Posted by Admin on October 7th, 2006 — Posted in Internet Marketing
By Wendy Maynard
A website is one of the most powerful marketing tools that you can implement. You can update it immediately; it is unique to your business; it can be seen by thousands of people who are searching for EXACTLY what you have to offer; and it works as your sales force 24/7. And, it can be expanded and changed over time.
Make sure that your website includes content that will keep your prospects coming back. This is called a “sticky” site. Things like articles, tips, and quizzes not only show off your company’s expertise and skills, but they are interesting and can educate people about a wide variety of topics.Here are some things you can do to enhance the stickiness of your site:
1. Update Your Portfolio: If you have a portfolio of your work (photographers, architects, landscapers, designers, writers, etc.), keep your “latest and greatest” work current. Send an enthusiastic e-mail to your customers to let them know when you update it.
2. Write Articles: You are an expert in your field. Customers are hungry for the information only you can provide. Give them helpful advice and tips. On your homepage, let website visitors know about this section.
3. Add a Discussion Forum: Your website designer can help you add a discussion forum. This allows visitors to communicate with each other, and your staff can provide helpful answers.
4. Create a “Links” Page: Customers like being able to find out more information regarding their purchasing decisions. With a links page, you can map the way for them to visit other related websites. People will return to your site as a resource to access this compilation of links.
5. Publish an Ezine: Publishing an ezine will help position your business as an expert in your field. It sets you apart from your competitors and instills confidence and trust in your readers, making it easier for them to do business with you. You can archive your articles on your website on an ongoing basis to refresh your content for business.
6. Ask Your Site Visitors What They Want: Is there something in your business you are considering? Do you want some feedback on a service? Why not ask for your customers’ opinion? You can post an online opinion poll and down the road, post customers’ responses.
7. Start a Blog: If you are committed to posting regularly, a blog can be a great way to build relationships with your customers and leads. You can give them advice about services or products, you can offer them helpful advices, and you can give business updates. Best of all, a blog is easy to set up and update!
8. Publish “Audio Bytes”: There is so much great technology you can easily incorporate on your website. One example of this is easy-to-record audio. You can create audio reports or radio shows to give your visitors helpful advice.
Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven
Wendy Maynard, your friendly Marketing Maven, publishes REMARKABLE MARKETING, a weekly marketing ezine for business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. If you’re ready to skyrocket your sa1es, easily attract customers, and have more fun, subscribe at http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/ezine.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Maynard
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Posted by Admin on October 6th, 2006 — Posted in Internet Marketing
The growing popularity of blogging by the general public is making business blogging a necessary marketing tool to stay competitive. There are many factors that can determine the success or failure of business blogging, and how successful it is with the business’s target market. These factors include how well the blog is marketed, how easy it is to comprehend the blog content, and how well the blog entices people to take action. Determining the name for the blog is one important factor in driving the right kind of targeted visitors to the business website.
Why the name of the blog is important
The name of your blog is important because it sets the tone for the blog and it is the first line of marketing for your desired visitors. If a business names their blog ‘Jim’s Blog’ or ‘Jane’s Blog’, it isn’t descriptive enough for people at a first glance to decide if they even want to visit your blog.
Another important result of how you name your business blog, is that most blogging software will put the name of the blog in the title of the browser. Many search engines will list the title of a web page in their results page. If your blog name isn’t very descriptive and accurate, you will risk losing potential customers or prospects coming to your site if they stumble upon your blog from a search engine results page.
Research the keywords for your blog:
This is an important step because you will want to include some keywords in your business blog name to get maximum results. In order to determin which keywords you should use in the name of your blog, you will need to research the viable keywords for your industry. There are many free and paid tools that you can use that will tell you what keyword phrases are being used in searches. This information will tell you what phrases your target market uses to find businesses in your industry.
While performing your research, you will find many results for keyword phrases. The ones you should be most interested in are the keyword phrases that don’t have too many words (no more than 4), as we will be adding more to the name if possible. You will also want to pick the keyword phrases that have a relatively high number of total searches for the month (10,000 or more).
Once you have decided upon a few keyword phrases, experiment with some different arrangements of the words to create the beginnings of a compelling business blog name.
Pick a clear benefit of your services to use in your blog name:
You are in business to fill a need or pain for your target market. If you aren’t doing that, you won’t be in business for long. Pick a clear and concise solution to a problem that your business provides for your target market, and try to incorporate that benefit into the name of your blog. You should end up with a name that will include relevant keywords and also contain a benefit for your clients or customers. Following these steps will give the title of your business blog a more relevant and enticing name.
How to put all the elements together for the name of your business blog:
How do you put together a keyword phrase and a clear benefit to create a powerful blog name? Let us go over an example for the travel industry. We will use a hypothetical company that provides travel insurance to travelers. A common problem for travelers that need travel insurance is to replace lost property and luggage. The benefit of this particular travel insurance business is that it provides coverage that is over and above what the other travel companies provide, or provides a service that makes it quicker and easier to process claims.
Our keyword research for this industry finds that ‘travel insurance online’ has just over 10,000 total keyword searches for the month (total of all 3 of the major search engines). So in creating the name for the blog, we could call it ‘Quick Claims in Online Travel Insurance’ or ‘More Than You Expect From Online Travel Insurance’. We have included a benefit, and the keyword phrase in one short sentence, and we did not make the name too long to make it look awkward.
As you have seen, the name of your business blog serves a couple of functions. The biggest one is that it can be used to help drive targeted visitors to your website, but the name also plays a role in search engine optimization for your business blog. When choosing a name of your business blog, don’t leave out the fact that it should also fit into the branding strategy of your business. Choose wisely and do your research well and you could reap the benefits and rewards for your business.
Copyright 2006 B Hopkins
Do you want to know more about business blogging but don’t know where to start? Go to http://www.allwebcontent.com/articles/Category/Blogs/4 to read more articles about blogging. You can also learn more about making money with your blogs here: http://www.allwebcontent.com/businessblog (A http://drivetraffictomywebsite.com creation)Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=B_Hopkins
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