Internet Marketing

3 Metrics to Check as soon as Traffic Drops Substantially

Probably the worst case scenario for any online business is to see the traffic volume to their site drop drastically.

While this is inevitable, no matter what type of business you are in, there are certain steps that you can take to find out what went wrong – and hopefully fix it.

So, here are 3 metrics that you should check as soon as traffic to your site drops substantially:

#1: Server Logs

The reason why you should check your server logs are so that you will know how often bots visit your site and how many of these bots visit the site as well. This, in turn, will tell you whether or not the site still has good content or if they have given up on the site.

If it’s the latter, then either you have been penalized by Google or the back links associated with your site are not valuable enough for Google to allocate as much bandwidth as before.

#2: Back links

Since you might no longer be competitive for certain keywords, thanks to back links that don’t make the cut, your traffic might have dropped. However, it could also mean that your ranking is worse because your competitor’s back links and SEO strategies are better. Another reason why your rankings might drop is if you’ve bought a large amount of back links instead of earning them.

#3: Keywords Receiving Traffic

When it comes to a drop in keywords receiving traffic, this could be due to an algorithm update or an indexation problem. Better still, it would be a good idea to check whether traffic has dropped across all pages or just for head terms or long tail keywords.

Internet Marketing

3 Ways to Market Yourself Using Articles

Writing an article worth reading is just as important as being able to publish it in the right places so that it gets the visibility that it deserves. And why is this so?

The more visibility it gets, the more you will be recognized as an expert in your field, leading to more people wanting to do business with you. So, here are 3 ways by which you can use articles to market yourself or your company:

#1: Article Sites

Sites like Hubpages, EzineArticles and so on and so forth can really bring together something that benefits everyone including the sites themselves. While the writers get visibility, the readers also profit from the information provided and the site generates ad revenue.

Not such a bad idea, now is it?

#2: Books

Come to think of it: articles are really chapters in a book. Whether it is a book that you’ve written entirely on your own or an entire list of articles on the same topic by different authors, this is probably another way by which you can use ‘books’ as a promotional tool.

#3: Guest Blogging

Another creative way by which you can be more visible is to rewrite an article into a blog on the same topic, thanks to the numerous blogs that are present on the internet, and that are looking for guest bloggers. Doing this will ensure that you do come into contact with a completely new audience (as opposed to the other two types) and could turn out to be profitable in ways that you could have never imagined.

Internet Marketing

3 Crucial Affiliate Program Mistakes

Building an affiliate program as a manager is not necessarily a cakewalk but the truth is that there are mistakes that an affiliate manager can avoid so as to increase their chances of building a successful program.

So here are 3 crucial affiliate program mistakes that every affiliate program manager should consciously avoid:

#1: Don’t compete with your affiliates

Competing with your affiliates in terms of search engine ranking and pay-per-click advertising programs is probably the worst mistake of them all. What’s the point in investing with your affiliates if you want to compete with them?

Come to think of it, if you do succeed, you won’t have an affiliate network to work with in the future.

So it’s self-defeating isn’t it? Instead, it would be a better idea to support them.

#2: Not providing affiliate with the required real-time statistics

Without statistics, it’s impossible for marketers to know whether the campaign they’re running is effective or not. Worse still, it’s pointless to send them basic statistics such as commission earned, the number of visitors or the number of sales.

As the saying goes, the devil is in the detail, and so this applies to sending detailed statistics to your affiliates as well.

#3: Not compensating affiliates for their hard work

No matter what you think, cold hard cash is the best incentive for any affiliate of yours. It’s best for the affiliate program manager to do away with the SEO and the advertising department, and raise the commission rates with the affiliates that they are associated with. Nothing motivates affiliates (or just anyone!) more than money.

Internet Marketing

3 Ways to assess whether an Internet Marketing Company is Right for your Business

Almost every company these days knows that one way to bring more business into the organization is possible by increasing their ‘internet presence’. So, the next obvious step is to either hire an SEO consultant or an internet marketing consultant for this.

But how does one know whether the company is able to ‘deliver the goods’?

Simply, really – it’s a good idea to check whether or not they’re doing a good job with their own company’s internet marketing strategies or not.

So here are some factors that will tell you whether or not they’ve been successful so far or not:

#1: Google PageRank

Most SEO companies will promise you that they will help improve your performance in terms of SERP. In this case, check their Google PageRank and if they have a score of 5 and above, they usually know what they’re talking about.

