internet marketing training day - june-oct version

WELCOME!

SEO and Internet Marketing Training

Your Trainers

• Andy Atkins» Lead Internet Marketer at MBL Solutions & MD of Web

Kinetics (Part of the MBL Solutions Network)

» 10+ years experience in online marketing

• Peter Wilson» New Media Manager at MBL Solutions

» 10+ experience with brands such as Shell, Lycos, Capital One

WELCOME!

An Action-Packed Agenda

• Introduction to Internet Marketing• SEO – What, Why and How…..• Online Advertising – Adwords, Banners, etc.• Step-by-Step SEO Example• Social Media – What, Why and How….• Web Analytics – Theory & Practice• Online PR – Where & How• Email Marketing – Making it Work• Online Campaigning – Practical Approaches

Along the way – some exercises, group work and a few laughs!

Objectives for Today

• Understand the Key Methods for Generating Relevant Online Traffic

• Be able to understand and challenge the advice of web professionals

• Understand the Effective Use of the Internet for marketing & Communication

• Understand Online Methods for Gaining & Retaining Customers

• Know how to Interpret Standard Web Metrics

What is Internet Marketing?

Marketing, via the internet, of goods, services or assets that

exist either online or offline (or both!)

However, there is often leakage into the offline marketing world (e.g. PR)

Key Components – Website-centric Model

WEBSITE


WEBSITE

Affiliateprogrammes

PPC/PPAAdvertising

DisplayAdvertising


WEBSITE

Affiliateprogrammes

PPC/PPAAdvertising

DisplayAdvertising

BLOG

BlogDirectories


WEBSITE

Affiliateprogrammes

PPC/PPAAdvertising

DisplayAdvertising

BLOG

BlogDirectories

SOCIALNETWORKS


WEBSITE

Affiliateprogrammes

PPC/PPAAdvertising

DisplayAdvertising

BLOG

ArticleSubmission

ImageSubmission

VideoSubmission

BlogDirectories

SOCIALNETWORKS


WEBSITE

Affiliateprogrammes

PPC/PPAAdvertising

DisplayAdvertising

BLOG

DirectorySubmissions

PartnerLinks

ArticleSubmission

PRDistribution

ImageSubmission

VideoSubmission

BlogDirectories

SOCIALNETWORKS

Key Components – Web Presence Model

Website(s)

Blog

Social NetworkPages

Video HostingSites

Image HostingSites


Website(s)

Blog

Social NetworkPages

Video HostingSites

Image HostingSites

HIGH INVOLVEMENT


Website(s)

Blog

Social NetworkPages

Video HostingSites

Image HostingSites

HIGH INVOLVEMENT

PRDistribution

BlogDirectories

ArticleSubmission

PartnerLinks


LOW INVOLVEMENT


Website(s)

Blog

Social NetworkPages

Video HostingSites

Image HostingSites

HIGH INVOLVEMENT

PRDistribution

BlogDirectories

ArticleSubmission

PartnerLinks


Affiliateprogrammes

PPC/PPAAdvertising

DisplayAdvertising

LOW INVOLVEMENT

Our Target Audience

Before you Start

• What do you want the site/content to do for you?

• Who do you want to visit?

• What do you want it to do for the visitor – what do you want them to see? (Immediately)

• Where do you want to take them with one click?

• What do you want the visitor to do – the Action?

Our Target Audience

Which Keywords?

• High traffic and/or Niche Keywords?

• What do the competition target?

• Which terms are most relevant to your industry?

• Which terms are most relevant to your site?

