In a move that should please those who love ironic situations and watching others “eat crow”, the New York Times is successfully using online ad sales to gain a better financial footing.

For years the newspapers have been trying to figure out how to deal with the change in our appetite for media consumption.  As more and more people get their news in some digital fashion, newspaper circulations have declined along with ad revenues.  This trend has led many of these organizations to the brink of failure as the new mediums pushed their way through.

In a nutshell, these organizations have tried to fight the trend toward digitization rather than embracing it and they have paid a heavy price.

Finally, A Shift to Digital

It’s no secret the New York Times has been struggling financially over the last few years.  However they finally have a bit of good news.  In their 2^nd quarter results which were announced this week, showed a 21% jump in digital ad sales to accompany their 6% decline in print ad sales.  Overall they showed a net gain of 1% and this was the company’s first revenue gain since 2007.

What’s to Come in the Future?

The news this week marks a rare success story for traditional newspapers trying to survive in today’s web-oriented world.   And as much as those of us in the web world would like to see our competition fall away – the world is undoubtedly a better place with organizations like the Times contributing at full capacity.

However, with that said, the struggle that the newspapers have gone through is a telling one.  The lesson to be learned here is that the digital age is NOT going away.  And instead of fighting the trends, look for ways to embrace them and make internet marketing a part of your business.

5 Web Marketing Basics You Can Use

Web marketing is one of those things that are easy to over complicate.  There are lots of technology type words and acronyms out there, probably designed by marketing types, that tend to keep the average person in the dark about what they can do to help marketing their websites.

Not to worry, as the basics of web marketing can easily be understood even non “techy-type” website owner.

Marketing Strategies You Can Use:

1.  Well thought out conversion elements – this seems like an obvious one but it’s the most often missed.  By “conversion elements” we mean giving the user a chance to take action.  In layman’s terms what this means is that your phone number, email address, contact information, shopping cart, newsletter signup etc are EASY TO FIND for the user.

If the user can easily find what you want them to do, that makes it easier for them to “convert” from shoppers to buyers!

2.  Special offers or incentives – As much as we don’t want to admit it, just getting a person to visit your website may not be good enough.  The web is a very competitive place and the “Back” button is easy to find.  Combat this by crafting a special offer or incentive that users can only find on your website.

3.  User oriented content plan – Ask yourself what types of questions and information  your customers are seeking, and plan to create content to provide that information.  Remember people are searching for information online, not sales brochures.

4.  Clearly defined goals – Define what goals you want to achieve from you site.  Do you want xx number of calls, emails or sales?  Taking this step will help you evaluate the success of your web marketing program.

5.  Website analytics program – the final step is to ensure you are tracking and measuring your results with a website analytics programs.  The best one from Google is free so no excuses allowed here!

Do you really need web marketing?

If you think your website stands out from the crowd, just remember that there are billions of websites out there on the web – most of them accessible with a single click.  Always keep in mind how competitive things are and use that to spur creative thinking when it comes to your web marketing plan.

How “good” is a website?

When I meet with clients for the first time, one of the things they usually want to know is “what do you think of my website?“  I’ve learned to be careful with these answers because site owners can be a bit like parents in that they think their website is beautiful even though others might not.

But more importantly, I’ve also learned that there is more to a good website than just pretty design.  An effective site is one that does the job – and for business people that means converting visitors into buyers.

So in an effort to help people evaluate their own websites I suggest the following:

3 Signs You May Have A Crummy Website:

1. Your contact information is hard to find.

This seems to be problem #1 with web designers.  They create a beautiful site that doesn’t offer an easy way to contact you.  Remember that yours is one of billions of websites and that people will be spending mere seconds on each page – so make sure your phone number or email address are easy to find in the top right hand corner.

Oh and make sure it’s in text and not a graphics file so that mobile users can click on it when they need to.

2.  You cannot update your website yourself.

If you cannot update your site yourself that means the site is probably outdated or stale.  Google is out looking for fresh, relevant information and if you are unable to update your website than there is not much chance your information is terribly fresh.

Plus, with the amount of free content management systems like Word Press available to the public, there really is no excuse for this unless you have a crummy website.

3. You can’t find yourself in searches.

I see this one a lot.  Website owners that can’t Google their own site and find it with relative ease.  There are a whole host of reasons this could be the case – and all of them point to a crummy website (or at least a crummy web designer).

Changes you can make

If you didn’t pass the crummy website test don’t despair.  There are changes you can make without having to scrap the whole site and start over again.

If you would like to learn more about website fixups that will help in any of these areas please contact us today.

