Timeless Marketing Principles Pt 3

We’ve all known to have a Web site since the 80′s. We didn’t all do it then, but now it’s just “duh.” Of course you have a Web site.

Since the beginning of it all we needed to ‘be found online.’ How to do that has changed, but now it’s even more important to understand the simple, somewhat-time-consuming-but-free things you can do on a regular basis to stay visible. Older sites have the advantage of domain age, but newer companies are on to that and employing tactics that you need to be ready for by making sure you’re at least covering the basics.

5 basic things you can do now:

• Sign up for Market Samurai and learn what you need understand about keyword research so that you’re taking advantage of words and phrases that people are searching for and your competitors have missed. Of course, we’ll do that for you if you like:)
• Make sure you’re signed up with Google Analytics so you can see what kind of traffic you’re getting. Modify accordingly. If you don’t know how, get advice.
• Make sure your picture, phone, and complete contact information is available for all your viewers and easily found. Make sure all your links are working.
• Take advantage of blogging. If your site won’t support it, use a free 2.0 site like Weebly, Blogger, or WordPress and link it to your Web site. Both ways. Accept worthy comments and reply to them.
• List your Web site in free local listings like Google Local, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp and MerchantCircle, and consider listing in other fee-based directories if they are reputable for your industry.

As you update the content on your blog platform, add your post URL’s and related commentary into a great scheduling tool like SocialOomph. 4-5 different scheduled updates for a day, and remember to schedule other interesting information as well. From that point of entry, your information will go out not only to Twitter, but Facebook and several other social sites that you will get to choose. Handy way to increase your online presence, huh? All of a sudden, the links to your posts are read by viewers and their viewers. Somebody is bound to bite if you write something of value to your audience, and engage.

And it didn’t take you all day to do! Then you can keep your social media tab open while you work and interact socially without having to change your train of thought.

Related Posts:

Marketing Includes Knowing What You Don’t Want Pt 2

Does your business location show up on Google Maps? If so, are you fully taking advantage of it? If not, why not? It’s free, easy and totally painless … an easy task that will improve your search results even if you don’t have a Web site!

First, let’s find out if you have an accurate listing. Go to http://maps.google.com and search using your business name. Not there? Just add your business directly through the Local Business Center.

If you find your business, review your listing. Clicking on the name of your business will bring up a white information bubble with a “Claim your business” link or if you’ve already taken that step, an “edit” link.

Once you’ve claimed your business listing, Google will verify that you’re the business owner by phone (immediately – an automated call) or you can choose to have them mail you a postcard. We’ve done it both ways, but the phone call route allows you to get it done all in one sitting. Once this step is complete, you’ll be able to log-in and optimize your local business listing.

Your Google Local Business Center listing should bring up an accurate location, phone number, and Web site address at the very least. But you should also include hours of operation, payments accepted, photos and even video. Notice also that your customers can review your business right from within Google Maps, but it will also pull other reviews from 3rd party review sites on the Internet automatically.

To create an effective listing, make sure to submit your:

• Company/organization name, physical address or PO Box, and phone number
• Web site and Email address
• Business description – make use of the information you wrote last week when you defined your business
• Categories – Choose categories that accurately and specifically describe your business. This helps you show up in the searches where you want to be found.
• Hours of operation
• Payment options
• Photos and videos – this will help you stand out from the crowd!
• Any additional details that your prospective customer would find useful

Do you have questions or comments about Google Local? Is this information useful to you? Let us know with your comments below.

Related Articles:
Does Your SEO Expert Know What He’s Talking About?
Social Networking Leads to Social Search

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn: These and an abundance of smaller social sites are gaining ground as searchable resources. Their value as search engines is directly related to their value as social networking sites. In fact, if you want to know what’s being said on any given topic, your quickest, most accurate resource would be one of Twitter’s many social search tools, such as Twitter Search or Tweet Grid. Why? Because Twitter is where the conversation is happening.

Leigh of Leigh’s Blitherings says, “Twitter and Facebook both are becoming filters where my network are kind enough to only tweet and link to the most interesting content. And Twitter in particular has become a place where I can ask a question and in no time flat have my questions answered in the form of links, referrals and juicy bits of insight.”

I’ve definitely found this to be true. My search habits have changed drastically in the past year. I don’t rely any less on Google, but frequently it’s not my first pick for information retrieval. My personal #1 search engine is Delicious, a social bookmarking service. Why? Because I save 100% of my bookmarks there, and I only bookmark things that I want to return to. My Delicious network appears to feel the same way about it, resulting in highly relevant search results nearly every time.

Close on the heels of Delicious is Twitter. If it’s conversations I’m looking for, this is my first choice. One of our Zero To Sixty markets is the hobby consumer. I can tap into what that market is talking about by simply tapping into the Twitter information stream.

Want to know what people in your area are talking about online? Use Twellow, a Twitter directory, searchable by locale. Or add your locale to a Delicious search and subscribe to the results. Tap into your local network on Facebook. Find and join a local business group on LinkedIn.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many ways to find information in addition to Google … and be sure that I’m not diminishing the importance of Google. For comprehensive search results covering news, blogs, Web sites, etc., Google remains the industry leader. But they’re not the only game in town, and like marketing itself is changing, so is the way we find information online.

Consider the marketing implications for your business. How many different ways can your market find you? Are you visible online today? What are you doing to ensure that you’ll be visible and viable a year from now?

Related Articles (Off-site):

Social Activity Becomes Significant Source of Website Traffic (My inspiration for this article)
It’s Time to Start Thinking of Twitter as a Search Engine
Why Twitter is My Personalized Search Engine
Future of Twitter
Using Delicious for Social Bookmarking