It’s time I get this off my chest. I heard it again today from a flooring store owner… “We are looking for a template website because we can’t write the content ourselves.” Come on people!! When someone walks into your store do you read from a pre-written script? No!! So why do you think flooring consumers, or search engines want to see the same thing over and over again? Also, what may work out West is not the same for the Midwest or Eastern flooring stores. We all know that already, right?
Let me present this to you… “When you do a search do you think Google wants to show you the same content over and over, from listing to listing?” No! They do not want to show you duplicated content that is the same from website to website. Do you think consumers want to see “canned answers” or instead unique, personalized answers that compel them to shop your store?
You can spend $20,000 to $100,000+ on a website, if no one can find you it is a total waste of money! Make your website unique, optimized for the best, most relevant local keyword phrases, with appealing content and great “Call to Actions” on each page to give shoppers good reasons to visit your store(s) , or to contact you. Don’t become another me-to website who wastes valuable dollars on a duplicated, me-to website that eventually will be filtered out by the search engines! In the long run you will be leap years ahead by creating a unique website experience that engages your targeted audience, peeks their buying interests and includes strong, compelling call-to-actions” to drive them to your store.
The Internet has become a major media channel for flooring consumers looking to buy. Don’t blow it! Spend the money, do it right and keep the website up-to-date with new sales every month. It is 2009, so start embracing the media channels that will improve your sales and your bottom line.
Google announced today a new set of powerful and useful features to Google Analytics. This may seem daunting to many small businesses but these can be very useful if you learn how to use them effectively. Rather than explaining the new features here, just go to the Google Analytics blog for details… see link below:
One of the things I have recently discovered is the powerful way local businesses and communities can create personalized maps using Google’s My Maps. The maps, if made public, can be seen by people searching Google maps and used to build awareness to communities and drive traffic to local businesses and area attractions. See the how-to video below…
A April 2009 Citibank / GfK Roper survey of 500 small business executives from across the USA found that social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are not helping generate targeted leads.
76% say they have not found Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn useful for generating new leads
86% say they have not used social networking sites to get business advice or information
Small business executives focus on Google, Yahoo and authoritative websites (such as WSJ.com) for seeking information and advice
about half of the respondents said they are making better use of their own websites than they were in the past
So is it really social media is not a good channel for small businesses or is it they lack the time, knowledge and resources to properly embrace social media? Time will tell.
There is a good article published about duplicate content on Google, Bing & Yahoo. The article is published by WebProNews and is notes and takeaways from attending the recent Search Marketing Expo (SMX) East in New York.
Google Sidewiki is a browser sidebar application that lets anyone write comments, reviews, feedback and read what others have said alongside any web page. Many consumers (including myself) read reviews that others have written about products and companies before making a purchase decision. Now with Google Sidewiki anyone who installs the Google Sidewiki plug-in application in their browser can read and contribute alongside any web page.
I see good and bad with this new idea from Google. The real, honest reviews and comments can be great for consumers looking to research products. Often, people rely more on others experiences rather than on a brand’s marketing hype. The negative side to this is if this becomes a spammers new playground. How will this be policed for bad contributors remains to be seen. No one wants to waste time reading a bunch of junk.
Also, if you are a company with hundreds of product pages how will someone be able to track all the Google Sidewiki comments left on hundreds of pages?
One thing is for sure, if this catches on and becomes a reliable place for consumers to contribute their opinions this could really shift the landscape and how companies and brands are viewed. Watch the Google Sidewiki Youtube video for a quick overview how this works…
Here is a short video I put together to show people how the Google Sidewiki sidebar works:
If you want, leave a comment on the Google Sidewiki for this page.