Search engines

http://av.rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9ibyJ1K3.9BMr8Am3WBBqMX;_ylu=X3oDMTBwOWwxYWIxBHBndANhdHdfd2ViX2hvbWUEc2VjA2xvZ28-/SIG=10upfuhv8/**http%3A/www.alltheweb.com/

http://av.rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9ibyKae3.9BBUcAPmzqSKMX;_ylu=X3oDMTBvczJhZmNnBHBndANhdl93ZWJfaG9tZQRzZWMDbG9nbw--/SIG=10ukeg7hl/**http%3A/www.altavista.com/

http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/specials/fushome.jhtml

http://www.inktomi.com/index.html

http://www.msn.com/

Search Engine Basics

Data Collection (Spiders and ‘Bots)• URL

• Page Title (c. 60 characters)

• Meta Description (c. 160 characters)

• Meta Keywords???

• H1 Header

• Text content

• Image Alt Tags

• Internal Links

• External Links

• Site Map

Webpage – Visible Anatomy

Business Skills and Training

Breadcrumb Search

Header

Navigation

Content

InternalLinks

External Links

H1 Header

Webpage – Hidden Anatomy

<head><title> Training Courses and workshops for business - North East BIC

<meta id="ctl00_head_metaDescription" name="description" content="Training in marketing,law, IT, business planning and finance. Training courses and workshops for small business runby the BIC. NVQ Assessment Centre and Business Link approved"></meta><meta id="ctl00_head_metaKeywords" name="keywords" content="north east training,training providers north east,sunderland,be your own boss,stimulating software innovation,software ventures,marketing magic,newcastle enterprise package,flexible families,marketing training,law training,it training,business planning,accounting courses"></meta>

<h1>Business Skills and Training</h1>

<img src="/images/hotlink_button.png" alt="More information"

Page Title

Meta Description

Meta Keywords

H1 Header

ImageAlt Tag


Data Collection (Spiders and ‘Bots)• URL




• H1 Header

• Text content

• Image Alt Tags

• Internal Links

• External Links

• Site Map

Sitemap<urlset><url><loc>http://www.ne-bic.co.uk/default.aspx</loc><lastmod>2009-08-27</lastmod><changefreq>weekly</changefreq><priority>1.0</priority></url><url><loc>http://www.ne-bic.co.uk/business-space.aspx</loc><lastmod>2009-08-28</lastmod><changefreq>weekly</changefreq><priority>1.0</priority></url><url><loc>http://www.ne-bic.co.uk/conference-facilities.aspx</loc><lastmod>2009-08-10</lastmod><changefreq>weekly</changefreq><priority>1.0</priority></url><url><loc>http://www.ne-bic.co.uk/business-support-services.aspx</loc><lastmod>2009-08-28</lastmod><changefreq>weekly</changefreq><priority>1.0</priority></url><url><loc>http://www.ne-bic.co.uk/business-skills-and-training.aspx</loc><lastmod>2009-08-10</lastmod><changefreq>weekly</changefreq><priority>1.0</priority></url>


Data Collection (Spiders and ‘Bots)

• URL




• H1 Header

• Text content

• Image Alt Tags

• Internal Links

• External Links

• Site Map

• Robot .txt file


Data Delivery

• Algorithms

• Relevance

• Primary vs. Supplementary Index

• Site ‘Theme’

The Structure of Ranking

On Page ElementsSite StructureSite ThemePage StructurePage ContentMeta Data

Off Page ElementsLinks StrategyPPC CampaignsSocial Media

Domain Name 40% RankingSignificance

60% RankingSignificance

Key SEO Elements – On-Page

• Relevant site address (batteriesonline.co.uk vs. portablepower.co.uk)

• Good page title and meta description

• Good meta keywords??? (search terms)

• Great content

• H1 Headers

• Image tags and descriptions

• Internal links

Key SEO Elements – On-Page

• XML Sitemap

• Robots.txt file

• Regular Change

• Avoiding ‘clever code’

• Age of Domain

• Site Theme & Authority

Key SEO Elements – Off-Page

• High quality Inbound Links from other Websites

• Links from social media sites

• Links from high-ranking directories

• Links on Article Distribution Sites

• Links on Press Release Distribution Sites

• Avoiding ‘spammy’ or non-relevant links

Marketing Elements of a Great Website

• Theme

• Authority

• Highly-relevant and segmented content

• Competitor-referenced

• Search-engine verified and submitted

• Meta and H1’s for at least Homepage & Tier 2 pages

• Lots of inbound links from relevant, quality sources

• Lots of self-generated inbound content

How to speed up visibility

• Sponsored links – e.g. Google Adwords

• Email newsletters

• Listing on appropriate websites (stockist or partner listings, etc.)