Turn Browsers Into Customers

One of the things we often do with clients is look at their websites to see what can be done in order to improve the number of people who take the action you want them to. We call these actions “conversions” which basically means people didn’t just surf your site – they actually did what you asked them to do.  This might be make a phone call, buy an item, email you, sign up for a newsletter, send something to a friend.

Whatever the conversion goals you define for set for your website, there are a few things you can do that will help no matter what the goal.

4 Tips for Improving Website Conversion:

Tip 1: Phone number & email in an easy to find place to find

As simple as this sounds it’s often overlooked.  How many times have you visited a website and had to look hard to find out how to contact them?  Remember there are countless millions of websites out there and the attention span of a web surfer is short – so make sure your phone number and contact info are easy to find.

Our suggestion – put the phone number and email address in the top right of your website.  Make sure to put the phone number in text and not an image file so mobile users can click on it.

Tip 2: Offer A Unique Selling Proposition

Chances are your website is not the only place to find information on the products or services you sell.  And with so many choices online it has never been more important to establish a “Unique Selling Proposition” that differentiates you from everyone else.

Our suggestion – spend time thinking about one single, credible sentence that describes why someone should choose you over your competition.  And make sure web visitors can see that easily on your site.

Tip 3:  Create Special Offers

Face it – who doesn’t love a special deal?  For online users it’s really easy to hit the “Back” button and leave your site.  So while you have them there, offer them something special.  A special price, special offer, special private information, a whitepaper – whatever you can think of.

Our suggestion – identify a compelling “special offer” and make sure web visitors can find it.

Tip 4: Update old information

I recently came upon a client whose website proudly proclaimed he had been in business from 1956-2006.  I told the store owner I was sorry to hear he had been out of business for 3 years since it was 2010.  Don’t give your customers the impression that they are visiting an outdated website with obsolete information.

Our suggestion – make sure your information is up to date as web searchers are generally  looking for relevant, recent information.

We can help

There is a lot more to a good website than just flashy design work.  If you would like to learn more about internet marketing skills which can help you convert more customers please contact us today.

My former CEO was well known for his ability to see the big picture in our industry.  In fact the speech he became best known for was, ironically enough, the “Big Picture Speech.”  The beauty of the Big Picture Speech was that by keeping our eyes on the big picture it made a lot of the details in our work lives easier to manage.

Lessons Learned

The lesson I learned is that by focusing on what was happening on the larger scale, we could always check to make sure our planning and daily activities were helping row the boat in the proper direction.

So with that said, here is my own version of the big picture speech for the online world in 2010:

Digitization of our world

Depending on your technological bent, it’s either really cool or really alarming the pace at which our world is becoming digitized.  What I mean by that is, no matter how you slice it, people are consuming and sharing their information in an increasingly digital format at a faster rate than ever before.  As further proof who would have ever heard of a digital marketing consultant even a few years ago?

Lesson – make sure your marketing efforts are participating in the digital revolution.

Mobile devices

According to a recent study by Quantcast, mobile usage of the internet grew 110% last year.  This should come as no surprise for anyone who has 2 eyes and can see just about everyone using a smart phone of some type.

Lesson – make sure your website and marketing materials are friendly to mobile users.

Local search trends

in the past year or so the 3 biggies Google, Yahoo and Bing have all begun showing you local search results.  If you are searching for something related to plumbing (for instance) they assume your intent might be to find a plumber or a plumbing supply store and will show you a various number of possible results.

Lesson – take full advantage of free local listing services.

There are no shortcut secrets in online marketing

Believeme I’ve tried most of them.  But this $20 per month “do it yourself SEO program” is still my favorite.  A client called me this week and asked me what the difference between my offerings and the $20 “Do It Yourself SEO” package on his host company’s website.

Lesson – if there was a $20 shortcut to success online I’d take it.  However be prepared to work hard at it and recognize these trends if you want to win.

Good Luck with This Program!

Big Picture Summary

Make an Appropriate Investment into Digital Marketing

So stop treating your website like a brochure and breathe some life into it.  Add some content, write some articles, start a blog and get involved in the conversation online.  Find a way to invest some time, money (or both) to making an effort to participate in the big picture changes being discussed here.

Google changes for the Better?

When you turned on the computer and searched the web this week did you notice anything different?  If you’re like me you noticed it but couldn’t’ quite tell what it was – but something had definitely changed.  However if you totally missed it don’t worry…those who live in the internet marketing world are all over this one.!

This past week Google made some slight but noticeable changes to their home page including:

1. Updated Google logo – Yes they actually tweaked their logo!  The new version Google logo has slightly brighter hues of red, blue, green and yellow with less shadow in the background.
2. Changes to the left hand side search feature. Users now have more tools for jiggling their search results into customized categories such as news, images, blogs, etc.  It also suggests related topics of interest.

