Inbound Marketing Search Engine Marketing Blog

Search Engine Submission Software

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A comprehensive inbound marketing strategy should include the following components:

1. A Clean, Clear & Compelling Website (Your Message)
2. A Search Engine Optimization Strategy
3. A Blog Strategy
4. A Social Media Strategy
5. A Conversion Strategy
6. An Evaluation Procedure
7. A Strategy Modification Process

We all know that search engines can play an important role in getting found by your target market(s). However, search engine submission software is a relic and virtually obsolete.

In the "old days", search engine submissions were considered important and many used search engine submission software as part of the solution. Today, this is no longer needed as most major search engines will "crawl" or "spider" any web page that has relevant and/or compelling content. In other words, "If you write it, they will come".

Even though search engine submission software is no longer a critical element of search engine ranking success, the search engine optimization process is very important and in our opinion, needs professional attention. Below is a basic search engine optimization schedule. It includes tasks and activities needed to achieve and/or improve major search engine rankings. You can use this as a general guide to understand search engine optimization components and time frames.

How To Make Any Web Page Search Engine Friendly

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Web Page Optimization: What you need to be sure of when making any web page search engine friendly.

When a search engine user enters a keyword in the search box, all search engines run through an evaluation process in nano seconds and if your pages do not meet certain criteria, they will pass you by just as fast.

The process of making a web page search engine friendly can include a lot of detail but there are basic elements that will help you get some initial momentum and help you compete, especiallay for the "lower hanging fruit" or what is also known as "long-tail keywords".

If you are a subscriber to this blog, you may have a better sense of the inbound marketing concept, formula and active components, so now we can now focus on the area of web page optimization. The idea here is to configure any given web page to be as search engine friendly as possible or to be sure the work you paid an SEO professional meets these basic requirements.

For an easy download of this information, use this link:

Each search engine uses a different set of algorithms to evaluate a web page and produce search results based on a keyword or key-phrase entered by a search engine user. Even though Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other search engines evaluate differently, they are close enough so it’s possible (at this level) to develop one set of guidelines for all. As part of a more sophisticated strategy, you will ultimately develop these formulas to match each search engine and keyword with more concentration.

Below is a table we developed for you to use as your web page optimization checklist. These are the basic components that need attention when competing for both, targeted or more general keywords. There are two assumptions we need to make before you begin applying these principles:

1. A detailed keyword analysis and selection has been executed.
2. We are targeting 1 to 3 keywords per page.
3. You are able to make these updates to your web page through an HTML editor or your CMS (content management system). Ex. Wordpress, Contribute, Dreamweaver, Front Page.
   

Remember that these are the main elements of a well-optimized page and have been outlined for the user who isn’t ready to hire an inbound marketing or SEO consultant. As the process evolves, there are other components that require attention and will ultimately benefit your efforts. Here is a partial list:

For a complete inbound marketing analysis of your current website, use this link:

Search Engine Positioning Guarantees

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When negotiating with a search engine optimization professional, is a search engine positioning guarantee reasonable?

This topic of discussion was much more common in recent years but as many businesses are more involved with the inbound marketing or search engine positioning process and are deeper into this process, they seem to understand the relative validity of a search ranking guarantee. Especially an Organic search engine positioning guarantee.

This blog post is more general in nature for those who still need to understand the process, expectations and the differences between a sponsored ad strategy and an organic search strategy.

I was asked by a potential new alliance partner today about guaranteed search engine positioning from an SEO (organic) or pay per click perspective. This is a topic of discussion that I have had more often 12 to 24 months ago. As SEO was the primary method of entry into the world of inbound marketing, many businesses getting involved with inbound marketing presented this question but has now become less frequent. I think that many businesses and many organizations that are getting involved with inbound marketing understand a little bit more about the nature of search engine optimization both from an organic stand point and a sponsored ad stand point, here is how I answered this question about a guarantee in the world of SEO.

A guarantee in the world sponsored ad marketing is reasonable. I believe that there can be a guarantee simply because you're purchasing position (not in all cases) but in most cases a certain paid sponsored listing in a specific targeted search engine location. So I believe this can be guaranteed in one form or another.

Offering a guarantee for an organic search engine position as a rule, is much more dangerous from an inbound marketing professional's standpoint. The reasons are as follows:

1. Each computer/IP address will get varying search engine positioning. For example if we're discussing an air conditioning company in a specific geographic region I can type in a given keyword and get x-results on the search engine results page while another individual, even in the same location and certainly other geographic locations will get a different ranking position. This is because the search engine technologies and algorithms are changing. They are becoming more personal and geo focused based on past personal searches.
   