• Linking in general

• Putting your website address on everything!

Assessing Progress

• Search Engine Ranking

• Basic Stats. (hits, page requests, unique visitors) + Bounces

• Page Rank

• Back links analysis

• Indexing frequency

• Analytics Software

SEO Q&A

Your Task…..

Write a Homepage Title (max 85 characters)

Write a Meta Description (max. 250 characters)

Write meta keywords/phrases (try for 20)

Our Solution

Title: Clown Insurance - Clown Insurance From The UKs Leading Insurer Of Clowns

Meta Description: Clowns Insurance provides low cost specialised insurance for UK clowns. Clowns Insurance can insure any full-time, part-time or weekend clown. Party clowns and

circus clowns are insured by Clowns Insurance

Meta Keywords: clown insurance,insurance for clowns,UK clowns,party clown insurance,part-time clown insurance,professional clown insurance,insuring UK clowns, circus clowns

insurance, clowns liability cover

Good vs. Bad SEO

SEO’ing a Website

Remember the Important Bits

• Theme

• Authority

• Highly-relevant and segmented content

• Competitor-referenced

• Search-engine verified and submitted

• Meta and H1’s for at least Homepage & Tier 2 pages

• Lots of inbound links from relevant, quality sources

• Lots of self-generated inbound content

A Great Example

A Not-So Great Example

A Really Great Example

Peter Wilson

Online Advertising

Online Advertising ModelsPay-per-Click

Affiliate Platforms

Display Ads

Affiliate Model

YOU

AffiliateNetwork

SuperAffiliates

SmallAffiliates

Web Users

multipleonline

channels

Promotional Plans,Commissions &Management Fees

Promotional Plans,Commissions &‘Specials’

Promotional Plans& Commissions

Tracking

TRAFFIC

What do they look like?

People you might not Expect!

Types of Affiliate

• PPC Affiliates

• Cashback

• Voucher Code

• Social Media

• Niche / Blog

• Price Comparison

• Pure Content

• Arbitrage

Affiliate Pro’s & Con’s

Pro’s

• Instant online sales network

• CPA model means you only pay when a sale is made

• Good affiliates will drive substantial levels of conversion

• Good networks have comprehensive marketing and monitoring tools

• Increases your internet visibility vs. the competition

Con’s

• Only really effective for ‘packaged’ goods and services

• Very focused on consumer markets

• Reporting isn’t 100% accurate

• Relatively high ‘entry costs’

• Significant time required to manage the network

Online Display Advertising

Display – A Muddled Picture!

Display advertising can be the result of affiliate programmes, some PPC campaigns, working via an advertising network or bought

direct from a site owner. It’s usually bought on a CPM (sometimes CPC basis).

• Think first about the kinds of sites that will be most useful to YOU….

1. Visitor types and reason for visiting

2. Levels of traffic

3. Affordability

• Identify how key sites operate their advertising

1. Niche markets often rely on site-run advertising

2. Is there a dominant website/ad network in the sector?

3. What types of ad stand out visually and in terms of message?

• Get a costed proposal from an ad network, even if it’s only to provide insight

• Apply the usual rules to your advertising (clear, competitive message, visual strength, appropriate landing page content, demand an action)

Display – A Muddled Picture!

