I’ve found that many marketers are overlooking lesser known techniques for WordPress Content Marketing strategy.  We’ll examine three tactics in this post, and to keep it simple, I’ll narrow down desired on-site Content Marketing goals to two categories:  engagement (visitors view 3 or more pages), and lead generation for B2B.  We’ll leave ecommerce sales aside for now, and in this post look at 3 ways to use WordPress tools to increase engagement, and so lower your bounce rates.  In a future post, I’ll cover lead generation tactics using WordPress.

Above (click to enlarge) we have added several key post categories to our "Blog" menu item to elevate awareness of available content.

Remember to Add Important Categories to your WordPress Menus

Category archives are landing pages too.  Not only does Google index them, but they also provide a gateway to important content on your site, so your tactic here is to surface links to important categories in a highly visible position.  Most content marketers using WordPress do so using a sidebar widget — but there’s an easy, and more visible way to do this.  I’ll share it with you, but first… how do you know which categories are most important to your visitors?  Analytics.

Check Analytics first to see what categories visitors frequent, but since they are likely not being promoted a lot on your site, check also for what key phrases your visitors use before visiting your site — both answers are available in Analytics.  Then, your tactic is  to use the new WordPress 3.x menu system to add categories as selectable items on a pop-down menu.

Most people only think of showing links to pages, and sometimes posts — but why not promote categories of content that you know visitors are seeking on your site?  And, when you do make sure you write a keyword-rich description that appears at the top of your categories — good themes like our Thematic-MAX framework build in the ability to do this.
TIP:  You can reword the Category Title in the Link to something more compelling — then watch “in-page Analytics” to see if your click-through rate increases.

Above (click to enlarge) are some settings with a MaxRef Widget to reveal key content.

Use Sidebar Widgets to Reveal, Engage, and Reduce Bounces

Most WordPress users know about the “Recent Posts” widget that comes standard with WordPress, but what about promoting older posts that are equally important, and for which your Analytics reports show a high degree of interest?

WebFadds has produced a great Content Marketing plugin  after considering much the same questions — MaxRef Widgets (I’d also like to give thanks to Newt Barret, co-Author of “Get Content, Get Customers” who prompted some of these ideas, originally).  “MaxRef” stands for Maximum Reference to content, and the reason we added an “s” to Widget, is that you can use as many as you need in your sidebars and widget locations — we often place one in the footer area to re-engage visitors who have scrolled to the bottom of a page, and are thinking about leaving.

We’re pleased that MaxRef Widgets has a 5-Star rating with over 4,000 downloads at the WordPress plugin repository.  Our screenshot (click to enlarge) shows an example tactic to use its various settings to reveal posts about how Landing Page Optimization helps your ROI.  Of course you can use it for a different strategy, like rotating overall posts into view so visitors may engage with less recent, but equally valuable content.

Link to searches on your blog based on Analytics Key Phrases

WordPress automatically presents a dynamically updated lists based on keywords or phrases entered into its built-in search field(s).  So the next time you write a post, here are three steps to take:

• First check your Analytics for visitor patterns including what keywords/key phrases relating to your post are popular
• Do a search on your WordPress CMS for the phrase* you decide upon.  Copy the URL that results (in your browser).
• Past that into your post using relevant text.  Here are two examples:  Content Marketing  |  Landing Page Optimization

*TIP:  Research shows that Google users are frequently typing in 2-4 word phrases, rather than just a single keyword.

Wouldn’t it be good if you could get 20% – 70% more leads from your site? Many companies do. What about increases of 200% – 400%? It’s possible. I’ll tell you how. And, we’ll see if the “description” tags most of us use to craft copy for search returns are outdated, plus we’ll consider an important new Twitter service… it’s commerce time for tweeters.

