Delivering in the Clutch:  Making it all the way Home
Rounding all the Bases

In our October issue of Jungling's Gems (Making it to third base), we stressed the importance of measuring results and leveraging this information to make your online marketing as effective as possible.  As we stressed, utilizing web analytics provides you with critical information that you can use to determine how people are interacting (or not interacting) with your website.

To further recap from previous issues, reaching first base was likened to taking that first step and having an Internet presence.   As Alina Tugend suggested in her March 27, 2009 New York Times article, "not being online today is akin to not existing."

Making it to second base builds on the foundation of having an Internet presence and focuses on increasing your website's search engine rankings so your company's name and brand appear on search engine results pages for the keywords that are related to your product or service.

Making it All the way Home. Each of the three components we have previously discussed is necessary for Internet Marketing Success.  However, having that Internet presence and driving traffic to that Internet presence won't provide long-term sustainability if you don't have an effective landing page — a page that will help in converting prospects into customers. Landing page is defined as the "place" where visitors land after clicking on an email link, a search engine result, a banner ad, or manually typing in a specific advertised address. 

In the next blogs posts, we will address (1) Landing Pages Best Practices and (2) Common Mistakes of Landing Pages.

Delivering in the Clutch:  Third Base
Leveraging Measurement Tools

Third Base. Third base in the baseball analogy is equivalent to measuring results. Third base is a critical third step in having an effective online marketing strategy.  It's not the final step, but it does build upon the the initial step of having that online presence and the second step of driving online traffic to your website.

By taking full advantage of Measurement tools you are able to determine what is working and what is not working and take appropriate steps to further leverage your website or brand presence in the search engines! There are two measurement tools I want to briefly mention: (1) Web Analytics and (2) bit.ly.

Web Analytics
How many hits did your website generate last month?  Where did the visitors come from?  What web pages did they view?  These are important questions to have definitive answers to as it relates to your website.

Web Analytics is a tool that is used to collect data on the behavior of website users.  It is the process of analyzing the activity of people accessing a website.  The information is then used to help website administrators improve their websites.

Use Web Analytics to learn which online marketing initiatives are cost effective and see how visitors actually interact with your site.  Make informed site design improvements, drive targeted traffic, and increase your conversions and profits.  Learn if your website is generating enough online traffic to bring a Return on your Investment!  Know what is working and what is not.

bit.ly
bit.ly is a utility that allows users to shorten a long URL, share it, and then track the resulting usage. For example, you can turn this link: http://www.leadingwsiwebsolutions.com/web-design/web-analytics.aspx into this one:  http://bit.ly/E6GAF This makes it easier to include the link in an email or Twitter post without it breaking or taking up too much space. Every bit.ly link also has analytics associated with it that shows the number of clicks and other relevant data, including referring sites (Twitter, Facebook, Email Campaign, for example), date and time of click(s) and "conversations" about this link. For more information, please visit the website at http://bit.ly. 

Delivering in the Clutch:  Second Base
Making your Website Visible to Others

Lead generation for most businesses is possible on the Internet. You will be surprised what good relevant content can do for website visibility and lead generation. You will be seen as a resource website and this builds credibility, which in turn, creates confidence for the visitor to engage with your company.

Content is King
Think creatively about the types of content you should upload to your website. One of the best ways to come up with content ideas is to do some research and identify other keywords that would help you with writing relevant content. This is where Search Engine Optimization comes into its own. It is used to increase your website’s search engine rankings so users can find your products or services easily. Here are some steps you can take to optimize your website organically:

On-Page Optimization On-Page Optimization, at its most basic level, deals with the writing, formatting and creation of relevant keyword-rich content on your website and web pages.  Keyword selection cannot be overemphasized.  Consider the following as it relates to keyword selection:

• Traffic – The majority of keywords generate minimal online traffic – therefore, you must target keywords with significant traffic to warrant investing any time or effort.
• Many keywords don't translate into sales.  They may be considered "tire-kicker" keywords.  Therefore, it is most effective to target keywords with greater "profit potential."
• Many keywords are just too competitive to realistically rank for on Page #1.

Your keywords are your bread and butter in any online business – they're what your business is built on – and the strength and quality of your keywords determines the level of your success online. Off-Page Optimization – Create Incoming Links Incoming links are simply external links that point to your website from other websites. These links are seen as recommendations and build credibility for your website. Google ranks your web page based on the number of valuable related links. You could view this as a voting system; the one with the most related votes will do well. Links can be created by the following link building strategies:

• Blog posts that promote, discuss or compare products
• Article Marketing – where one writes product related articles and submits to “Article websites” where webmasters can use your article on their websites. The rule is that they cannot change your content and must leave the authors signature where links are pointed back to your website.
• Press Releases
• Links from other industry related websites.

Delivering in the Clutch:  Reaching First Base

First Base.   As we all know from our days of playing Little League or sandlot baseball, reaching first base is the initial challenge.  It requires one to "get off the bench" and take some "swings."  First Base, at the youth, collegiate or professional level, is the first step when it comes to scoring runs and, ultimately, being successful.

The analogy aptly applies to businesses as well with regards to Internet Marketing.  First base is merely the foundation (first step) for all your online marketing initiatives.  Without reaching first base, all other efforts will be fruitless. But what is it? 

Put simply, first base is about having an online presence.  It's about having a website to which you can direct customers and prospects.  It is critical that every business has that online presence. 

Perception is Reality
A website is a credibility issue.  A website is about perception.  Fair, or unfair, the company that cannot send a prospect to a website, gives the impression that they are not capable of servicing the prospect / client.  As Alina Tugend suggests in her March 27, 2009 New York Times article, "not being online today is akin to not existing."

Websites establish an online component to your business that is essential for any business.  Your website is a 24-hour, year-round billboard aimed at your customers and prospects.  A well-designed website is also crucial to enhancing your brand image.  It can build consumer confidence and increase their willingness to buy.

Getting off the Bench
What's the requirement for reaching first base?  Similar to the nation's favorite past time, it simply requires "getting off the bench," investing some money and "taking some swings."  Given the current economy, it may seem so much easier to just remain on the bench and ignore the "new" ways of marketing.  Afterall, you may reason, "that's not how we have marketed in the past."  However, just sitting idly by, will put you at a competitive disadvantage.

As John A. Quelch, professor at Harvard Business School, states:  "This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times."

Again, reaching first base is not the end-all.  Those of you who do have a website know that it does require much more to be successful.  However, it is a first step.  And reaching first base is required before making it all the way home.