I’ve been using Google+ and covering it on my G+ account (ScottGooglePlus.info — TIP: domains cost abou $10, buy one and forward it to your Google+ page, like I did) for a couple of months now — and the nascent social venue is really on the rise for B2B Professionals.  I recently worked with a couple of clients, one in the Mortgage Industry, and another in Law, and we uncovered a number of competitors and prospects using the Find People on Plus Directory.  In this post, we’ll look at some tips and techniques to give you a leg up on Plus.  Let’s look at:

• Social Signals & SEO
• Sales in Social Venues
• A Game Changing Disruption — G+ BroadCasting via “Hang Outs” Feature
• How B2B Professionals can use the Plus to up their business game

Google+ Tactics for B2B Professionals

Here’s we’ll focus on five tactics that have been working for me and other professionals:

1. Listen to Prospects, then engage:  Earlier, I mentioned the excellent Google Plus Directory, Find People on Plus.  With over 16 million members, you can tune into your prospects — put each in their own “Circle”.  You do this by refining your search at the Directory, to find the right group of people, which for a Mortgage pro, for example, could mean tuning into Real Estate agents who could lead them to prospects.  Watch for a while, by clicking on their circle to see only posts from this group, then start commenting in a conversational way to engage.
2. Keep an eye on your competition:  Next, watch how your savvy competition is using the new social venue  A Mortgage Professional in San Diego, for example would look at competition by searching for other Mortgage Pros in that geographic area — like this (39 competitors are already using Google+ there).
3. Write Plus-1′s from any site with a button now:  When you are visiting a site that has a Plus-1 button on it — click it, and you can immediately comment on what you find — which should be either colleagues, prospects, or competition in your industry.  +Danny Whatmough has more on this with a visual example for you at Social Media Today.
4. Connect with influencers prior to your next conference:  Here your tactic is to simply go to the website for your next business conference, then use Google+ people search to track all the presenters and infuencers for it — prior to the conference.  Throw them all in their own circle using the G+ tools, tune in, and engage.
5. Come join our Google+ Business Group on LinkedIN, and share your G+ address, plus discuss more ways to use it in business.

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.

There are a lot of conferences, books, and blogs focusing on how to succeed in an ever  quickening online mashup of websites, social media venues, and smartphone and tablet apps.  At WebFadds, we focus on having a smart Content Strategy, then follow it with proven methods to review and revise your tactics.  Here’s an overview for you.

What is your Content Marketing Strategy?

CMS Wire has a great post in which a succinct formula for content strategy is presented.  Here’s how I would boil it down:

Specific Content, for a Specific Target Group = a desired Business Outcome Goal, because of a Specific Method of Motivation.

Let’s examine each.

• Since the goal of content is to engage with prospects and customers, you need to understand who your typical site visitor and end customer are. In B2B, this may be specifically defined something like this: “a mid-career purchasing professional in XYZ industry.”
• Next — you need Specific Content for those specific target group(s). Yes, I know I am showing it second here, and that’s because you have to understand your target well before you produce content. In fact, you have to also understand what motivates them (final formula item) too. In our example here, for a mid-career purchasing professional, you know that looking good (ie. for promotions) motivates them, so you need to develop content that speaks to how you solve both their industry need, and imply how that makes them look good.
• Next — what are your B.O.Gs? I have written about that in a series at Content Marketing Institute (see: this post ), so I’ll summarize here: a  B.O.G (Business Outcome Goal) are what you would like visitors to your website to do that moves them closer to becoming a customer. Examples include getting newsletter signups, white paper downloads or leads from a contact form.
• Finally, what is your M.O.M.? When we are young, often it is our Mom that inspires (try out for that group, etc.), and motivates (time to clean up your room, or else, etc.). So, ask yourself what is the M.O.M. — Method Of Motivation — to get your prospects to act and complete a desired business outcome goal? Hint: all successful advertising professionals know that people act on emotion — not simple logical facts and bullet lists. Cultivate the desired emotions in your content that compel people to act. I will write more about this as we go.

Outcome Improvement: Review and Revise your Content Strategy

How do you test and improve your strategy and tactics? Two methods: Actionable Analytics, and optimization tactics (not only SEO — add VBO, LPO, and CRO — see my article on it here: Three Tests to Optimize Your Website: VBO, LPO and CRO ).  I’ll write more about that here, and I think you will find a number of practical ideas in my article series at Content Marketing Institute.

