Many SEO and Internet Marketing companies recommend their clients get a blog installed and that they begin to blog. On Target also recommends this, BUT, here’s the typical disconnect….. Many clients start to blog and then give up after a few weeks.
Like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you write three blogs and walk away for three months, guess what happens? NOTHING. The more that you contribute RELEVANT and INTERESTING content that is SINCERE and GENUINE, the more that you will thrive. Here are some blogging mistakes that are commonly made:
1.) Blogging about your pet goldfish Jake. No one cares.
2.) Blogging about your recipe for creamed spinach. Unless you sell creamed spinach, POINTLESS.
3.) Blogging once a quarter. Nope, not enough. We recommend three blogs a week.
4.) Don’t try to sell something every time you blog! A call to action is important, but DON’T push your products down people’s throats.
5.) Don’t just write blogs for search engines. The goal here is to get live, breathing, actual human beings to read your stuff.
The internet is all about contributing. Use your blog to contribute to the Internet and the search engine karma will follow.
One particular element that helps SEO or at least aids the search engines in finding your web site is an XML sitemap. Many people have doubted the value of submitting a sitemap to Google, but Google verifies that it does indeed help Google understand your web site better and helps it crawl your links better. IMPORTANT: Google does not guarantee inclusion to it’s directory by submitting a sitemap.
Check out the article from Google on their webmaster blog and make certain that your web site has a site map uploaded. http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/06/update-on-sitemaps-at-google.html
With online video and you tube, it’s easy for any company to crank out a video about their company and get it found in Google or Youtube. People, being curious, love to watch videos. One caution before you site down with all of your office and marketing staff to brainstorm about your promotional video: It’s NOT About You. The video needs to be about what your company can do for your prospects, so, here are some things to avoid:
1.) No one cares about your beautiful new facility in upstate New York.
2.) No one really cares about what the CFO has to say about Q3 earnings and how it impacts the global economy.
3.) No one really cares about the ‘message from the CEO’. Snooze Fest.
4.) No One is that concerned about Jennie your secretary and her views on the production process.
Create your video for your prospects and customers, not you. Get them to laugh, get them to see the value in what you do, get them to understand, you are different.
Seth Godin wrote an excellent blog article this morning about MSN and it’s new search engine, BING. BING is scheduled to be launched on June 3rd and is for all intents and purposes, Microsoft’s response to Google. They have spent 100 million dollars in marketing dollars to PUSH their new message. As Seth points out, now is not the time to PUSH a message about your product, NOW is the time to create something amazing and unique and let people spread the word.
Read Seth’s article here:
I have been looking at some sport fishing boats, drooling, more than looking, but I was interested in one particular model. I googled the name of the manufacturer and found their web site. I then found the model I was after and they had a video of the boat! I was excited as I was dying to see the features, the motor, maybe a tour of the instrument panel, etc. I clicked the video only to see a 10 second movie of a boat in the water driving. No sound, no commentary, no view of the instruments, the motor, etc. What a waste of digital bandwidth.
If you are compelled to use video on your web site, be certain that it DOES SOMETHING and compels people. Hire a professional company to shoot your company commercial, or invest in a good camera, microphones, etc. Used with purpose, a video can be a great tool, used just to use a video, it can be aggravating and pointless to the viewer / prospect / boat shopper.
What is blogging and why is everyone doing it?
Blogging has become a useful resource for company’s on the Internet.
In this class, you will learn how blogging can help your company and when it can hurt; why your blog content is so important and how often you should be blogging.
Our blogging course is scheduled for May 28, 2009 9:30 am - 12:30 pm at the San Pedro Retreat Center, 2400 Dike Road, Winter Park, Florida. Cost for this course is $125.00: Please call Kellie to register at 407-830-4550 or visit Orlando Internet Marketing Classes.com to register online.
On Target has added an additional FREE Internet Marketing Class to it’s list: We will be offering Internet Marketing 101 on May 20 as well as June 16, 2009.
The Internet marketing classes are FREE, but we do ask that you register online or via phone at 407-830-4550. You can register online for the classes here. Course Description is below:
Internet Marketing is constantly changing as new technology emerges. In this class, we will talk about what Internet Marketing is and why its important; latest trends of Internet marketing and how it can help your company. Learn about Social Networking (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Google, Web Site Design and more.
Register here : Orlando Internet Marketing Classes or call 407-830-4550. We hope to see you there.
Is your web site remarkable? Is it instilling confidence in people? Is it providing a value that no other web site in your industry is?
On the Internet there are way too many choices, there is way too much competition to throw up a mediocre non remarkable web site.
Provide quality information, provide expert advice and opinion, provide something that no one else in your market does. On the Internet, it is truly about ME. Your web site needs to speak to ME when I need your products or services.
Need help being remarkable? Call On Target Web Solutions at 407-830-4550 today and let’s discuss your online marketing plans.
It never ceases to amaze me how much thought people put into EVERY word of their web site, they hire freelance writers, obsess over this detail or that detail, make countless revisions to the same paragraph, etc. While we understand why people do this and understand that they want their web site to be perfect, web site owners need to understand this: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU or Your company.
The sole purpose of your corporate web site should be to instill confidence in your prospects, offer them educational articles designed to help THEM, offer them EASY ways to contact you, offer them great content if they opt in and ask for it. Once you start obsessing over what your clients want and not what Bob from the marketing department wants, your web site begins to serve a purpose, serving others.
We decided to offer the Orlando community today a NO obligation, NO sales Pitch FREE 2 hour course on Internet Marketing. We are dedicated to educating and empowering local businesses with the tools to succeed and thrive in this economic environment.
The First Internet marketing 101 course will be offered on May 20, 2009. Registration is required, so please register online today! You can also call in your registration, call 407-830-4550 and ask for Kellie.
We also offer a variety of other Internet marketing classes, so be sure to check them all out here: Orlando Internet Marketing Classes