Questions To Ask - Before Hiring An Online Marketing Company

Most small businesses realize that to be successful they will need an online presence. A website and some form of online marketing is almost completely essential for any company nowadays. All online marketing companies are not created equal and therefore we have created a few questions that you as a business owner should ask before hiring a company to design your website or do any type of online marketing:

1. Do I have to commit to a long term contract?

Most online marketing companies will require a contract/commitment of a least a year before even beginning to work on your website or online presence. Needless to say this can/has become a nightmare for some business owners. Companies will lure you in with promises of being "number 1" on Google or other unrealistic expectations. Once you realize these expectations aren't being met, you have no way to opt out and could become stuck paying a bill that doesn't benefit your company at all. Online Marketing companies that will let you go month to month are most likely reputable because they have to continuously work to earn your business and keep you as a happy customer.

     2.  How easy is it to get a hold of support technicians?

Communication between yourself and the team actually working on your website or online marketing campaign is very important. Find out how easy it is to get support on the phone. How fast is the response time when communicating thru email? Do they have communication thru physical mail or fax? Do they have any other forms of communication such as social networking or instant chat.  A general rule is that they should have at least two different ways to respond to any questions or concerns.

    3.  Will I own my website, even if I part ways with your company?

If you decide to have a web design company build your website make sure you will have full control the website even if you decide to part ways with the company. Many companies, including most of the online yellowpage directories will not let you take your site with you if you decide to part ways. You might have to continue marketing with theses companies, spending hundreds of dollars each month with very little ROI just to have your site stay online. Make sure you have it in writing that you own the site that you paid for.

At Site Smart we have no long term contracts. We work hard for your business each and every month you market with us. Our support team is always available by phone, even on nights and weekends. You can always contact us through email, fax, mail and coming soon skype. Any site we build for your company is yours, we will never hold your website hostage. When choosing an online marketing company make sure all of these standards are met before making a commitment.

Conversion Based Website Design: Website Makeover Part 1

Getting Started

Now that we have a good understanding of what conversion-based website design is and we've identified our target audience, let's get down to the nuts-and-bolts and how to best accomplish our goals. If you aren't sure what conversion-based design is and stumbled across this blog post by accident, you might want to check this out first: Introduction to Conversion Based Website Design

Website Redesign: Before and After

For this example, we'll look at the “Before and After” of a recent client of ours and what it means for conversion; for them, and for you by following these simple guidelines. Let's take a look at our starting point and get a good feel for the client's current state of affairs, so to speak. 

Tom's Bee Hives: Before

Meet Tom. Tom builds beehives. Tom is one of the best custom beehive builders in the country and a nice guy to boot. The problem is, you would never know that from visiting his website (well, you may figure out he's a nice guy) and you would have no idea of the amazing quality of his handcrafted beehives. Tom deserves better. At first glance, there is good room for improvement. Let's start by identifying exactly what these areas are.

Ready. Aim. Market.

Since we've identified who Tom's target audience is, we know that his potential customers need to understand a few things about Tom and his product as fast as possible:

• Tom builds custom beehives made to order.
• All of Tom's beehives are made from 100% natural pine.
• Tom is an old-world craftsman.
• Tom loves talking to all of his customers.
• Customers can order beehive parts separately and in different sizes.

Smart Website Adjustments

One of the immediate areas for improvement is the number of ways to contact Tom and order one of his fabulous beehives. On Tom's homepage, it is difficult to find a way to contact him. A user must click “Contact” to display the information that they need: in this case, Tom's phone number. Website visitors want what they want and they want it now. The faster we give it to them, the happier they are and the more our business thrives. Once you have identified what your visitors want, clear a path to that info so they get it as fast and clearly as possible. So an easy-to-read, hard to miss phone number is great for business. This may seem common sense but it can be easy for some business owners to get so wrapped up in creating a gorgeous website, they forget the goal. Good design is when art meets functionality. Cliché, I know.

Another vital adjustment to make for Tom is to clarify his messaging by blatantly telling visitors exactly what he does and other important information.

Little changes. Big Conversion.

