Local Marketing & Public Relations :: Internet
Building a Successful Web Site
Start by asking yourself these questions:
- What is the purpose of this site?
- Do I want to sell products (an e-Commerce solution) or do I merely want to post company information (known in the industry as “brochureware”)?
- How much money am I willing to commit right now? How much a year from now or two years from now?
To ensure that you will receive the return on your investment you are looking for when you embark on a Web engagement, refer to the following Web marketing strategy known as Audience Development. This is a systematic program that ensures that your Web site will gain the viewership necessary to make your engagement a success. Audience development consists of the following elements:
- On-line Advertising – such as paid advertising and/or sponsored events. This starts with a media strategy – searching for vehicles that best reach your target audience. This is backed up by a placement program and implementation of the campaign to make sure that your placements occur on the proper sites and adhere to the selected schedule.
- Promotions – innovative Web promotions deliver branding and direct-response benefits. Promotions include things such as incentive programs and cross-promotions with complementary partners. Implemented properly, promotions can boost your public relations exposure; increase on-line community awareness; and enhance your other audience development channels.
- Audience Creation – consists of organic and individual promotions that are carefully geared toward the communities you want to reach, resulting in greater mindshare and encouraging the right people to visit your site. Tools used in audience creation include optimizing your ranking with the major search engines; utilizing knowledge of on-line communities to tap focused, loyal audiences through strategic linking; and tapping into public forums such as discussion groups and chat rooms.
- Design – good Web design is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also helps visitors understand the site’s information architecture and compels them to explore. It also makes the message jump out and capture the attention of the first-time browser. And when visitors leave the page, it should provide them with a lasting, positive impression of your company.
- Measurement and Analysis – the Internet is the most measurable of all communication media. You can collect market research and track the effectiveness of your campaigns to optimize your site’s performance.
Sophisticated tracking technology can quickly identify Web surfers by their demographic types or interests. - Getting On-line – call your local or national Internet service provider (ISP). An ISP will host your Web site and give consumers access to it.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a Web site from search engines via search engine results is known as search engine optimization. The higher a Web site ranks “organically” in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for Internet users to not click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site. SEO helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
How to optimize your Web site:
Understanding Meta Tags
- Meta Tags: Meta elements provide information about a given Web page, most often to help search engines categorize them correctly. They are inserted into the HTML document, but are often not directly visible to a user visiting the site. Keep in mind that each page of your Web site displays different information, therefore each title, description and keyword Meta Tag will change per page. Below are the three most important Meta Tags that should be present in each page of your Web site. Please refrain from using symbols/special characters such as ™, ©, ® in Meta Tags.
- Key Meta Tags:
- Title – Title of your page (80 max characters)
- Description – Description of “what” is presented on the page (200-250 max characters)
- Keywords – Words or phrases that describe your page information (25 max words/phrases)
Each page of your Web site will need a Title. Once you have titled the page, you will need to add the Description and Keywords tags underneath the Title Tag. You can add/edit these Meta Tags by using an HTML editor such as Adobe Dreamweaver, Microsoft Word, Note Pad or Word Pad.
Use the code below as an example.
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of page</title>
<meta name=”description” content=”What is this page about”>
<meta name=”keywords” content=”What, words, describe, this, page,”>
</head>
Example of optimizing a page:
Title: <title>Heating and Cooling Systems – Carrier</title>
Description: <meta name=”description” content=”Carrier heating and cooling systems endure vigorous testing to ensure quality, durability and comfort.” />
Keywords: <meta name=”keywords” content=”heating and cooling systems, heating cooling, heating and cooling unit, heating and cooling supply, heating and cooling equipment, Carrier heating and cooling, central heating and cooling, Carrier heating and cooling system, home heating and cooling, home heating cooling system” />
As mentioned above, Meta Tags are not directly visible to a user with the exception of the Title. Both the description and keywords are in the code of the page and are only visible when you view the source of a HTML page.
Meta Tag Relevancy: All of the above Meta Tags must be relevant to each other and the content displayed on the page.
You can also optimize your site for local, regional, national, or global searches (i.e. Google Local, Yellow Pages).
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is buying keywords or phrases that guarantees paid placement in search engine results. Priced on a Cost-Per-Click basis, keyword prices can range from $.10 - $5.00+. Some of the major Search Engines that offer SEM:
- Yahoo
- MSN
Why SEM?
SEM offers extremely fast, flexible, accurate and measurable advertising, which leads to the best cost effectiveness in lead generation advertising.
SEM Benefits:
Market reach, cost effectiveness, high resolution tracking, timing and flexibility can be affected quickly with paid search advertising. Paid search programs such as Google Adwords, Yahoo! and MSN adCenter, provide organizations with a local-to-global high volume market reach while maintaining control over the individual keyword cost per click, overall spend, and advertising zones and times. Flexibility of changing ads, rules and campaign settings almost immediately enables sophisticated marketers to maximize profitability.
Set-Up:
- Google AdWords: You can sign-up by going to adwords.google.com, and clicking on the “Start now” button.
- Yahoo! Search Marketing: You can sign-up by going to advertising.yahoo.com.
- MSN: You can sign-up by going to adcenter.Microsoft.com, and clicking on the “Start Here” button.
Where will your ad appear?
Locations:
- Right Hand Side of Search Page (Max placements: 8-10)
- Top of search page if using Product Listing Ads in Google
Google Local:
Attract local customers searching for what you offer. Where do people look for local businesses like yours? Online. AdWords delivers your message across Google and their advertising network.
Choose when and how your business is featured. With AdWords, you pick keywords that describe your business. When users search for those keywords on Google Maps, your ads are eligible to appear directly on the map along with an image related to your business.
Control your budget. Pay only for results. AdWords has no minimum spending requirement – the amount you pay for AdWords is up to you. You can, for instance, set a daily budget of five dollars and a maximum cost of ten cents for each click on your ad.
Getting started is easy. If you already have an AdWords account, just make sure your business is listed accurately in Google Maps. Once you’re listed, you’ll be ready to create your own local business ads.
Google Local Business Center allows you to create your free business listing. When potential customers search Maps for local information, they’ll find your business: your address, hours of operation, even photos of your storefront or products. It’s easy, free, and you don’t need a Web site of your own. Go to: http://google.com/local/add to get started.
Yahoo! Local:
Yahoo! Local is a comprehensive business directory for cities complete with ratings and reviews, maps, events, and more. Find a florist, the best restaurant, and even shoe repair in your city.
Get ahead of the competition with a featured listing on Yahoo! Local. Attract more attention with bigger, better placement, photos, and more. Plus, save when you sign up.
Yahoo! Local has business reviews, top rated services, and events near your location. Use interactive maps, driving directions, reviews and ratings to help users find the closest service.
How to Add Your Business Location to Yahoo Local Search:
- Go to: http://local.yahoo.com
How to Add Your Business Location to YellowPages.com
- Go to http://www.yellowpages.com
- You can choose from several different listing options to fit your needs.
Carrier Keyword Suggestions
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