I was having a chat with Brian Meredith of The Marketing Bureau (they are always fun and insightful). We were talking about the low levels of response people have on their websites and it inspired me to these thoughts.

There are plenty of reasons to have a website and there are even more people who are disappointed with the results from their site. The vast majority of people I talk to say they don’t get the results from their site that they hoped for but this is probably because they are looking at the wrong measure.

“I don’t get many enquiries” or I don’t get sales from my site”.  These are all too common but for service providers especially, they are unlikely to get enquiries directly.

Image, if you are considering changing accountant, finding a new business coach or starting a marketing campaign, would you search Google, find a few options and then send them an email?  Probably not because they will bombard you with emails and you are even less likely get on the phone.  If you do call them, then they are going to pitch you and try to sell you their services which is the last thing you want.

More probable is that you would find the top websites in Google, look through the sites to see if there is anything that matches what you want and take some notes.

Life and work get in the way so then you might come back to the project a few days or even weeks later and you create a short-list.

Then for reassurance, you would do a bit more research about those on the list.

And still, you don’t want to call because you don’t want to be sold to or have to arrange a meeting – you are just not ready yet.  It’s human nature – we all hate being sold to.

But you can go back to the website and do some more checks and this is the key.  The website is a non-threatening reference point.  You are free to do as much research as you like without the threat of a sales pitch or any other interaction that would make you feel uncomfortable or have to say the “N-word” “No”. Few of us like to say “No” so we don’t put ourselves in the position of having to say it.

And that is the point that so many service businesses miss. Your website is not there to sell; it is there to provide comfort and reassurance before people have to make anything like a “dangerous” move actually talking to you.

So, give people what they want – information, friendliness and warmth. Only then you can start to measure the right metric and the effectiveness of your site.

Technorati Tags: non-threatening reference point

My partner, Susie and I had to move – our landlord had decided to sell.   We could have waited until after Christmas to begin the search for our new home but decided to explore the options.  Our list of needs and wants meant we had a limited choice of places and so when one came available we made a decision and got on with it.

It is very different from anything either of us has lived in, quite modern, in a cul-de-sac and very suburban, so we wondered if we were doing the right thing. But we decided that it wasn’t the end of the world even if we didn’t like the place. We could always do something else if it didn’t work out.

We both decided to be rigorous with what we kept or rather, what we discarded.  We had both been carrying some “stuff” for a few years that no longer served us.  For me it was old papers, presentations I’d given, Internet marketing seminars around the world I attended and other stuff which was “leading edge” when I first came across them ten years ago. (I’ve always been into exploring new ideas).

For Susie it was clothes and her “foo-foo” stuff as she calls it.   She loves to fossick in recycle stores for clothes, furniture and nick-nacks.  I have to say, she is very good at it and has furnished most our house that way and receives loads of compliments on her style. So for her to part with some of these possessions was a hard decision.  My daughter, Billie, forced Susie into even more discard choices with her clothes  – “Have you worn that in the last six months?” “No.” Out it goes.

There are a few cool things about giving these clothes and ornaments back to the recycle shops.
•    We de-clutter and create more space in our lives
•    Other people get the chance to rummage and find bargains
•    The charity shops get some more revenue.

The sorting and packing was plenty of work –but we broke it down into manageable amounts each evening so we could see progress but also move forward at a good pace.

I then approached furniture removals companies that were on lower pages of Google and offered them a contra deal – I’d optimise their site if they did my move.  And that was an interesting exercise as most thought it was a scam or too good to be true. One guy though, Paul, who is spending significant amounts on Adwords each month immediately saw the benefit to him and went for it, especially when I showed him how the new Google map scrolls down over his adverts! So we got to move for free and he saves $$$.  Plus, when he arrived with his team, he had a hot SEO lead for me. 

Once we got to the new house, Susie had a brain wave about changing the master bedroom for the office.  This meant the office was on the ground floor and close to the rest of the living space so I can remain “connected” with the rest of the family instead of being stuck upstairs.. This one small change has made the house even better suited to us and our life.

Then more, swift, focused hard work with unpacking and placing belongings in their new places.  And already the house looks like we’ve been here for ages.

Some added bonuses are a super friendly dog the children play with (in fact he just walked past my door as I typed this), cats my daughter loves and my son Joe has rediscovered riding his bike.

The result?