2. Another determining factor that would make a professional avoid making a guarantee is the actual real estate available. The search engine results page is becoming more limited as search engines like Google are including blog results and soon-to-be social media results on the SEPR or search engine results page. This decreases the space available for straight SEO or search engine optimization programs.

With these reasons in mind a wise and experienced Internet marketing professional would not make any guaranteed search engine positioning statements. It's more a matter of establishing expectations on a case-by-case basis. Each business is different and each business has a different target market. In some cases the target market is local with limited competition whereas others are national or even global in nature. These factors must be taken into consideration when discussing expectations.

To add to this thought process, I would advise that any search engine optimization strategy that maybe recommended by and inbound marketing professional doesn't guarantee a certain search engine position through organic search. This, in my mind should raise a red flag. The actual process of search engine optimization on any given website is as follows and is not as secretive in nature as it used to be.

• Each page can be optimized for 1 to 3 keywords.
• The relative components on a given web page need to reflect these one to three keywords.
  
• The content on the actual page needs to also reflect the other elements like page titles, page description, and all other related HTML code tags.

Here is a new checklist that you can use to be sure each of your web pages is at least "search engine friendly".

Internet Marketing Methodology

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Is your Inbound Marketing methodology complete, flexible, effective & measurable?

A well conceived Internet marketing methodology will dictate all of your activities, measurements and evaluations. I true methodology gives you the road map and solid reasons for doing what you do each day, week and month. If you don't believe in your own marketing methodology, I suggest you start over and develop one that you buy into. I see too many organizations throwing darts or following limited advice and experience of others and end up taking shots in the dark at SEO, PPC, blog posts, atricle submissions, email campaigns, social media reach and a myriad of other tasks they feel are part of the big Internet marketing picture.

A well thought out inbound marketing methodology may be simple or complex. One not being better than the other.

This is the Inbound marketing methodology we suggest:
(Note: Inbound Marketing = Internet Marketing = Pull Marketing = Attraction Marketing)

1. Get Found

2. Convert

3. Analyze.

 This may sound over simplified but sometimes, focusing on the basics will help you strip away any elements of your current plan that do not fit or support these main objectives.

To be clearer we begin by explaining that based on our experience and expertise, SEO is one (1) of three (3) major segments of a complete and successful Inbound Marketing campaign. To be even more specific, we believe that SEO or major search engine (on-page) optimization is approximately 39% of the Internet marketing pie. We don’t point this out to minimize the importance of a strong search engine optimization plan, in fact, we believe all else is fueled by, and relies on strong page optimization and good search results.

To expand on this point we point out that SERP (search engine result pages) now include blogs, images, local listings, videos and soon social media results. This simply translates to less real estate for straight keyword search results through on-page optimization. Couple this fact with some of the new search technologies about to be used (Google Caffeine) and you will see actual search results will differ from place to place and computer to computer. These are some of our reasoning for applying the blog and social media development components to a comprehensive Internet marketing strategy.

We believe that understanding your own approach, methodology and philosophy is critical to understanding how bring success to your business or client's business.

First, we feel it is absolutely critical for you or your clients to learn how marketing has changed and the older efforts connected to outbound or interruption marketing have become more expensive and much less effective. To illustrate this point further, we explain to our prospects and newer clients to think about outbound (traditional) marketing as a hammer and inbound marketing as a magnet. Would you rather try to hammer your message into and at your target markets or would you rather attract or pull qualified prospects into your messages?

One reason we stress this point is because marketing directors, business owners and others that are responsible for an organization's marketing success now depends on their direct involvement. One of the first conversations we have with our prospects and new clients was designed to gauge how ready they are to change some of the older ways they approach and support their own marketing efforts. Nobody understands their services and products better than the client and we encourage them to contribute to the process. Their expertise coupled with our high level of marketing skills will bring real and measurable success.

Although Inbound marketing has become much more effective and efficient than the more traditional outbound marketing, some elements remain constant and our methodology was designed to focus on these 4 main objectives:

1. Generate Leads
2. Track Leads
3. Nurture Lead
4. Convert Leads

This covers the concept of Internet marketing methodology. We will discuss in detail the three main anchors of this suggested methodology... Get Found, Convert & Analyze.

How To Keep Up With Internet Marketing

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Internet Marketing/Inbound Marketing Is Growing At Record Pace

Are you finding it difficult to keep pace and keep current with Inbound marketing? It used to be a simple as executing a solid search engine optimization plan (SEO). Internet marketing has changed tremendously since those days. I know because I am in the business.

