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Keyword Phrases: What They Are And How They Can Help You Make Money
In the wonderful web world, keyword phrases are just that, key words (2+ words) that influence how search engines rank your Web site. Assuming you have strategically chosen your keyword phrases, they should be the main focus of each blog post or Web site page(s). To find those phrases, you can use Google Analytics or other programs like Market Samurai. These online software programs give you the capability to find the words that are most popular for your industry products or services. Keep in mind that industry jargon is not necessarily what the general population uses to describe your products or services. The trick to finding the best keyword phrases is to dig deep enough to discover those phrases that are underutilized (relatively speaking) and construct your content using those keyword phrases. For instance, if you sell flowers, you may not want to optimize for the single word ‘flower’ but rather another more definitive term like ‘Mothers Day flowers.’ Now I am just making this up as an example but you get the idea.
The programs mentioned above can be helpful in finding keyword phrases; however, it’s just as important to think thoroughly through other possibilities on your own. It can also help to research the competition.
So now to the more important question, how can keyword phrases help you make money?
Quite simply if you have a well-optimized site with keywords that are pertinent to your products or services, then you’ll be able to get more hits (also known as traffic) to your Web site. By merely playing the numbers, someone will contact you. With a single contact, it is up to you and your team to convert the call into a meeting and then eventually into a sale.
Keep in mind that optimizing your Web site is not just a one-time deal. It’s important to keep writing content with those keywords to increase your chances of showing up on the first page of Google. But don’t just write content for the sake of writing content. Write information that others will want to know about you, your company, your products/services, your staff…you get the picture.
Ultimate post message: Be relevant and have fun!
Any Publicity Is Good Publicity – Not True
You’ve heard it from Hollywood, “Any publicity is good publicity.” I am here to say unequivocally that is not true, especially online – a place where data can live for a very long time. Despite your intentions, how you promote your company can affect how it is perceived by the public. I have hesitated to write about this until now but after much thought, I decided to share a case in point.
My family recently lost a 26-year old cousin in an accidental car wreck. As you can imagine, his death shocked and saddened us tremendously. Not to diminish the passing of anyone else I have known, but this funeral was one of the saddest events I have ever attended. A few days after putting him to rest, I was surfing the net for his obituary and stumbled across a blog post with his name and mention of his accident. The post went on to explain that accidents like his are not uncommon. It concluded with a self-promotion for a law firm telling its readers that if they or someone they know have been in a serious wreck to call them. As another family member described the post, it was “disgusting.” I sent the law firm a comment (to their blog) explaining that I did not appreciate how they used my cousin’s accident as a springboard for self-promotion. What’s more, they wrote the story and posted it to their blog the same day he died! How tacky.
A short time later, I got an apology and a promise, which they kept, that the post would be pulled.
In my opinion, the firm did not do themselves any favor by using the death of a private young man to promote their business. It’s one thing when you write about public figures. Those folks willingly allow themselves to be admired or criticized. But to exploit the death of anyone in an attempt to drive business is not only detrimental but also morally wrong.
Why You Cannot Measure Your Blog’s ROI
In a world of instant gratification, many business owners want a quick return on their marketing investments. Measuring marketing ROI (return on investment) for initiatives like blogs can be difficult since more than one marketing program may contribute to landing a new client.
For instance, I have a doctor-client that runs a full-page newspaper advertisement locally. Even if I am not told an advertisement ran, I can always tell because her Web site numbers spike that day (and for a few more days thereafter). Interestingly enough, she only lists a phone number in the advertisement and no Web site address. Nevertheless, people want to vet her by learning more about her practice online. When they get to her Web site, they can tell from her blog posts that she regularly updates her content. This allows potential patients see that she stays current in her business thus providing value to them. In this case, none of the blog posts initiated the sales process. Rather the posts confirm a positive online reputation and support all other initiatives.
Look at your blog as a tool that provides valuable information to your readers and positions your company’s expertise. Good blogging serves a few purposes for your online strategy. The search engine spiders (term used to describe the Web crawler that methodically goes through all Web sites) determine what and how things get indexed. Internal hyperlinks (links that connect information within your own site) is not only beneficial to Google, Yahoo and Bing, but those links help the reader find additional facts on your Web site.
