1. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 1 7 Secrets to Web Success Marketing Your Business in Cyberspace November 2009 Pennsylvania presented by Jan Zimmerman Author, Web Marketing for Dummies, 2nd ed. Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing www.watermelonweb.com 4614 Sixth St. NW Albuquerque, NM 87107 info@watermelonweb.com 505-344-4230

2. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 2 What You’ll Learn Today Planning & Building a Marketing Effective Web Site Importance of Updating Content Value of Using Video & Audio on Site Free Online Marketing Techniques Integration with Offline Marketing The Magic Key to Web Success

3. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 33 7 Secrets to Web Success Get online and observe Define audience, goals, objectives Plan your Web project Evaluate plans for repeat visit value Create/optimize your site Plan your Web promotion Monitor & analyze results

4. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 4 1. Get Online & Observe See what competitors, customers, and vendors are doing Review which sites you like/don’t like Learn which sites generate sales Find out where your audience is online Do online market research

5. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 5 2. Define the Essentials Audience & Segmentation Goals Quantifiable Objectives

6. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 6 Audience & Segmentation Who is your market? –demographics, geographics, psychographics What other sites do they visit? What else do they buy? When do they go online?

7. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 7 Sample Goals Enhance company brand Provide company background & info Improve service & support Take orders for offline sales Bring customers to store or event Display samples or product info Sell online

8. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 8 Quantifiable Objectives Traffic Leads Sales by volume or dollar amount ROI

9. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 9 3. Plan Your Web Project Establish realistic schedule & budget Assess in-house skills Find qualified support Think long-term: content; staff, updates, maintenance, site promotion Integrate with other marketing

10. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 10 May Need Professional Help Graphic/Web Designer Web Developer (may need special skills) Photographer/videographer/animator Copywriter Merchandising Expert Search Engine Optimization Marketing, PR, & Online Advertising

11. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 11 Inexpensive Web Presence Alternatives Create a blog (blogger.com) with own domain name (can combine with below) Sell elsewhere –amazon, eBay, etsy.com, cafe press, craigslist, imagekind.com, many other sites Profiles on social media –facebook, linkedin, twitter, myspace, etc.

12. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 12 When you turn over the Web rock.... Embrace the Worms the business worms crawl out…..

13. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 13 An Appealing Site Does 3 Things... Attracts new viewers Keeps users on the site Draws repeat visitors

14. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 14 4. Evaluate Your Site/Plan for Repeat Visit Value Interactive Elements Build Communities Rich Media –Video, Audio, Flash Up-to-date Content

15. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 15 Video blackhorsefarmcarriages.com

16. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 16 Updating Content Is Critical! Affects search engine results Simple ways to update online –Blogs, wikis, product reviews on site Automated data feeds –quotes, dates, tickers, news (RSS) Content management systems –Open source, e.g. drupal, jumla –Contribute or Proprietary solutions

17. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 17 Using a CMS for Updates MSLresort.com

18. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 18 5. Evaluate Your Site or Plan Concept Content Navigation Decoration Marketing Efficacy

19. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 19 Concept hideawaygolf.com

20. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 20 Content monroehistorical.org

21. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 21 A Four-Letter Word beginning with F Request a Quote Sign Up for Savings Call Now Book Now Add to Cart Calls to Action Move Visitors Through Site

22. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 22 Optimize Web Content for Sales Sell Benefits, Not Features Marketing's 3-Letter Word

23. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 23 Navigation poconowomen.com

24. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 24 Organize Your Site Linkable site index or map Outlines the site

25. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 25 Decoration camelbeach.com

26. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 26 Marketing Efficacy skysthelimit.net

27. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 27 Easy as Pie.... Keep navigation consistent on all pages Check all links, pages and forms Make it easy to contact the company on all pages Make it easy to pay Tell people what to do

28. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 28 Time for Action! Please arrange yourselves into groups of 4-5 for the team exercise

29. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 29 Team Exercise: Site Evaluation Each group will receive 2 screenshots of a Web site to evaluate (home page & 1 interior page) Appoint someone to act as spokesperson/record- keeper. You have 15” to come up with a group analysis. Random groups will be asked to report their evaluation & explain why in 3” or less. Did team members agree or disagree? What’s the most important criterion for judging Web success?

30. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 30 6. Plan Your Web Promotion Set aside 25-30% of your initial development budget for marketing Budget ongoing marketing expense Have a realistic timeline for results

31. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 31 Why Market Online?

32. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 32 Why Market Online?

33. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 33 Why Market Online? There’s no point having a wonderful web site if no one can find it...

34. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 34 People Who See a URL 5% of Those Visit a Site Prospects Qualified Leads Buyers or Callers The Conversion Funnel Only 2- 4% of Visits Convert In other words: It takes 1000 impressions to make a sale!

35. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 35 How Users Discover Sites metagroup.com /Social Networks

36. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 36 What You Already Know Is Right! l Don’t put all the marketing eggs in one basket -Web is only part of marketing l Guerrilla Marketing: target 1 market at a time l A better mousetrap is not enough l Measure results & adjust

37. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 37 4 Ways to Promote a Site in Cyberspace Guerrilla Marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Marketing Paid Online Advertising

38. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 38 Guerrilla Marketing Techniques Email Signature block Yahoo & Google Groups Newsletters (may have a fee)

39. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 39 Search Engine Jargon Search Engine Optimization (SEO) –adjusting sites, keywords, and pages to gain better placement Natural or Organic Search –results from review of unpaid submissions Paid Search –fee paid for appearance or for pay-per-click ads Spiders, Crawlers, or Robots –automated programs used to index content of web sites

40. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 40 The Search Engine Maze : Only 3 DIY Must-Have Sites google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html bing.com/docs/submit.aspx you can do yourself don’t need 100,000 search engines don’t need monthly resubmits

41. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 41 Choose Search Engines by Audience

42. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 42 “Natural” Search Engine Ranking l Need to be on 1st page of results to be noticed l You can try on your own, but may need help l Different search engines have different rules -Different keyword-based engines weigh things differently -Keywords & tags for Yahoo & Bing -Inbound links and page rank for Google

43. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 43 Basic Approach (except Google) View>Source on high-ranking competitors Select search terms –Wordtracker.com, Google Keyword Tool, or others Write metatags Optimize pages and Web site Check position, tweak & re-submit if needed or when add new content

44. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 44 Inbound Linking for Google l Find audience online l Check links on high-ranking competitors (linkpopularity.com) l Remember directories, maps, yellow pages l Send email request or form l Be selective about reciprocal links

45. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 45 Social & Viral Marketing - Huh? community creativity interactivity input communication site links collaboration user participation information sharing

46. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 46 Social Marketing Adds Value & Presence Boosts new visits May increase search engine visibility Cost-effective marketing when budgets are tight Many techniques exist on 3rd-party sites Posting on others’ sites can provide inbound links Clients can do themselves, but time-consuming Pick only 1-2 techniques

47. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 47 Criteria for Choosing Social Networks Are your target markets there? Does content type match goals/objectives? How much time will be needed? What does it cost? Do you have the skills & interest?

48. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 48 What is Social Networking? Applications that allow members to interact online Users control their own activity For most, you create a profile and then post frequent updates In most cases, users sign up to “follow” or become fans Not for “hard sell”

49. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 49 Social Media Demographics social-media-optimization.com/2009/08/social- networks-demographics

50. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 50 More Demographics tomuse.com/social-networking-demographics-who- has-smartest-and-wealthiest-users

51. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 51 Rules for Using Social Media stillindie.com/2009/07/5-rules-artists-social-media.html Don’t sign up for more than you can handle Don’t self-promote, converse Tell a story: unique, personal Build community Create incentive to come back with original content

52. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 52 The Current Hot Trends Facebook (older demographic, female) MySpace (higher use by teens, tweens, minorities) Linked In (for B2B, professional services) Twitter (good for news, entertainment) Flickr (good for sites with photos) YouTube (for video) Social bookmarks –e.g., digg, delicious, stumbleupon

53. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 53 Facebook Social Network facebook.com/pages/Scotrun-PA/Pangea- Restaurant-Bar/64385877960?v=wall

54. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 54 My Space Social Network myspace.com/dennisjeter

55. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 55 Linked In Social Network linkedin.com/pub/laura-billingham/0/901/b5b

56. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 56 Twitter Social Network twitter.com/FMKirbyCenter

57. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 57 Flickr Photosharing flickr.com/visitPA

58. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 58 YouTube youtube.com/user/PennsylvaniaBallet

59. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 59 Share Buttons for Social Sites addthis.com/bookmark.php Email Site Facebook Digg Favorites Twitter Linked In

60. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 60 Ways to Promote a Site Offline Word-of-mouth Press Releases Direct (print) mail Radio, TV, Print Ads Literature, Stationery, Packaging Promotional Items Community Events

61. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 61 7. Analyze Your Site Statistics Monitor traffic, site appeal, and sales statistics - Google Analytics Hit Rate: Fact & Myth Use the results to modify pages & Web promotion program The line that counts is the bottom line!

62. © 2009 Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing 62 The Magic Key What's on this Web site for me? If you answer that for your target audience, your Web site will work magic for you!