Your Web Presence and Digital Marketing

Michelle Flynn17.11.2010

There are obstacles to implementing a web presence for companies, such as:◦ Costs◦ Time◦ Lack of Expertise◦ Non Relevancy to a companies customer base◦ Technology based restrictions◦ Security considerations

Business Obstacles

Why Search Engine Marketing? How to get listed in search engines? Optimising websites Paid vs. Organic listings Pay Per Click Campaign

Search Engine Marketing Strategies

How Search Engines Work•Indexation

•Ranking

Overview of how Google analyses your Site

Search Engine Marketing (SEM):◦ Includes SEO◦ It monitors and maintains payper-click (PPC)

campaigns e.g. Google/ Facebook Ad words.◦ Exchanging links with other websites◦ Buying links from other sites or directories◦ Paid inclusion in smaller search engines

What is SEM?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via “natural” (organic” or “algorithmic”) search results ranking it high up in search results.

As an internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for.

Optimising a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords.

What is SEO?

Advantages◦ Low cost, no money given to search engines◦ Users 80% more likely to click there◦ High positions can last long into the future◦ Perceived as a quality endorsement

Disadvantages◦ Time required before results appear◦ Difficult for highly competitive phrases◦ No guarantees

Pros & Consof Organic Listings

1. Identify target key phrases approx. 4/page

2. Include the key phrase throughout the page

3. Get links to the site

SEO Basics

1. Identify Target Key Phrases◦ What phrases would potential customers type

in?

◦ What queries have actually been conducted?- most popular queries

Keyphrase Research

Include the key phrases on the page◦ Once in the page title

◦ Once in the heading on a page

◦ Once in regular text on the page

◦ Once in Bold Text

◦ NB: Ensure Keywords blend in

Page Optimisation

Every page should have a unique title

Title is built around target term for that page◦ This will be a 2 or 3 word term◦ “The Nike Running Shoes Collection”

Keep it short, attractive and enticing.◦ Remember you want people to be interested

Title Tag- Your secret Weapon

Use it to describe pages your way, not the search engine’s way◦ Sell your site, but don’t mislead◦ Incorporate the page’s target term◦ 200-250 characters in lenght, but more is okay

In a hurry? Just use the first paragraph of each page

Meta Description Tag

Avoid these Spam Techniques◦ Hidden/Invisible Text◦ Keyword stuffing (in alt tags or below the footer)◦ Bounce Pages, Dummy pages re-routing to

website◦ Page Jacking (Plagiarised content) ◦ Link farms and link spam

Optimisation Don’t

Content Tips◦ Google Ignores Meta Keyword Tags◦ Focus on one or two key phrases per page◦ .......But add as many pages as you can◦ Regularly check your stats for popular phrases◦ Make it text rich (avoid multimedia)

Optimisation Do’s

Content is no cheap, Requires;

◦ Planning

◦ Expertise

◦ Budget/Resources

◦ “Users don’t read on the web: They SCAN the text”- Jakob Nielsen

Content Management

Allow white space

Paragraphs no longer than 50 words or seven lines

Bullet points and subheads

Articles no longer than 500-700 words

Concise rather than comprehensive

Top Tips for content that pays off

Active voice and lively language

The 4 C’s of effectiveness: Clarity, Conciseness, Completeness, Correctness

Light on waffle, heavy on value ( 80/20 rule)

Plan for “no image” recipients

Push out content- keep content relevant and up to date,

Top Tips for content that pays off

Get links to many pages, not only the homepage

Get links from reputable websites with similar themes to yours

Link exchanges are good, but one way links are better

Search engines give higher rankings to those that have inbound links

Outbound links allow users to find content relevant to them

Link Strategy

Uses valid, standards, compliant HTML and CSS

Has text links to all of the pages on the website

Is usable and accessible Uses legible URLs that match page names

A search engine friendly website

The right domain name Keyword research Competitor analysis Meta data Content is king Submissions Links Online PR Integrate with all offline marketing opportunities Measure your success

Zero Budget Online Marketing Tips

Visibility

Traffic

Conversion

Return on Investment

Measures of online success

Thank you for reading this presentation.If you would like further information,

please email me at michelle@talktome.ie