Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

The first time I heard the term "so-lo-mo" I did a double take. "So-lo-mo....what?" Here we go again, another internet marketing acronym to remember. The internet marketing world is filled with acronyms and abbreviations for all kinds of things we do online (see - SEO, PPC, SMO, LP, SMM...blah blah blah), but so-lo-mo was definitely the first that just really got me shaking my head. But with that being said, the term is here to stay and the buzz around it is legitimate. 

The term "so-lo-mo" is the convergence of social media, local search, and mobile marketing. It's a way of creating a 1-1 engagement strategy with customers on a local level with mobile devices and social media. When done correctly, so-lo-mo can help you reach the right customer, in the right place, at exactly the right time. 

Familiar with "checking in" on you mobile device? With sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, and Yelp growing rapidly, checking in is quickly becoming the cool thing to do when out on the town, shopping, dining, entertaining, etc. People are broadcasting their lives in real time to the world and where they are currently located. Personally, this is not something I do a lot of simply because I like my privacy, but millions of people are doing this on a daily basis and here are some reasons why:

• Freebies and Discounts - checking in to places you may find yourself with a free appetizer or drink, discounted parking, or 10% off the purchase you are about to make. 
• Recommending Places They Like - why not share the good word about a business that you enjoyed? Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Or maybe you just want to brag a little bit? Writing a review in real time as you are having an awesome time makes the recommendation better. 
• Games and Boredom - many check in programs have games that allow participants to earn virtual points and people do this for the fun of it (or because they are bored out of their mind while they wait for x, y, or z).
• Connect with Friends - most check in applications allow your friends and followers to see your recent activity (if you are participating in the art of "checking in" of course!). 

According to eMarketer, location-based ad revenues worldwide will reach $6.2 billion by 2015, consuming 35% of total mobile ad revenues. See chart to see how massive an increase this will be over the next 5 years. Knowing this, it might be a good time to start looking at location-based marketing and see how it can fit within your overall internet marketing strategy. 

Need some help getting started? Download our Free Mobile Marketing Strategy Guide and learn all about the future of mobile marketing and "so-lo-mo."

Follow our blog in the coming weeks and learn more about mobile marketing as we share some exciting information about this rapidly evolving industry. 

Facebook is definitely the leader in the social media marketing industry. Businesses and individuals both see value in having a personal and business Facebook profile. It gives users of Facebook the opportunity to check in for news and current events within their circle while building a community and online presence with posts and pictures that appear on your Facebook personal page and you can target specific messages to your Facebook Fan Page.

Twitter is a little less personal. It operates on a larger scale where anyone who decides they want to follow your Twitter posts is open to seeing what you post. Facebook offers users extensive privacy settings and businesses have the opportunity to turn off the "wall" function on their profiles. This decision means no consumers can write on the business' Facebook wall. While this can make a business owner feel more comfortable with their social media marketing, it is not always the best decision, because it takes the communication and user generated content out of the Facebook presence you are trying so hard to build.

The Facebook experience is simply more personal, a better arena for customer service for example. Twitter has more of a blanket marketing reach. Your Twitter message can span the social media marketing world in a matter of seconds as it reaches every follower as well the followers of everyone who decides to re-tweet your message. This makes Twitter the perfect platform to announce big news or update on new product developments or upgrades. Other viral information such as contests of giveaways should be shared on Twitter. Share things that will interest your followers and encourage them to re-tweet the news.

Facebook and Twitter are very different but both can aid in your internet marketing and allow you opportunities to growing your business and improve customer communication. Include both in your social media marketing campaign but consider your messages before you post and decide how to word posts to speak to your (personal) Facebook audience vs. your (viral) Twitter audience.

If you want to learn more about Social Media Marketing and which marketing channels are right for your business, Download our Free Social Media Strategy Kit Today. Packed with resources that will help you succeed in social media and help you develop a strategy, make sure you grab your free copy. 

Facebook is designed so that your personal page "feed" will show you what your friends and the businesses that interest you are up to, offering, sharing, etc. Have your own Fan Page is a great way to get your message in front of your target audience, however there is also a risk that what you're saying won't interest them (or you spam them) and they'll decide to "unlike" you.

It is important to remember that they decided to like your business for a reason. Now it's your job to engage them and feed the relationship.

One of the biggest mistakes made by a business on Facebook is to only post sales pitches. As a consumer, if a sales pitch from your business pops up in their news feed everyday, or multiple times per day, it will not hold their interest or entice them to go from being a target to being a life long customer.

