As a kid of the 80’s I love to reflect on how the world was back then. Since this blog is about Internet Marketing, I would be remised if I didn’t talk about what’s new in the industry.  But I decided to have a little fun with this article and combine the best of the 1980’s with the latest Google news.

Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Get“The Right Stuff”

Google makes a couple of significant algorithm changes every year. Earlier this year, Google launched “Google Panda” which targets a site’s content. Google started penalizing sites with duplicate content and sites that were known as content farms because they want content that is original and updated frequently.

Using content farm sites and publishing duplicate content is just a waste of your time and money. One effective strategy to deal with the “Panda” update is Content Marketing done the right way.  Content Marketing involves using blogs, online press releases, and social media platforms to engage more visitors with your business and your website.  We recommend you consult with highly-trained professionals to implement your Content Marketing Strategy. If you do, you can get “the Right Stuff” to your site.

Local Search Can Help You Find Out “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?”

Google is still making a lot changes in the area of Local Search. Most notably, Google has removed third party reviews and custom attributes from its Google listing.

This means we have less information to make decisions yet local listings are dominating organic rankings. We are also starting to see a blend of local search listings with the organic listings. And, if you have had anything incorrect on your listing, you may notice it can take up to 8 weeks for it to be updated.

Google has said that they are aware of the problems and are backlogged for months with trouble tickets. With all of the changes happening, no one knows for sure what the strategy for Google Places will be. We recommend continuing with an optimized local search strategy until Google has determined the direction of this program.

PPC Advertising – “ Clap on!.. Clap Off!.. The Clapper!”  

Google has really beefed up the reporting on Google Adwords. You can now see metrics such as where and when the majority of your online business is conducted through the Dimension tab. You can also see if a person is more likely to buy from you on an iPad or a desktop PC.  The new metrics allow you to refine your campaign to get the most out of every dollar spent. If you don’t have the time to look around at Google Adwords yourself, you can contact an Agency professional and receive customized reporting on your campaign performance.

“I Want to Know What Love Is…I Want You to Show Me…” the Analytics

Measuring Social Media ROI has been on everyone’s mind lately. Google Analytics just released an updated version to keep up with the times. It includes some additional coding that you install on your website that will allow you to track your customer’s engagement through social media sites and tie it back to your conversion rate. This has been extremely difficult in the past but Google Analytics can now give you a more comprehensive analysis from one platform.

“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” Using Social Media

 Here’s an area that Google has tried to dominate, failed, redesigned and relaunched. The verdict is still out on whether or not Google+ will be a success, but so far it has been a game changer for Facebook.  Kind of like when Nintendo was released in an already Atari-saturated market.  Google+ has addressed one of the core issues of social media - privacy.

With the ability to customize who you send messages to, Google+ has taken a major step forward although it certainly does not address every aspect of privacy concerns. Facebook has reacted with the release of Facebook+ which has similar features to Google+.  Google+ has also integrated more apps and games than Facebook although Facebook is not far behind. Google’s biggest challenge will be to encourage people to switch from Facebook to Google+. Google+ is still in the early stages but many more changes are sure to come.

We’re “Living in a Material World” and Google is King

Google recently acquired Motorola for $12.5 Billion.  With their market-dominating Android this purchase will certainly expand Google’s presence in the mobile industry. One cannot help but wonder if world domination is their ultimate goal.

“I’m Not Going to Exploit my Opponent’s Youth and Inexperience in This Campaign” – Ronald Reagan

Whether Google’s intent is to provide the highest possible user experience or to take over the world, they certainly will continue to captivate our attention with more tools and the expansion of their technology empire.

If you want to take advantage of the best online marketing tools Google has to offer to help your sales leads match Mary Lou Retton’s perfect “10” in the ’84 Olympics in addition to getting detailed reporting on online performance that is less complicated than the Rubik’s cube, contact Xcellimark now or give us a call at 407-678-3062. 

For the past 30 years it has been traditional wisdom that Seniors (and now Baby Boomers) would not adopt or be a force in new technology. WRONG!