Conversion Alert: Are there ways to squeeze more ROI out of your website? Definitely, and recent studies show the pay-off can be very big. I attended a webinar this week by a company specializing in squeezing more results — conversions (like when a visitor “converts” to a prospect, etc.) — out of landing pages and direct emails. So far every single company that applies a certain conversion success formula has seen increases… and some of them are huge — over 200%. To prove it to yourself, all you need is a free Google analytics account set-up properly to track goals, conversions and related ROI numbers. Then you use another free tool — the Google “Optimizer” to test for winning combinations of headlines, graphics, and calls to action. We can make this happen with a Landing Page Optimization Campaign – contact me for a quote.

Google Evolution: Have you squinted at the Google search results page lately? If you do, you’ll see a “show options” link  at top left, which when clicked reveals a sidebar of search refinements like related videos, forums, past week returns and more. Nice. But for SEO professionals and “Content Masters,” still another Google development adds a new twist on ways to succeed in search ranking, attracting visitors and inspiring conversions: “Rich Snippets.” Now Google is encouraging webmasters to mark-up content so that Google will find and return more meaningful excerpts than what is commonly delivered in search returns. Watch for plugins to facilitate this work.

Above, watch video presentation by Google experts on new Rich Snippets tactics

Twitter Update: It’s commerce time on Twitter folks. You knew it had to happen. Check out Twitpay’s new RT2Buy service . So now for all those who ask just what is the ROI for twittering? You can have a direct answer in the form of revenue via your twitter followers. We have a great program — our Social Media-MAX Package – to build a focused, targeted list of followers efficiently — contact me today.

So… how are your landing pages… and now, your growing Twitter list(s) converting? Time to call an Optimizer – reach me at (360) 566-2451.

Social Media Marketing — who has time for this busy new marketing strategy? Busy indeed, but optimizable using automated techniques… I’ll tell you how.

What is Social Media Marketing? Simply put, it’s the use of new technologies — from blogging to twitter tweets — to engage prospects for your company’s services and products.

Is Social Media Marketing (SMM) on the Rise? Yes. You know — I resisted Twitter for some time due to my perception that it was juvenile and had no real business purpose. Wrong.

One example of how I was wrong about Twitter, and a tip for you: I used a new Nearby Tweets Search Engine (Twitter posts are called “Tweets”) recently to find out who was talking about similar business strategies in my neighborhood. Results? I have five leads, and one coffee meeting scheduled to discuss new business. Could I have looked up related businesses on Google? Perhaps. But I would not have known who was actively and currently focusing on certain business topics. That’s the key, and you can easily do the same.

Take a look below at the “Benefits of Social Media Marketing” chart which appears in a whitepaper, free for the download, by Michael Stelzner, who interviewed 900 business people and marketers for his research. You’ll get some great insights when you read the report.

Above, over 900 business professionals report positive results using Social Media Marketing methods (from Social Media Marketing Industry Report, by Michael Stelzner)

How to understand SMM and make it work? Two recommendations: Think about standard sales and marketing principles in new venues. Look for automation.

On the first point, just think about standard sales methods and think of social media a bit like those “business after hours” prospecting events that sales people always attend. You tune in, listen, make yourself known, and schmooz around a bit. People buy from those they know.

Of course, you’ve still got to find the time to make the switch from old ways of doing things to new. Good news. Since the new “venue” for Social Media Marketing is online, on computers, some of the work may be automated. I want to caution you — you still have to get in there and “hand out cards” and make your personality known… that’s what it’s all about.

Which social media sites for business? There are a lot of choices out there, but for now, I recommend concentrating on just three: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIN. These are market leaders, each with a different focus and functionality, and I have seen all three bring business for our clients.

New WebFadds Social Media Max Service: Now about automation — one of the reasons we’re focused on CMS solutions using the WordPress platform (in addition to SEO strengths) is the excellent sets of plugins to add features and streamline your work. We have identified eight key plugins for SMM which in particular automate blog postings to twitter, and facebook walls, display of feeds from twitter in your blog, display of linked in information, and more.