Eweek has an interesting post about what is driving Data Analytics. In it they covered the following ten factors that go directly to why you need a smart and routine method of reviewing and tweaking site performance via Analytics review. Here are what I believe to be the top 5 — restated for clarity:

• Explosion of Devices: There are more than 1.8 billion people on the Internet with 4.6 billion mobile phones and millions of tablets.
• Movement away from SQL databses = new ways to review data
• Rise of Real time analysis of analytics data
• “Adaptive web” observes engagement patterns among like-minded individuals to understand user intent, then automatically adapts the online experience to the individual
• Social marketing is letting companies run campaigns that include social sites.

There you have it.  Focus on Content Marketing strategy.  Focus on tactics with smart review methods.  Get going.

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.

Playing Ball: Innovation, change, and Social Media Marketing growth… it’s happening rapidly each week.  Last week, Twitter reported astronomic growth — up 422% in 12 months. WordPress reported 2 million business blog and CMS installations in 2008.  Wow.  Talk about “playing ball on running water.”  How do you grab a hold of this tiger and make efficient and effective use of it in Business?  I’ll give you some pointers on how to stay optimized.

CMS Thought of the Week: The *whole web* is your Content Management System.  Today, I was checking my LinkedIN homepage, and reviewed a number of blog posts — there — from friends and colleagues.  The same posts often show up in my twitter stream (shortened into 140 characters with links back to posts). And, Google lets you create a sort of “mash-up” via Google reader (for RSS feeds) where you can share your posts and those of others — see: my Google Reader Public Mashup.  Are you optimized to take advantage of these key web CMS techniques?  Contact me and we’ll work on it together.

Twitter Tips of the Week: If you’re looking for a job, check this link to an excellent Mashable article (a great web publication, using a CMS developed in WordPress) will help you learn how — on Twitter.  That’s right!  I’ve found and worked with two clients there in two weeks.  Plus… even if you’re not looking now… consider the article carefully and you’ll understand some key Twitter Social Media Marketing strategies and Tactics.

Next, look carefully at the “Five Phases of Social Media Marketing” — Social Marketing is not “free”, but it will pay off when you tie it into Analytics… and — analyze for conversions (that’s the R.O.I. secret).  One great question from the article:  “Will your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system interface with your social media tools?”  Watch for good CRM’s to start adding in Twitter functionality.

WordPress Eding Tips on Video: WordPress is a great CMS solution — we develop exclusively with it.  As you learn WordPress, and start managing the admin. area, you may like to review these short (approx. 2 min.) videos.  There are more available at WordPress.tv, but these are my “A-List” to help your work be optimized… in WordPress:

Posts:

• writing-and-publishing-a-post
• using-quick-edit-and-bulk-edit-to-manage-your-posts-in-half-the-time
• saving-and-returning-to-draft-posts-pages
• publishing-your-post-at-a-later-date

Add Categories & Tags to Your Posts (always do this — good for both SEO, and helpful site navigation):

• adding-categories-and-tags-to-your-posts

Pages:

• creating-a-post-excerpt-using-the-more-tag

Sidebar:

• adding-a-widget-to-your-sidebar

There you go.  That should help you optimize your WordPress and Social Media work.  Now… about those conversions? Have you optimized your landing pages so you can increase your conversion rates?  Contact me.

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.

How Well is Your Site Converting?

Business Blogging — A Paradigm Shift: I was working on a CMS development project last week for a company of technically savvy consultants, and so was very surprised when our team received feedback that blog links shouldn’t appear on the front page of their site, and that blogging was just for rambling. Hmmmmm. At first, I thought they didn’t get it — they didn’t understand how social media marketing was such a great opportunity for them to connect with prospects and make sales. Then, I realized I didn’t get it. I’ve been engaged with it for some time, so I assumed clients understood that nowadays, Marketing is Publishing, and Publishing is Sales. Yeah, yeah, I know about the “ass-ume” thing.