#2: Technical Competence

The field of SEO requires adequate technical experience and expertise. If you think that it’s just about creating great content, then you’re most likely mistaken. In fact, another key aspect to establishing a powerful presence on the Web is to ensure that your business platform is optimized correctly. Some of the features that count: ALT & TITLE tags on all images, social sharing, WWW Resolve, Keyword & Description METAtags, Analytics, Dublin Core creator and publisher, Canonical URLs

#3: High WooRank Score

If you visit the website, WooRank, and enter the website URL of the internet marketing company you intend to hire, and if you get a score that’s higher 65 and above, they’re probably putting their ‘money where their mouth’ is.

 

Internet Marketing

What You Need to Know About Creating Your Enterprise’s Social Media Playbook

One very big reason why every enterprise must have a social media playbook is because it sets the direction when it comes to planning the company’s social media activities. Companies that use social media extensively all have their social media playbooks, and it can range from a few to a large number of pages.

So, here are some things to keep in mind (and which have been based on large enterprises and their playbooks) when creating your Enterprise’s Social Media Playbook:

#1: Explain clearly why ‘social media’ matters

Much like Dell starts its own playbook explaining why you should care; it should be the attempt of every enterprise to explain this. Similarly, Eloqua explains that social media is at its best when genuine people are behind every tweet, tag and profile.

#2: Create a list of do’s and don’ts

Depending on the various platforms that are used, good playbooks will clearly list out what should be done or not. Dell’s playbook goes the extra mile and reviews big social media blunders of the past like Dave Carroll’s song about his broken guitar that caused problems for United Airlines.

#3: Offer a sample of a social media plan

Taking Dell’s social media playbook again, they have provided a simple social media plan with simple objectives, clear tactics and measurable goals. Experts say that it is a must for playbooks to have this in their books, and even better, offer the know-how for people to create their own social media planning as well.

#4: Go into detail about your metrics

In order to measure whether social media is effective or not, scorecards, worksheets and the like must be created so that one can evaluate their plans so far.

advertising, Internet Marketing

How to Manage Your Reputation Online

One of the most detrimental issues affecting any business is a poor online reputation. An unfavorable online reputation is even worse than bad word-of-mouth because its sources can linger online indefinitely, whereas bad word-of-mouth dies off, for the most part, after people move on to discussing other matters.

When someone wants to look into any aspect of your business, even one completely unrelated to the reasons behind your worrisome online reputation, you can be sure that once said person hits the net, he or she will find the damaging elements. So what’s an afflicted person or business to do?

Without a doubt, in 2012, having the benefit of something like Submit Express’ Reputation Management services can be vital to remaining relevant and in the game. That goes for both businesses and individuals. A bad online reputation does not have to be the end of your business or career. Submit Express even offers a Ripoff Report Removal Service. With the vast number of public online forums growing each year, businesses must become ever more active online while remaining vigilant about their reputation on multiple fronts. Try our Yelp Negative Review Repair services. We can help you craft and disseminate the image that you want to present to the public. Contact us for more information.

Internet Marketing

3 Companies and How They Are Getting Social Media Right

Making social media to work for your business is probably the most sought after information on the web. However, there are different ways that can be used to produce an effective social media strategy and looking at companies that have been successful can give you clues as to what works and what doesn’t.

So here are three companies that have changed the way they are perceived online and have profited their business to a large extent.

#1: Ford Motor Company

As soon as you visit Ford’s website, you can see comments from customers that are pulled from their blog, The Ford Story. This obviously makes a good impression on first-time visitors to their site as well. They not only ask for customers to share their stories about Ford but also provide ideas that will make their product better. Interestingly, they use Flickr to post some of their latest photos to attract new customers and visitors to their site.

#2: Zappos

This company sells clothing, shoes and other accessories and is known for building real relationships with their fans on Facebook as well as their customers. It’s evident that they wish to treat their customers as equals by their tagline which says “Let’s be in a Like-Like relationship”.

Another strategy worth mentioning is that they ask for a customer to “Like” their page and then also invite them to join their mailing list as well. They also have a “Fan of the Week” contest with pictures while also giving the customer the ability to review their products as well.

#3: Cranium

This board game makes use of social media by adding some of the content of the game on its Facebook page. Fun activities in order engage their fans by the use of videos, factoids which ask their audience to guess which song or fact. Quizzes are also a part of their social media strategy.