Whether it was the adoption and use of the PC, cell phone, Internet, search, social media or mobile apps – the Boomers were dismissed as technology laggards. However, these same Boomers are the ones who have started or are managing companies who developed these technologies. The Boomers have changed the way we work, live, play, socialize, make decisions and ultimately have influenced which companies succeed through the use and development of new technology.

The “Boomers Don’t Use Social Media” Myth

The latest statement I heard was “the Boomers don’t get or use social media” even though they represent the largest online group. Boomers spend more time online than any other demographic. According to Pew Internet & American Life Project, much of that time is spent shopping and buying online. They also spend more money online per month than Generation X (ages 35-46) and Millennials (ages 18-34).
 

eMarketer, a respected research company in digital marketing, media and commerce, estimates that:

•  78% of Baby Boomers are online
•  86.9% of Boomers will have a mobile phone
•  17 million Boomers will access the Internet from a mobile browser or installed app
•  40% of all Boomer mobile users will use mobile apps by 2015

As I have spoken at conferences in the last year, I have noticed that Boomers are becoming more connected through social media. However, I continually find myself meeting with business owners and executives who continue to espouse that their targeted Boomer market “doesn’t do social media”.

I admit that the Boomers may not be the first out of the gate on the newest technology to hit the market, but it is a huge mistake to think they won’t adopt newer technology and applications if it really has sustainable value.

Niche Social Media Communities Booming

Niche social media communities are springing up to cater to different communities of interest, including the Boomers. The key for any business or organization that caters or markets to the Baby Boomers will be to strengthen their business relationships with their Boomer market, and to do it soon.  Once this market makes a decision that works for them, it is difficult to get them to change.

The key to strengthening these relationships is to keep Boomers engaged through compelling user experiences where they gain access to other’s experiences, deals and unique content.

Contact Xcellimark to find out more about how social media will help promote your business or to start a community of your own.

It’s no longer a surprise that the fastest increasing marketing budgets are those that are focused on Internet marketing strategies, such as e-mail marketing, social media, and search marketing (SEO/PCC).

As more and more people use the Internet to communicate, share ideas, research, and conduct business, it’s obvious that the newer strategies will grow at a faster rate than those that have been used in marketing/advertising for decades.

However, the shocker to most people is that now these newer online marketing mediums are being measured and proven to be more successful than the once-thought, “tried-and-true” methods, such as direct mail, trade shows, and print advertising. As the traditional mediums become more and more cost-intensive, online marketing is proving to garner a larger ROI, when results are measured.

Modern Internet Marketing Strategies are Not Just for B2C

To build on this disbelief, the stats below (provided by Marketing Sherpa) rate the effectiveness of various marketing tactics within B2B (business-to-business) markets. It was once speculated that Internet marketing was primarily for consumers.

However, the stats below prove that businesses are more effectively reaching other businesses with interactive marketing techniques (i.e.: website design, SEO, online events, e-mail marketing, etc.), as opposed to archaic models, such as telemarketing and traditional public relations.

If you’re tired of spending more and more on the same marketing strategies that you attempted last year, and you need your marketing to bring in more results, seek out the strategies that are proving to be most effective. And if you want help, contact Xcellimark today.

According to a 2010 study by Forbes Insight & Gartner, The Future Looks Bright, “Digital channels play an increasing role in customer engagement, offering new ways to connect companies and customers while improving marketing efficiency, yet our survey showed that the importance of digital is not equally grasped by everyone, and even for those who understand its significance, they don’t feel effective at leveraging it.”

A study by Forbes Accenture Marketing, Onward and Up (2010), concluded that “Only 2 in 10 marketers said their companies very effectively use most channels to reach, influence or interact with customers.” So, how best can companies respond to this need without hiring Internet marketing experts that could easily double their payroll expenditures?

Popular Marketing Tactics for 2011

According to eMarketer, the fastest growing segments in digital marketing are e-mail marketing, social media, and search marketing (SEO/PCC), but the greatest challenge with implementing these tactics is a lack of time and resources.

To overcome this challenge, 40% of marketers are adding or expanding digital marketing agency support (according to the CMO Council’s 2010 Outlook).

And According to Forrester’s Research Inc.’s US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009 to 2014, only 10% of marketers are able to manage their Internet marketing efforts in-house with the same level of sophistication and effectiveness as those out-sourcing the expertise and tools of a specialist and/or full-service interactive agency. 