“… when I worked in Advertising for a Manufacturing Company, we produced “sales literature” and hired field sales people. Online, your blog is both. It combines the education of good marketing literature, with the entertaining, instructive, and persuasive conversation of good sales people. “

This just goes to show that in a time of rapid change you can’t assume people have caught up with the paradigm shifts. Shifts? Yes. You know, like, “The computer will never replace typesetting machines.” “Art will never be produced on a computer.” “Professionals will never use digital cameras” … Those kinds of shifts. To those we’ll add, “blogging cannot be a very good business tool.” Ready to make the shift?

Anatomy of a Good Business Blog Post: Remember, you are a “Conversion Blogger.” In those two words are the secret of your success. You “blog” to put your personality into it and engage your readers. You make “conversions” (get leads, downloads of whitepapers, make sales), by simply asking for them after your readers get to know you.

Above is a “strategic wireframe” of a good business post. Note, that I have added some SEO tips, since that is still another reason to make regular Business Blogging a primary marketing thrust.

Here are the essential elements of a good Business Blog Post:

1. Write a good headline using the “H1″ tag, and include a primary SEO phrase
2. Write friendly voice blog copy, that educates and entertains, and also include your primary SEO phrase.
3. Include a compelling photo or illustration that helps you put your point across
4. Include a call to action that asks your reader to convert to a prospect (download a whitepaper), a lead (fill out a form), or a customer (make a purchase).

Connect, Engage, Convert… people buy from those they know.

Can You Prove It? Can I prove this works?  Yes. Install Google Analytics. Set up a Sales Funnel from your blog to a conversion page. Assign an ROI figure per conversion. Then, analyze the results.

Some Common Reservations about Business Blogging:

“It Takes Too Much Time”: Yes, it takes time. So, for business purposes monitor your R.O.I. with a good Analytics tool. Done well, it will pay off.

“It Takes Too Much Time”: It takes time, yes, but it’s more efficent than writing individual emails to all your clients and sales leads.

“Our Competition Doesn’t Do It”: Opportunity for you.

“Isn’t a Press Release Good Enough?”: No. Press releases miss the opportunity for you to engage directly with your prospects and customers. Remember, people buy from those they know, and most press releases are cold, corporate statements. Put some personality in your posts. Entertain, Educate, then ask for the sale.

“We Don’t Know Good Writing Techniques.” Here’s a link to a series of articles on copy writing and blog writing.

“Blogging Isn’t Supposed to Be About Sales”: Two thoughts for those that say this. Why not? And, second, “all of communication is an attempt to persuade.” I quote one of my Communication Professors on the last point, and yes — I wanted to argue with him, but it would only have proved his point.

“Blogging is Only for SEO Juice.” Write blather filled with SEO phrases, and you’ll get traffic, until Google penalizes you. And even that short lived traffic will bounce away from your site and you’ll miss the sale. Use SEO phrases cleverly in copy? Yes. But don’t fail to engage and convert.

Remember… it’s not just about sales, because you also use your personality to entertain and provide education for readers. But it can and will definitely lead to sales.

In the 90′s, when I worked in Advertising for a Manufacturing Company, we produced “sales literature” and hired field sales people. Online, your blog is both. It combines the education of good marketing literature, with the entertaining, instructive, and persuasive conversation of good sales people. So… go make the sale.

And remember that the only thing constant is change, and with change comes inevitable paradigm shifts. Resistance is futile (any trekkies out there?).

Give me a call, or contact me and we’ll explore Business Blogging opportunities for your company, and how to make the paradigm shift.

Contact Us · (360) 566-2451 · Email | Twitter: WebFadds

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This eNewsletter is now “The Optimizer”: I’ve changed the name to “The Optimizer,” to focus on one concept — optimization. Optimization, in a word, expresses the work leading to success at your websites. Not only do websites need optimization for search engines (SEO), but also efficiency and content marketing gains using an automated, dynamic CMS solution — another form of optimizing your work. Factor in the ongoing R.O.I. improvements you get from optimizing your landing and conversion pages, and you have my recipe for online business success — a la Optimization. We’ll be talking about tips, traps, and techniques for Optimizers in every issue.

