Attract More Visitors

Everyone wants to be found online, but what are the best ways to be found?

Businesses want to have their companies/ websites/ blogs/ products/ services found and job seekers want themselves to be found.

1) You need to have a great strategy to be found online.

Easier said than done. You need to think about where "your people" are and how they might go about finding you (or your business). Then just assure that you have a presence there. Again, easier said than done.

2) Profiles: Create profiles everywhere

Create profiles for yourself and your company at LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Plaxo, etc.

Also create business listings for your company in Yellow page sites for businesses, especially the "Local" search engine site: Google, Bing, Yahoo.

See "Increasing Your Online Visibility- Facebook Vanity URLs & Bing, Google, and Yahoo Local Business Listings" for how to do this.

Cool resource for many more yellow page sites (including international ones and social local neworking sites like Yelp): http://www.locallytype.com/pages/submit.htm.

3) Create Content and keep creating it

What do I mean by "content"? - Any text or item(s) that people want, e.g., things they want to know or learn "how to" do, blog posts, tweets, eZine (electronic magazine) articles, website articles, videos, podcasts, etc.

Here are some places you can post this content: Flickr (photos), Slideshare.net (presentations and documents), Twitter, YouTube (videos), your blog (using WordPress.org, WordPress.com, or Blogger/Blogspot), your website.

Tip/Trick: Keep the emphasis on "valuable" content. What do people want to find/know? Answer that question, given your company's or your own expertise and then write about it in interesting and engaging ways.

Hint: Use great tags so people can easily find your great content.

Note: Extra credit for supplying solutions for what people need...and are trying to find. One way to do this is using Google Suggest. Remember Google's "Parisian Love" Superbowl ad?

4) Announce what you created

Tweet about it on Twitter, do status updates in Facebook and LinkedIn...as the content applies to "your people" (and those people).

Note: If you send it to them and they're not interested, you risk them ignoring your posts, or worse yet unfollowing/unfriending you.

Example: Write a blog post (content), then post a Twitter tweet about it and a LinkedIn status update.

Tip/trick: LinkedIn works with Twitter, and vice versa with the "#in" hash tag at the end of  your Twitter tweet.

5) Comment: Leave valuable comments everywhere.

Comment on blog posts, podcasts, etc. Especially things which are hot topics which people are trying to find.

Tip/Trick: Great ways to find hot topics/trends?

Google: Google Trends

Twitter Trends: 15 Fascinating Ways to Track Twitter Trends

Technorati: Top Videos & Hottest blog posts

Forums: Boardreader's popular internet: videos, instructions, articles, etc.

6) Show what you know

It sounds simplistic, but if you "show what you know" and if you're showing what others are seeking then you'll be found...and thought of as an expert.

Experts are more becoming more trusted than "peer recommendations" according to today's Los Angeles Times opinion piece by Gregory Rodriguez: "Talk about your Buzzkill: Breaking through the noise of social media," which cites Edelman's 2010 Trust Barometer.

This means that being an expert is cool again.

How do you become an expert? Know your subject and post about it: valuably, frequently and consistently.

Note: It may help to have some credentials, but the LA Times opinion piece said that experts and academics were gaining influence, so there is a distinction between being an expert and being a person who studies/teaches the subject in a college or university.

Re: Social media: And yes, the rumors of the death of Social Media are a bit early with this barometer, as social media is really about disclosure, transparency, authenticity, and trust. For more on this see "For more information" below...

7) "Just do it"

Nike had it right. By just doing it, you're getting your "expert" voice out there where it can be found...and establishing your "expert" .

For more information on "How to be found Online":

Download: "The Power of Social Media: Gaining the competitive edge through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook!" (click link & scroll down for download links)

Or see:

Of course there are many other ways to be found online.

If you have any favorite ways to be found online, please leave a comment below...

Problem: Too many Great Ideas, not enough Memory

I love working out at the gym because it's a great opportunity to listen to internet marketing podcasts and learn about the lastest marketing strategies and trends.  The only problem is that when you hear great ideas (especially ideas that you're thinking of tweeting/blogging about later) it's tough to remember them.  Since it's hard to remember several ideas (or website links) throughout your entire workout and until you get to your home/office, it would be great to be able to write them down.  But who wants to carry a clipboard or notebook around the gym?

