Why You Absolutely Need A Website!

Posted on 05. Dec, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Health & Medicine, Websites

Incredibly, almost 50% of all local business still do not own a website - a statistic which is virtually unchanged for more than 5 years. 

Despite all the compelling reasons to get online, many local businesses still risk their online representation to unchecked review sites, third-party aggregators and inaccurate databases. I speak with local business owners every day, and although their reasons are understandable (“no time”,  “don’t know where to start”, “I have a guy doing it”) this gamble costs them any hope of reaching new customers and generating additional leads. 

I think my most recent experience is typical  - this week I finally decided to see a Chiropractor – 18 months of neck pain is enough. Like many, I started by asking friends and sent out an email seeking advice. I received three solid recommendations, and then went online to check ratings, reputation, location, phone numbers and overall credibility. I searched for their ”names” + “city” and expected to find all three quickly. I didn’t, and this story is exactly what the research confirms; a Nielsen/NetRatings survey found that 85% of people agreed that a website is an important factor in earning a consumer’s trust.   

The first Chiropractor only came up through various third-party sites like Merchant Circle - limited information and no link to a website. The second candidate was partially visible (bottom of first page) via an Internet Yellow Pages, good listing information but again – no link to a website. Neither of these two firms were even in Google Maps! The third was at the top of the results page with their own website – here.

The site is nothing extraordinary – and there are certainly some elements which could be improved (the link to the site’s developer is even broken),  but the point is this: I felt more comfortable in literally ”risking my neck” with this local business. They appear to be more credible, up-to-date and qualified. They are also smart enough to realize that a businesses online representation is too important to leave up to other uncontrollable sources. Even the most basic of websites can properly position you reach new customers. 

What’s next? Making the site visible! After all, what good is this marketing tool if it cannot be found? Here are some tips for Chiropractors, and all businesses should consider the various optimization and pay-per-click options available.

SEO vs. PPC: The Best Tactic for Local Businesses (Part I).

Posted on 20. Sep, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Websites

 

The business of Search Engine Marketing consists of two basic practices; Search Engine Optimization(“SEO”) and Pay-Per-Click (“PPC”) advertising. Which tactic is best for local businesses?

This has been one of the most debated issues between Internet Marketers. Some of the more popular claims and accusations include “PPC is expensive, SEO drives free traffic” and ”SEO involves tricking the search engines for higher ranking - it’s not ethical”. I’m going to take the high-road here (sorry, I don’t like controversy): a combination of both SEO and PPC, if executed correctly, is the most effective strategy for bussinesses interested in increasing their local online visibility. Let’s start with SEO… 

Generally, SEO projects target several of your most critical keywords. These could include a product, service or brand, and for local businesses most often includes a geo-modifier (ex: “chicago local movers” or “miami auto repair”). SEO also typically targets one search engine, usually Google – but results now often carry to Yahoo! and Bing over time.

It could take at three or more months to see results - and of course there can never be any guarantee, as we are all at the mercy of the almighty algorythum. If you EVER receive a solicitation that includes the word “guarantee”, be very, very careful! 

Costs vary based on your business, geographic location, keyword and competition. Generally the range is between $3,000 and $10,000. - fee’s are usually paid up-front. Here’s a helpful article discussing this topic further.

A true SEO effort can be complicated, and is usually best when left to the experts. Some of the factors and considerations are illustrated in the chart below, but there are some proactive do-it-yourself steps that can be completed on your own. These include: 

  1. Local Search Engine inclusion. Specifically, Google Maps and Yahoo! Local. Claim your listings and complete your profiles, and it’s free!   
  2. Get registered and linked from local sites. For example; the local Chamber of Commerce, local newspaper publisher sites and any local blog or directory. The more the better.
  3. Internet Yellow Pages & Directories. Your local directories and Internet yellow pages sites often provide free listings and links, and the bonus is they attract local ready-to-buy consumers. Additionally, paid advertising on these sites usually deliver strong return-on-investment. Larger Directories and Databases that carry high PageRank should also be addressed.  
  4. Social networking, blogs, press releases and video options should be considered.
  5. Give your site a quick “check-up” using some of many free, online SEO tools. One in particular that is helpful can be found at WebSiteGrader.com. 

SEO Factors

Part II of this post will address the PPC side…

Guidelines for Insurers Marketing to On-line Seniors.

