Keyword Research – part 1

SEO tips, marketing strategies No Responses »
Feb 092011

This is the first part in a series where I’m going to be exploring how to do Keyword Research and generate good leads – particularly for anyone with a new or planned website. It’s true that keyword phrases can make or break a business that relies to some extent on search engine leads.

Why Pay for a Research Tool?

Since I’ve been using Market Samurai tool for nearly a year now, I’ve realised the information that is missing from the free Google Keyword Tool (albeit Samurai still relies on this tool for some search data)… that is both handy and vital to have.

One is ‘OCI’ commerciality – this variable measures the likelihood that searchers could be buyers. (Don’t fret, we’ll cover this later). Two is the ability to see Competition levels, Trends, and Adwords prices all in one screen.

Learn How to Use Professional Keyword Research Tools

Click to see helpful videos about the 1st Golden Rule – How to Find Relevant Keywords with Market Samurai. It’s really good for beginners. I like how they compare it to panning for gold. So true!

After this, go straight onto: 2nd Golden Rule – How to Find High Traffic Keywords

You will then be able to distinguish what defines a high traffic keyword – so you can cherry pick the niche markets/words for you to work on. You won’t believe what you will find out about Google searches!

If you’re running an online business, you’ll need either the correct SEO copywriter or this Market Samurai tool to be in the top 2% of all websites.

Other Relevant Posts:

Building Links for Better SEO

Search Visibility 2: Building a Theme with Keywords

Posted by Jennifer at 1:02 pm Tagged with: , ,

Finding the Right Niche to Ensure Ongoing Demand

Small Business Brisbane, marketing strategies No Responses »
Oct 292010

Recently I’ve been meeting people who describe themselves as “internet marketers” or someone who is launching an “online business/portal”. It seems practically everyone has a web project they’re working on for the long term goal of… making passive income! (Except for my 5 year old – her website really is for fun).

And why not, I say! Passive income is so 21st century.
Let’s look at what you can offer, why offer it, and what it may bring you.

Specialise Narrowly
You probably know your niche already – it’s what you do for people everyday. But hey, if you’re sick of what you do professionally you need to find another passion – and supply information that many people are in need of.

Hook into a Demand Area
Obviously there has to be a demand, with limited supply. You can even create a demand by being the pre-eminent authority in your field. Do your keyword research, trend research (Google Trends), and you will find ideas as well as help narrow your niche even further.

What you want is a demand that’s not temporary (like iPhone manuals), but something that’s evergreen, like kids party decorating.

Case Study – Productive Gardens
Our case study shows a clever, practical person hooking into a growing ‘evergreen’ trend.

David Borthwick, a keen gardener, started Productive Gardens to share that anyone can grow herbs and vegetables at home in minimal space. He’s grown his little empire, with both physical products and eBooks called Vegetable Garden Doctor, Raised Garden Beds, Natural Pest Control, Stacking Gardens, and more.

He has a blog, a follow-up email system, video tips, newsletters etc. By the look of his very cute custom website, he’s doing very well. See www.productivegardens.com.au/blogs/news.

When I talked to David at a food show, he clearly talked about what value you get from this garden within a short time. As well, he picked up email details from passersby by offering a tiered garden system as a prize.

So you can see how the alignment of your values, your passion, and a popular trend is the right niche to fulfill your passive income dreams.

Posted by Jennifer at 2:16 pm Tagged with: , ,

Websites Going Mobile

Website Design No Responses »
Oct 132010

Gartner says “mobile usage will eclipse desktop browsing by 2013”.
It’s crazy how fast the trend to mobile smartphone is going, and both web developers and their clients need to look at creating user-friendly, mobile-friendly websites.

Different countries in the world have different preferences for devices. iCrossing shows mobile device market break-up in Australia:
Blackberry … 52%
Apple (iPhone/iTouch)… 35%
Nokia … 6%

The most seemingly popular devices are not always the most used devices. Apple’s so great at marketing but not yet got the big cheese. Nokia is a very popular mobile phone in Australia, but their smartphones only have a small share. Microsoft will soon release Windows7 for mobiles, trying to get its little bit of new mobile media market share.

