Website Conversions - What are they good for?

Lets face it, website conversions (form submissions) are good for everyone because it's typically someone out there who is browsing your website and saying "I want something more from you guys". A web conversion, could be a request for some additional information, someone sending you feedback or an online purchase. Instead of focusing on how to get people to your site (like every good marketere should focus on), I want to share a tidbit I readin a recent MarketingSherpa (I love this site) case study that inspired me to write this blog post instead of going to bed (how is that for feedback!). While the conversion is crucial, it's also important to focus on the post-conversion website clickpath of your recent form submittor.

Georgia Aquariam did something very simple that was brilliant. Once a form was submitted, they used a plain generic confirmation page without any links for the first 24 hours after the site was launched. They then tracked to see where people visisted from this confirmation page. They then added the most popular links to the confirmation page - simple, yet brilliant. The goal of this is to keep people on your website, help them find the information that they're looking for and to make this whole process very easy. They could even have taken this a step further by using an autoresponder email that countained these same links popular links so that a user could easily visit these pages at a later date. Lets throw another idea out there: After 3 months, take out these links on the confirmation page and assess where the user click to all over again. Testing never ends when your a marketer and if you have the tools to easily track this data, it makes it a whole lot easier.

To sum up, it's great that not only did you get the person to your website, and even got them to submit a form (maybe even buy something!). Now what? Remember to think about how you can keep them on your website so that they can perhaps view some additional information, sign up for an event or maybe even buy another product.

Chad H.

PS - Now that you read this post, leave me a comment if you've tried something like this (or will now try this). I'll definitely pass this tip on to my clients.

Technorati tags: Conversion, Georgia Aquarium, web design, MarketingSherpa

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Better show up on the first page or go home

As I finally get through all of my old email, I found this study on eMarketer in May that basically demonstrates that you better be on the first page of search results or you will probably not be seen. It seems that the number of people that get past the first few pages of search results is less and less since 2002. While this may mean that search engines are able to provide more and more relevant data in teh first few pages or that users don't have the patience to keep searching, it probably means the following:

1. Google AdWords sponsored this study
2. SEO firms sponsored this study
3. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored this study.
4. Americans are becoming lazier and lazier
5. George Bush is using Google
6. Less and less people know how to click "next" to get more search results
7. There are no search results after 3 pages becuase of parental screening software.
8. The internet is collapsing into a black hole
9. Everybody is over at YouTube and they don't really care about the major search engines anymore
10. Britney Spears is no longer popular.
    

Pick your choice! Bottom line is that you better get that SEO hat out and ensure that you are high in the search rankings for your industry. Good luck!

Chad H.

Technorati tags: SEO, PPC, Search

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I'm a SOB! I'm a SOB! (Successful and Outstanding Blog)

My blog won an award as a S.O.B. or Succesful and Outstanding Blog! I was just talking about handing out my own award (The AGM Award to Coke and Mentos) and I did a search on the ole' Technorati and there it was!! ME "Liz" Strauss from Successful Blog awarded me for my blog post "Blogs let the rest of us take back the night" in which I discussed some of the positives of blogging and the need for thw company worker bees to have their say on the corporate blog. Here is a tidbit from my post: with blogs "employees know that their CEO is not just drinking cocktails in the business lounge when they're stuck in an airport."

Liz Strauss writes:

This is a funny one!

That says it all. I will do my best to make Liz and all the other S.O.Bs proud. Thanks so much everyone for this award and for reading my blog.

Chad H.

Technorati tags: S.O.B., blogging, SOB, Successful and Outstanding Blog

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Coke and Mentos - Anything Goes Marketing (AGM) Winner!

If I ever thought about creating an "Anything Goes Marketing" (AGM) award, the Coke and Mentos explosion videos that are all over the web would get it hands down. These types of videos are part of the reason why I created this blog (not just to bore you with unintersting SEO tips). This unofficial campaign is brilliant. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the videos on the ever popular You Tube. Basically, you have teenage boys placing Mentos into a 2L Coke bottle and then slamming the bottle on the ground which creates an awesome rocket effect. The other thing they're doing is creating a Coke volcano where they drop the Mentos into the Coke bottle and watch the gyser of Coke soar into the air.

As quoted in an Imedia article, Coke is taking this amazing masterpiece of marketing in stride:

We think people are enjoying this video because it's underground-- we have no marketing plans for it. We're just sitting and watching it with everyone else.

Susan McDermott, director, communications, Coca-Cola North America

I really doubt that Coke is just "sitting and watching" though. Why is it just Coke - why are there no videos of people using Pepsi (maybe there are and I never looked!). You can decide whether or not that statement is true but the reality is that Coke is attempting to portray itself as "fun" to its target market and what better way then to have these crazy videos of teenagers firing off Coke-branded rockets that anyone can make. It's perfect!

Kudos Coke (and Mentos)! You've inspired me to create and award you both as the first "AGM" award winners! If you leave a comment on my blog to claim your award, I'll even create a banner-ad that you can use to advertise this great acheivement, send you an official certificate, and we can also talk about creating a joint press release.

Chad H.