Solution: Your Mobile Phone/iPhone and the multi-platform Evernote program.

Evernote is  an excellent web-based as well as phone-based program you can use to jot down your notes in a hurry.  All you have to do is register on Evernote's website and then download the Evernote software and install it onto your laptop/desktop (PC or Mac) and web-enabled phone. Since the Evernote site has directions, videos & tutorials & screenshots, I'm just going to show you how to use Evernote at the gym during your workout.

How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym

1. Download and Synchronize podcasts onto your mobile phone/iPhone.
   Note: I use Juice and Windows Media Player for this.
   You may use iTunes.
2. Listen to the podcasts while doing your workout.
3. When you hear a great idea start Evernote on your mobile phone/iPhone.
4. Jot down a note in Evernote.
5. Example: "MOC: Google Website Analyzer" (see Evernote image).
6. Rinse and repeat (do this for every great idea you hear that you want to remember).
7. Extra credit to boost your site traffic: When you get back to your home/office write a tweet or blog post based on the great idea.

• Twitter Example:
  • Google Website Optimizer tweet with thanks to Marketing Over Coffee podcast and @cspenn (Christopher Penn) for the great idea.

• Blog Post Example:
  • For Immediate Release (FIR) podcast by Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #441: April 20, 2009 re: Domino's Pizza.
  • Generated idea for Attract More Visitors blog post re: Domino's and How to Deal With Social Media Emergency Responses.
  • Clearly when you write these notes on Elliptical Trainers or the Treadmill they don't always look that great (do not do this...see the Caveat/Warning below).
  • But the point is: All they have to do is be good enough to remind you of the idea you need so you can take action on them, e.g, writing a tweet or posting a blog post.

YouTube Video: "How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym"

How does this help me Attract More Visitors to my Site?

You might be thinking, this is all great, but how does it help me get traffic to my website? Basically, by helping you remember all of the great ideas you heard in internet marketing and social media podcasts so you can blog and tweet about them on Twitter.  That's it, no magic or mirrors involved, just enabling you to write more blog posts and Twitter tweets which others may see or find via Google searches and then follow to your website (from your blog or your Twitter bio/profile).

Comments

Have a better way to remember great ideas during your workout? - just let me know...

And "extra credit" points for ways which improve your site traffic as well.

Caveats and Fine Print Warnings!

Please consult your Doctor before engaging in any exercise program.  Also, please be sure to *pause* during your exercise routine *before* writing notes in Evernote in your mobile phone/iPhone!  After all, you don't want to end up falling or having an accident at the gym.

And no matter what happens, please do not hold Evernote, me (Karl Kasca), Attract More Visitors blog, IncreaseOnlineProfits.com, or Social Mastermind Corp. responsible as we've already cautioned you above.

Are you Clean with that? - Part II

In Part I of "Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Are you Clean with that?" I mentioned the hand sanitizers used on Disney Cruises in all of their places to eat. Since we went on our cruise a number of supermarkets have also placed moist hand wipes at their front entrances. Now every time you go to the store you have an opportunity to think about your internet marketing techniques / methods / practices and think "Are you clean with that?".

8 Tests for Clean Marketing

1. Can you sleep at night? - "Sleep like a baby"? (soundly, peacefully).
2. Or are you kept up at night worrying?
3. Would you be OK with your marketing methods if your Mother read about them in an exposé on the front page of the New York Times?
4. Do you get a little queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about your marketing techniques?
5. Do your Friends ask you questions like, "What happened to you, you always used to be so (insert any nice wholesome word/concept here)?
6. Could words like bill of goods, cheat, con, deceit, deception, delusion, dishonest, double-dealing, evasion, exaggeration (huge), falsehood, fraud, hype, illusion, lie, misleading, misrepresentation, overstatement (gross), pretense, scam, scheme, shell game, snake oil, snow job, subterfuge, etc. be associated with your internet marketing techniques?
7. Would you use the same marketing methods on your friends or family. (The ones you like, that is).
8. If someone used the same marketing method on you, would you feel tricked or played for a sucker. Again, the "Golden Rule".