As recently as one year ago, my clients would generate leads and substantial other activity as a result of a carefully constructed search engine optimization program combined with some supportive content development.

Inbound or Internet marketing has expanded and in order to be successful, must include other components. Blog development and social media development are now critical elements of a complete Internet marketing plan.

Many organizations are having a difficult time understanding the need to refocus some (or most) of their marketing efforts in this newer direction. The transition and evolution from traditional or outbound marketing to inbound marketing can be confusing to many. Businesses understand the old marketing methods even if they admit they have become less effective. 

We are at an important crossroads for many businesses even if they don't notice. They must get involved in their marketing more than was demanded in the past.

An Overview:

• Outbound marketing is also considered "interruption" marketing.
• Outbound marketing is 40 year old technology.
  
• Outbound marketing is using a hammer to deliver your message.
• Inbound marketing is using a magnet to attract those sincerely interested in your message.
• Inbound marketing produces more quality leads at a lower cost per lead.

What should be included in your inbound marketing strategy?

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Blog development - regular blog posts
3. Social Media Strategies
4. Strong & accurate analytics or measurement

Developing and administering a strong Internet marketing plan takes the same effort and patience as developing a comprehensive traditional marketing plan. In most cases the budget won't have to be as extensive but the time commitment and ability to partner with highly skilled professionals is similar. Remember that in spite of what you read or what may appear in your inbox (or spam filter), a good inbound marketing strategy takes time, effort and a budget. There is no quick fix. Show me a keyword on page one of google and I will show you an organization that applied effort and had patience.

Internet marketing, at it's most basic level is about:

1. Lead Generation
2. Lead Tracking
3. Lead Nurturing
4. Lead Conversion
   

For a free inbound marketing white paper, click on this image:

How To Decide: Organic SEO or Sponsored Ad Campaign

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Inbound marketing can consist of a simple SEO project or a more complete picture using SEO, blog & social media development with the appropriate analytics.

When analyzing and evaluating the Internet marketing needs of any business, it's important to understand that one size does not fit all. Each business will have different objectives, different budgets and therefore demand different and flexible solutions.

It is also important for businesses to realize that as Internet marketing or inbound marketing become more of a primary marketing mechanism, its important to apply the appropriate attention, budget and changes required to generate the return on investment that is, in most cases, the main objective. Understand that inbound marketing is now more efficient, more effective and more measurable than the way marketing has been implemented over the past 40 years (outbound marketing).

With this in mind, one of the decisions you will need to consider is the choice between PPC (sponsored ads) or a natural or organic search engine strategy. Although both can be beneficial, they do serve different objectives and need careful consideration before launch. Below are some basics that need to be understood in order to make an educated decision.

Any business and Internet marketing plan can benefit from both PPC or SEO so...

1. Where do you start?
   
2. Is it a sponsored ad campaign or organic search engine optimization?
   
3. Both are important so what where should I start or would be the right mix?
4. How do I determine what my budget should be?
   
5. How much should I spend on PPC and how much on SEO?
   
6. Which one has the higher rate of success?
   
7. Which one is easy to manage?
   

Many of these questions are asked by business owners while developing their online marketing strategies or working with an Internet marketing expert on consulting firm.



One of the first steps should be a basic understand of the differences between the two. Here is a simple explanation:

The standard industry term is PPC, which means "par per click". You pay search engines or any other publisher for the clicks you get on your advertisement links. Another way to explain this; the traffic you are getting is Paid Traffic through the creation and placement of your advertisement. The alternative is SEO or search engine optimization. SEO is where you work on your web pages to improve its natural rankings in the major Search engines for the selected (important) keywords. If done correctly the result is free traffic for your website. This doesn't mean the process of organic optimization is free. If you have the skills and time, it will be free but you may need to pay a specialists to perform these activities.

These are some Pros and Cons of both PPC and Organic SEO as part of an overall inbound marketing plan.

If you have a newer site and need some faster exposure, PPC Campaigns can give you these quick results. You can launch your projects within hours and start getting search engine (or Facebook & LinkedIn) placement and traffic on your website over night. Pay per click programs are easy to monitor and lets you do specific testing and experimenting. This method will provide you with a detailed analysis of important metrics like:

1. How many times your ad had been displayed
2. How many people clicked on them
3. Which ad got maximum clicks
4. What is the conversion rate

Sponsored ad campaigns are also easy to control. You can control the placement of your listings and location where you want your ad to show, and stop your project anytime you want.

 PPC campaigns are also very effective to test the impact of changes in site architecture on conversion rate.

 PPC campaigns are great if you are going to promote some seasonal items and when it is not feasible to wait for improvement in organic rankings.



