I just spoke to a prospect who was referred to me and wanted to compare my internet marketing, web design and search engine optimization services with that of another company. The prospect mentioned that they would get a keyword domain name as part of their “package”. This immediately got me to thinking! And here is why:
I have a client who used to pay several hundred dollars a month to a lead-generation company that provided him with a keyword domain name, website and 800 number. He became unsatisfied with the number of leads and cancelled his service. What he didn’t realize was that by canceling his monthly service, he was loosing his domain name, website and 800 number! They hadn’t truly belonged to him…they were only provided to him as long as he continued his monthly payments!
So, a few words of caution:
- If you pay for “set-up” of a website, domain name, lead capture page, directory listing or anything else, make sure you are the owner of that item.
- If you pay for “keyword research”, get a copy of the results of the research and the recommended keywords.
- Before you pay a monthly fee for internet marketing, lead generation or search engine optimization…find out what you are truly paying for. If you cancel your monthly service, will what you paid for still be in place and have positive impact on your internet presence? OR, will you loose everything you’ve already invested in?
- AND, last but definitely not least, get all logins and passwords from any company that you contract with so that you can access your own accounts in the future if you change service providers!
There are a lot of internet marketing/lead generation/web design companies out there that charge a monthly fee and in my opinion “hold their clients hostage” by not giving them access to their own accounts. Be sure this doesn’t happen to you or your friends!
If you have any questions, please let me know…
Kimberly
MarketingThatsEasy.com
P.S. - I consult & train businesses on how to promote their business on the internet and get found! Subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or Email so you don't miss any Free Tips! @KimberlyYow
Web content is anything on the web whether it be on your blog, your website, on social networking sites or anywhere else you add or post information. It can include text, photos, videos, slide shows, audio files, polls, links, etc…
Providing useful, informative, interesting or inspiring content is critical to successfully promoting your small business on the internet. People do not want to constantly see your advertisements, coupons, special offers and promotional text. Many people use the web to:
- look for market or industry information
- research products or services
- solve a problem
- find information on marketing or running their business
- discover resources or tools that will increase their efficiency and save them time or money
- stay current with industry trends
These are just a few of the many reasons that people use the internet. One of the best ways to promote your business on the internet, is to give people what THEY are looking for by providing great content. That means your content must be useful, informative, interesting or inspiring. If it is, you stand a greater chance of having that person contact you for more information, bookmark and frequent your website, subscribe to your blog posts, sign up for your newsletter, invite you to connect with them on a social network, etc… And this is what YOU want!
Even if that person is not ready to buy what you provide right now, you want them to “opt-in” to receiving information from you. This allows you to “drip” information to them periodically and create “top of mind awareness” with them. When they are ready to buy, you are at the top of their mind…they think of you. If you continually provide great content, you will eventually win over some of these “opt-in subscribers” and they will become customers. This is because you will have gained their trust by providing them with great content and NOT pushing your product/service down their throat. They will see you as an expert in your field and as a resource. When this type of person contacts you, they are ready to buy what you have to offer.
Always strive for great content. It will win you customers in the long run!
Kimberly Yow
MarketingThatsEasy.com
P.S. – Have you subscribed to our blog posts yet? You can receive our new blog posts via RSS Feed or Email. (See right column of blog to subscribe.)
P.S.S. – Posting great content that uses your keywords is one of many search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.
Years ago I was under the impression that all web designers did more than just “design” websites. I thought they also incorporated search engine optimization techniques into their websites to give them greater visibility and improve search engine rankings. I learned the hard way!
I hired a web designer to create an e-commerce site for me and kept wondering when he was going to get my input on keywords for my industry. The answer was apparently “never”! After my website was published to the internet…and I was told it was done…I asked why keywords weren’t incorporated into my site, why all my page titles were the same, etc… I quickly learned that the price I had been quoted for web design covered only the “design”. It did NOT cover keyword research and website or search engine optimization.
If I wanted my website optimized for search engines, I would have to pay more money. I was given a second quote for optimizing my website and making it more visible on the internet. My web designer called this Phase II. I feel very strongly that it should have been part of Phase I. After all, what’s the point of having a website if no one can find it on the internet!
I’m sharing this story in the hope that you will not make the same mistake I did years ago. And, to stress how important it is to incorporate keyword research and website optimization into the initial design or redesign of your website. Doing so will save you money in the long run because your website will not need to be reworked to include search engine optimization techniques.
Beware: Many web designers do not know how to do keyword research and they also do not know “where” your keywords should be placed for search engine optimization.
If you are having a website designed or redesigned, make sure you:
- Hire a web designer who knows how to do keyword research and how to utilize keywords throughout your site.
- Or, hire a Search Engine Optimization Consultant to:
- conduct keyword research
- provide your web designer with keyword rich text
- give your web designer direction on “which keywords to place where”
I’m speaking from experience here. Both as someone who paid a web designer for a site that wasn’t search engine optimized…AND now…as a web designer and search engine optimization consultant who works with other web designers to help them incorporate search engine optimization techniques into their designs.
Do yourself a huge favor…make sure keywords and search engine optimization techniques are part of your initial web design project or your redesign project. Doing so will save you money in the long run and make your website more visible on the internet from the beginning.
In conclusion, make sure you know whether or not your “web design” quote includes keyword research and search engine optimization. If it doesn’t, ask your prospective web designer if they offer these services. If they don’t, look for another web designer or hire a search engine optimization consultant to work WITH your web designer.
Passionate about optimization!
Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy
It never ceases to amaze me that so many people skip the all important step of keyword research. Keyword research is the act of determining:
- which keywords your potential customers are searching on
- how many times each keyword is typed into various search engines
- the number of websites that are competing for or using each keyword
Before you create a website, start up a blog, write online articles or press releases or post any business content on the web…you simply must do keyword research. Once you have used keyword research tools (such as WordTracker.com) and have determined the keywords you want to target, then you can start writing web content with those keywords in mind.
Ideally each website page or article should focus on only 1-2 keywords so you can achieve keyword rich content which will help your search engine rankings.
A keyword is a word or phrase that people type into a search engine in order to find web content. Keywords are also used by web designers and web content writers to draw people to a specific website.
If web designers and writers do not use the keywords that people are “actually searching on”, then they will not have the website traffic that they desire.
An example might be if a website repeatedly uses the phrase “automobile insurance” yet their target customers are actually searching for “car insurance”.
When thinking about keywords, you need to think like your customer. Are they going to tell their friends they need to get a quote on automobile insurance or are they going to say they need a quote on car insurance?
In our next blog we will discuss Keyword Research…