Solutions: "Faith, Trust, And Pixie Dust"

1. Clarity and transparency - it's as simple (and clean) as that.
2. If you can explain your internet marketing methods to a child or to the hero of a child (e.g., Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo [not Stitch!]) and they're ok with them, then you're probably OK.
3. Being open and honest with your visitors and customers will give them a reason to believe in you, and your methods, and your site - a reason to have faith in you and trust you, your business, and your website/blog/podcast.
4. Building trust through the words you use and living up to them with follow-through.
5. Building trust by using trust badges/symbols, etc. where a visitor would want them to be.  E.g., Better Business Bureau, Association logos, Visa/MasterCard badges (when purchasing), etc.
6. Building trust through real Testimonials/Reviews.  People can spot bogus testimonials. Remember what your Mom said, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
7. Using persuasion instead of delusion or confusion. Be conscious of when you begin using internet marketing hype instead of a persuasive argument.
8. Pixie dust: It's ok to have add a little magic - some zing. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) seems like magic, but it works. So a little "white hat" SEO (the good SEO) is fine. Especially since these techniques are no more than what Google recommends so it can serve-up more targeted search results to its customers (searchers). You're just helping Google's customers find what they're truly looking for better.

Bottom Line: Add content and value - true value - and market them as straightforwardly as possible.

Morality Screed versus "What Just Makes Sense" and the Law

You might be thinking that this is just a heavy-handed moral screed, but really it's a plea to consider how your marketing efforts are viewed by those who encounter them, your potential customers.  Then turn it around and think (deep down), "Do I want to be marketed to that way?" and that should be your answer.

But if that's not enough, "It's the Law" as outlined by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road:

"The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:

• mislead consumers and
• affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service."

Also there's a special section on "Testimonials and Endorsements".
See FTC Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Hope this helps!

Take care & hope you're internet marketing is a great success,

Karl

Comments?

Got one?   Think I'm off-track...or not - just let me know below.

But if you like this for whatever reason, then "Tell A Friend" below.

I'm not sure if you saw my last post on "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising", but now I'd to discuss what happened from an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) standpoint.

What happened (Sequence of Events)

• First I posted my PowerPoint slides on Slideshare.
• Then I blogged about the slide show and embedded the slides in my blog post: "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising".
• Within an hour my Slideshare slides were already indexed and findable on Google. A Google search yielded the top search result for: The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising
• I tweeted about the slideshow on Twitter and now those tweets are currently the highest ranked on Twitter Search: slideshare ranking google search.

What Really Happened (SEO-wise)

1) Google indexes Slideshare very quickly

• First, slide shows posted on Slideshare appear to be indexed by Google really quickly.
• This makes sense since Slideshare has very fresh content posted by people who should be authorities/experts regarding their subjects and content. Google loves fresh content and authority sources.
• Conclusion: Slideshare has great Google Juice!

2) Long tail Google searches are really powerful

• Second, long tail Google searches (searches with many keywords) are very powerful, especially when exactly match the title of  Slidehare slide show.
• And yes, this is "gaming" Google a little, since chances would be remote that many people would choose this exact search.
• But that's the power of "The Long Tail", in that some people may actually try that search and find exactly what they were looking for.

3) Long tail Twitter searches are really powerful

• Similarly, doing a strategically-chosen long tail search in with particular keywords in Twitter Search provided the top (and only) results in Twitter Search (see image above).
• Again, that's the power of "The Long Tail".
• Conclusion: Google and Twitter searches with many keywords rock!

4) Slideshare slides are can be organized, shared , and can go viral

• Lastly, within a few days of posting my slideshow on Slideshare, etalbert re-posted it to the Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media groups on Slideshare's site.
• This way the slideshow is given more "organization" by being categorized in a couple of relevant groups.
• Also, people in those groups may find my slide show more easily.
• Conclusion: The slideshow is being found and shared with others who may find it useful, helpful, and/or interesting.

5) Slideshare rocks with Google Juice!