Within 3 weeks from the initial idea, we were settled in a new place which is ideal for us at this stage of our life
We are carrying much less baggage and
My children have new buddies to play with

Lessons to apply in your business

• If you have an idea or desire to do something but are unsure of the outcome, start on it immediately.
• Precisely define what you want.
• Research quickly.
• Don’t hold onto preconceived ideas, they are probably wrong.
• Have a plan and make it manageable.
• Be creative like using your services in exchange for what you want.
• Be bold in your decision making.
• Act fast knowing you can change if it’s not what you want.
• Small changes can produce huge benefits.
• Be flexible and willing to change quickly.
• You never know what other benefits you will get by making decisions and taking action.

So what marketing plan have you been putting off in your business?
•    A promotion to your customers?
•    Optimising your website so people can find it easier in Google?
•    An on-line promotion for Christmas perhaps?

Whatever it is, decide to do it or get outside help to make it happen.  And with the holiday spending season fast approaching, you could receive a nice windfall.

Technorati Tags: local marketing, Search engine optimisation, Search engine optimization, Small business marketing

I was talking to a prospective client today, following-up a proposal I sent for a small website she needs (and wants).

I’ve also sent her an update on the new Google search results plus a piece on how to avoid the biggest mistake people make about their website (an over emphasis on the design of the site rather than the marketing of it).  So she’s well informed about the current important aspects to marketing on-line.

But when we spoke she said “Who knows my business better than me?” and she had decided to do more planning for a bigger site.  My head swooned at this.

Firstly, making the project bigger is a sure-fire way to bring the project to a screeching halt.

But the biggest problem is that she “knows” her business better than anyone else.  While that’s true to a large extent in terms of the operations, most business owners rarely know their business from a customer’s perspective.  And almost certainly is the worst person to plan and implement their marketing.

How I Learnt The Secret To Marketing Yourself Online.

Last December, I was struggling to create my new website.  I couldn’t get a grip on where to start and thought, “How can I consult to people if I can’t do my own site?”I was in inner turmoil about it.

Then I was being interviewed about SEO by a successful marketing consultant in San Francisco.  She mentioned that she always outsources her marketing because she’s too close to it. Phew! It wasn’t just me.

A week later I was chatting with a marketing guy in England and he said the same thing – he outsources his marketing. Hmm – interesting.  I see a pattern developing

Then soon after I was talking with New Zealand’s top marketing consultant and he said that he always has someone else check his marketing.  Hallelujah!  The answer to marketing myself is not to try it.

And that’s it.  You are very unlikely to be successful with your marketing, whether it’s an ad, a sales letter, a web page or your search engine optimisation because you know what you want to say but you rarely know what a customer wants to hear.

An Example – The Same Market – Two Different Languages – No Business

A client in a small volume, high ticket price industry was #2 in Google and his competitor was #1 but neither got any traffic to their sites. I did some keyword research and found that between them they had many hundreds of web pages but hardly any searches for their keywords.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were a good number of searches but hardly any pages.

The business owners were using the wrong language because they know the topic inside out but they didn’t know how a customer expresses the problems.

So, for an independent view on your online marketing and SEO, email here for a complementary 30 minute consultation with an Auckland Internet marketing service.

Technorati Tags: Auckland, Internet marketing, local marketing, Small business marketing

Internet marketing for Small businesses – The most important thing you need to get higher ranking in Google.

I recently did the first round of link-building for a client. I used a variety of different marketing outlets – articles, RSS feeds, directories and a few others too.  I sent them the reports showing where the material had been submitted. And then got an email saying they had checked a good proportion of the sites but there was nothing there.  Nor had they seen anything on their Google Alerts either.  So, was the exercise worthwhile was their question?

This is a very common situation when people expect to see “a result” and want something for their money.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way with Google.  Probably the most important thing you can have when doing SEO or search engine optimisation on your site isn’t a deep knowledge of Google, link building, super secret places to get high value links or any other technical skill.

Not, it’s patience. Here’s why.

Human not robot approval
Some SEOs use fully automated tools to generate links.  These are fast but rubbish.  Make sure The submission sites I use are human moderated. That means a couple of things:
•    The submissions may not be accepted.
•    Those that are accepted will take a while to be put on the sites.
The frustration doesn’t stop there though.
•    It can take months for the search engines (SEs) to index the links.
•    Not all links are indexed and reported by the search engines.
I know this from my own experience.
I have links to my site from my own blogs so I know they have been created. Some were put up 6 months ago and they are still not showing in Google or Yahoo link checker.  But I can see them when I go to the actual blogs and other websites. I can click them and they work. SO just relying on link reports isn’t giving the full picture.

