 'online marketing' Tag

Don’t Limit Your Online Marketing Initiatives

by Marni Weinberg

Clients will often indicate that their online marketing efforts are in good shape because they have a Search Engine Optimization Strategy in place. Or some will say they‘re all set since they are involved in a Pay per Click program with Google AdWords. Some may actually tell me they don’t need to do either and that all of their business comes from word of mouth.

The best case scenario is to truly cover all of your bases and the only way to do that is by engaging in all components of online marketing. This can be a daunting task, given the fact that there are so many options available today. I’d suggest starting out with baby steps and then broadening your efforts slowly, but surely. Below are just a few of the most commonly utilized forms of online marketing initiatives to take into consideration:

Search Engine Optimization (frequently referred to as SEO)
According to Wikipedia’s definition, Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.  Clients love achieving high organic rankings in the search engines. This is especially true when it comes to Google, which is no surprise considering it holds about 65% of the market share. Remember: organic rankings equate to FREE traffic.

Pay per Click (also known as PPC)
In this platform the advertiser is paying or bidding on keywords based on their specific business or industry, in an effort to have their ad displayed in the sponsored section of the search engine. This section is typically on the very top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) as well as on the right hand side, listed vertically.

Onsite Blog + Blog Postings 
In my opinion, having an onsite blog is no longer an option, but rather a necessity. The main reason it ought to be onsite versus offsite is for the SEO benefits your website will gain. Blogs should have fresh and regular content on them, which the search engines love when crawling. You will want to ensure that your blog is updated on a regular basis (minimum of once a week).

Mobile Website
Nearly everyone has a Smartphone or iPad these days and more often that not, most are surfing the web via their device. You ought to make sure that you have a simplistic, mobile friendly version of your website that allows for easy navigation.
Social Media Marketing + Strategy
This form of marketing has become increasingly important the last few years and continues to maintain its necessary place within a marketer’s ad budget. Social Media is an excellent medium to reach and engage your consumers and should be utilized to its fullest potential. Just having a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn page is not enough, however. You must have a solid strategy in place before diving in.

Tips for Making the Most Out of Your Landing Pages

by Marni Weinberg

When driving visitors to a specific landing page of your website, it is important to ensure that the landing page is clean and professional looking, with clear and concise calls to action. You will want to make the most out of the landing page, which is especially true when there is a Pay per Click initiative in place. In other words, why spend advertising dollars to send traffic to a page that does not effectively encourage your visitors to complete some sort of actionable step?

So, what types of steps or action items should your landing page encompass? Below are a few that – in my opinion — every landing page ought to have.

• Calls to Action. I would recommend a minimum of two. A few examples include: Download Our Latest Whitepaper, Sign up For Our Monthly Newsletter. View our Portfolio, Buy Now, etc. These are all excellent forms of lead generation for your company and can be then used as a sales tool. Be sure to include any promotions or discounts you may be offering.
• Professional Looking Page. Often times, this is the first impression your visitors will have of your company. Make it count. Display the components of your website that make your company stand out above the rest. I.e. Awards, Certifications, etc.
• Relevancy to what the visitor searched on. For example, if you are a beauty supply site and the searcher typed in Volumizing Shampoo, he/she should be taken directly to the page within your website that supports this search query.
• Simplicity. The page should be concise, with a clear direction as to what you want your visitors to do.

Your landing pages are a very important part of your online marketing mix. Make the most out of them!

MoreVisibility Twitterchat (#MVCHAT)

by Danielle Leitch

Search Engine Marketing & Other Paid Advertising Options
Thursday May 5, 2011

MoreVisibility’s first Twitterchat took place today. #MVCHAT will be a weekly
30 minute discussion starting at 3:30 pm (est) covering a variety of online
marketing topics. Clients, advertisers, and online marketing enthusiasts are
invited to participate in this rapid-fire conversation by following and
including #MVCHAT in tweets. Read more about #MVCHAT in the news here.

May 5th’s chat, lead by MoreVisibility’s Executive Vice President, Danielle
Leitch, highlighted the topic of how to maximize SEM efforts. Join us next
Thursday at 3:30 pm (est) for our next #MVCHAT on Search Engine Optimization.