Posted on 16. Aug, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Health & Medicine, Legal & Financial, Professional Services, Websites

From the ”Professional Insurance Marketing Association“-

SENIORS AND THE INTERNET

Almost 60% of Americans age 50–64 are online**, and more are plugging in each passing day. Even more surprising, 22% of consumers 65 and older use the Web regularly, up from less than 2% 10 years ago.**

Here’s how seniors use the Internet:

• 95% use email **

• 66% have looked for health/medical information **

• 66% have done product research **

• 60% have visited a government Web site **

• 47% have bought something on the Internet **

• 41% have made travel reservations **

• 20% have done online banking **

If insurance companies want to capture the attention of seniors and get through to them, they need to understand that their Web preferences differ in some substantive ways. To begin with, at this writing, more than 60%** of seniors still use dial-up access to go online. Some researchers place that number as high as 72%. For whatever reason, the broadband revolution seems to have mostly passed seniors by, at least for the moment. That fact has significant implications for the (usually young) people who design Web sites. Almost all large companies today — insurers among them — build Web sites that assume everyone has DSL or cable access to the Internet. Designing sites targeted to seniors and assuming high-speed access can have truly disastrous consequences.

You can download more their entire free white paper; “20 Rules for Targeting Web-savvy Seniors” here. 

** Pew Internet and American Life Project

Small Business Web Holdouts: Unsearched, Unfound, Unfulfilled.

Posted on 24. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation, Websites

From the eCommerce Times:

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Web? A lot of small businesses, that’s who. For the most part, that fear appears to be grounded in a lack of information about the actual costs and benefits of operating a Web site and engaging in some strategic e-marketing efforts.

 No matter where one turns on the Internet these days, it’s virtually impossible to avoid being bombarded by advertising in one form or another. Banner ads. Video ads. Display ads. Search engine marketing. Ads on MySpace . Ads on Facebook . The only area of the Web left untouched by advertising may be government-run sites.  Web marketing, in large part, is the province of companies with enough money to plaster their messages, goods and services all over the Internet. Missing from this equation is the traditional engine of American commerce: the small business.

Indeed, a recent study showed that there is a major disconnect between the way most consumers look for goods and services on the Internet and the way small businesses use the Web to advertise.  The study, which surveyed nearly 4,000 U.S. Internet users on the tools they use to find local businesses, was conducted last November by Nielsen and WebVisible. Participants in the survey included 261 small business owners.

Here’s what Nielsen and WebVisible discovered: Search is the No. 1 choice of consumers and small business owners alike when looking for a local product or service on the Internet. Yet, half of all small businesses spent less than 10 percent of their marketing budgets on Internet ads.  In essence, most small businesses are missing out on a huge segment of the consumer population that turns to Internet search engines such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Live Search.

The Great Divide

“Local business is the last, vast untapped piece of online marketing space,” said Kevin Ryan, chief marketing officer at WebVisible, which offers a suite of software tools and services designed to help small businesses run online advertising and marketing campaigns.  The biggest problem small businesses face when it comes to Web marketing is an attachment to an old way of doing business. It’s clear in many cases that small businesses simply don’t understand the inherent power of the Internet as a way to reach their customers, Ryan said.

Here’s an example: A consumer looking for a plumber, attorney, insurance agent or electrician rarely conducts a search using the name of a local business but rather types in keywords such as “plumber and the Bronx” or “electricians and 06850,” the ZIP code for Norwalk, Conn. Then, a page of search results with local businesses comes up, and the consumer goes on from there, he said.  “It’s very difficult to convince a small business that in the eyes of a search engine, their brand doesn’t have nearly the value they think it does,” noted Ryan. “What they fail to realize is that most consumers will go to an online source such as a search engine or even the Yellow Pages directory first.”  In fact, 63 percent of consumers turn to the Internet first when looking for local products and services, according to the Nielsen/WebVisible survey.

At the same time, only 44 percent of small businesses surveyed said they had a Web site.

“That explains why 40 percent of consumers said they have trouble finding a local business they know exists,” Ryan observed.

Small Biz Snapshot: Helena, Mont.

The Helena Area Chamber of Commerce in Montana has about 860 local businesses as members. About 75 percent of those businesses are small businesses — that is, businesses with 25 employees or less, according to the chamber’s marketing and communications director, Barry Houser.  “I would say the majority of the businesses that comprise our membership still don’t have a Web presence,” Houser told the E-Commerce Times.  As the state capitol, Helena is by and large a government town. Outside of government, the major industries include health care and tourism.  “We’re centrally located between Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park,” Houser said. “So, fishing, skiing and snowmobiling are big attractions here.”

While many big-box companies such as Costco (Nasdaq: COST) , Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Bed Bath & Beyond have started to move into the Helena area, the vast majority of businesses there are “small mom and pop” shops, he said.

Like small businesses in every corner of the U.S., these mom and pops don’t have the budgets to promote their goods and services the way the big-box stores do, making the Internet almost a vital component of their marketing efforts, noted Houser.  “We try to encourage them to take advantage of their membership with the chamber to get more of a presence on the Web,” he said.

The Helena chamber has an online directory that is searchable by business name and type. Businesses that already have Web sites can link to the chamber’s site too.

Doesn’t have to Break the Bank

One of the chief reasons small business owners give for not having an Internet presence is that it’s too expensive to put up and maintain a Web site.  It doesn’t have to be that way though, said WebVisible’s Ryan.  What’s most critical is that whatever route a small business owner chooses to go with in terms of a Web presence, it has to suit their specific needs.

“Alfonso the tailor doesn’t want to check emails all day long,” Ryan said. “He wants to receive an SMS (short message service) text when someone needs something. The diamond jeweler doesn’t want to spend all day answering stupid questions from someone that doesn’t know what they want to buy.”

Situated in the heart of downtown Seattle is the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. The store’s owner, J.B. Dickey, has been selling mysteries, and nothing but mysteries, for years.  His shelves are lined with paperback and hard cover books written by authors local to the Pacific Northwest, such as G.M. Ford, as well as nationally acclaimed writers like James Ellroy and Michael Connelly.  Dickey has had a Web site in various iterations for 10 years.  “It started out as a way to just have a presence on the Web and have information about the shop out there,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “It evolved into a place where we post our quarterly newsletter, an updated calendar of events such as author signings, and a shop blog. It’s also information that’s always out there, even when the shop is closed.”

Local Search Ranking Factors.

Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Maps, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Websites

Volume Two of  David Mihm’s “Local Search Ranking Factors” is a must-readfor any business interested in learning more about increasing their on-line visibility. Even if you rely on a local Marketing  firm or Agency to manage this process for you, it’s a very interesting and timely survey which includes responses from 27 prominent bloggers and practitioners. 

Mr. Mihm states “It is my hope that this study will help small business owners confused by Local Search, or those strapped for time, to prioritize their marketing efforts“. 

The results include a ranking of the most important factors, listed in order, below. The entire survey may be read here.  

  1. LBL Address in City of Search
  2. Citations from Major Data Providers
  3. Association of Proper LBL Categories
  4. General Importance of Claiming LBL
  5. Product/Service Keywords in LBL Title
  6. General Importance of Off-Page Criteria
  7. Volume of Customer Reviews
  8. General Importance of Customer Reviews
  9. General Importance of On-Page Criteria
  10. Full Address on Contact Page
  11. Proximity to Centroid
  12. Quality of Inbound Links
  13. HyperLocal/Web Crawl Citations
  14. Product/Service Keywords in LBL Description
  15. Location Keywords in Inbound Anchor Text
  16. Customer Reviews at Search Engine
  17. Location Keywords in LBL Title
  18. Product/Service Keywords in Inbound Anchor Text
  19. Inclusion of City, State in Title Tags
  20. Customer Reviews at 3rd-Party Websites
  21. Location Keywords in LBL Description
  22. Quantity of Inbound Links
  23. City, State in Contact Page Title Tags
  24. Product/Service Keywords in URL
  25. Product/Service Keywords in LBL Custom Fields
  26. Association of Marginal LBL Categories
  27. Location Keywords in URL
  28. LBL Phone Number with Local Area Code
  29. Association of LBL Videos
  30. Local Phone Number on Contact Page
  31. MyMaps/User Generated Content
  32. High PageRank Homepage
  33. Association of LBL Photos
  34. Creation of KML File
  35. Positive Customer Ratings
  36. Location Keywords in LBL Custom Fields
  37. Address in hCard Microformat on Website
  38. High PageRank LBC Landing Page
  39. Age of LBL
  40. Association of Coupon with LBL
  41. Participation in Local PPC

Hospitality, Hotel and Travel: Mastering Internet Marketing.

Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Recreation & Entertainment, Social Networking, Travel & Transportation, Websites

From 4Hoteliers, 3/09:

In the tough year that 2009 is turning out to be for hoteliers, it is crucial to know where every marketing dollar is being spent.
When reevaluating marketing plans – as most of you have had to do this year – hoteliers also need to consider whether or not they should shift marketing dollars from offline to the more measurable online initiatives, what their peers are doing, and how they can evolve with the industry without wasting valuable dollars on unproven tactics.

How are hoteliers budgeting for their Internet marketing this year? Are they focusing on Web 2.0/Social Media initiatives in this recession? What percentage of business should be coming from your website?

In the 3rd Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices in Hospitality, HeBS set out to answer these questions and identify trends in online marketing in hospitality. The purpose of the survey was to assess hoteliers’ 2009 Internet marketing priorities and strategies in order to compare with the responses received last year, and to provide the industry with insights on how internet marketing strategies for the hospitality industry are developing.

Who Participated in this Survey?

The survey experienced global participation, with almost half of respondents from the US and Western Europe. Hospitality executives included general managers (20.6%), sales and marketing directors (49.6%), e-commerce managers (13%), and revenue managers (29.8%).

The full spectrum of hospitality and travel verticals are represented in this survey, including boutique hotels, upscale hotels, budget, mid-scale and luxury franchised properties, major brands, real estate groups, resorts, hotel management companies, casinos, and more. Most participants were hoteliers from independent properties; however there was a heavy influence this year of franchise/hotel brand hoteliers.

Main Findings from the 3rd Benchmark Survey

Hoteliers strongly believe that Internet marketing produces the best results. We asked hoteliers whether they thought Internet marketing, traditional marketing, or a mix of both produces better results and 55.7% said Internet marketing (up from 49.2% in the 08 survey and 37.7% in the 07 survey). Hoteliers are right on target as the online channel will be the only growth channel in hospitality in 2009-2010.

Even in this current economic environment, 63% plan to increase their Internet marketing budget in 09 – and a majority of hoteliers are planning on raising their online budget more than 15%. A larger percentage of respondents this year (33%) will be keeping their 09 budget at 08 levels. Where is the money coming from for hoteliers that are increasing their Internet marketing budget? Fifty-three percent of respondents are shifting money from offline marketing budgets.

In the 2009 survey, we introduced ‘the economic environment’ as one of the multiple choice options when we asked hoteliers what factors they will consider in planning their 2009 budget. Not surprisingly, 81.6% of respondents said that the economy will affect their budget planning for 09. We also saw that ‘what my peers are doing’ and ‘industry averages’ had less of an influence on hotel budget planning this year.

The types of Web 2.0 marketing initiatives planned for 09 vary greatly from 07 and 08. In previous years, hoteliers selected Surveys and Comment cards as the Web 2.0 initiatives they were planning. This year, hoteliers selected advertising on Social Media sites (i.e. TripAdvisor), creating profiles on social networks and a blog on the hotel website.

Almost half of all respondents believe their property does NOT conform to industry’s best practices in terms of Internet marketing. While hoteliers are getting more educated about the direct online channel, many of them do not have the internal resources, bandwidth or knowledge to deal effectively with this highly dynamic field.

This year, hoteliers overwhelmingly responded that they thought website optimization produced the best results and the highest ROIs (81.6%).  Search optimization – organic search was next at 60.9%. Indeed, both website and search optimizations are the most-cost effective initiatives for hoteliers in this economy.

This year, 85.6% of franchise/major brand hoteliers respondents said they did not find there to be major restrictions in online marketing due to brand restrictions. This percentage is increasing over the years (81.8% in 2008 and 76.2% in 2006) as more and more franchisees embrace best practices and launch local Internet marketing initiatives that complement their brand efforts.

The percentage of hoteliers who are participating in Paid Search increased from 50% in 2008 to 59.8% in 2009.  The use of Meta search and local search is also increasing year after year. Also, Web 2.0 Paid Search (e.g. TripAdvisor) was big this year as 32% of respondents are spending marketing dollars on this initiative. These responses are in par with industry practices and show that hoteliers are aware that as much as 60%-80% of traffic and bookings on hotel websites originate from the search engines.

Where is Hotel Business coming from?

For the past three years, Benchmark Survey respondents have said that most of their business comes from the direct online channel, which is supported by industry data. In 2009, more than 55% of all travel bookings and up to 40% of all hotel bookings in North America will be generated from the Internet (eMarketer, HeBS), which represents a double-digit growth over 2008. At least another third of hotel bookings will be directly influenced by online research, but booked offline. Over 65% of online hotel bookings will come from the direct online channel (76% for the major hotel brands).

However, 2009 survey results also show that bookings made via Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have increased for hoteliers – from 19% in 08 to 21% in 09. This is in large part due to the dire economic situation many hoteliers are going through. Hoteliers seem to be worried about lower occupancy rates and are providing more and more inventory to the OTAs.

What hoteliers are not realizing however is that the OTAs are also affected by the overall decline in travel demand (Expedia reported 7% decline in revenue in Q4 2008) and can help only so much. Therefore the only real growth channel in 2009-2010 is the direct online channel which allows savvy hoteliers to outsmart the competition and gain market share.

Budgeting for Hotel Internet Marketing in a Recession

Compared to last year’s survey, we noticed an increase in hoteliers saying that they have overall budget constraints. Hoteliers are less concerned with what peers are doing now then they were last year (24% in 2006 up to 27% in 2007, and back down to 18% in 2008), and much more concerned with the economy.

We saw the same decrease with concerns over industry averages for budget planning (from approx. 40% over the last two years, to 30%). However, despite the economy, most hoteliers are increasing their Internet marketing budgets in 09.

So where is this increase coming from? As expected, over half of the respondents (53%) said they were shifting money from the offline marketing budget.

When asked approximately what percentage of your overall marketing budget was devoted to Internet marketing activities in the past year, most respondents were in the 11-20% and 21-49% range. More people are devoting a larger portion of their overall budget to Internet than they had been in 06 and 07.

Year after year we are seeing a shift from lower categories of percentages to higher percentages of money spent on the Internet, although hoteliers are still using traditional media. In this year’s survey results, people that were throwing their entire budget towards the Internet (76-100%), have scaled back as hoteliers discover a better balance between traditional and Internet marketing budgeting.

Once the budget is set, what are hoteliers spending their Internet marketing dollars on? From the table below, you can see that they are indeed spending their money on those formats they believe achieve the highest ROIs.

Website design, website optimization, paid search and email marketing consume fairly high percentages of the budget.

What Marketing Formats do Hoteliers Believe Produce the Best Results?

What are the Internet marketing formats hoteliers believe generate the highest ROIs?

In the 2007 and 2008 results, website design, website optimization and search engine optimization ranked as the highest revenue generators. For 2009 we saw a decrease in the percentage of people who ranked website design as one of the highest revenue generators.

This thinking is in line with current budget restraints due to the recession. Website optimizations are much more affordable than website redesigns, and often pay for themselves within 3-4 months (as do website redesigns).  Unless the website is over 2-3 years old, hotel optimizations can help hoteliers take advantage of the much cheaper organic search related visitors to the hotel website.

Even though hoteliers are going back to the basics this year, there are a high percentage of hoteliers who believe Web 2.0 initiatives produce results. This is interesting considering that 15% of respondents are not even planning Web 2.0 initiatives for 2009.

The results make a lot of sense however, in the case of the increase of hoteliers who thought Paid Search Marketing produces the highest ROI. We saw the use of paid search decrease from 07-08, and then saw over a 40% increase in the 09 survey results.

This is most likely because more and more hoteliers realize that Paid Search works.  According to eMarketer, these survey results are on track for search engine marketing across all industries (not just hospitality), as U.S. spending on search engine marketing will nearly double from $12.2 billion in 2008 to $23.4 billion in 2013.

Here are some of this year’s responses:

  •  “You can’t be as flexible as you need, you don’t spend a lot of money in online marketing because you can’t analyze it as you would [normally] do.”
  • “Hotel website is stand-alone however we have to use the Franchise Booking Engine.”
  • “Limitations of who you can contract with.”
  • “Restriction for hotel pictures loading…restriction for hotel package design and loading.”

So what does this tell us? HeBS believes that there are many online revenue opportunities which fall outside the scope and ‘bandwidth’ of the major hotel brands’ Internet marketing efforts. Even though most of the leading hotel brands have become proficient national and international eMarketers over the past 5-6 years, they cannot possibly cover all the local online revenue opportunities available to the property.

As hoteliers are becoming more Internet marketing savvy, they are realizing they can complement the hotel brand’s Internet marketing efforts with their own “Local Internet Marketing Strategy for Franchised Hotels”.

What’s Ahead for Hoteliers and Social Media?

Social media continues to be a hot topic in the industry, and more hoteliers are looking for the next big thing they can do (without spending a lot of marketing dollars). According to the survey, this year the most important Web 2.0 initiatives were: advertising on social media sites (25%), a blog on the hotel website (14%), creating profiles on social networks (14%) and survey and comment cards on the hotel website (14% – although this is significantly down from last year).

Last year, hoteliers selected Surveys and Comments Cards as the most popular option. Another big drop was in the use of reputation monitoring tools, as hoteliers become savvier and realize they can monitor the most popular sites that offer reviews themselves – and for free – read HeBS’ article on the subject.

Conclusions

The survey results show that hoteliers really are “Getting Back to the Basics” in this tough economy – read HeBS’ article on the subject. While there were some interesting results, such as an increase in hoteliers planning on advertising on social media sites, hoteliers are shifting budgets from offline to online, focusing on Internet marketing initiatives that have been proven, are becoming savvier at monitoring their hotel reviews on their own, and in general are embracing the Internet as their most cost-effective, revenue generating tool.

All industry forecasts indicate that in 2009-2010 the travel industry in North America will experience a major decline. GDS contribution is also projected to decrease by several percentage points.  And yet, online travel bookings in 2009 are expected to grow by 10.5% and reach $116.1 billion due to channel shift, and an additional 11% in 2010 to reach $128.9 billion (eMarketer).

CPAs: Internet Marketing Supports Business Success.

Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Legal & Financial, Professional Services, Websites

From the AICPA:

Internet Marketing Supports Business Success

Many CPA firms and their clients maintain websites as part of their marketing strategy. However, some fail to achieve their objectives for launching the website. In the following article, the CPA author discusses how businesses need to develop and maintain their websites. Properly designed and maintained, a business’s website can help to attract prospective clients by engaging them rather than by showing them little more than a static brochure.

A few years ago, The New York Times estimated that consumers conducted 150 million Internet searches daily. I wanted a piece of that action. I already had a website, but it wasn’t attracting any business. However, a marketing consultant convinced me that the Internet was an amazingly powerful tool for obtaining new clients and helped me to design my website to attract prospective clients and sustain their interest. The result: My CPA practice really took off in 2005!

The basic lesson I learned was that the website had to be more than a static online brochure. Instead, it had to be an interactive content portal that would be helpful to current and prospective clients. The website must be easily navigable, visitors must find it useful, and its content must be well written.

Easy navigation

Visitors to the website need to decide whether or not a firm can handle their requirements. Furthermore, visitors—especially first time visitors—are unlikely to return to the site if they cannot navigate the site intuitively and find what they are looking for easily.

Useful features

To encourage visitors to revisit your website, provide them with incentives that are free and useful. These features might include regular newsletters, white papers and articles, and industry news. Other attractive features could include calculators, directions, and links to other useful websites.

Good copywriting

When many business owners design a website, they start by looking at images, themes, and color schemes. But content is the most important aspect of a CPA firm’s or a client’s website. Prospects who land on a firm’s website are looking for information that will help them select service providers. They want to know if the firm will understand their business, has experience in matters similar to what they’re seeking help with, succeeds in meeting clients’ needs, and has capable staff members. The website’s online copy should tell prospects that the firm has the expertise and industry experience, as well as its project experience.

Most important are the words used to present the website content. In developing the content, business owners and their marketers need to listen to the words that their current and prospective clients are using to capture their attention. Writing for Search Engine Strategies, Noah Elkin, vice president for corporate strategy for Steak, a search-led digital agency, advises that “to an evergrowing degree, the role of listening and remembering now falls on the shoulders of marketers, and the memorable words are not necessarily their own. Increasingly, they are the search terms used by their customers, which provide a window into those customers’ wants and desires.” (“The Shifting Power of Words,” April 1, 2008).

Search engine optimization

Attracting visitors to a website requires using keywords that are relevant to those clients you wish to attract. Search engines enable potential clients to find a website. As users know, when they search the Web, probably using Google, Yahoo!, and other popular search engines, they may get a list of thousands of websites. They first see a list of ten websites. Of those users, reports Newsday.com, between 60% and 70% look only at the first page with just ten sites. Consequently, the website owner needs to use search engine optimization (SEO), a technique that helps to “rank” a website at or near the top of the search engine listings. Several factors influence the natural placement of sites, but they can be grouped into four basic categories: titles, tags, text, and links.