Small adjustments like this make a tremendous difference in the world of web marketing. A great way to find out just how conversion-friendly your website is would be to ask a neighbor, nephew or cousin to visit your site pretending to be a customer., You will preferably want someone that will give their honest opinion as an unbiased “customer”. Once they agree, take note as to how they navigate the site and process the information. Where did their eyes go first? What was the very first thing they clicked? Your friend will most likely offer their opinion on design as well, and that's invaluable, but what we're looking for here is functionality. After you have a game plan together, it will be easy to stay on track while making the adjustments.

Tom's Bee Hives: After

The Difference

The contrast between a well thought out website and poor planning can be staggering, both visually and economically.  Even if you are not a pro designer, focus on getting the basics right and your visitors will thank you. 

Hope you found this useful. Happy marketing, folks, and we'll see you next post.

Having a large number of inbound links to your website is one of the most important factors in determining how your website ranks on search engines like Google. One of the quickest and easiest ways to get those inbound links is from directory submission.

There are literally thousands of directories - some that are specific to certain industries only. Most directories have paid listings or featured listings and they try to get as much money from you as they can to be listed. Before you invest money in having a paid listing with directories like Yellowpages.com, Yelp, Yahoo Directory etc. make sure your bases are covered with our free directory list first. We have put together a list of a few of the top free website directories where all business websites need to be.

List Of Top Free Directories

DMOZ	www.dmoz.org/docs/en/add.html
Google Places	www.google.com/places
Bing	www.bing.com/businessportal
Yahoo	www.listings.local.yahoo.com
Yelp	www.biz.yelp.com/signup
Superpages	www.supermedia.com/spportal/quickbpflow.do
HotFrog	www.hotfrog.com/AddYourBusiness.aspx
Local	www.advertise.local.com
Best Of The Web	www.local.botw.org/secure/signup.aspx?type=jumpstart
InfoUSA	www.expressupdateusa.com/accuracy/default.aspx
City Search	www.citysearch.com/members/register

This can be quite time consuming and complicated to go through all of their steps, one at a time. So, we offer a full directory list and take care of the directory submission service for any client signed up for our IntelliCast+ marketing service.

Breaking Down Google's Search Results Page

Everyone's done it - Gone online, went to Google and searched for a local business. Typically when someone searches for a business on Google three types of results will appear. Google breaks up the page into three distinct sections:

1. Organic or Natural listings
2. AdWords or Sponsored Links
3. Google Places or Google Maps section.

One common question business owners ask us is: "Where is the best place for my website to be to get conversions?" The answer of course depends on who is searching because everyone has a different tendency to click on a certain section of the page.  Some people will automatically click on the first sponsored link, while others will skip the sponsored links and maps sections altogether and go right to the natural listings. The truth is that any exposure on the first page of Google is good.  Their are by far more people searching on Google than all of the other search engines combined.  That being said here are a few different benefits to each section:

Organic or Natural Listings 

These results appear below the sponsored links on the top of the page and usually below the maps as well. The main benefit of having a good natural listing is that it will provide long term results for your business. Gaining a high ranking natural listing is a long term, time consuming project that can take a while to achieve.  However once you do get a steady stream of traffic to your site you will continue to see results even after you have slowed down or stopped your SEO efforts. Another major benefit is that most people who search click on the natural listings.

AdWords or Sponsored Links

These results appear on the top and right hand side of the page. The major benefit of Google AdWords or pay per click advertising is that it is the quickest and easiest way to get your website on the first first page of Google. AdWords are helpful for all businesses but are particularly advantageous for E-Commerce sites. You select a daily ceiling on how much you spend to fit your budget. You get to select what keywords your ad will be shown for and only pay when someone clicks on your ad and lands on your website. You get to target the specific people who are searching for your site through research and analysis of keywords. 

Google Places or Google Maps

These results appear right and co-mingled  the sponsored links. These results are only triggered locally or when someone is searching in a specific city. A major advantage of having your business listed here is that your phone number will appear along side your listing. People can call you without ever clicking on your listing. Businesses can create these listing for free through Google's local business center, however continual optimization is required to achieve and maintain a good ranking.

Since everyone has different preferences on where they usually click on the page, we recommend a combination of having your site listed in all three sections of the page to maximize your websites potential.

How To Avoid Website Link Exchange Scams

We frequently receive questions from clients stating they received an email from another website wanting to exchange links with their website. Getting more incoming links (inbound links) is very important to establish good rankings on Google and some of the other major search engines. So yes, you want more incoming links.