There are 4 basic ways consumers will find your website:
Word of mouth (verbal referrals)
Traditional media ads (newspaper, radio, TV, direct mail, telephone book)
Links from other websites to your website
Major Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, & Bing)
Word of mouth means a friend or someone else tells a consumer about your business and gives them your website address (URL). Word of mouth can be an offline conversation or an online conversation through Twitter, forums, email, etc…
Believe it or not, there are still many consumers who read the printed newspaper, magazines or listen to the radio while they drive to and from work. Other potential consumers may see or hear your advertisement and have an immediate need for your products and services. The same thing holds true for television or direct mail. It might even be having your website address on a billboard, or a brochure handed out by your local Chamber of Commerce. There are still lots of ways tradional media can help drive targeted traffic to your website.
Another powerful way to get a target audience to your website is from other websites linking to your website. Exchanging links with other relevant, non-competing websites can help drive local. targeted traffic to your website. Plus, it can help boost your ranking position on the search engines. Search engines like websites that have lots of credible links back to their website. These links can come from personal blogs, directories, yellow page listings, as well as other websites. In other words, the more people are talking about you online the better you will do with the search engines.
Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, are the most popular way to drive targeted traffic to a website. You have two choices with search engines. The first is the natural listings (also called “organic” or free” listings) and the second is through the sponsored listings (also called “Pay-Per-Click” or “PPC” listings) For sponsored listings you bid a dollar amount on selected keywords, but you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. While on the natural listings you pay nothing at all. At this time, there are no more than 21 listings per search engine results page. Ten natural listings and eleven sponsored listings. (Note: there are some local listings and Press Releases that may also appear in the listings as well.)
An effective marketing strategy for local small businesses should involve all 4 ways. Although, search engines, if done correctly, can yield the highest amount of targeted traffic to a website today.
Christine Whittemore, chief simplifier of Simple Marketing Now LLC, has published “Social Media’s Collective Wisdom: Simplifying Marketing With Social Media” in which 26 prominent social media practitioners answer the question “what suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?”
The wisdom collected in this e-book originates from a social media interview series about Bridging New & Old that Whittemore launched in December 2008 on her blog Flooring The Consumer. This first volume of “Social Media’s Collective Wisdom” captures responses from the first 26 participants in this ongoing series.
“Social media is here to stay,” says Whittemore, “but the tools and approaches aren’t yet fully understood particularly as it relates to organizations. How better to jump start the process by absorbing the collective wisdom of these insightful social media professionals.”
The e-book – Social Media’s Collective Wisdom: Simplifying Marketing With Social Media – Book I – is available for free download by visiting http://simplemarketingnow.com/Services.html.
Below is a short video I created to help WordPress beginners use the WordPress rich text editor. I find most businesses that are not familiar with using rich text editors struggle at first. This short video will hopefully help you learn some of the basic features of the rich text editor. Enjoy!
One of the benefits for using WordPress for a blog is the ability to use long tail titles for your blog posts. This is assuming you have your WordPress blog setup to use them correctly. The main benefits of long tail titles is helping your blog posts get higher rankings with your target audience when they are searching for specific services and products.
The more descriptive your title phrases appear in the search engine results listings the more you compel your target audience to click on your search engine listings rather than your competitor’s listings. There is usually far less competition for keyword phrases that incorporate long tail title phrases. For example compare these to make believe listings:
1) Shoe store with discount prices
2) Save 25% on Reebok running shoes at our Chicago shoe store locations
Obviously, the second title is much more targeted, both geographically and what they are offering. If I were in the Chicago area and looking for running shoes I probably would click on the second website link because of the more descriptive title. The second title listing example also mentions the keyword phases “Reebok running shoes” and “Chicago shoe store” which are both very targeted keyword phrases.
Last, I recommend since Google only allows up to 70 characters in the search title listings, you should make your long tail titles as close to 70 characters as possible, but not more than that. In the above running shoe example, the number #2 listing is 69 characters long, including blank spaces.
Bio: I am the owner of Webstream Dynamics, a full-serivce web design company. I have been developing websites since the mid-1990s. Today, I focus on web design, SEO and Internet Marketing for many small businesses, chambers of commerce, and retail stores. I have also written articles for trade publications and I have given Internet seminars at various trade shows.