The very first step to starting this communication is to decide upon the voice that you will use in your Facebook posts. This will vary depending on your product and target. You might take a humorous voice or go from the customer service angle. Whatever you choose, stick to it.

When trying to decide when and what to post consider these internet marketing consulting guidelines:

Start with a question -
When starting any conversation it helps to ask a question. Facebook is a great place to get some customer feedback so find out what they think by asking for input.

Respond quickly -
If someone comments on your post you need to respond back, quickly. If their comment doesn't warrant a response then a simple thank you for commenting. Keep in mind that the more comments made to a post the more the post will show up in news feeds.

Celebrate Facebook success -
Reaching a milestone such as 500 fans is something worth celebrating. It gives a good reason for a post You talk about a milestone before it is achieved and celebrate once it is reached.

Maintain a balance -
As terrible as it is to have a static page that is not updated, it is equally important not to post too often. Overwhelming your friends with updates can have the negative effect of annoying them.

Each of these tips has to be weighed with the type of business you have. Some require more frequent updates and allow for Facebook contests which can be very successful and sometimes even viral.

The most important thing is to find a way to use Facebook so that it works for you. Opening a page and not using it is not helping your social media marketing campaign.

If you want to learn more about Social Media Marketing, Download our Free Social Media Strategy Kit Today. Packed with resources that will help you succeed in social media, make sure you grab your free copy.

One of the best things about internet marketing is that it's one of the easiest forms of media to track results. The beauty is you can test and tweak your marketing methods depending on the response you see from your efforts. This type of flexibility simply is not available with more traditional methods of advertising like television, print or radio ads, or at least not as easily and not as in depth.

Google Analytics is a well known free service for tracking website performance. Anyone who has ever looked at Google Analytics will tell you that the information can be a little overwhelming. 

What exactly should you track to better understand how your website is performing? 

Here are 3 tips to help you find the answer:

1. Know How Your Keywords Rank -

Once you have narrowed down the keywords that you want to target for your business you need to see where you stand with them. For example, if your keyword is "personal injury lawyer Chicago" and you find out your Google rank is 59, that means that 58 other websites will appear on the search engine results page before yours. 

Anyone who shops or does research online will tell you that it is unlikely that they will get beyond the first few results. Definitely not off the first page. Monitoring how your keyword rank improves is a direct response to your SEO techniques. Check your analytics data and see what keyword variations you are currently getting traffic from and look to expand on those before adding any new keywords into the mix. 

2. How Many People Click Through To Your Site -

It can be very exciting to see your Google keyword rankings rise however that is only a piece of the puzzle. Ranking for random keyword terms is all well and good, but do those keywords actually drive visits? Use Google Keyword Tool and Google Analytics to determine which keywords to focus on and how much traffic comes from each keyword, and use that information to grow the effectiveness of your search engine optimization campaign.

3. Getting the Lead or Sale -

Another important piece is tracking the leads and sales (if e-commerce) on your website by setting up Goal Tracking in Analytics. Track the keyword used in the search that lead to the conversion (lead or sale). The power to be able to measure the success of a specific keywords, articles, or campaigns by watching each step in the Conversion Funnel is extremely valuable.

Your internet marketing consulting professional will tell you that tracking your results is crucial. If you don't have analytics installed on your website, or you aren't checking it on a regular basis, you are most likely wasting money, time, and losing opportunity. Make sure that you are working on tweaking your campaigns after you evaluate your SEO results. This will give you a stronger campaign going forward and it will help you grow your business. 

Search engine optimization is the first thing internet marketing consulting professionals will mention when trying to increase your website's performance within search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. SEO is the method of creating lots of high quality, keyword focused content on your website and blogs so that search engines can index and present that content within search engine results. 

What do you do when another website is proving to have content that is seen as equal to yours by the search engine? How can you stand apart if you're already doing all the "On-Site SEO" you can?

The next step to improve your search engine ranks is with "off-page" optimization. You may refer to off-page optimization as link building. It is the act of building links back to your website from other places on the web and increasing your authority or what simply equates to votes back to your site. A link or vote from another website tells the search engines that this site is interesting or worthy enough to receive a link back. 

Not all links are created equal and you want to make sure that you do not cut corners when promoting your site. Look for high quality blogs, social media sites, associations, relevant directory listings, and press release sites that you can share content with. Do NOT SPAM! Spamming link farms or other people's sites is a sure fire way to get your website into trouble with the search engines. Keep in mind that all of these link building opportunities all become components of your overall web presence, so make sure you are using sites that are worthy.  

A quick blogging example - if you read several industry blogs to stay up to date on news consider leaving a comment. Blog comments are designed so that your name (or the name of your business) links to your website. If you leave thoughtful and relevant comments they will receive approval from the moderator and link back to your website.