How are people using smartphones? In US, 34% of smartphone users have used a browser and 31% have downloaded and used an app (Comscore mobilens). These numbers possibly lag the real growth trends this year.

Designing for Mobile web or Apps?

Because of all the different products in the device marketplace, it means creating a lot of apps – for iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry, etc.

When you consider a mobile site with a browser, the advantage is people can find you through search and just view it. Providing apps means the user has to download the right app first.

It’s also easier to find a technology developer to build a mobile website.

Read more in Digital Market Labs blog about creating iPhone apps.

Start with a Good Plan and Strategy

It makes sense to start with your organisational goals: i.e. drive membership, gather leads, encourage donations, etc, and then work out how to help customers who use mobile devices, to help them accomplish what they’re going to you for. You need to design a good customer experience.

Then you must engage the Best Practices of Building Mobile Web:
1. Content drives experience
2. Screen Real estate
3. Navigation
4. Leverage device capabilities (e.g. HTML5)
5. How much to mobilise?
6. Measure and optimise*
* Source: Ektron

Content drives Experience
The first thing your Analytics will tell you is what device consumers use, which browser, and what search phrases they used.
Be aware of the environment that people are using a device. Someone using an iPad will probably be relaxing and want an experience, but if they’re using a smartphone they might be transaction oriented.

Real estate
Screen real estate means designing in a single column template so that your user won’t have to scroll too much to get to the main info. Assets need to be a smaller size to download quicker.

Navigation
Traditional web navigation (left, right or top menus) doesn’t work well on a mobile device. Most commonly mobile navigation are at the bottom with a very simple menu at the top. You can use Ajax technology to get further into the site.

Device Capabilities
Support location information, support click to call, support video – all these will be important on the mobile web.

How Much to Mobilise?
If someone surfs to m.site.com on a mobile – they can access the site more directly, rather than www.site.com (which may not be mobile friendly).
So how do you transition across to a mobile-tailored website? The first step is ask your web developer/designer of their capabilities for designing for mobile, and define your needs accurately.

Measure and Optimise
You won’t be able to tell what your users are doing unless you look closely at your web analytics program. And if you’re creating a new product site, you need to look at the general trends for your marketplace, i.e. what are they viewing and from which devices.

Optimise your site for your mobile users and their regular habits (e.g. opening an email newsletter on a device, oops it doesn’t work for them).
Thanks to ektron’s webinar by Bill Rogers and Tom Wentworth.

Posted by Jennifer at 11:41 am Tagged with: , ,

Ten Common Email Marketing Mistakes

copywriting tips, marketing strategies 1 Response »
Jul 072010

As a recipient of a barrage of daily emails, all requested, it’s easy to come up with ten common email mistakes from Businesses trying to sell me something…

  1. Promoting a live event but not mentioning WHERE it is in the email… hello, I don’t want to get on a plane for a two hour seminar?
  2. Jabbering on about yourself first, and burying the goodies for ME (that is, the reader) way down the email. (Had one today about Ms Entrepreneur’s exciting trip overseas; a benefit for the reader was four paragraphs in).
  3. Not using bold and headings, if using HTML. Studies show that readers prefer use of boldface and colours actually.
  4. Only using graphics, as some of us can’t be bothered downloading the graphics if we don’t know what it’s all about. Try to have ‘alt’ text for every image.
  5. Forgetting to put your business PHONE number and general location, with no links to website. Call to action anybody?
  6. Assuming people will remember you (especially if they signed up from a free offer). Make it easier for them with perhaps a head & shoulders picture of yourself and a standardised header/logo (with a tagline to explain what it’s all about). It’s easy to put in the line “You signed up for Read By Design newsletter at www.information.com.au” at the top.
  7. Not bothering to READ your own email, which possibly contains typos. I suggest you print out the email and have your other half read it, especially if grammar is not a strong point.
  8. Not testing your email in different viewers (Gmail, Outlook, Entourage) and not ‘spam testing’ the words – all can be done inside Email Marketer or similar (an email marketing system here in Australia).
  9. Blasting untargeted emails out with offers, and forgetting to build relationships through great value advice. Also get feedback about desired communication frequency.
  10. Forgetting to test and measure the campaigns. Which newsletters had the best open rate? Test your email subject lines (e.g. half with your standard type of subject lines, and half with intriguing but not misleading subject lines).