The issue is - there are many link exchange scams, bait and switch schemes, and other tactics online marketers use to get you to link to their website. Some requests are completely legit and could be a good opportunity to help both websites. So should you link? What are the risks? What are the benefits? Here are a few tips to help you identify if the link exchange request is valid and how to avoid link exchange scams:

10 Tips To Avoid Link Exchange Scams

1) Do not click any links in their email to you! Their email is probably a solicitation, and you most likely don't "know" them. As a good rule of thumb, never click links in emails from anyone you don't already know and trust. Viruses and other bad things may be hidden or disguised in a link exchange email.

2) Visit their website directly. Does their website match your website's target audience? If it doesn't match at all with related keywords, similar interests, same industry, etc. then consider avoiding the link. If it is a good fit, it is a better and safer bet.

3) Avoid bait & switch scams. Where are they asking you to link to? Establish who the author is and get a feel for the type of content on the website. Is the website they are offering to link from their "main website" or is it a quick secondary website they threw up to get your incoming link to their main website? Avoid trading links from a "bait and switch". Look for linking to a good quality, established, primary website.

4) Check where they plan to place the link to your website. Do you see a "Links" or "Resources" page connected anywhere on their website if you click around? If you can't find it, email them back and ask where they plan to place the link. If they don't already have a links page, they may ask you to link to them with no intention of ever linking back to your website.

5) It seems real, they already link to your website. If you did click the link in the email, you may see a website that already links to your website at the bottom or side of every page. It's a tricky tactic, as they are showing you something that is not actually visible unless you click the link, which they have only provided to you. Also, this is probably a secondary website used to market their main business. This is for sure
only a marketing tactic rather than a reciprocal business relationship.

6) Link to quality content. We should only link to websites that are websites we can be proud to display on your website. Even though the attraction is there to get one more incoming link to your website, it may not be worth all the explaining you have to do with potential customers, vendors, or future business partners. Also, there are websites that have shady practices that might get them "black listed" by the search engines and they may be flagged for using bad practices online. You never want to link to - or from - a website that is practicing "black hat" SEO techniques. 

7) Don't give them your credit card number for any reason. If it's not a scam, there is no reason to exchange payment. This is supposed to be a mutually reciprocal relationship, were you both gain from the links. The only reason they would need your credit card number is to scam you out of money.

8) Research the website and do a "who is" look up. Figure out who owns the domain name and how long they have been in business with that domain name. There are many websites that offer this type of search for free, we use GoDaddy as they provide lots of information compared to others - http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx

9) Establish who the link would benefit most. The idea is that you both benefit from the link exchange. Scammers may try to get you to link from your home page or every page on your website, in exchange for a link from their website on an interior page that is buried 10 clicks deep. Although it may still count as an incoming link, they may be putting it in a place that search engines can't crawl. 

10) Put keywords in the link title. If you have established this is a relevant website, with good content and a history you can be proud of - it might be a good move to exchange links with them. If you decide to go ahead with the link, make sure both of your companies put good keywords in the hyperlink. Example: Site Smart - Las Vegas Website Design rather than just the company name Site Smart Marketing, Inc. This is one of the main ways search engines know what your website should be known for - stamped with a seal of approval by your peers. It's an outside source vouching for your website by giving a vote of that states "yes, that's what they are known for".

Conversion Based Website Design: An Introduction

Since the dawn of the internet, there have been countless people citing their opinions as to what makes a “great website”. If you ask five hundred people what makes an amazing website, you'll get five hundred different answers. Over the next few weeks, we'll take a look at a handful of websites and look at what works and what doesn't. More importantly, we'll break down why it works and we'll suggest some easy ways for you to get closer to that holy grail of web marketing. Conversion.

What is Conversion?

So what is conversion? Simply put, a conversion is when a site visitor performs a predetermined action, like when a searcher “converts” into a new customer. A conversion could be a phone call, a purchase, or a newsletter subscription just for starters. We could talk about exactly what conversion is enough to fill an fifty blog posts, but for now, let's assume you have determined a solid, measurable way to quantify your conversions. There are many ways to improve conversion, but there is one in particular that is often neglected.

The Conversion Secret?

We're not going to talk about search engine optimization, or writing keyword rich ad copy. No, instead we're going to talk about the most often overlooked aspect of any online business, one that most SEO firms fail to address: web design.