PPC Advertising

• Google Adwords or Bing/Yahoo AdCenter• Google has a 80%+ share of UK search volumes

• AdCenter has better conversion rates

‘Hydraulic Bolting Systems’

‘Gold for Cash’

PPC Advertising

• Should be called ‘search advertising’

• Provides immediate high-ranking visibility and message

• Usually costed on a cost-per-click basis, but ‘content network’ can be bought on a cost-per-thousand impressions basis

• Search advertising requires careful management to ensure cost-effectiveness

• Click costs are extremely ‘search term dependent’ i.e. a click can cost 10p in one market and £10 in another!

• Both networks have very comprehensive control systems for both spend management and campaign analysis……

How do you Start (Google example)?

1. Set up a Google Account

2. Add Adwords to the account (need credit card)

3. Set basic settings (language, network, budget, etc.)

4. Write ad text

5. Choose keywords/phrases (after researching them) and max. PPC

6. GO LIVE!

7. Monitor and change…..and monitor and change……or stop!

Key Paid Search Metrics

• Clicks

• Impressions

• Cost

• Bounce Rate

• Pages per Visit/Time on Site (need analytics link)

• Goals (site-specific and need analytics link)

• Conversions

Using PPC/Search adv. Effectively

• Launches (products, services or a website, etc.)

• Promotions or events

• Secondary or ‘Long-tail’ Keywords (not on the SEO list)

‘Long-tail’ Keywords

Search Terms Used

Numberof

Searches

Using PPC/Search adv. Effectively

• Launches (products, services or a website, etc.)

• Promotions or events

• Secondary or ‘Long-tail’ Keywords (not on the SEO list)

• Low-cost keywords

• To ‘spike’ competitors

Remember – Paid Search is very context-dependent,so plan and measure carefully!

Advertising Q&A

Now where are we?

Targetometer

Social Media

Sharing – is there a point for business?

Is there a point?

• Atlantic Telegraph 1856

Oscar Wilde was asked what he thought of this amazing media innovation. “it depends whether they have

something interesting to talk about”

• Michelin 1900

1. Food (tyres get you there)

2. Useful

3. Participation

4. Free

5. Show (advocate)

6. Bibendum had his own newspaper column

Social Media - What is it?

• Social Networking

– Communications between people with similar interests

• Social media

– The online tools which allow this to happen

• What are we trying to do?

– SEO and Linking

– Create a web presence

– Develop brand positioning – especially extension

– Encourage and manage the discussion and communications about our brand and products online

– Advocates and Viral

Social Media

Issue No. 1

Social Media is not homogenous, so it’s a nonsense totalk of ‘doing social media’….

Social Media

Issue No. 2

It’s easy to get carried away with the ‘latest big thing’

‘On-Board’ or ‘Left on the Dock’

Social Media- How Big is It?

• Facebook now has 23 million UK users (Feb 2010)

• LinkedIn continues to grow with 45 million global members and 1.8 million UK visitors per month

• YouTube should serve 75 billion video streams to 375 million viewers in 2010

• Social media is now the No.2 online activity for UK internet users, beating email usage, and just behind search engines!

• 77% of active internet users read blogs regularly

• Over half of internet-using adults maintain a social network profile

• Facebook’s core UK user is in the 25-34 age group

Are they all doing the same things?

• Spectators

– Reading, watching, listening

• Joiners

– Signing up for networks

• Collectors

– RSS tagging

• Critics

– Commenting / reviewing

• Creators

– Publishing

Some Key Platforms

• Blog

• Squidoo lens

• MySpace

• Facebook Page

• LinkedIn

• Tagging (delicious, stumbleupon, Digg)

• You Tube

• Slideshare

• Flickr

• Twitter

• Article Sites

• PR Sites

• Tradespace

• Niche - Home Business Network / Mothers / etc..

• Micro sites

Facebook

• Business to Consumer

• Mass market

• “Give me a poke” or “Throw me a sheep”

• Pages and Group Pages

• Highly targeted advertising

• Be personal but reflect your brand

• Be interactive and get visitors involved

Blog and Blogging

• Easy to build – Wordpress

• On site or off site?

