Questions You Should Be Asking About Your Website

Search engine optimization is an ongoing process. One of the best strategies for success is to evaluate your site on a regular basis. Consider the following questions and suggestions for improving your site's ranking:

• Are you sure that your site doesn’t have broken links, and old and slow pages?
• Are you sure that your site’s home page has a good chance to be found on the key phrase for which you optimized the page?
• How often do you monitor back links to your site?
• Do you know if the quality of partners’ links to your site remains the same over time?
• Do you always recreate site maps and resubmit them to Google, MSN, and Yahoo! after you’ve changed your site substantially?
• Do you keep a history of your website rankings so you can compare your current ranking results to any day in the past when you ran a ranking check?

These questions, and the answers they provoke, are food for thought. Make sure that your website is optimized and that you're keeping an eye on your competition. Online tools like SEO Elite or WebCEO can help. Click here to learn more.

Read more »

Posted in: seo

Make Sure Your Site is Error Free

Today's Marketing Tip: Proofreading

When a colleague of mine noticed a spelling error on my main website, MarketingScoop.com, I couldn't help but wonder if we made additional "typos" on the website. I did a quick Google search and came across a website called, TextTrust.com. They offer a free trial so I figured, "What the hey... I'll give it a try."

After entering my email address and website URL, I received an email from TextTrust. They listed about 8 - 10 typos on my site. The great part about the listing is that it highlighted the words that were mispelled and quoted the sentence in which they were contained. All I had to do was click on the highlighted (mispelled) word, and it launched the specific page where I could find the error.

Unfortunately the service didn't review my entire site, for that you have to choose a service plan. TextTrust offers two, Express or Pro. The Express service gives you a single report for $199. The Pro service monitors your site on a regular basis for $24.95 per month.

If you have a large site, and have never checked it for errors, I recommend you make the investment. Nothing turns off browsers more than a poorly edited website.

Read more »

Posted in: proofreading,website

Today's Marketing Tip: Testimonials

Today's marketing tip is about testimonials, a powerful marketing tool. If you're not using testimonials to promote your products or services, then you're missing out. Adding testimonials to your marketing materials or website is easy to do and can result in a significant lift in sales.

When providing testimonials for your product or service, there are a number of fundamental practices you should consider. Presenting your testimonials in the correct manner can optimize your results. Follow these helpful tips when applying testimonials on your website or in your communications.

1. The medium is the message. Depending on your target audience, the medium you choose to display your testimonials can make or break their effectiveness. For example, if you’re trying to reach today’s generation, video may be the most popular technique. With the advent of YouTube and sites that allow users to upload video, the medium has taken on a life of its own.

If you’re promoting your products to teenagers or those in their early twenties, consider testimonials from peers in video format. Hearing key messages from someone in their own cohort using the correct medium, is much more powerful than a generic message from a so called expert.

2. Provide detailed information of the individual leaving the testimonial. Not only do individuals like to hear from others, but they want to know that the testimonial is from a real person who’s just like them. When posting or providing a testimonial, make sure to include the individuals name and some demographic information. This adds to the legitimacy of the testimonial and helps people resonate with their comments.

3. Categorize your testimonials. Having a long list of testimonials that don’t appear to have any particular order is difficult for browsers to navigate. When you are providing your listing, regardless of the format you’re using, make it easy for browsers to select the testimonial that would be most relevant to their needs. Successful websites categorize their testimonials. For example, they can be categorized by type such as ‘customer service’, ‘price’, or ‘quality’. Other classification schemes may include user types such as ‘student’, ‘entry-level’, or ‘professional’. When categorizing your testimonials, consider how your audience is segmented and choose a logical format.

4. Vary your testimonial formats. Experiment with different types of testimonial formats. In addition to basic web posts, you should try adding audio or video and measure the views. By offering multiple formats you are appealing to different styles and therefore maximizing exposure.

5. Update your testimonials on a regular basis. Don’t let your testimonials get stale. Whether you provide a date that the testimonial was submitted, or not, you should strive to add testimonials on a regular basis. Individuals who come back to your website or revisit your promotional materials can benefit from finding new content.

Testimonials are a powerful tool for promoting your products or services. When considering testimonials for your website or marketing materials, be sure to think about your audience and provide a compelling display of customer feedback. Consumers want to hear from others like them. Learn to leverage testimonials and watch your sales start to climb!

Read more »

Posted in: marketing,testimonials