One of my favorite reasons to blog is that it allows you to feed the search engine monsters – Google, Yahoo, Bing (to name a few). When you give the monsters fresh content, they often index your posts so that your clients can find you. If done correctly – with a targeted message and strong keywords – every blog post has a chance to rank high in the searches.
Blogging does not have to be a confusing initiative. In fact, before diving into blogging, a clear and concise strategy should be established. Otherwise, you could be wasting time and effort creating material that has no intrinsic value.
Coming In For A Landing (Page)
Simply put, a landing page is any web page you find when searching for a particular subject matter in a search engine (i.e. Google or Yahoo!). A good landing page can be a specially designed page that looks different from the company’s Web site but maintains the brand integrity.
A little something-something about search engine optimization
Often companies create landing pages to drive targeted traffic to a specific service or product. One commonly used form of advertising is pay-per-click – paid advertising that will show up at the very top or on the right side of a searched page result. Every time someone clicks on the ad, the advertising company pays an agreed upon fee. There are many controls that can be put in place to stay within budgetary constraints. However, the ad must be valued a certain way (by the search engine) in order to get the best place, but that’s another blog post.
Other ways landing pages show up is through organic results. Often organically positioned landing pages (or Web sites) provide greater credibility. Optimal organic placement is when a web page is positioned on the first page in the top spots (i.e. spot 1, 2 or 3) of a particular search phrase.
Bottom-line benefits
One of the greatest benefits of landing pages for the consumer is they do not have to sort through an entire Web site to find what they are looking for. Plus they have an opportunity to make immediate contact via phone or usually through a contact form.
For the company, a landing page proves beneficial through higher conversion rates. The trick is not to inundate with too much information or images but rather keep the page short and to the point while still getting your message across. Depending on the budget and time allotted for the campaign will affect just how you develop your strategy. There is no simple answer. The strategy is shaped by considerations such as the product, competition, market demands and location of target.
4 Reasons Why A Blog Matters To Your Business
I was speaking to a prospect today about his company’s online strategy. He has been spending money on pay-per-click advertising but getting no results nor is he ranking organically (where he wants). In other words, he has not gotten any business. He heard about the theory of why a blog is important but did not understand the concept of how it can work to his advantage.
This particular businessman is more proactive than many people with their online strategies. However, so many companies design a Web site and ‘wallaaa’, they are done. I would say that’s a great start but certainly not all you should do after exerting the effort and money into developing keyword strategies, writing content and creating design. If you have no way to consistently reach out to your clients, prospects and referral sources, then all you have is an address online.
Why is a blog an integral part of an online strategy? Below are just a few of the reasons to post on a blog for your business health.
First and foremost, it helps boost traffic
Search engines love Web sites with fresh content. They key is not to create posts but create posts with keyword phrases in them. Keep in mind that every page of your Web site has a chance of getting optimized (high placement on search engines like Google). In fact, there will be times that one blog post ranks higher than your Web site pages.
Builds trust and ultimately establishes the relationships
Giving information away about what you do or how you things may seem counterintuitive if you have never taken this approach before. Yes, you will come across a few do-it-yourselfers, that’s just part of doing business. The bottom-line is that most people do not want to actually do the work; they want the assurance that they are speaking to the best person for the job.
Relative to other marketing strategies, it’s the lowest cost
There are many ways to spend your time and money. If you choose to keep your own blog updated with content, then you will invest time. Relative to the cost, blog posts can be such a great way to leverage your time and money. A professional writer will offer concise information that will appeal to your readers.
One blog post, many uses – Repurpose!
One of my favorite reasons to publish blog posts is the many uses you can get from just one post! Here’s my personal strategy:
1) 4x monthly I create and publish an informative post to my blog
2) Grab and shorten the URL (use a free program like Bitly)
3) Using Hootsuite to post to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, I schedule the post notification to go out during the peak time for my business during the week
4) Bi-monthly, I create a newsletter using the posts over the past 8 weeks and distribute to my list
5) I did this for one of my clients: Pull together 10-20 posts and create an e-book. Offer it for free on your Web site or in landing pages. This is a great way to create interest in your business and offer something that your competitors aren’t providing.
Although we are so used to the immediate nature of the internet, keep in mind that blogging is another form of marketing and it does take time. But with consistency and a little patience, it can work for your benefit.
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