Digital Agencies are the Way to Go

It’s not surprising that agencies are the popular choice. It is much easier than paying top-dollar to hire an expert in each Internet marketing field (SEO, PPC, social media, copywriting, coding, design, etc.).

Agencies instantly bring their expertise, sophisticated tools and platforms to the table. Agencies can be judged by performance and much more easily replaced by another agency if they don’t bring in results.

If you want to see how easy it is to work with an Interactive Agency that will solve all of your digital marketing needs, contact us today. Xcellimark will provide the resources, content, and talent to build your brand online and generate leads for you business.
 

In part one of this article, I covered some of the factors that are critical to your search engine marketing success. In today's blog post, I'll cover the rest, including the role social media plays in search engine rankings.

The Emerging Role of Social Media’s Impact on Search Engine Rankings

According to the latest research by StrongMail, 57% of businesses plan to increase their spending in Social Media in 2011, second only to Email marketing (65%) and ahead of Search Marketing (41%).

One of the reasons for the increase in Social Media spending is the growing and significantly positive impact it has on search engine marketing results.

The key components of Social Media that impact search rankings are blogs, social bookmarking, online press releases, and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These Social Media components significantly impact your search rankings through the following factors:

• Relevant information
• Frequent content updates on your website
• Increased volume of relevant and high-quality incoming links 

Additional Benefits of These Social Media Components if Implemented Well are:
 

• Establishes you as an expert within your industry
• Generates traffic to your website as the result of social bookmarking where your content is published on other websites that drives incoming links to your website
• Improves your online image
• Develops an online community that will interact more with your website and your company
• Builds an email list for remarketing and follow-up communications

All of these key components must be a very active part of your Internet marketing strategy and almost daily operations.  The blog needs to be an integral and internal part of your website. It will not be as effective for your website rankings if the blog is external to your website.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter icons should not only be a part of your website, but their postings should be a part of your web page content for website visitors to view.  Blogging, posting, tweeting and social bookmarking needs to be conducted effectively throughout the week in order to achieve any meaningful success in not only search engine rankings, but growing your online community.

Key Challenges of Effective Social Media

There are key challenges in effectively implementing a social media marketing program for businesses of all sizes and industries.

The number one challenge or barrier to success is the time and resources (primarily human capital) to be invested.  The challenge for time and resources is further defined as:

• Allocating existing human resources to an emerging but complex online marketing program.
• Training and equipping personnel so that they can be effective in managing the variety of platforms and appropriate communications styles and then integrating them with other Internet marketing initiatives such as search and email marketing.
• Staying abreast of the latest trends and tactics that are effective in generating measurable results.
• Gaining results quickly to maintain executive commitment and gain a foothold in your industry before your company is relegated to the online sidelines, maybe indefinitely. 

The Time is Now

There is a sense of urgency in this area. It is likely that if businesses do not implement and manage an effective social media program now, they will not be able to catch up later in the search engine rankings or in developing a leading online community for your target market. Search and Social Media marketing are critical for online business success. Don’t wait or it may be too late.

Search Engines Dominate Online Lead Generation and Sales
 

Over 85% of Internet users’ most preferred tool for research (of any kind) is the Internet search engine. Whether you are researching a product or service to buy or are actively engaged in the purchase process, the search engine is the tool of choice. Even the vast majority of the people who know that they will purchase in a store will use a search engine first to determine where to go shop and buy.

Google, Yahoo and Bing now control 95% of all search engine traffic. The companies whose listings come up in the search engine results pages (SERPs) in those three search engines are the big winners. They receive almost all of the traffic for the given search term (keyphrase).

If you are not on page 1 of the SERPS then basically you don’t exist for that market. Unless you are a well known brand name, no one searches on a company name as their initial search. They search on the product, service, area of interest, etc.

To succeed in online lead generation or online sales you must be prominently listed on page 1 for the SERPs for the search terms that are highly relevant for your products and services. Research even shows that people think those companies who are listed on page 1 of the SERPs are the industry leaders. There is almost built-in credibility if you are listed on page 1 in the search engines.