We will install and configure this Social Media Max package on your WordPress Content Management System for $739. Need your Facebook, LinkedIN, and Twitter accounts set-up too? No problem — we’ll do it for $339. Includes initial coaching on working these services for business “conversion” purposes. We then set up your Easy Tweets controls for a powerful way to grow your twitter following, and channel them back to your business blog (we coach you on success with your Easy Tweets – $25mo. account). And for a limited time, we’ll include installation of Google Analytics at your site to help you track your site for conversion health. Contact me today to get started.

That’s enough Optimizing for this time — remember to always be converting.

#3 on Google in less than 19 Minutes: What’s the true power of a Business Blog? Well, you know I always focus on conversions. But before you can convert a visitor to a customer, you have to have visibility. And once your Blog gets accepted as a trusted source for information in your market niche (about 2-3 months of steady posting at least twice a week for new blogs), then your latest posts will go up fast — and rise to the top if your content is good.

A case example is a blog post on camp cooking contests we put up Saturday morning at SportsExposBlog.com, during their four-day tradeshow, where each day selling more tickets is a key to success. Within 19 minutes, that post was #3 on Google for the search, “Cooking Contests, Salt Lake City.” Great for immediate, and targeted visibility for those interested in reviewing cooking contests.  It’s still in position #4 on Google as I write this post.  Another client, Tom Hale — an Adwords Expert Extraordinaire — regularly sees his posts register high on Google in under 10 minutes.

SEO Technique Tip: First, the business blog for SportsExposBlog.com is developed on the WordPress platform, which out of the box provides a number of ways to Optimize for Search Engines. Then, we used a professional SEO plugin called HeadSpace (see articles about how HeadSpace works here ) and configured it for the phrase “Cooking Contests”, and the locality, “Salt Lake City”, for that specific post. It worked.

Why WordPress as a CMS? Last week I was at the Portland Search Engine Marketing Professionals annual Search Fest — a day of seminars and trainings on tips, traps, and techniques for this rapidly evolving field. There, a sales rep. told me that WordPress was not a CMS. Huh? Funny, it seems that Ford Motors, Comacho Cigars, CNN, the New York Times, and a host of other Fortune 500 players didn’t get that memo. They’re all enjoying the strengths of WordPress as their primary Content Management Solution. Of course, the sales rep. was, well, repping his own proprietary CMS based on Microsoft’s unpopular ASP.net platform.

There are several platforms out there offering CMS solutions, ranging from Cold Fusion, to Open Source PHP/MySQL, to Ruby on Rails, and ASP.net. Check around, and you will find many more options in the PHP realm, of which WordPress is arguably one of the top five choices. Way back in 2007, WordPress won “Best Open Source Social Networking CMS” from Packt Publishing.

What’s the best CMS solution for your company? Well, WebFadds, of course, can make the case for WordPress. But I admit, you’ll see some great contenders out there. A young fellow on a plane I took to Salt Lake City last week showed me an impressive proprietary CMS built in the Ruby on Rails environment. One big choice is Proprietary (you pay one company for a license and rely on them to continually improve your CMS) versus “Open Source” (the initial core program is free to download and install, and upgrades are free).

WordPres wins again, since it is in this initially “free” category.  But to be frank, free is not really free. You will want to custom configure and tweak it for maximum SEO and administration optimization — and that costs some money. But I think you’ll see that WordPress still wins when you compare your R.O.I. to other systems over the mid-term.  And, optimization with WordPress is not just about SEO — you’ll also streamline your content administration wrok.

Contact me — I’ll be pleased to work with you to find the best solution for your R.O.I… and, take a look at this overview: CMS WebSite Solutions with WordPress.

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WebFadds.com Conversion Marketing Program

How well is your website converting? If you can’t answer this question, or you don’t know what “conversions” are – you’re not alone. Conversions are when a visitor to your website takes one step closer to an important business goal for you.  That is, when a visitor a converts to a prospect (downloads a whitepaper), converts to a lead (fills out a form), or becomes a customer (makes a purchase).

We took a poll about conversions at LinkedIn.com, and while no one was brave enough to answer “Huh, what’s a conversion?” — 22% may well have answered that way.  They’re not tracking conversions and don’t know how well their site is performing. And what’s worse — they aren’t discovering ways to increase their conversions, and so their sales.

We recently optimized a lead form landing page for a client, and over the two following months they saw their leads increase by 43%.  The client values each lead at $100, since they close one in ten leads for a $1000 sale.  So, in a two month time period, after installing Google Analytics, optimizing the landing page, and running an Adwords PPC campaign to bring traffic for the test — they had 80 more leads worth $8,000 to the company — $48k more business per year. In national surveys, companies of all sizes focused on optimizing for conversions report gains ranging from 20% to 150%.

What’s makes a successful Conversion Site Marketing Program? It’s a process we’ve boiled down into three words:  Optimize, Connect, Convert. First, Optimize your site with a smart, SEO savvy CMS (Content Management System) solution, and install Google Analytics.  Custom configure it for SEO — Search Engine Optimization.  Optimize your landing pages for conversions.  Second, connect with your prospects and customers using a Business Blog, eNewsletters, and Social Marketing.  Use a good Google Adwords targeted PPC campaign to bring qualified prospects to your landing pages.  Third, make conversions, and analyze your statistics (particularly your “sales funnel” at your site) to continually test and optimize to increase your conversions. That’s the strategy for maximum R.O.I. for your web business mission.

Custom Design & Configuration of your WordPress Business Blog, or CMS.  This platform both saves you money (it’s Open Source — meaning free to use with frequent free updates), and is optimized for SEO out of the box.  We’ll design a blog to match our existing site, or upgrade your old-school side to a dynamic, automated CMS solution for your company.  Costs range depending on size and scope of project.  Simple Business Blog Set-ups average $499.

Max-SEO Configuration, for WordPress based Business Blogs and CMS solutions.  We research the actual terms people search on and weave them into your site, meta-tags, and titles using an installation of five major SEO plugins, plus we install ping services and coach you on blog copywriting.  Now, you’re optimized.  Starts at $489.

Analytics-MAX service. We’ll install Google Analytics at your site, help you set-up your conversion “funnel”, and site goals, then track and analyze results.  $199 mo. – 6 mo.

eNewsletter Service — we offer two options: An installed WordPress plugin for a one-time fee (includes custom template creation), and a pro-service through Constant-Contact that tracks open rate, provides 100’s of templates, tech. support, and an online control panel (set-up and monthly fees apply for this option).  WordPress is not required for the second option.

Adwords PPC campaigns. Bring targeted, qualified leads directly to your landing and conversion pages so you can analyze how well your site is performing, make adjustments, and increase conversions.  Management fee is 35% of your PPC ad buy ($1200 min. PPC buy), so figure $1620 for a minimum campaign ($1200 PPC ad buy, plus $420 management fee).

Landing Page Optimization: Want to increase leads at your website by 15% – 60% or more?  Make your site pay you back – WebFadds will track, analyze and adjust your key landing pages to increase conversion rates – Contact us for estimate.

Reach us: email:  sales@webfadds.com  •  phone: 360.566.2451

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Hello -

Map out your Conversion pages: How do you keep score if you don’t know where your opportunities lie? Just like a football team seeks to “convert” on fourth down by executing a play with a flow toward the “conversion,” so should you map out your site the way a coach maps out the play.

Hey… yesterday was the Superbowl… so you know why I’m using football analogies. But, they fit. The coach draws a play for the team so they know what to do. Then coaches make adjustments as things unfold on the playing field. Plan carefully. Watch how things unfold and adjust. Right coach? And, all this so you can… convert  In football, convert a fourth down into a first down, and on the web… convert a visitor into a lead or a customer.