PS - The short form for AGM is "Aggie". Congrads again to Coke and Mentos for winning your Aggies.

Technorati tags: anything goes marketing, Coke, Mentos, marketing

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Protect your brand: Face the music

In my last post I focused on writing blog posts. The other half of your job is to listen to what people are writing about your company. Robert Moskowitz writes about user generated mdeia (UGM) in his article "Don't Get Burned by User Generated Media". He focuses in on why you should read about what others are writing on the net. Here is a summary:

• You learn about trends, what your competitors are up to and what people like and dislike
• Listen to what others are saying about you - good and bad. Even if it's bad, buzz is usually good for your company (like Chevy's Tahoe). The difference is in how you respond. Don't just hide your head like Dell did when faced with adversity but respond accordingly and protect your brand!
  
• If there is negative content written about you, like the Dell Gripes site, plan a strategy to counter it. This may mean educating consumers about what Dell does to support its products or how it benefits the community. Remember - there is a conversation going on out there and it may be about you. If it is, be prepared and act. Other things that Robert suggests are: thanking your adocates who are writing good things about you, train your team on how to respond to these types of issues before they get out of hand, get your marketing team involved to think more about these issues. For example, how can you involve consumers more? How can you make customers who are your advocates get the message out there about your company?

It's important to remember that having your CEO update his or her blog each month is great but that is only half the battle. Remeber to listen to what people are saying about you and respond accordingly.

Chad H.

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How are business blogs making out?

Working for a marketing software company that focuses on B2B, I find myself more and more talking about blogs. It just sort of slips out when clients ask me how can I generate more leads and keep people coming back to their websites.

It's not surprising though that adoption for blogs is slow for businesses as indicated in a recent eMarketer article. Just like I've found, it takes a strong commitment to keep writing interesting and informative blog posts. Besides having a purpose and objective for having a blog a company needs to dedicate resources and encourage the blog. This is the only way that it will be successful.

Here are some options for companies who want to blog:

• If an executive says "I want to blog" make sure that they understand what they're getting into. This may mean setting up a document that outlines what they can and cannot talk about as well as the frequency in which the blog should be updated (eg: once a month). Making this consistent (eg: first week of each month) works best as bloggers will know when your next post will come out. In addition, ensure that you have a few topics lined up for your exec to help them out. An executive assistant or someone from marketing can help gather ideas on topics to write about.
  
• If someone in marketing says "I want to blog" make sure you set similar guidelines. In addition, ensure that they don't use too much marketing and sales terminology. As we see, the succesful blogs are those that tell stories such as those by GM and Sun. They've gone away from the idea of using blogs as a straight up sales tool. Bloggers are not those types of people. We want to learn and be heard so think about your audience and not soley about your bottom line.
  
• If someone in your manufacturing or software development section says "I want to blog" I would give that person a raise! It's great to see people that are so passionate about what they do that they would want to blog about their work. However, they also need guidelines as you don't want to give away any trade secrets. However, they can write about some of the latest technology that is being used which makes your company look great. You may also find some new employees this way as well as some ideas. It's also important to ensure that they can write well becuase if they don't it will be a waste of time.
• If nobody comes forward and says "I want to blog" you have a few options. You can use RSS feeds to pull in data on the business field that you're in, you can have someone write your copy for you or you can ask a certain blogger who writes articles in your field to become the voice of your organization. These all work but they take a company that sees the benefits of blogging and is willing to invest in it. I wouldn't encourage a VP to say to one of their employees "I want you to blog". The people who blog have to want to do it. If they don't, it won't work. Putting a gun to someone's head just doesn't cut it. Another option is to send out an email to your executive team and ask them if anyone wants to blog. You can even do this for the entire company. You can have a contest for the best blog posts, have a different writer each week. Your company probably has more talent then you really realize - expose that talent with blogs and give everyone a voice!
  

To sum up, it's easy to start a blog but most companies realize the commitment to keep one going and for this reason they either keep to their core activities or have had a "blog-out" (my term for a blogging shutting down). To prevent this make sure you set a plan in place for who will update the blog and get blogging!!

Chad H.

PS - Ok, I'm really back this time. I had a wonderful time on my honeymoon and am back with a vengence.

Technorati tags: business blogs, GM, Emarketer

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How to improve your search rankings - the easy way

One of my goals is to get further versed in the life of SEO - search engine optimization. Here are some good tips from a recent article written on Search Engine Watch

• Leave content outside of your private subscription area. Therefore don't put everything behind a subscription page.
  
• Use headlines with words that people search for. To find out which words resonate with people, check out this article called "What People Search for"
  
• Use Alt tags for your images. This allows you to add text that is visible when you hover over an image (try this with the crazy guy there on the right. No, that isn't me). By adding alt tags, you're making your website or blog more search friendly as your images are now searchable.
  

These small tips can generate increased traffic on your site. Now all you need to do is to create creative content that will keep them there!

Good luck!

Chad H.

PS - You may have noticed the lack of blog posts. I've been a little busy getting married and now I'm off to the Greek Isles for a few weeks. Looking forward to getting back on track in July.

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