• Searchable content

• Blog Directories/ Other blogs/ Your own site

• Be interesting / not salesy

• Couple of times a month

Linked In

StumbleUpon

delicious

Twitter for Business

Social MediaWhat Can You Do With It?

• Linking value for search engine rankings (“no-follow” issue)

cooksandkitchens.co.ukLink TypeWell-sauted Blog

Dailymade Blog

Fatlemon Blog

Caked Crusader Blog

Article Hut Article Directory

Buzzle Article Directory

Ezine Article Directory

Squidoo Expert UGC community

Stumbled-Upon Bookmarking Site

Slideshare Presentation Community

MumsNet Community

Hitched Community

Brownbook Business Review Site


• Linking value for search engine rankings (‘no-follow’ issue)

• Additional Search Engine Entries (search term ‘webkinetics’)Position Type1 Website

2 Website

4 Twitter

5 Slideshare

7 Blogstorm

8 FreeIndex

9 YouTube

10 PRLog

11 Flickr

12 Twitter

14 Facebook

15 Brownbook



• Additional Search Engine Entries

• Establishing Credentials as a Sharer/Innovator

First Mover

Innocent Facebook Search

Innocent Facebook Videos

Innocent on Facebook

Social Media- What Can You Do With It?




• Targeting a particular group or type of customer/user

• Developing segmented communications

Strategic Social Media Marketing

M&S Network Links

M&S Facebook

M&S Facebook Discussions

M&S Facebook Offers

M&S Twitter





• Branding opportunities – innovative, sharing



• Respond to customer/press comments

Snatching Success from the Jaws of Social Media Disaster





• Branding opportunities – innovative, sharing



• Respond to customer/press comments

• Create news/noise

Campaigning and Noise

http://www.marmiteshop.co.uk/productdetail.jsp?productPK=unittest-OHhEjEZF48DkPvQaqN3IEb-1

Marmite Facebook Games

Marmite Website

Marmite Facebook

Who?

• Interested customers

• Regular users

• Fans

• We turn them into advocates

• Could be niche

What Might WE Use for a Client?

• Blog (with links to your site)

• Squidoo lens

• MySpace

• Facebook Page

• LinkedIn

• Tagging (delicious, stumbleupon, Digg)

• You Tube

• Slideshare

• Flickr

• Twitter

• Article Sites

• PR Sites

• Tradespace

• Niche - Home Business Network / Mothers / etc..

• Micro sites

Social Media- How to Approach It….

1. Understand what the major platform types offer and how they work

2. Decide if social media might play a part in achieving your marketing objectives

3. Decide which platforms are most relevant to you and your online objectives

4. Establish an activity plan based on exactly what you want each platform to deliver

5. Accept that most effective social media activity involves continued interaction i.e. time &/or money

You Tube - What do you need?

• Blendit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI&feature=PlayList&p=4825F3D2B848DED8&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1

• Marmite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCbuRb47q2c

• Nike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIWeEFV59d4

• Cadburys gorilla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpg7nWXk8Q

• Elvis cheese painting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXigfZGqsLM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI&feature=PlayList&p=4825F3D2B848DED8&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCbuRb47q2c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIWeEFV59d4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpg7nWXk8Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXigfZGqsLM

Your Social Media Task

• You are an insurance company which sells to clowns – Clowns Insurance

• How would you use You Tube to promote the company or services. What creative ideas have you got?

• The best idea will win a prize at the end of the series of events.

Social Media Q&A

Campaigns

Now where are we?

Targetometer

Let’s go get ‘em…

Public Relations

• Management of communications through 3rd parties especially opinion formers through editorial

• Blurring of boundaries

– Opinion formers and now bloggers and advocates (creators)

– We can create editorial

Public Relations

• Regular website review columns

• News editorial

– Exciting picture

– Web traffic news

– Changing trends

– Feedback

– New web service

Email DM

• Responsive

• Cost effective

• Directs traffic to your site

• Builds membership

• Fantastic stats

Email is measurable

• Depending on the tool you’re using

• Open Rates

• Clicks

• Bounces

– Soft

– Hard

• Issues

– Getting through

– Getting opened

– Getting a response

Email success

• Hosting and Technical

– Authenticated**

– Blacklists

• Data

– Sign up process

– Legal and Unsubscribe**

– Personal**

– Viral

Email success

• Design and Content

– Subject line

– Calls to action

– Relevance and targeting

– Spam words**

– Pictures v words**

– Preview pane

• Technical

– Coding

– Rendering

A typical decision process

Awareness of the need

Awareness of suppliers

Build relationship with suppliers (brands)

SALE!

Aftersales and support

Detail information stage

Confirmation and reassurance

Advertising

Let’s just ring them?

Incentivise the visit

• Information or white papers

• Join club

• Offers and discounts

• Opinions and blogs

• Editorial and comment

Marketing Rule Number 1

• Marketing now is very much about good data and building relationships

• Good data beats everything

• Best data is the data you collect (websites [and events] are great at this)

• Then you’re in control of communications and relationship building

Registration

Campaign elements

• Initial Communications and traffic generation– Online and offline– Keywords and Adwords

• Targeted landing page• Data Capture

– Registration page• Action• Follow up• Measurement

– Review

Sainsbury’s Business Direct

Sale! and ongoing communications

Targeted Adwords & SEO & SM

Email shots

Campaigning Q&A

Campaigning Task

• Identify a mix of key activities that you would undertake in order to create an effective campaign for Clowns Insurance.

• Ensure that the activities are complementary and that you are generating a “virtual circle” that builds your prospects and conversions.

• You may wish to draw your campaign plan!

Now where are we?

Targetometer

Web Analytics

Web Analytics- Some Questions….

• What are they?!

• Are analytics packages any good?

• What are the important metrics?

• Can you do everything with a free tool like Google Analytics?

• What can you do once you have the information?

• Is it worth the time and effort?

A Definition

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.

Web analytics is not just a tool for measuring website traffic but can be used as a tool for business research and market research. Web analytics

provides data on the number of visitors, page views, etc. to gauge the popularity of the sites which will help to do the market research.

There are two categories of web analytics; off-site and on-site web analytics.

‘Wikipedia’

Analytics Packages

• Who uses one?

• Which one?

• What information do you use it for?

• What do you do with the information?

• What doesn’t it tell you?

What Do We Want to Know? On-Site Analytics

Hits, Page Requests, Unique Visitors?

• Hits, Page Requests, Unique Visitors?

• Where did they come from (search, twitter feed, newsletter, ad.,, geography, etc.)?





• What search terms generated visitors?





• What did they do on the site and how long did they stay?





• What did they do on the site and how long did they stay?

• Did we convert anyone (download, email capture, sale)?

BUT HOW DO YOU USE ANALYTICS TO ACTUALLY IMPROVE A PAGE?

What Do We Want to Know? On-Site Analytics- Page Analysis

• Keyword analysis

• Competitor Comparison

• Content Analysis

• Coding Analysis

What Do We Want to Know? Off-Site Analysis

• Overall Context

Bean Bag Co.


• Overall Context

• Rankings for Target Keywords


• Overall Context

• Rankings for Target Keywords

• Inbound Links (No. & Quality)

Analytics Q&A

Summary of our journey• Searching:

– SEO

– Adwords

– Affiliate

• Passing By

– Advertising

– Social Networks

– Bookmarking

– Blogs

– (Affiliate)

• At Home

– Email

– Direct mail

– Advertising

– PR

Simple Summary

Relevance

Content

Interaction

Connections

We’re here to help!

internet marketing training day - june-oct version

Education