Above, two sitemaps are given in this downloadable (click it) pdf… along with some “secret sauce.”

So draw your play first — that is, make a sitemap. Just like a team would not go onto a field without knowing a play, you need to visualize your own “play” at your website. Especially if you’re designing or redesigning your site. But also if you’re well into a site that has grown and changed for a few years — time to step back and see the sitemap so you can reevaluate strategies and tactics.

I’ve attached a couple of sitemaps (I call them “Mission Maps”) that I recently produced for real clients (click to download it – PDF). Note that conversion pages are clearly marked. And, you’ll find a great formula on it that you can use at your own site. Remember to begin with the end in mind — that’s the only way teams get to the SuperBowl.

WordPress 2.7 Rocks: WordPress has really come a long way since its humble beginnings as a blogging platform. Nowadays, it’s a full-blown Content Management solution used by Fortune 500 companies from Ford to CNN. And you should be using it too, for dynamic websites, optimization, engagement with prospects and customers, plus easy editing. And now, version 2.7 makes editing even easier.

Using an older version of WordPress? Upgrade now. Older versions are security risks, and don’t work well with updated plugins.

I’ve made a video overview for you with editing tips as you migrate to 2.7 — and an Optimization tip thrown in for good measure:

That’s it for this edition — contact me to discuss how you can Optimize, Connect and Convert… at your website.

- Scott

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Hello -

How well does your website convert visitors to leads or customers?: That’s precisely the question I asked in a new Poll at LinkedIn. The advantage of placing a poll on LinkedIN, is that mostly professionals, executives and C-level management will see it, they run it in a directory of polls on the site, and you can see some interesting demographic breakouts like results by Gender, Job Function, and Company Size. So, how many C-Level Managers said their sites convert well? Pop over to the poll to find out (and take it while you’re there). Oh, and if you’re new to tracking conversions (leads are good “conversions” for service companies to track, while sales are a primary conversion to track in ecommerce), Google Analytics is an excellent package, recently updated with enterprise level features, to use at your sites.

I’m being followed: It just started recently. There are several people following me, and I know it is true. Paranoid? Schizo? We’ll leave that debate for another time — but for now, I’m talking about being followed — on twitter. I confess to avoiding “twittering” for some time, but when I saw the “first twitter report live from a jet airline crash” appear on network news — I had to cave in and check it out. There are a couple of great plugins for your WordPress CMS that place your twitter stream in your sidebar, and also automatically twitter your latest posts. I’m using them at WebFadds.com, and also just installed them for Tom Hale, adwords specialist extraordinaire (see Tom’s twitter stream at ThomasCreekConcepts.com).

Newsletter Options: When you plan to integrate an enewsletter into you site, you have three strong options. And I strongly recommend an eNewsletter as a key tactic to Connect — the middle strategy in our “Optimize, Connect, Convert” solution (contact me to learn more). The three options? Use FeedBurner to create a “newsletter” sign-up that sends your RSS feeds to email, integrate a newsletter plugin into your WordPress CMS, or use a 3rd-party SAS newsletter provider to host and send your newsletters. The Feedburner option is the most efficient. The newsletter plugin is good for do-it-yourselfers, while a professional service like Constant Contact, can be great for companies requiring tech-support and a large list solution, off-loaded from their site hosting server. Learn more about the last two at our eNewsletter Service page, and visit Feedburner to learn about their service, then BestRatePlans to see an implementation.

Best of luck and success online -

Scott

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Do you have Goals for your website? You probably set some when you first built it, but I am talking specifically about “Goals” in Google Analytics — an excellent way to track visitor behavior and analyze the R.O.I. for your web effort.  You should be tracking “conversions” (number of visitors who buy or become clients), via the “funnel” (series of pages at your site leading them to a conversion).  You can read more about this important strategy in this blog post.  Contact me to get your Goals set up.