What Impacts Your Search Rankings
 

There is no silver bullet to get ranked on page 1 in the search engines for your search terms. You have to do many things well and correctly. And it is getting more challenging and complicated as time goes by.

Here are the top factors that impact your rankings in search engines:

• Domain Age – how long your website has been online
• Content – how much content is on your website, how relevant it is for the search term   and how often is it updated
• Coding – how search engine friendly is the coding of your website including your meta tags for each page, alt tags for your images and link text for your internal links
• External Links – how many high-quality links are coming into your website especially from authoritative and related websites
• Speed – how fast do your web pages load
• Site Map – do you have an updated site map that allows Google to know all your active pages on the website

There are other factors critical to your search engine marketing success such as social media. Revisit the Xcellimark blog on Thursday for part two of this article to learn more about the impact social media has on your search rankings.

News Flash! It’s been confirmed by Google that social media does in fact affect your search rankings in Google’s search engine (and Bing as well).

The search engines use different aspects of social media to help determine your ranking status. Twitter tweets, retweets, followers, Facebook links, Facebook friends and fans, LinkedIn, and blog links are determining factors in how well your website ranks in the search results.

Social Media Continues to Become Stronger

If you thought social media was a fad, you’ll need to rethink your marketing strategies. Social media has become stronger every year and its definitely here to stay.

While many companies have avoided or ignored social media because it’s sometimes hard to directly connect actual sales or increased revenue to social efforts, it’s now apparent that the effects of social media reach far beyond a direct sale.

Just like companies who are serious about ranking in the search engines realized that they had to have strong incoming links to their website to succeed in a competitive market, you must now also have a social media presence to help get or sustain the high rankings that do translate into increased revenue and sales.

Don’t Know How To Be Social?

Many companies find themselves in a dilemma because they either don’t know how to get a social media program going, they don’t have the staff or time to do so, or both. In those cases it helps to find a partner who can help you get started.

Xcellimark can train you on how to get your social media program off the ground. We can also partner with you to not only get it set up and going, but to also maintain your social media presence. Either way, doing nothing is no longer an option.

There was a day when some businesses didn’t think they needed a website. Those that think that today probably won’t be in business long.

In the same way, the days of thinking you can ignore social media programs is past.

Social Media:
 

• Helps get your company known in wider alternative circles outside the search engines
• Allows your clients to easily recommend you to their friends
• Provides links back to your website, helping you promote your business
• Helps put a personal face on your company
• Helps increase your search engine rankings which drives more people and business to your website

Get started today with a complete marketing package that includes social media. Contact Xcellimark to help get you off and running!

Within the last couple of years, Business Week and Fast Company have both published articles discussing the short life-span of CMO’s.

According to research by Spencer Stuart, an executive-search firm, the average tenure for top-consumer branded company CMO’s was only 23 months, compared to CEO’s that lasted an average of 54 months. 

How Can Everyone Work Together

Marketing Strategies & Goals Help Increase ROI

Twitter experienced a security glitch earlier in the week but with a new Twitter.com on the horizon, all is forgiven as it promises “an easier, faster, and richer experience.” What new features are you excited about the most? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Image is a fuzzy term. It means different things to different people. Your online image is driven by buyer behavior. Buyer behavior is deeply rooted in:

• Internal or psychological factors such as personality, attitudes, and lifestyle.
• Personal or demographic factors and social factors such as friends, family, opinion leaders, etc.
• External factors such as marketing. 

There was an interesting study done a few years back that outlined the elements that make up a customer’s buying decision. Their research outlined the most critical elements customers evaluate in order to decide who to buy from.
The elements were:

• Price
• Product Quality
• Service Quality
• Image

What they found was very interesting. It is somewhat easy to compare price between vendors. Yes it may take some work in order to compare “apples to apples”, but it is a rather straightforward process.

The difficulty comes when a potential customer is trying to evaluate Product Quality and Service Quality. If they are not a prior customer of a business, then they do not have experience to draw from in order to make an informed decision of Product Quality and Service Quality. Every vendor says they have great products and services.

So what do prospective customers do?

They use Image as a substitute for making a decision on a company’s Product Quality and Service Quality.

In other words, your Image is the determining factor for Product Quality and Service Quality for your prospective customers.

There are books that go into great detail on Image and Image-related topics such as branding and buyer behavior. I will not go completely into that here other than to give you a little deeper perspective on how elevating your brand impacts your business .

Online Image and the Effects it Has on Your Business

The study suggests that if your website looks cheap, potential buyers will think your products and services are cheap, have low value, and are low quality. If your website is difficult to navigate, people think that you will be difficult to do business with. If there are errors or content missing on your website, perspective clients will think you will not deliver a working product or service.

Your online image is primarily delivered by your website and the resulting experience. Over 70% of people will review a company’s website before they make a purchase decision. In fact, I read where over 80% of all people will visit a church’s website before they visit a church.

Your Website Image is Important

There are many reasons why you have the website you have – money, vendor’s capability, your personal preferences, etc.

Many businesses develop a website that they like, but it is not driven by the Image that your prospective customers are looking for. How do you stack up against your top online competitors? What kind of online experiences is your website delivering versus your online competitors or even other market leaders? 

Sometimes the evaluation bar of Image is not set by your competitors. It is often set by your prospective customers’ experiences in other online markets or providers.

Maybe your online market is lagging other industry leaders. You should always stay abreast of the online trends and experiences. If you have evaluated your website closely in the last 2-3 years, you are going to be shocked. Much has changed while you were asleep online. But the good news is that you can wake up your website with an online image makeover. Contact Xcellimark  to find out how.

Online Silos Giving Way to Digital Fusion

I am amazed today that our industry is still caught up in a “Silo” mentality. “We are a Website Design company.” Or “we are an SEO company.” “We are a PPC company.” “We are a Copywriting company.” “We are a Social Media company.” “We are a Web Hosting company.” “We are an Email Company.” “We are an Analytics and Optimization company.” “We are a Content Management System company.”

Do I need to keep going on and on? The Silos are nice boxes that are simple, straightforward and easy to communicate to others.

So what’s the problem? The problem is that it’s not how things really work and it’s not a successful online strategy.

Here are just a few brief examples. (I could fill a book with more examples):

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – An effective SEO program is highly dependent upon website coding, website content or copywriting, internal linking, social media blogging, pitching, bookmarking, analytics software, fast loading times from a hosting company, online press releases and an ongoing process of building high-quality incoming links to pages throughout your website. Is your SEO company proficient and effective in all of these areas?
• Website Development – Today’s website development must effectively fuse very distinct specialties such as image, design, video, programming, a variety of software tools, effective copywriting, SEO (see above), customer website management, email, Web 2.0 technology, high speed and reliable hosting, security, and performance management systems. It must be integrated within the context that different users will interact with it and different employees may administer it.
  
  You also need to track the performance against the company goals and objectives that were set. You must be able to grow and evolve. How will you deal with upgrades and software bugs? How will it be integrated into the operations of the business? Does your Website Design company competently do all of this?
• Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) – This is easy stuff right? I mean you just set up a Google account, pay money and go. Right? That’s what Google says.
  
  There is much more to setting up and managing a Google account effectively. Not to mention if you want to add Yahoo, Bing and a host of other players who all use different platforms, tracking systems and make decisions differently. 
  
  Even if you have done all of that perfectly, it only represents at most 33% of what is going to determine online success for your PPC campaign. Add in copywriting, design, ongoing testing and optimization, analytics software, continuous analysis of your campaign and your top competitors, and now you have about another 33% of your online success.
  
  The other 33% of your online PPC success is based upon you. Your budget, your value proposition and your market. Your PPC company and staff does all of that, right?

The key to success is fusing the various digital specialties into a cohesive team that is totally focused on achieving the online business goals and objectives that were set. The key digital specialties include market strategy, design, development, technology, communications, program management, analytics, hosting, search engineering, social media, media management, training and support working as a unified team using an integrated approach with a proven process.

It is not a “launch your site and now it’s done” plan. It never ends. It’s like your business. The only time it ends is when you are done; you have closed the doors for good and handed the keys back to the building owner.

Do it right and your online success with generate more than enough ROI to cover your investment.