That is one reason why SEO is a numbers game – to some extent.

But it can get worse still.

Up and down like a violinist’s elbow
There’s a phenomenon called The Google Dance.  You do some SEO and see your site rise – yippee! But then your site falls again.  That’s even more frustrating.

What’s that all about huh?

It’s Google reassessing the new content on your site and the additional links coming in.  It’s seeing where it thinks your site deserves to be based on the activity so far.

They key is to keep submitting over time and there will be a cumulative effect but the result is nothing that anyone can control. The only thing you can control is the diligence to keep adding
more links – the right type and the right places.

There’s more to life than search engines
Another aspect is that link building isn’t just for SEs. It’s for real people. So having your content in more places where there’s more chance of more people finding it is the key factor.

It’s also important to realise that Google is generally the entry point to the Web for most people. Once past Google they go all over the place looking for what they are after.  Just think how you surf around from page to page and site to site.

So if someone goes to look for an article on a topic for their newsletter they may go to a number of article sites.  Once in a site they will probably look at a number of different articles.

But then they may then go to a different article site and look at yet more articles.

Have faith brother
So, SEO is  often a leap of faith in the beginning.  There are few obvious results to start with which is why the on-page is important to do to give a short-term boost. And then to keep plugging away at making regular submissions using
•    different anchor text,
•    different submission services
•    different media
•    different target pages in your site
•    different target keywords
By making a mixture it looks more natural to Google rather than a concerted effort to beat their system.

So for better Google results:

• Be sensible.
• Be consistent.
• Above all be patient

If you develop a deeper relationship with them, you can achieve three things:

1.       generate repeat business for the initial products,

2.       you could sell other products or

3.       you could sell to them more often

But for some reason, small business owners prefer to go and get new customers. I don’t know why because it’s much harder work to convert a cold prospect.  You have to spend money to get them in. and you are unproven so your competition is much higher.

Anyway, given that that is the preference and entrepreneurs want more sales leads, here are three reasons to help you along that path.

1 Not marketing enough. Period.

It’s amazing how many businesses don’t do any marketing of any substance.  The old adage, “Build it and they’ll come” or “People know me so why should I bother?” – they may have worked in a few cases before but these days, there are is so much competition that you simply cannot afford not to do marketing.

BTW – competition isn’t just another supplier of your service or products. It’s the total competition for your dollars.  So for a holiday company, your competition isn’t just another travel agent but the TV store, the clothes shop and the car salesman.  So your messages have to be compelling against ALL of those.

2 Not marketing in the right places.

Assuming you are one of the marketing-enlightened business owners (if you are still reading, then you must agree with what I’ve written so far), then the next issue is where do you put your compelling messages?

The Yellow Page was a good and reliable but expensive option for many years but now?  Hmmm – the yellow books are used to hold up monitors or stop desks wobbling.

Local papers?  They are getting thinner as people stop advertising because the response rates have dropped off.

No, you need to go where the fish are feeding.  Where people are actually looking for products right there and then.

With newspapers and the like, most people who may see your advert are simply not in the market for your product at that time so your money is wasted.  Unless you spend money each and every week hoping someone will be looking to buy at some stage.

A much better option is to be visible when people are actually searching for information about your product. You become visible when they are in the buying mood. Do you think they are more likely to contact you at that point than at any random moment in time?

3 Not marketing with enough tools.

For those business that do market themselves, most depend on or two tools – Yellow Pages and a flyer perhaps.

But would you build your house on just two pillars?  Probably not – it wouldn’t be very stable.  And so it is with your marketing – it needs to be multiple-legged.

What’s the answer to more sales leads?

So you are looking for a way to do marketing, that’s going to be seen when people are in the buying mode and that has multiple ways of being used.  It sounds a tall order but the solution is…..Internet marketing in its many guises.

• You can use search engine optimisation (SEO) so that you are found in Google when people begin their search process.
• You can use articles and reviews so people can assess your product or service.
• You can claim your spot in Google Places or Maps as it used to be.
• You can use online video marketing to demonstrate your products.
• You can have a mobile phone website.
• You can have a podcast where you talk about your products so people can listen on their mp3.

And many more tools.

Your first step is to find a small business Internet marketing service that understands your situation – not just the technology but business too.  The basics of business don’t change – it’s the how that has changed.