Business Services, Internet Marketing

Power Up Your Website Landing Page

When it comes to your business website, first impressions matter and that first impression from a potential new customer is going to occur the moment they click over to your website. All the hard work you’ve done to create a strong search engine ranking won’t matter a bit if your landing page optimization isn’t on par with other professional business websites. This is where bringing in experienced consultants for a complete package of SEO services can be a great benefit. After all, that “Landing Page Optimization for Dummies” book will only take you so far! As you begin a consolation with a professional in this area here are some key elements for your landing page that you should keep in mind:

• Keep It Simple: What exactly does that mean in the world of landing page optimization? You have to review your landing page with a fresh pair of eyes. Clearly, there is a lot of information you want to convey about your business and the products or services you’re offering but that doesn’t mean cramming your landing page with all of that information. The most effective approach is short paragraphs, lots of bullet points and easy to find click on tabs that can take a customer directly to where they need to go.
• Welcome Your Customers: This is a very easy item to incorporate but also one that is often overlooked. Landing page optimization is all about creating a positive online experience for your customer. For many, this will be their first time to your web site so you should find a concise way of welcoming them to your home page that tells them exactly where they are. Remember, they will be arriving through those amazing SEO services you’ve already established but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a direct path.
• Don’t Become Intrusive: A quick turnoff for a web viewer is to be instantly bombarded with surveys and pop-up ads the moment they land on your page. You’ve basically taken control of someone’s computer by forcing them to click to places they don’t want to click. That’s going to turn off a customer really fast. Think of it this way, what happens when you go to a new website and are asked to take an instant survey before you even experience the website? Do you stick around or click off? Given the fact that many firewalls will prevent these extraneous pop-ups anyway, you’re better off strengthening your landing page optimization through more effective graphic and design elements.
• Calls to Action: Within the building of your landing page, should be a range of specific calls to action that can direct a customer to other pages within your web site. In other words, place links at the top, bottom and middle of your landing page so that wherever a customer is reading, they’ll just be a click away from going deeper into your business.
  Landing page optimization isn’t complicated. You just need to work with the right SEO services provider to insure you’re getting the most bang for your buck!

Find out more about SEO Blogs.

Internet Marketing

Emerging Trends in Web Design in 2012

So what web designs are going to be popular in 2012?

Your guess is as good as mine.

As the year draws to a close, several designs will continue to remain popular while there will be new trends like last year. So here are some predictions for web designs that will hold our attention in the New Year:

#1: Responsive Web Designs

Experts believe that these designs with their fluid lay, which became popular in 2011, will move on up in terms of popularity in the coming year as well.

#2: Vector Art

Vector mascots are becoming more and more common these days with Mozilla Firefox and MailChimp using these on their websites. Most people believe that this trend will become very popular in the following year, with their banner and ribbon style graphics also showing an increasing trend in popularity.

#3: Circles

Who would have thought that a simple shape such as the circle would gain in popularity this year? Yet circles have been used increasingly for photography portfolios where it illustrates links and icons as well. Web designers are of the opinion that it will be used with jQuery and CSS3 to create animation that is worthy of appreciation.

#4: Custom Fonts

This trend has emerged in popularity especially with blog designers, especially in regards to WordPress. Using JavaScript, web designers have been creating custom fonts in CSS Styles while using the TypeKit online library to source different fonts as well.

#5: Minimalist Design

Keeping it simple has been a thumb of rule that web designers always focus on. However, it’s easier said than done because the designer has to convey the message using the least elements as possible.

Internet Marketing

3 Strategies to be Successful at Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the best ways by which you can sell your products or services. It’s true. Having an effective email marketing strategy matters, and in knowing what your customers want, you can certainly turn out a neat profit in the days to come.

So here are 3 successful email marketing strategies that give you an edge over your competitors:

#1: Personalize your message

Almost every business knows that every customer has specific needs. Understanding this and using this principle in email marketing is also important, as using a person’s name in an email can make a big difference!

Also, sending him information based on his wants keeping his location in mind is what will increase your sales as well.

#2: Track how your emails are being read

If you know how your emails are being read – whether they are opened, clicked or discarded, you’ll be able to understand how your emails are being read and used. This is perhaps one of the most crucial tasks of an email marketing campaign, and is often critical to its success.

#3: Divide your subscriber list into smaller groups

Breaking your subscriber list into smaller groups with common interests ensures that you won’t have to send emails to one and all – and in some cases, have no use for them. When you break them up into definite lists, this will ensure that you only send relevant messages to each of these groups. This will result in a greater response to your emails, and could translate into sales as well.