Web Marketing Category
Getting Up to Speed on SEO
Maybe you don’t want to rip the guts out of your website and tweak URLs for better SEO, but it sure doesn’t hurt to know what the fuss is all about. So we’re heartily recommending Google’s Guide for webmasters. It’s 20-pages-long, non-technical, and it does a great job explaining how search works, and how to make it work better. Download it from Google’s Webmaster blog, and the next time you bump into Spock from IT, you can chat with him about canonical urls.
Blow the Dust off Your Email Program
Perhaps you’re coming out of winter hibernation and noticing that your email results are slumping: open rates and click thrus are down, unsubscribes are up. And your mom hit the SPAM button. See if you recognize these symptoms:
Your list isn’t true opt-in
You swipe names off business cards at tradeshows, buy affinity lists, or enter customers in contests without gaining permission to send other email.
Your creative is burned out
You send the same emails over and over again with minor changes. Your customers feel SPAMed and drop out.
You don’t have effective landing pages
Your email sends customers to a page in a catalog that is unrelated in design and message to the email, and doesn’t have a response mechanism. This trains them not to click!
Your list is stagnant
Even the best email programs lose subscribers. Email addresses and jobs change, and people just get overwhelmed. Make sure that your acquisition plan replaces subscribers at the rate they’re lost and also factors in your growth objectives.
There is no reason to click thru
Are you giving away the whole story in your email instead of using teasers? Do you provide offers, white papers or real news to entice prospects? If not, don’t expect higher click thru rates.
Your frequency is off
Every list has a frequency it will tolerate. Are you mailing weekly, bi-weekly, monthly? If you increase or decrease the frequency does your response increase?
Poor design
Do you give your customers something to click within the first 300 pixels? Is your email just one big image? Do you have clear and compelling calls to action in text? If not, review best practices and tweak.
Mobile Friendly Email Becomes a Must
Forty percent of adult Americans use mobile phones to access email, according to a 2010 survey by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
With more people turning to their phones for email, it’s worth a little extra time to make your emails mobile friendly.
Make sure your leads are brief and catchy. People who use cell phones for email are already on the go, so catch their attention fast with leads that scream “open me.”
Define link colors clearly, and use text links in favor of images or buttons. Always include a visible plain text version of the email.
Find out how many users are actually using their mobile devices to open the newsletter. Analytics are important because if none of your audience uses mobile email, it’s not necessary to fret – yet.
Most new smartphones (iPhones, Androids) display regular emails (Blackberrys don’t), but because the screen sizes vary and are considerably smaller than PC monitors, formatting can be a pain. Generally, the rule of thumb is the less complex coding and images, the safer the email. The mobile resolution will be about less than half the size of desktop emails. Never use large images!
Make Your Marketing Zappable with QR Codes
Those peculiar barcodes you may have seen on your Blackberry or Android smart phone have taken over Japan, and might soon become mainstream in the United States. Quick Response (QR) Codes, two-dimensional barcodes, started out in the early 90s as a way for manufacturers to track vehicle parts, but they’ve now spread to mobile phones, further linking the physical world and cyberspace.
QR Codes for Advertising
Japanese companies use QR Codes for advertising, notably on billboards so consumers can snap pictures from their cell-phones and head directly to the companies’ websites. The codes can be slapped on magazine ads, billboards, signage, or even business cards.
Some smart phones in the United States have already integrated QR Code technology, and as smart phones continue to skyrocket in popularity, that number will increase. The codes are appealing to advertisers because of their ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between cyberspace and the real world. By holding up your phone to an ad, you are instantly transported to the destination.
Do a Google search to create your own QR Codes. Does your smartphone have a QR reader? Scan our code: 
Facebook’s Extreme, Almost Creepy, Ad Targeting
Facebook’s ad service is one of the most targeted and dynamic advertising mediums around. And, we believe it’s highly underutilized. From our experience, we’ve found that Facebook can trounce Google Adwords in terms of quality traffic and conversions. That’s because you can cheaply make numerous ads that target consumers based on the usual age and gender demographics, and further sort by state, city, profession, and lifestyle likes and dislikes.
As you select your criteria, the program dynamically updates how many people you’re likely to reach with your ad. Facebook ads are so precise that one man was able to create an ad solely for his wife, and it worked.
Consumers are 10 times more like to buy products via social media, according to one study, so get on Facebook and get cracking on brand promotion!