internet marketing analysis for community involved in sustaining agriculture
DESCRIPTION
This is a project I did for a local nonprofit interested in expanding it's online presence. CISA is an organization that promotes and markets local agriculture in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. It's mission also includes building community among consumers of locally grown foods and local producers and farmers.TRANSCRIPT
Erik Jonsberg
GCC Student Intern
September 13, 2013
Internet Marketing Analysis of the
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture
Website
Generate revenue through monetary conversionsDonations
Emergency Farm FundSenior Farm SharePlanned Giving
Local Hero membershipsCommunity memberships
Fulfill requirements of grantsProvide marketing and other resources to local farmers
Foster community with consumers, farmers and local food activists
Be the voice of the local food movement in the Pioneer Valley
Goals of CISA Website
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Increase web based monetary conversions donations by 25% over one year community memberships by 25% over one year Local Hero memberships by 25% over one year
Increase farmer/producer usage of resource pages by 50% over one year
Increase Facebook referrals/likes by 25% over one year Increase overall site traffic by 25% over one year
Rationale for one year timeframe Adequate time frame for documenting effects of SEO Represents one full crop cycle Control for seasonal fluctuations in site traffic
Measurable Objectives of Internet Marketing for the CISA Website
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Strengths
Good content• Press• Recipes etc.• Events• Classifieds• Farmer resources• Farm Fresh is awesome resource• Local food calculatorAttractive site• Nice graphics• Pleasing overall design
Opportunities
• CISA positioned to be the voice of the local food movement in the Pioneer Valley
• Clearing house of information for farmers and consumers
• Voice opinions on important food topics
• Foster a community of like-minded consumers and farmers
• Educate the public• Few, if any, competitors on the
internet
Threats
• To much reliance on Farm Fresh is ultimately hurting the site and detracting from other important resources.
Weaknesses
Difficult to navigate• Deep map• Important content hidden in menus• Search bar hidden on bottom of pageConfusing structure• Categories don't always make sense• Donation pages are confusingPoor integration with social mediaWeb development is decentralized• Donations and other monetary
conversions are tracked outside Google Analytics
No event trackingFarm Fresh is separate domain
S W
TO
SWOT Analysis
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
• Equal distribution of major sources
• Small percentage of traffic to campaigns indicates under-utilization of feature
• Total hits low compared to Farm Fresh indicates loss of traffic to that site
• Peaks correspond to:• Taste the view• Restaurant
Days• Food Calculator• Food safety
rules
Traffic Sources Overview
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Organic Searche
s• Most of the people
who visit the site already know about CISA
• Visitors using Google to avoid typing URL, not for search
• Keywords unclear and underutilized
• Research long tail keywords and include in copy and links.Erik Jonsberg
September 13, 2013
Referrals
• Most referrals are from Facebook and Farm Fresh
• Not much traffic from linking sites.
• Cultivate high authority external links:• WWLP• WRSI• Mass.gov• Colleges• Member
farms
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Direct• High overall
bounce rate
• Bounce rate from home page indicative of users going off site to Farm Fresh and/or not finding what they want
• Only farmer resource is Food Safety
• Donation pages absent
• Connect to social media to promote pages/events
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Campaigns
• Could be a good measure of initiatives
• Usage is unclear
• Only spike in traffic was related to an email dated 8/22/13
• LH Challenge appears to be well tracked
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
• Majority of visitors bounce at home page• Better integration of CISA and Farm Fresh sites• In page analytics * is an excellent resource for
studying where people navigate on your site
*you will need to be logged into Google Analytics to view this link
Traffic Flow
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
DataCISA has 2,229 “likes” with 49 conversationsCurrent strategy includes a “page”Facebook not well integrated with website
ImplicationsFew people connect Facebook page with CISA websiteSocial media is under-utilized
StrategyLink Facebook to buylocalfood.org through “like” buttons,
comments, conversations and linksCross post to Twitter and blogUtilize Facebook Ads to increase page “likes” and site hitsResearch “groups” on Facebook on related topics and
increase “likes” by participating as the voice of CISA.
Social Media
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
External links can be researched at Open Site ExplorerBloggers are talking about you
FeedburnerWordpressBlog spotGrist
You're in the newsMasslive (Republican)GristBoston Globe magazine
Boost page/domain authority by cultivating high quality links
Increase links per page and use keywords as anchor text to attract backlinks
Backlinks
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Search is primary traffic sourceMany keywords are from long tailMajority of known keyword phrases include
“farmer” and “market”Strategy should include incentives to bring
visitors back to CISAMember benefitsNoteworthy items on CISA siteLink to “comments” section on CISA site
Brief Summary of farmfresh.org
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
• Farm Fresh receives exponentially more hits because it includes RI and CT, however it includes many CISA links
• In page analytics* shows that 33% are clicking on Resources, which includes a link to buylocalfood.com
• Fix bad links and provide incentives for trackbacks to CISA
*you will need to be logged into Google Analytics to view this link
Traffic Flow
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Google cache shows no imagesRedirects are 302 TemporaryMonetary conversion pages are
difficult to navigateTitles need keywordsSite search bar is at bottom of pageNavigation bar is deep and
confusing
Other Issues
Erik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013
Synopsis of Strategies for Improving buylocalfood.org as a Marketing and Media Resource for CISA
Improve design of donation/membership pages
Navigation structure One click payments
Improve overall site design to facilitate length of stay
Deep to shallow Polls, quizzes Opportunities to provide
feedback Internal link structure
Identify target Keywords… Research long tail key words Increase key word usage in copy Utilize tags
Improve readability and interactivity of resource pages
Fillable forms Links to outside resources Convert .pdf to .html
Increase opportunities for community involvement/feedback
Facebook integration Blog
Guest contributors Opportunity for discussion Increased producer/consumer
participation Forums
Increase crawlability by major search engines
Better integration of farmfresh.org and buylocalfood.org Decrease bounce rate Longer length of stay
Reach out to domains with high authority
More links per page Link anchor text with key
wordsErik JonsbergSeptember 13, 2013