Thanks for reading, and remember the copywriting code: What’s in It For Me?

Posted by Jennifer at 4:40 pm Tagged with: , ,

Keyword Research for Better Sales Results

SEO tips, marketing strategies No Responses »
Jun 072010

How do keywords impact your final sales results for a Small to Medium Business? Glad you asked. As you are no doubt aware, keywords are what users type into their ‘search query’ on Google or Yahoo or Bing. The right keywords (attracting a paying market) can make or break online merchants and also be helpful for bricks and mortar businesses… because they can get Free Organic Website Traffic.

First of all, how does a business owner know the best keywords? That’s easy, you say, I’m a carpet installer so the keywords are “Carpet installation”… but wait. Is that truly what people are looking for?  If I want a new carpet I am not thinking of the term installation, I am thinking “new carpet”, so this is more likely the term. Also I probably would add an area, like “Brisbane” to ensure my results are localised.

When you get a bit more complex a business with several possibilities that could be targets (and more unknown), that is where the confusion comes in. As a busy proprietor, you don’t want to be spending hours looking for the right keywords (with often inaccurate results from the free online tools).

Solution: Keyword Research Service

I have a tool called “Market Samurai” – it’s software that can return up to 1200 search results in one minute. Give it one key term (e.g. web design) and it can return hundreds of related synonyms, which I sort through and find the best twenty, often putting in the best ones manually. These synonyms are then put into the software and it does a live search on the major engines to find out how many searches per day for these words (Australia or worldwide).

Of these twenty, only around five will be your topmost searched words, with results in the hundreds per day, with a high chance of buying as opposed to browsing (this is a calculated variable).

I have had many surprises in keyword research, one that stands out is “Napoleon Perdis” which receives around 230 searches per day in Australia, believe it or not. (It’s the cosmetics they are after, not the man himself).

What great surprises am I going to find for your business?  Is it worth a small fee of $70 to get a specialist to find the correct keywords?… I believe it’s probably worth ten times that to be on the right path to getting the top natural search results that you want.

You can then have me write the copy around these keywords in the way that it persuades your target customers first, and pleases the search engines second. Because it’s no good getting them to your site if your sales copy is not going to excite them into action. Please enquire direct at jennifer@redplanetdesign.com.au.

Posted by Gino Lancaster at 12:39 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Challenges with Ranking Well in Competitive Online Markets

SEO tips 5 Responses »
Apr 272010

While we like to encourage anyone to start up a business that they think has a verified market, there are some high barriers to entry for any new website players in the broad areas of hotels, apartments, car loans, home loans, music, books.

There is a wonderful Q & A on how to rank well for a keyword in a highly competitive marketplace (in this case apartments) by  Peter Newsome at ‘Ask Kalena’. The answer to the business owner’s question is quite complex, but here are some great points:

“The number one site ranked for the term ‘apartments’ has over 11,000,000 inbound links and the sites in the other top 5 each have well over 100,000 inbound links.”

“The next challenge will be the age of your website – each of the top sites in this niche have been around for over 10 years.”

Peter also mentions that as advertisers are paying up to $3 per click in Google Adwords, so a high rating campaign could cost as much as $1.2 million per month – WOW!

The point toward the end he makes is true – there are many SEO providers who will tell the client what she wants to hear… But if the business marketer is willing to create a content niche for their business, then they will find more success with a start-up website of any kind. Even a niche as narrow as “coffee lovers in South Queensland”.

As marketing guru Seth Godin says,
“Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t”

Posted by Gino Lancaster at 4:50 pm Tagged with: , ,
Older Entries
© 2012 Red Planet Design Blog - Small Business Marketing Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha