Common Sense SEO

There has been a fair amount of confusion across the internet about what works in the wake of Google Penguin's changes to search engine optimization and search engine results. I have seen any number of suggested steps to take that promise to reverse the effects of Penguin. For websites that took a serious kick from the update, I am sure that any kind of quick fix looks attractive, but it is probably a bad idea. Because I believe those kind of quick fixes it what prompted the changes in the first place.

I have a lot of respect for the Google model. I think they have the best interest of the searchers in mind, mostly, with a healthy dose of looking out for their own interests mixed in. They are pretty up front about that, so I don't get heartburn when the Google Plus posts show up higher than other items. Like me, Google is in business to make money.

But trying to constantly find ways around the Google algorithm changes will probably land your website in a circular path of constantly having to react to more changes. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 changes a year, Google doesn't exactly sit around twiddling thumbs. If you are trying to out-maneuver all of those changes, you are wasting a lot of time.

How much easier to just get in there and provide good content for your customers. Make sure the basics are in place and then just do the same thing over and over. You know, slow and steady wins the race. Basic blocking and tackling. Choose your favorite allegory and run with it, but if you are talking to your customers in a way that makes sense to them, well you should be attracting the right kind of attention.

Need some help with that? Contact me, I will be happy to write, edit or help you develop ideas for your website. 

How to write a Marketing Plan

A lot of businesses are wary of the “Marketing Plan.” Too often, they envision it as a big binder stuffed full of useless data collected to impress people. In this vision, there is a complicated chart filled with dates, names of responsible people, milestones and gibberish about CPM, gross ratings points and Nielsen ratings. They dismiss the need for a plan because they have a few sitting on the shelf collecting a thick cover of dust.

So I developed a more streamlined version - one that takes up just 2 or 3 pages and is made up of bullet points. No charts, no spreadsheets, no executive summary. For me, and for my clients, it is a far more useful and workable document that quickly outlines where we are going and what we are going to do to get there. 

Here is a brief rundown of what goes in to the average marketing plan:

Background summary - this is a one paragraph description of why we are doing this. It includes a brief history of the situation and why the plan is being created.

Goals - it is imperative to list out what you are hoping to achieve. Be specific, create those SMART goals that will keep you accountable.

Target Audiences - who is it that you are trying to get to take action? Are there internal audiences, too? Think about vendors and any stakeholder that should be considered.

Key Messages - what are the 2 or 3 things that you want your audiences to know and remember.

Strategies - in a broad way, how are you going to approach this and reach your goals. Are you going to create a series of events, or create a website or develop a multimedia campaign? Think 30,000 foot level here. Make sure your strategies link directly to your goals and that you have at least one strategy for each goal.

Tactics - what specific things are you going to do to achieve your goals. Here is where most people start, unfortunately - but this is where things like print ad campaigns, podcasts and brochures belong. Make sure you have developed at least one tactic for each strategy, although typically you will have several. This is the task list and it really isn’t possible to create it until you’ve done the other things first.

Budget - how much are you planning to spend? How do you want to apportion that among the strategies.

Measurement and Evaluation - how, specifically, will you track results? How will you keep you and your team accountable for results? Will you do a survey, count noses at a special event, track media coverage?

That’s it. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours to think through it if it is your own business. But if you need some help, just contact me and I would be happy to work with you to create your business marketing plan. E-mail me at Kim@DeppeCommunications.com.

Public relations is still a good marketing tool

I love marketing online for a lot of reasons, but especially because it is so cost effective for many of my clients. I like the immediate feedback you can see with analytics programs and the ability to make changes quickly if things are working. But good, old-fashioned PR is still a great tool for many companies and equally cost effective. Case in point: I recently helped a local company create an event to raise awareness of the new business. By holding a grand opening event and creating a compelling story, the press releases got immediate media attention and generated a wonderful Sunday story. The result was not only that the business got great coverage, but there were people waiting in line when she opened her doors that very day. Immediate feedback, immediate sales. The great part is the lingering effect that the event will have. People who were there will tell others. The newspaper story will be out on the internet for a long, long time. I have shared the coverage and the photos through my social media sites and people are talking about it days later. Public Relations is a powerful tool in your marketing tool belt, and it works.

If you would like to learn more about the Black Horse Winery in Orange Park, FL, visit my Facebook site: www.facebook.com/DeppeCommunications. 

What's A Google Penguin?

There is talk across the blogosphere about the ill effects of Google's latest Panda update called Penguin. Launched on April 27, Penguin plugged some holes in Google's algorithms (again) and it is now tougher to improve your search results(SERPs) using content farms. Just like they reduced the impact of link farms, Google is now reducing the impact on SERPs from sites that simply piled on SEO heavy articles. There are many websites crying foul and a few that saw their SERPs fall off a cliff. But the average site most likely never noticed the change, and that is how it should be. Content farms are churning out articles that are simply cover for keyword-stuffed strings of sentences. Of course they are not all like that, but the ones who were most affected by Penguin were. It should not have come as a surprise that Google would find a way to improve their results. It is what they do, and they do it dozens of times each year. Yes, optimizing your site for keywords is good, but keyword stuffing is just dumb. Your readers want to get good information, not sort through gibberish to find the point. There is no easy way out, no shortcut to the finish line. Marketing is a long, careful process of many variables clicking together in harmony. There is no quick fix that lasts very long and without a sound strategy behind it, no marketing tactic can succeed. All the wailing and gnashing of teeth about Penguin is, I think, scaring some folks. But the thing to remember is that if you are doing the right thing for the right reason and you aren't trying to find the Philosopher's Stone of SEO, then all will be well. Good content that is relevant to your customer base is the gold standard.

Marketing Word of the Day: Consistency!

Today's marketing word is consistency - doing the same thing, over and over. In the marketing world, consistency is what builds your brand, your reputation in the marketplace. It helps your customers, and your future customers, know what to expect from you.

I often use the example of McDonald's when I am talking to groups about branding and consistency. No matter where in the world you go, if there is a Mickey D's there, you know what you are going to find inside. The prices may change, and there may even be a couple things on the menu that are different, but you know that there will be golden arches, Big Macs and french fries. There are no green arches, pink ones or blue ones just because the manager didn't like yellow. They can't change the name to the "Big Jack" just because that's the franchise owner's name. They can't substitute onion rings for french fries. Why? Because the entire brand is built on consistency. It may not be my favorite place to eat, but when I'm traveling and I pull into the drive-through, I know what I am going to get.

Consistency in your own brand is just as important, even if you are a one-person company. Make sure that whatever marketing materials you have look the same, from your business cards to your signage. Choose a color or two to represent your company and stick to it. Pick a font you like, and stick to it. Over time, your "look and feel" will become known to your customers and they will know it is you when they see your materials.

Make sure your customer service is consistent. That includes your operating hours, the way you answer the phone, how you greet customers and the way your employees dress. Make sure the impression you are giving is one of professionalism and that you create trust with the customer. Of course you must deliver on your promises and uphold service levels that will create a positive image for your customers.

Be consistent, even when it feels boring. There is an old saying in our business that just about the time you are getting tired of seeing it, that's when your advertising is beginning to work. Remember that your customers have to "see" something a half dozen times or more before it even really registers. So consistency in your advertising and all your marketing efforts is important if you want to build a strong brand in the mind of your customer.

Online Marketing

Internet marketers Lock, Lee & Farrell have a limited time offer that might be of interest to you. Their special includes tickets to the upcoming SAM (Sales Advertising & Marketing) conference in Utah. Thought I would pass it along!


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"It Really Works!"

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation about social media marketing to a business networking group I belong to. I used my white paper "Social Rules of Engagement for Businesses" as the basis of my presentation. A few days later, one of the people in the group came up to me to tell me she had tried out the suggestions I gave and that it was working. She was getting people to engage with the business through Facebook and more people were liking their page. I could see she was going to be doing more social media marketing and it made me feel great that I had been able to help that business grow even with just a few tips. Social media marketing does work, but of course it takes some work and it doesn't work for every business. It requires consistency and the commitment to being authentic and genuine. It also requires that you ignore the temptation to use it to sell things or services because you will lose the interest of your audience very quickly that way. It means you have to set aside time to do it regularly and make it a priority, not an "if I can get to it" task. More and more, customers are finding the front door to you business on their monitors. It may be your website they see first, but it also may be your LinkedIn or Facebook page, or even a video on You Tube. Take as much care with what you have out there online as you would with your storefront. And if you are not good at writing, then find someone who is because misspellings and bad grammar will hurt your business. It works, it really works. And if you would like a free copy of the "Social Rules of Engagement for Business" just email me at Kim@DeppeCommunications.com and I will get it right out to you.