Technorati Tags: Internet marketing, mobile marketing, online video, SEO, seo consultant, Small business marketing

It comes down to a misunderstanding of the needs of marketing on the Internet.

People are fed the idea that by simply putting up a website, all of their marketing problems are over.  They can sit back and enjoy a steady stream of new prospects and customers but actually, successful marketing online demands an even greater effort and time than traditional marketing.

The problems start with the web design sales people who rarely explain, if hey themselves even know, what is truly involved in getting a website higher on Google.

Their function is to sell a website whereas it should be to help the client market their business better.

That might involve a website for sure but for most small businesses a big-project (read big expense) website is totally unnecessary.

The majority of the on-line marketing budget should go to ……errm marketing online.

An online marketing strategy will include market and keyword research as the first stage.

This will identify what your prospects are actually looking for.

How many times a month hey are looking for it.

Then the strength and extent of your competition.

Unless you know those three key aspects, your website is doomed to fail.

The second problem is that business owners think that once the sit is live, then the work is done.

Unfortunately, Google likes to see regular new additions to your site.  They take the view that market s are always changing so those local business owners who take the time and invest in educating their prospects, deserve to be rewarded with better rankings and getting higher in Google.

The third critical aspect is building links from other sites back to your website.  This is vital and it’s important to get the right type of link too.  For more information on links, you might find this useful – an item all about link building.

http://www.squidoo.com/seo-consultant-in-auckland-pt-4-back-links-the-most-important-part

What has all of this got to do with a car?

When you buy a car, you don’t simply drive it off the car-yard and expect that it’s going to stay that shiny, fresh and full of gas for the rest of its life.

• You clean it regularly which is like adding new content to keep you website fresh.
• You give it fuel which is adding back-links to your site because a good linking strategy provides a fuel injection of visitors.
• You service your car which is like looking at the analytics or visitor data so you can improve the performance of your site.

The fuel is the most expensive part of running your car and it’s also the one thing that you cannot provide yourself.  You have to rely on the petrol companies to source the oil, process it and then send it to your local gas station.  And so it is with link building.

You could do it yourself but it’s difficult, hard, time-consuming and requires specialist knowledge to do well.  You are best advised to engage an SEO consultant for this essential aspect of your website’s well being. It’s money well spent.

Technorati Tags: 5S SEO, Search engine optimization, seo consultant

That’s a time-tested and proven tactic but you need to use it with care and thought.

He used the example of “How to be better at time management aimed at busy execs.”

There;s definitely a need for that but almost by default, your target market isn’t going to bother looking at your lovingly crafted report simply because they are too busy.

And in all probability they aren’t going to be looking for time management stuff either – they are running around like headless chickens.

So you need to make your training available in places they may be scratching around being super-busy, getting nothing done – like industry forums or blogs.

You also need to make it resonate with them so instead of Time management for busy execs” call it “How to get your life back for execs who don’t see their family.”  That kinda thing.

What’s all that got to do with SEO?

Loads ‘cos SEO isn’t just getting higher in Google.  The real aim of SEO is to get more visitors to your site and they can come from a huge range of places, not just Google. And you need to have your “lead magnets” in lots of less obvious places too.

Go here for more search engine optimisation tips and  SEO marketing

Technorati Tags: Internet marketing, Search engine optimization, SEO

I thought the response would be helpful to other people:

“I would add too that it can be unwise to ignore low PR links for a number of reasons.

1 SEO’s main objective is to get your site in front of relevant eyes. It’s not just being higher in Google. Google is the usual entry point for folks to the ‘Net. Once past The Big G, they go all over the place which is why you need to be in loads of places, not just a single high PR place.

2 The second point is that relying on a few high PR links is a risky business. What happens if the go away? Your platform just got a bit thin. So a broad range of links makes your business more secure.

3 A broad range also looks more natural to Google rather than purely focusing on high PR sites.

4 Another key factor is where those links go to, besides how they link to you. Keywords as anchor text are vital but again, it’s a range of keywords that’s important, and, the target page within the site. Aim for a broad spread of links into your site with a range of keywords. Again it’s more natural because not everyone uses the same search phrase. For example, there are at least seven ways to use panel beater for car body repairs. Same meaning, just different words for different people. And your site needs to be using all of those search phrases.