Trusted Email Marketing

Remember to stay in constant contact. A colleague of mine, Bob Leonard from B2BContentConversations, was just hired for two jobs as a result of enewsletters he sent out several months ago.  Newsletters require discipline, but it pays off.  We offer two options to help with your email campaigns — a Pro Package through Constant Contact, and a Do It Yourself Package, where we install an excellent eNewsletter program in your WordPress website, build you a template and you go ahead and write and send a newsletter to key contacts.  Constant Contact provides your own account with support and tracking stats to see how many recipients opened your newsletter (you can take a free, 60-Day trial to check it out).  Read more about the two packages… here.  Contact me when you need help setting these key marketing tools up for your business.

New B2B Website on problematic Windows Hosting: We just finished a new B2B business blog for Wang & Wang, an international law firm, and wrestled with making it work properly in a Windows server environment.  The majority of hosting plans (like our own at WebFaddsHosting.com), are based on the Linux Operating System… the one most “friendly” to WordPress installations.  While WordPress will work on Windows based servers, a couple of key functions — automatic database backups, and “permalink” structure (see next item) — could not be activated.  Bottom line: Why did we install it on a Windows server?  That’s what the client wanted.  Does it run as well as on a Linux server?  No.  Choose a Linux based hosting solution for your dynamic WordPress based websites.

SEO Matters:  One main reason we develop dynamic websites and business blogs on the WordPress platform, is that it comes with built in/automated methods of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  But you have to configure it properly.  There’s automated “pinging” (your site will alert a number of indexing services when you publish new posts), but you need to input a good list of services.  There are user and search friendly “permalinks” (url structure) you can set.  And, a number of SEO related plugins which both strengthen your site, and save you some time by automating insertion of tags, titles, etc.  I’ve written a series on SEO Matters… here.  We also have a service package, “Max-SEO“, that can help you quite a bit.

Let me know when we can help with SEO strengthening, enewsletters, and development of your dynamic, automated websites. I’ll be pleased to provide a prompt estimate for your projects — reach me via our Contact Page.

SEO Matters: Title Tag Tips…
One of the big keys to the SEO puzzle is writing good Title tags.  Do you know about them?  You can watch a video overview with tips on how to write them (make sure your key SEO phrase is in them), and get advice on how to automate them at your WordPress Business Blog here.

“Conversion Blogging” Builds eMail Lists Leading to Sales…
If you’re in business to blog, or want to blog for your business, the whole thing boils down to conversions. How many blog visitors did you convert into customers? I’m not sure who coined the phrase “Conversion Blogging”, but I highly recommend two free videos about it by Yaro Starak, a blogging guru with a successful track record. You’ll see that he teaches you how to use your blog to build your email newsletter list, and gives a lot of other great tips to help you succeed.  TIP:  pay careful attention to how Yaro is using following his own advice on his video landing page — extra-credit when you note his own conversion technique there.

Biz Growth TIP: Get Real… Real Estate Agents (and Business Bloggers)…
We’ve built a number of custom real estate blogs this year, and one common mistake I see is too many boring listings appearing on those blogs.  They’re forgetting that the best conversion process at a business blog is to engage, then converse, then gain a client (convert).  Whether you’re in real estate, or any other profession, ask yourself if your business blog engages with interesting, personal (you’re selling yourself and your sales staff) content crafted to lead toward more conversation (comments, emails, phone calls).  That’s where the success comes from in your business blog.

Custom Theme Uses our MaxRef Widgets for Content Access…
I just finished a custom blog theme for Wang And Wang Law Offices, LLC, and it uses our own Max-Ref widgets plugin for WordPress to break out access to the “Intellectual Property” section of their site.  You’ll see it there on the sidebar.  Contact me if you’d like to deploy this technique on your own WordPress website.

For more details and quotes on deploying these techinques at your own dynamic, business websites, reach me at:  scott [at] webfadds [dot] com