• Overall Conclusion: Slideshare rocks(!) and has great Google Juice (even in you "cheat" a little and use long tail multiple-word keyword searches).

Comments...

Have a comment or a better way to get "Google Juice" using Slideshare or other social media methods? - Please let me know...

Last night I spoke to Mark Stern's Ethics in Marketing & Advertising class at UCLA extension on "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising" and I just wanted to share the slides with you in Slideshare:

Slideshare

The other thing that's cool about sharing these slides with you via SlideShare is that I can embed them (above) or get a Widget and install it in my sidebar (see the right column under "Technorati Favorites" above the Global Translator flags).

Creative Commons License

What's also great is that you can use a Creative Commons Attribution license to "...let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request."  This way others can use your PowerPoint presentation, or parts of it, but they need to credit/attribute it to you.

Online Marketing & Social Media

Slideshare is another great social media tool for sharing information with others, so they get the info they need and then they can share it with others, who can share it with others...

Descriptive Tags

Not only that, but you can include many tags describing your slideshow when you upload your slides. This way your slides can be found easily on Slideshow, but better than that, they'll be indexed by Google and easily findable in Google searches.

Google Juice

In fact, my slideshow was already #1 in the Google rankings and I only uploaded it 1 hour ago - and I ate lunch in between! See image below...

That's great Google Juice!

Thanks Slideshare!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Of course this makes sense since Google tries to provide fresh valuable content from reliable sources/authors to it's customers: Web Searchers.

So this is just good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as using great tools like Slideshare.

And of course I used the "Mother-of-All" long tail Google searches too (see below & image):

The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising

The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing & Advertising

Comments?

Have a Comment? Do you have other great ways to get Google Juice? If so, let me know...

A blog post by Sarah Perez about a recent Forrester report on Baby Boomersreminded me that only about 21% of the population are Creators - people who create content on the web like blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.  While Boomers are clearly improving in their use of Social Media, only 15-16% of them are creating content.

How to Reach/Attract Your People

By the way, if you haven't figured out how to reach "your people" with Social Media yet you need to play with the Technographics Profile Toolon Groundswell's site. This will allow you to choose from several demographic elements (age, country, gender) so you can see how your people like to be connected with (and how you can attract them).

Adults & Letting Go

Clearly Adults need some help with creating content. One major factor which might be holding adults back from pouring their individual wisdom, insights, etc. into the public domain (or the hyper-accelerated version of it, the Web) for all to see might be an unwillingess to Let Go.

Lessons from the Past

My Grandfather wrote a draft of a book on speed reading but never published it. My Mother felt like she had "The Great American Novel" in her, but never wrote it (unless you collectively count the wonderful letters she wrote during her lifetime).

Web Publishing = New Opportunities

Given the newer methods of Publishing on the web, most notably blogs, we can all publish our content in one form or another. Just remember that a number of blog posts can end-up being a real dead-tree book or eBook.

Make It So

So to the end of helping a number of people realize their dreams or potential I'd like to offer you a way to "make it so" (in the immortal words of fictional Star Trek character, Jean-Luc Picard).

First Release Yourself From All Constraints

First, let's start by releasing ourselves from any rules or constraints to worry about. Certainly then any one of us could just let it go and let out the words and ideas which are trapped within us. Writings generated in this way would most likely be incredibly free-form like the thoughts we have all of the time. To put a literary term to it, we'd be writing "stream of consciousness" content.

Stream of Consciousness

Stream of consciousness is great if you're great at it,like podcasters C.C. Chapman (Managing the Gray) or Mitch Joel (Six Pixels of Separation), but it would probably drive us crazy if it was used excessively for writing blogs or website content. Note that you don't see that many stream of consciousness novels around these days, although there were some isolated great ones, mainly because the authors were great, e.g., James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Some Structure Necessary

That said, some structure is necessary and certainly some grammar and puctuation helps.* But don't obsess about finding the "perfect word", or sentence, or blog post, or content for your website.  Just get it down, clean it up some, polish it a bit...and you're done.  Now let it go. 
* Should that be "help" singular or "helps" plural? - I could spend the time to go look up the rule for agreement, but I won't just to make the point.