Another way to increase your off-page optimization is to write articles on article sites like EZine Articles, HubPages and Squidoo. These articles appear on these sites and link back to your website and can also be found organically (independent of your site) adding another channel for your marketing. 

YouTube is an opportunity to upload videos and optimize them with your keywords linking back to website. Video has become very popular and it gives you the chance to show your target audience exactly how your service or product works.

Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter offer you the opportunity to share links back to your website on your social profiles. Social media marketing is a great way to build links however it's important to remember not to over market your business through social media. Social media is about building relationships, not pushing your product, and Facebook posts are not indexed by search engines. 

Press releases are another opportunity to anchor links back to your site while sharing important information with your consumers. If you are launching a new product or service, moving locations or expanding your company and bringing on a new team member announce it to the public through a press release. You're increasing brand awareness while also building links back to your site.

Ultimately if Google sees you and another site as equals in terms of the industry information offered on your site, it's the off-page links that will set you apart and move you ahead for a better search engine rank.

Find It Hard To Focus On Web Content Writing?
These 6 Tips Will Help You Stay On Task.

When you write a blog for your business you are performing a crucial asset building role in your organization and it's extremely important that you deliver high value, good quality content. Web content writing is valuable because it sets your business apart from competitors and helps you build your expertise in your industry. It also aids in SEO or Organic Marketing while improving your search engine ranking.

For even the most devoted blogger there comes a time when you feel you can't focus or organize the ideas that are swimming around in your head. Here are 6 tips to get you into a productive article writing state of mind and environment.

1. Go Elsewhere - Find a spot in your office home or anywhere nearby where you have no other options but to write when you go there.

2. Turn Off The TV - Sometimes writers believe they can get their writing done while enjoying your favorite programs. Writing requires focus and concentration. Save TV watching for multi-tasking like folding laundry or exercising.

3. Close Your Email - Maybe your email makes a dinging noise when you receive a new email or a little box pops up in the bottom corner with the senders name and subject line. Whatever happens knowing your email inbox is waiting for you can be a distraction. Check your email so you know what's there and then close it out. Keep it closed until you're done writing content.

4. Exit Social Media - Twitter and Facebook can be an obsession for some of us. Checking into these sites while you're trying to do your web content writing can be problematic. You can get sucked into these sites and before you know it you're out of time to work on this project.

5. Turn Off Your Phone - We all have our cell phone on us at all times. The problem with this is that many cell phones are also access points for social media and email. You may also get a phone call while you're in the middle of writing an article that interrupts you. Return calls when you are finished writing.

6. Leave Technology Behind - If you do your writing at a computer it may be too tempting to have social media and email just a click away. Consider using a good old pen and paper or even a typewriter to organize the words for your article marketing.

Following these tips will help you create the perfect writing environment. Once you're there you'll be able to better organize your thoughts and produce excellent content for your website.

Everyone gets writers block. Even if your article marketing focuses on the things you are most passionate about, there will still come a day when you simply cannot think of anything to write.

Believe it or not there are brilliant content ideas all over. You just need to know where to look.

1. Blog Comments

Have your followers asked questions on your blog posts before? Expressed confusion over a certain topic? If your writing has sparked feedback it might be time to capitalize on a previous discussion. Spin a blog comment into a post and answer a question that may be top of mind for a lot of your customers.

2. Look Back At Email Campaigns

A big benefit of email marketing is that you can monitor results of each campaign. Look at past campaigns and find one that performed particularly well. Re-purpose the content in that email into a blog post. If the content interested email subscribers then it is likely to be a popular blo post.

3. Steal Ideas from Your Own Website

Your company website is full of ideas for blog posts. For example, look at your frequently asked questions section. There might be a question and answer that could be expanded upon and turned into an entire post or article. Additionally, if you have any videos posted on your site watch them and try to turn those into a blog post.

4. Read Other Blogs

A writer's best inspiration may come from another writer's blog. This doesn't mean that you should steal someone's post word for word, that would be plagiarism, but let yourself be inspired. In fact, it's the tone of the writing that could inspire. A great post from a mommy blogger might inspire a great article or blog for a CEO of a successful business.

5. Think about Yourself 

What do you want to learn about your industry? What headlines make you turn your head. If you would read it, chances are someone else is looking for that information too. If there's something you've been wondering about research it share the information.

6. Think about Your Audience

What questions come up first when you meet with a new client? What do they need to know before they feel comfortable doing business? Take these questions and turn them into blog posts giving you audience the information they've been looking for.