Undo Backwards Web Design

Many websites are designed backwards, meaning the website communicates for the business, from the business's standpoint, instead of for the target audience the company is wanting to engage. These websites and this type of thinking are focused on getting maximum traffic and then sell, sell, sell, without thinking through about what the target audience is desiring and how they will process it. If conversion is the web marketing goal, then target audience engagement is key.

Sadly, today, most designers do not consider this during the development of your website.

Design With One Action in Mind

Good project development, and ultimately the overall success of the online marketing campaign will start from a solid plan. Before you can plan, research on “who exactly is your target audience and what do they want” will save you money while making you money.

In determining how to engage your target audience and how to best accomplish your goals, ask yourself this:

1. Who is my target audience?
2. What is the one most valuable piece of information they desire?
3. If they went with my service, what would be the most important question they might ask?
4. What would encourage conversion if I were looking for the same service? Saving money? Reliability?

Conversion based design is really what it would be like if we let our customers design our businesses. Think about it.

Valuable Client Insight

By standing in the shoes of our ideal prospects, it is much easier to determine what they need in order of importance and how best to get it to them. What would matter most if you were them? After answering these questions, work with you designer to create engaging, user friendly web experiences. Remember, get down to the basics and keep it simple. Next week, we'll look at some great examples of conversion based design and a few examples of, well, bad web design.

Respond To Bad Reviews On Google Maps & Yelp

"There are two options to respond to him, either publicly or privately. Which one would you recommend?" - Carol J.

An unhappy customer gave your business a negative or bad review on Google or Yelp. With so much importance placed on your online reputation, each and every review - positive or negative - has weight that effects how potential customers view your business. So how do you respond to this review?

Here are some tips on how to respond to bad reviews online:

1) Respond publicly for sure. People who read your reviews need to know that you respond to positive AND negative reviews and that even if unpleasant, you are willing to work it out.

2) Try to take it "offline". You don't want to say anything that will prompt a response online. Ask them to contact you directly by phone or email. Try to avoid asking questions, telling your side of the story, or bashing the customer's opinion.

Response Example: "We are sorry for your experience at XYZ Restaurant. We were not aware the of the mix up with your reservation. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Please contact us to fully discuss your experience so we can make it right for you."

3) No blame. Do not place blame on the customer, or assume blame yourself. Again, you don't want to start a "flame war" for the world to see. Don't be defensive, even if they were complaining directly about you. It's business, and should be treated as such. Avoid the drama.

4) Listen to your customer. Let them know you are listening and a real human by repeating back part of their complaint in your response. Be pleasant, honest, and secure in your response.

Response Example: "We are sorry your tire went flat right after the new tires were put on. We take care of our customers and appreciate you taking the time to let us know there was a problem. Please give us a call and speak with Rob, our customer service manager, he will help in any way he can to get you taken care of."

5) Make it funny. If humor fits, make it work!  If you can turn the unhappy experience into a funny, charming story it works wonders. It shows your future customers that you care, you respond, and you take care of your customers - and everyone will see that.

Response Example: "We are sorry you saw us on a bad hair day! We always shoot for the moon, and we try to make every day a 10 out of 10. Please give us a call to discuss your particular experience, we will work with you to resolve this issue to your satisfaction. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how we can improve."

6) Humble yourself. If the customer has a valid point, thank them for bringing their bad experience to your attention. Tell them how you plan to correct it.

Response Example: "We are so sorry you saw our bathrooms in that state. We work hard to keep our facility clean and we will be placing extra attention in that area with a schedule to check the bathrooms frequently throughout the day. Give us a call to fill us in on the details. We invite you to try us again, please contact us to receive a free combo on your next visit."

For good reviews thank them for their comments. For negative reviews, you can offer them a special incentive to try you again, like 10% off their next visit, or free products, or free services, or something that will make them want to come back to give your business another shot. The best press is how you handle these situations for the world to see.

Here are some additional tips on how to respond to reviews online:

http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/static.py?page=guide.cs&guide=28247&topic=28307&answer=184271

https://biz.yelp.com/support/responding_to_reviews

If you are just not a creative writer and you need help crafting your review response don't be afraid to ask for help. Ask for help from a friend, family member, co-worker, husband or wife, or from an experienced web professional.