Publishing = Opportunities

It's more important to have it up on the web than sitting in your head, on a sheet of paper, or on your screen - unpublished, than out there in public being read, commented on, and indexed by Google and the other search engines.

Value vs. Rubbish & Perfectionists vs. Slackers

That said, I'm not suggesting that you should just write (or say)...worthless rubbish. Have something good, something valuable to say...and say it. So this isn't a call for "Slackers Unite!", but more of: Slackers should take it up a notch and perfectionists should take it down a notch. Ok, for real perfectionists, take it down a half-notch (or you never would, and you know who you are!).

Is it done yet? - The 87-13 Rule

My Wife, Milen, is infinitely practical about things like this. Since I was an information researcher for many years, there's always a point in every project when you have a draw a line in the sand and ask yourself, "Is it done yet?", since research in-and-of-itself could go on forever (especially with the web and new information being produced all the time). Her advice was much like the Pareto principle (the 80-20 rule), only she would ask, "Is the research at least 87% done? And if the answer was, "Yes", then she'd say, "Fine, then your client will probably be fine with the results."

Form Over Substance

The reasoning is that the questions have been answered, but there can always be some additional information which could be obtained, or documented, or the format could be polished, or a chart could be inserted, etc.  But these things are more "form over substance" versus the conclusions which were already made (and substantiated).

What's Necessary vs. Gingerbread

And more importantly, these are things which are in your head and weren't

Let Go & Make It So

In any case, I hope this gives you a rationale for Letting Go.

Now "make it so".

Comments?

Have a comment or question? Know a better way to let go so your web publishing can flow? If so, let me know.

Footnotes: I originally heard about the blog post by Sarah Perez about a recent Forrester report on Baby Boomers on the For Immediate Release (FIR) Podcast: The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #425: February 23, 2009. The part of the podcast mentioned above can be heard at EveryZing.

In Part I we started looking at ways of evaluating and changing your website (or blog) to improve it. Today I'm giving you 10 Quick Questions to help with this process:

10 Quick Questions for Evaluating/Improving your Website

1. Does your website look nice and inviting? (Does it make your visitors "feel" nice, like the landscape on the right?)




2. Is it a site that you'd feel like staying at if you just happened to land on it? (Where you feel like you could lie down in the meadow, enjoy the blue sky, and watch the  clouds - in other words: hang out for awhile, check out the info/resources, and engage at the site.)




3. Can visitors find your "Buy" button? (so they can take the desired action easily, e.g., Buy, Join, Subscribe, Register, etc.).




4. Can prospective buyers (visitors) find what they need easily (information, prices, reviews/testimonials, etc.)?




5. Is it easy and intuitive to navigate around your site? (Or is it a virtual maze or an impossibly dense mishmash of text or links pretending to be organized)?




6. Is it easy to use/access your site? (Are there so many fonts and colors that the content is difficult to see, especially for visually impaired individuals)?




7. Does your site rank highly in search engine results (particularly Google's)?




8. Is your site's search engine result (Title and Description) enticing enough that you'd click on it (versus all of the others)?




9. If you click on your site's search engine result, are you taken to the site you'd expect from the Title and Description?




10. Now loop back to #1 (above) and quickly run through this list again with "fresh" eyes (based on how your site might be found by potential visitors searching the internet).

Bottom Line

IMPORTANT: Please note that "potential visitors" aren't visitors until they visit and "potential buyers" aren't buyers until they buy.

Your task is to re-design your site to create the environment that entices searchers to visit and visitors to buy. This may involve using some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as some E-Marketing techniques and strategy (list building, E-Newsletters, Social Media/Networking, etc.) to promote your site and attract people to it.

If you'd like more ways to evaluate and improve your website (or blog) you might enjoy our free 77 Great Tips of Internet Marketing (at top-right of web page) for a more complete checklist.

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Have any questions, comments, or tips of your own for evaluating websites? If so, please leave a comment...

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Next post (Part III): 11 Quick Questions for Podcasts
Prior post (Part I): How's Your Website Doing? -- Part I - Opportunities for Change Looking Forward