When writers block is getting you down just remember, a great article marketing idea is within your reach. Think outside of the box and produce some excellent web content writing.

Want to know how your content stacks up against the competition? Try our revamped WSI WebScan Tool and see how your site content is working for you!

If you are looking to launch a website that will be used to sell your goods or services there are a lot of details to consider. You don't want to lose a customer because your site was confusing or they had trouble finding what they needed.

There is a huge amount of shopping being done online. People use the internet as their main source of information and an online shop can be extremely profitable.

When building a website the very first thing you want to do is buy a domain name for your site. The domain name needs to be simple and easy to remember. If you will be marketing your website through traditional Medias like television and radio you want your audience to retain your URL.

You will need a design for your website. When visiting a website with the purpose of making a purchase the audience needs a clear and concise design. Hiring a web development company is well worth the money. You want to give your website the backbone to meet customer needs when they are shopping with you. A web store needs to be treated with the same value as a retail store. It's where you do business and make sales.

Product listings should have high quality photos and detailed descriptions. When people shop online they want the photos and description to explain the product as if it was right in front of them. Make sure your image files sizes are not so big that they slow down how quickly your site loads.

It will be necessary to incorporate a shopping cart program into your site. Consider what your online marketing tactics will be. If you intend to offer coupon codes or gift cards make sure that those features are included in your shopping cart and that they are easy to use.

When a retail website has poor web design it can make the shopper nervous. If your site doesn't work properly or the shopping cart is confusing a customer may cancel their order before entering their credit card information. In order to make the sale keep your web design clean. If you don't know a lot about web development consider hiring someone who does internet marketing consulting to help. Their expertise can give your retail website the foundation it needs.

Social media marketing is something done by countless businesses and celebrities. It is an important way for them to respond to their fan base as well as managing their online brand reputation. A local Chicago band recently used their social media marketing campaign to dispel a negative PR situation.

The Smith Westerns held a concert in Belgium that ended in tragedy. There was a storm and the scaffolding on their set fell down along with the lights and other set items attached to them. It was reported in the Chicago Sun Times that the accident took the lives of 5 people in the audience of the concert.

The Chicago Sun Times said they were all from Belgium and the people who died varied in age from as young as 15 to the age of 59. The severity of the incident was unknown at first. Band members were told to get off the stage and were all safe.

After the incident the front man of the Smith Westerns initially posted a tweet on his Twitter page that, according to the Chicago Sun Times read: "Stage collapsed max (guitarist) almost got crushed by the trees. I hope pukkelpop has insurance bc all our (expletive) is broke."

This is a perfect example of negative PR stemming from a social media post. When social media is used by public figures like the Smith Westerns it is important that they act quickly when something like this happens.

Clearly the scaffolding falling had nothing to do with the band however the initial response of the front man surely upset some fans who had been informed about the incident.

This situation was handled by the front man removing his initial tweet and then publically sharing that he was unaware of the damage caused by the incident when he posted his tweet. Because the band ran off stage to safety they were not there to see the aftermath of the fallen scaffolding.

When negative PR hits a well known business or celebrity it is important that they respond immediately and with tact. In this situation owning up to the insensitive comment was the only thing to do. It is an understandable yet inconsiderate mistake. Taking full ownership of the situation and addressing what happened is the best way to respond through your social media marketing.

Managing a social media marketing campaign can be a lot of work. Preparing posts and sharing ideas across multiple social sites becomes time consuming. Because of this there have been some initiatives to create platforms that allow you to schedule your social media marketing posts in advance.

This gives you the flexibility to work at any time of the day and schedule a bulk of posts ahead of time. This relieves the daily responsibility of checking into each of your social media profiles. A very popular tool for this is called Hootsuite.

Hootsuite links to your social media profiles and RSS feed. You can set it up so that new blog posts are automatically posted to each social profile which saves you a step.

When you are scheduling a social media post you have the option of choosing the date, time of day and social media site or sites where you want the message to post. For example, if you are running a competition on Facebook you can schedule messages to promote it on Twitter and LinkedIn however you are likely to promote it differently on Facebook. Hootsuite would allow you to schedule messages at one time that will post up until the competition ends.

If your post was sharing news of an event or sale you might be able to schedule one message to post to all of your social media sites.
For a busy business person who is trying to manage their own social media marketing campaign Hootsuite can save a lot of time.

Another worthwhile attribute of Hootsuite is that it they have a great reporting system. You can look up click reports and find out what messages were the most successful and what days and times they were posted. Hootsuite gives you the tools to make your social media marketing campaign simple and successful.