New Google Logo:

Improvements to the personalization of search

For the last few years all of the major search engines have been striving to improve what they call the “personalization of search.”  By this they mean offering you customized results based on your search habits.

This also involves a greater effort than ever to interpret what your intention was when you searched.  Thus the evolution of things like the Google Wonder Wheel  and related searches.

Also of interest for this round of changes is the ability to filter results by time so you can find the most recent items, and by “social” meaning things being posted on the social websites.  You can also filter sites according to shopping, more or less images and their location.

Google – You Can’t Help But Admire Them

No matter what your opinion of Google you had to admire their willingness to tweak what otherwise appears to be working.  Google says they made at least 550 revisions to their search engine last year alone!  And that’s while owning more than 75% of the market!

The online world seems to be getting more complex every day.  It also seems to be getting more intertwined with our offline world as the 2 are becoming increasingly difficult to separate.

Being “in the field” everyday and talking to business owners here are some high level observations of trends in the internet marketing world:

1.    5 pages websites don’t win anymore.  The days of putting up a 5 page “brochure website” and being able to generate meaningful results are over.  In other words just having a website is no longer enough. You have to create a web presence that engages customers and offers them something of value.  Having a friend build you a Yahoo starter site is so “2006″!

2.    A crummy site with good content beats a flashy site with no content. More than ever the search information drives the internet.  And while web awards are given each year for creative designs that continues to be the exception rather than the norm.  Google the word “mortgage advice” and you will find a dated, but very popular website called the Mortgage Professor.  This site ranks #1 for a hugely competitive phrase simply based on the value of it’s content – not design work.

3.    Free tools can make you money. The search engines continue to provide us with free tools that can absolutely make you money.  Local listings, review sites and blog platforms are great tools for attracting web followers and making money even though they are free.

4.    Invest some time, money or both.  The irony is that just about everyone has a phrase they wish they were #1 for but don’t want to commit the time or resources to achieving it.  Gone are the days when you can just put up your website and be rewarded with top rankings.  It takes time (either yours or someone you hire) to build sites into a resource that web users will want to visit.

Let us know if there are high level ideas you think are important.  And for more information on internet marketing in New Orleans, Louisiana please visit our website.

2 sides to the story

• staying updated on news
• connecting with friends
• killing time
• research
• be entertained

And the study shows that is exactly the case. Sadly, killing time ranks as the #1 reason to go online. Followed closely by educating yourself, connecting with others and research.

So what does this mean?

So what does this mean for folks who want better performance out of their website?

The answer is simple – QUIT SELLING AND START TEACHING!

What this survey drives home is the fact that people, for the most part, don’t go online with the intention of buying things. They go online with the intention of learning something. Maybe it’s about your product or maybe its about a problem that your product may solve. But in either case they are NOT looking to find out how great you are when they first go online.

Givers Gain

The best advice for building a website is to give away as much of your knowledge and expertise as you can in hopes of helping consumers learn more about what you do. The more people you help by providing them with information the better chance you stand of converting them into a customer.

Think about it – isn’t that how YOU like to use the internet? We want to learn about how to fix YOUR problems and needs, then maybe look at some vendors who can help. Chances are you will check them out online before calling or making a purchase.

So if you can provide the information needed in step one of the online search behavior you stand a better chance of keeping someone with you through the natural cycle which happens with online

I am amazed at how many “industry” specialists there are out there in the SEO world. In prepping for a meeting tomorrow with an auto dealer I did a little searching and found a whole world of “auto dealer SEO” related websites.

Don’t get me wrong – some of these sites had really good information and case studies. But at the end of the day the methodology that is producing results is largely the same as it is for just about any other industry.

Constants in the SEO World
No matter what the industry certain things are important if you want to succeed with your online marketing:

1. Well optimized pages on your site – this means taking advantage of page titles and all of the on page factors important to your market segment. If you have a locally oriented business include as much information as you can about local markets or terms that would be of use for potential web users.

2. Importance of link building - While there are endless amounts of advice on the best way to build links, the fact remains that building visibility for your site in directories, blogs, other websites, article banks and news outlets remains important. And this isn’t just because Google likes links. It’s beacuse people are everywhere online and the more links you have the better your chances are that they will find your site.

3. Identify your target. The car dealer “case studies” drove this home for me. They showed examples of ranking well for “Ford dealer MA” and other sorts of phrases like this. No matter what industry or business you are in you MUST identify the key phrases you want to be found for and work towards those.

4. Search patterns are changing. Google and the other search engines are constantly changing the rules in an effort to provide users with the best results possible. This means that the results people see when they type in a given phrase will vary as time goes by. Being knowledgeable about these changes and adapting as they come is sound advice no matter what industry you are in.