Title. All the most important key words should be in the title. For example, my title is Portland Oregon Tax CPA and Fee-Only Financial Advisor.

Meta description and meta keywords tags. The meta description tag should contain a short description of the Web page written for humans to read, for example, “Russell D. Francis, CPA—Specializing in Small Business Tax Saving Strategies, and Investment Management for Professionals and Business Owners.” The meta keywords tag lists the keywords that prospects might use in their search. Examples include CPA, Certified Public Accountant, Portland, tax, business, succession planning, investments, accounting, recordkeeping, consulting, financial planning, retirement planning, and tax planning.

Text. The first 200–300 words on your home page are critical for search engine ranking. Here you must clearly focus on positioning your strengths and key services. Rebecca Lieb, a marketing communications specialist, advises small businesses to use Web analytic tools, such as Google Analytics, to find out what search terms are being used by people who land on their sites. A business can also check out the websites of its competitors to see what keywords they may be using in their websites’ content.

Links. The term link popularity is used to describe the number of Web pages that link to other Web pages. Link popularity is an important contributing factor that some search engines use to determine page rankings. A business can find out who is linking to competitors and email them to ask for a similar opportunity. You can check out who is linking to competitors by going to http://www.toolbar.google.com, installing the toolbar, and then clicking on the backward links feature.

Do everything you can with SEO because it’s free. Be patient, it takes time for the search engines to rank you. You will significantly increase your marketing at a fraction of the cost of other methods.

Most search engines offer articles on their websites on how to do SEO. In addition, various courses and seminars are available. Their cost varies with the complexity of the training provided. Also, consider engaging an SEO consultant.

Sponsored listings

If you really want to supercharge your Web marketing effort and get immediate results, try sponsored listings or pay-per-click (PPC).

Sponsored listings will place you at the top of their directory listing for a fixed monthly or annual fee. This is typical of the online Yellow Pages.

The advantage of PPC is that you won’t be charged unless someone clicks on your listing. Once your ad is clicked, prospects go directly to your website for more information.

The position of your PPC listing in the directory depends on the competition and what criteria the prospect uses in the search. It is a competitive bidding process, so your listing position will depend on how much you are willing to pay to be listed at or near the top. If you are willing to pay $5 per click and your competition is willing to pay $5.10, you’ll be listed second, underneath your competition.

The PPC listing also depends on the keywords or phrases used in the search. You’ll need to specify “targeted” keywords or phrases that will place you at the top of the listings and an inviting title that will give the prospect a reason to click on your ad. More than 61% of Internet users conduct local searches. So, unless you are competing nationally, refine keywords and phrases. For example, use Portland Accountant rather than just Accountant. Narrowing the key word in this case increases the chance of attracting local prospects.

You can pay different PPC rates for a variety of keywords or phrases. You may find that $0.10 per click doesn’t put you on top of the directory listing for that keyword. Try $0.11 per click or even $0.50 per click. It’s still more effective than the 1–2% return you’ll get on a $1.50 direct mail piece.

Sponsored listings and PPC have a short-term advantage over SEO, but the disadvantage is the cost involved. Over the long term, natural SEO listings will give you a higher return on your marketing dollar and significantly increase your margins. But both methods are very effective, and you can often reduce PPC advertising once your natural SEO listings rank near the top.

Other benefits to Web search engine advertising include the following:

You can easily change your target audience or advertising focus, or both, by changing your keywords or Web page.

You are not locked into advertising as you would be with a Yellow Page ad. You can cancel or reduce your advertising at any time.

You can grow as fast as you want by increasing or decreasing your listings on the Internet.

Russell D. Francis, CPA, CFP, provides tax and financial planning services at Markiz and Francis, PC, Beaverton, OR.

Local Visibility Factors

Posted on 06. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Classified Sites, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Social Networking, Travel & Transportation, Video, Websites

Back in “the day” a local business could turn on a  local phone number, place an ad in the local  telephone directory,  and start selling. Reaching the local “ready-to-buy” consumer was relatively easy.

Today, we live in a different world; many businesses are struggling to remain visible, they find the choices confusing and the requirements time consuming. 

To continue reaching both current customers as well as the new,  numerous factors need to be addressed. I recently downloaded a cool new iPhone application called “Simple Mind X” and started brainstorming. Here’s the result - it took about 10 minutes to create, and I think it sums-up the complexities of on-line visibility:

Your Online Visibility

Your On-line Visibility

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