Are Conversions Gender Specific?: Hey, should have reported this prior to Valentine’s day… but you can bring up even now with your mate. As you know, we have an ongoing poll at LinkedIn on “How well does your website convert visitors to leads or customers?“. Well, this poll shows that so far (it’s live, go add your own one-click vote), women get more leads (at their websites), while men do more optimization. Yet… more men than women don’t understand conversions. Hmmmmm. No wonder there are relationship psychologists:

Publishing Persuasive Content: Speaking of optimizing — your content itself is the place to start. Today, Marketing is Publishing, and Publishing is Sales (when you’re a “Conversion Blogger”).  Every company online is in Publishing. Take a look at this article covering success results of businesses that create quality content.  Now that’s the way to do it.

Blog for The Conversion: Remember that a conversion happens when a visitor to your site moves one step closer to a business mission goal you have. What goals? Convert a visitor to an interested prospect who might return (give them a whitepaper to download), a lead (they fill out a form), or a customer (the pay for, or at least order a product or service). And your blogs should provide meaningful and engaging content, which also asks for a sale.

Two examples: The first client, in the business of providing tradeshows to Sportsmen, has a new business blog (from WebFadds) and while providing hunting and fishing tips, they also ask for online ticket sales to their expositions (see SportsExposBlog.com). That’s doing it right.

A second client, in the business of providing travel fare specials, has been writing lots of jibber-jabber blog posts just for the “SEO juice”.  Huh? That’s an old-school concept where you just fill up your posts with keywords and phrases and hope Google picks you up.  This is a bad strategy for three important reasons: Visitors will “bounce” right out of your site if content is not engaging; Google has filters to block out sites that aren’t really relevant; and without conversions in mind as you create content that really connects with visitors… no sales will be made. Instead, give your visitors some real meat in your content, and let them get to know you. People buy from someone they know. Then, ask for the sale. You’ll see conversions and ROI stats from Google Analytics that justify your effort.

So… how is your site converting? Contact me, and we’ll explore the value to your company that increased conversions will bring.

Contact Us · (360) 566-2451 · Email | Twitter: WebFadds

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What is your Video Strategy? Video Strategy? Yes… get ready for it. I too held off, but WebFadds just received a new client as a result of my first video posted on YouTube in January.  I mentioned this WordPress 2.7 with conversion tip video in an earlier edition, but some of you said the video was not permitted in your email — so here’s a direct link: WordPress 2.7 Introduction – Using WordPress as Your CMS.

Whether you’re a service provider, or selling products… video is becoming a key component of good content. But, will sales result from any video you place on your site? Jon Quarto-vonTivadar, writes how that is NOT the case in his article: “Video Views Up, When Will Sales Follow?” Take a look — he has good advice.  And here’s a series of articles about producing videos.

The Most Important C’s of Successful Online Marketing: A while back, I wrote an article on the five C’s that contribute to your success online: Content, Community, Conversation, Connection, and Conversions. Note that at the original writing the final word was Convergence, though I am updating this strategy to change that to Conversions, for the best focus, from a business perspective. Which of the “C’s” are most important?

Content. Everything else is secondary.
Conversions. Everything else — except Content — is secondary.

Get Content… and you'll Get Customers.

What about the other three C’s? They’re important too, because even in these times of new technology… people will still buy from those they know. But they’re not primary.   Because you can chat people up and plant links here and there back to your site, doesn’t mean you’ll be successful… even if your Google pagerank increases. Unless you have persuasive content, and continually focus on improving your conversion rates, all else is just busy work with no pay off.

And yet, I often see many requests for SEO work, or social network linking projects with little consideration toward first making your Content compelling, on target, and persuasive — a discipline my colleagues Newt Barrett and Joe Pulizzi write about in a new book about, “Content Marketing.” You should get their book – Get Content, Get Customers.

I see even fewer marketing project proposals written with an eye toward Conversions. Why?

I’ll close with some interesting results from our LinkedIn poll on “How well does your website convert visitors to leads or customers?“  which point to the answer to that question:

Results by Job Function…

This result shows that some creatives actually focus on conversions — those are the ones you want to hire, because they begin with the end in mind (your strategic business goals).  Marketing types, so far in this poll, seem focused on sales (yellow), but not completely clear on the concept of conversions — they do not understand how “optimizing” (blue) landing pages (adding your value proposition, for example), can increase your conversions .

So… how well is your site converting? Stop by at LinkedIn and take the poll… and if you’d like to focus on, and increase your conversions — give me a call.