5 Finally, it’s not only about your site. For long-term strength and business building, you want to be able to control links as well as create them. Most people look at link-building as finding places to link to. That is important as I’ve covered above but there are other strategies too that can be even stronger and longer lived, give you more flexibility and enable you to be very tightly focused in your promotions. This is a marketing approach rather than purely link-building in a technical SEO sense. But as Google makes life easier for their customers (searchers), they inevitably become more market-focused and so should you. Simply if it’s good for the customer it’s good for Google.”

The original question is here if you want to read some other interesting answers:

http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=21005&type=member&item=30572825&qid=526f04ff-99b1-478d-a5f1-2e6c9af330e9&goback=.gmp_21005

Technorati Tags: 5S SEO, Search engine optimization, SEO

For some, the ‘Net is a direct business threat with other suppliers coming into your market but for most, especially local service providers and retailers, the Net is, or should have been, a significant marketing channel for them. But it probably wasn’t. And that was their downfall.

Sure, many will say the economy’s tough, people aren’t buying, the banks wouldn’t give them credit etc. But if your marketing is right, then those issue all go away. You have prospects, not just any, but the right prospects coming to you, ready and willing to buy your stuff.

Why?

Because they have been able to find them where 75% of people being their search for suppliers …in Google.

More and more, people are flocking to the Internet to find suppliers, information about products and services, prices, competitors. Today’s consumer is well prepared.

But that is in your favour because when they do go to see a provider, they are just about sold. They’ve done their research and compared deals so they just need the actual Thing or Service.

But that assumes they can find the information about YOUR Thing or Service. If they can’t, you’re not even in the picture.

So making it easy for prospects to find out about your products and also about you as a potential supplier, is vital.

So SEO or search engine optimisation is the first strategy you have to decide to undertake. Or more precisely, to have undertaken because SEO is not easy. Despite what many amateurs would have you believe.

SEO is a set of skills that requires in the first place, lots of complex analysis which rules out your web designer.

It needs an understanding of how Google works which changes more than once a day so that rules out part-time SEOs like business owners.

It needs creative writing so that rules out most people.

It requires building incoming links regularly so you need to know where to get links which rules out 99.9% of the population.

It requires discipline to build links consistently which rules out just as many.

So if your business is to survive, it has to be in the top ten in Google at the very least.

Over 60% of significant local purchases for products and services, start with a Google search.

As you read this, you may feel concerned about the level of sales in your business?

You may be curious to know how people find local services these days?

Perhaps you are thinking what you do when you want to find new suppliers?

As you read more, you may be wondering if your marketing is keeping up with the times?

You begin to feel like you ought to find out more about how to use the Internet to meet your customers’ needs.

When people look in Google for a local service provider like yours, it’s because they have a real need and they want it sorted.  And the exciting thing is, they are willing to spend money to do it.

The big question is….

Where will people spend the money?

The answer is with a company on Page 1 of Google, and in all probability, the one nearest the top.  (No.1 in Google gets 41.2% of clicks).

Is that you or is it a competitor who will be getting their money?

There is no doubt in the mind of smart business owners and managers, that being at or near the top of Google is the only place to be for customers to find them.

If you’re not on Page 1 of Google, you are losing business.

I was talking to a client about how we had got their site onto Page 1 of  Google. He was delighted because before we worked together, he was way down on Page 5 and no-one searches that far in Google. In fact, 94% of people only use Page 1.

He was saying how much better he felt about his business and how many new leads he was getting now that his site was

at the top of Google.  He said, “I think back to just a few months ago before you did the site optimization work and how poorly it was working.  I was way down on Page 5.  Not only am I number 1 but I have 39 different Page 1 results.  Now I see what a difference it makes having Search Engine Optimization done to a site.“

Now, maybe you are wondering how you can have the same feeling of comfort and confidence about the future of our business.  Do you want to see your website at the top of Google?

It’s absolutely possible.

That client isn’t the only one.   There are many, in different industries and services like yours including:

retail                   B2B                         lawyers                    car servicing
engineering        training                     public speakers         air conditioning
therapists            jewelery                   garden services        furniture
coaching            real estate                auto-panel beaters    engineering
plastics manufacturing                        time management

To see how you can achieve the same success for your business, enter your name and email here for a newsletter with regular tips and ideas about staying ahead of your competitors by using the Internet better.

Claim your no-cost, no obligation 27-point website assessment by clicking the link below. Search Engine Assessment Test

Andrew Haddleton
GIG Marketing
andrew@gigmarketing.biz