Cons - PPC campaigns, in most cases don’t have long term value. Your listings will disappear from search engines and other networks if you stop spending money. Usually a larger budget is needed to run an effective PPC campaign. If your niche is highly competitive and you are competing against big brands, this is even more true. In my opinion, the biggest reason to be careful when utilizing a sponsored ad campaign is because PPC ads get only 10% of click throughs when compared to  organic search rankings. 



Search Engine Optimization 

Pros - Natural Search results get 90% of the activity on a search engine results page. This means you can get much more traffic if you can get top positions in organic results. 

You don’t have to pay for extra traffic you get due to improvement of your website rankings in organic search results.

 You can stop your SEO (search engine optimization) and link building campaigns for few months once your rankings become stable in Search results and can enjoy free traffic.

 Proper SEO and Link Building will help you to increase the overall authority of your website.



Cons - SEO and Link Building is a time consuming process. It usually takes 6-8 months or even more to achieve the top results in organic rankings depending on the quality of your website and competition in your niche.

 No control on the Rankings of website and no guarantee of results because organic results are very unpredictable.





As you have now seen the pros and cons of both marketing strategies, the selection of the SEO or PPC depends on the purpose of your inbound marketing campaign. If you are looking for quick exposure for your new business then PPC campaign is your best option but if you are looking for long term solution then focus on your SEO and link building campaigns. Business owners need to maintain a proper balance between their SEO and PPC activities. While, money spent on SEO should be considered as long term investment for your business, PPC campaigns should be used only to fill out the gaps which cannot be achieved with SEO like running ads on content networks, for doing research of proper keywords or to test the new design of website.

Your Internet Marketing Analysis

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I hope that as an Internet marketer, you consistently ask yourself these questions when considering your Internet marketing projects:

1. What is the real condition of my web site?
2. What do the search engine see when they evaluate rankings for a chosen keyword?
3. What is the marketing effectiveness of my web site?
   

One way to get a quick accurate and snapshot of your condition and some of the answers to these questions is to use a tool called website grader. You can request a free website grade report from Virtual Support Systems or go directly to website grader.

HubSpot has created a cutting edge software application for use by Inbound Marketing Agencies like Virtual Support Systems, that enable us to apply all of the new and revolutionary marketing systems to our clients Internet marketing projects. Therefore, our clients subscribe to the HubSpot software and retain Virtual Support Systems to apply and manage all aspects of this application. Virtual Support Systems is a Certified Inbound Marketing Partner with HubSpot.

Okay, now that I have explained how to generate a real time report showing the condition of any given website, You should read a recent post on the HubSpot blog with examples of other companies' reports.

Email Marketing Strategies

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Email marketing can provide wonderful support for your web site and Internet marketing efforts. But do it wisely....

Email Advertising and Marketing:
If you're smart you won't even think of developing an internet marketing plan &  web site without marrying it to a strategically created e-mail publication plan. The web site is the shy partner who passively waits for people to come to him. But the e-mail marketing strategy is the bold, active partner who goes out to where people are and invites them to come meet her groom. Together they make a great couple.

E-mail marketing is primarily a way to conserve the people who have shown some interest in your business by coming to your web site or responding to one of your offers. One of the highest priorities of your web site MUST be to get your visitor to sign up for your free newsletter, white paper, discussion list or updates publication. Offer a variety of inducements or compelling offers -- entry into a contest, a free gift, a free coupon -- whatever you must do to insure a steady stream of subscribers to your newsletter. Once they are subscribers -- if you give them "great content" they enjoy and learn from -- they'll stay with you for years, and you can gently build their trust and your relationship month after month. When they're ready to make a purchase, your site is at the top of their mind, and they'll probably buy from you. Figure the lifetime value to you of a single subscriber. When you've completed this exercise, you'll know why beginning your own e-mail marketing stratgey is so vital to marketing your business.

Though some Internet marketers focus on sending stand-alone e-mail ads to their mailing lists, I do not recommend this method. With so much SPAM (unsolicited e-mail) abounding, it's too easy for recipients to mistake your promotion for just another ad, and unsubscribe forever. Though an occasional promotional e-mail may be okay, your email marketing messages in the context of news and helpful information is much more effective, and builds loyalty that you can never gain by just bombarding your customers with ads.

Of course, you probably know by now that sending out mass e-mails to huge lists of e-mail addresses is a no-no. It violates the principle of Permission Marketing that says people respond better to a marketing message they have agreed to receive. Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail (UCE) also runs contrary to a long-standing Internet tradition that responds to SPAM with angry flames and enough returned e-mail to cause your ISP to shut down your account very quickly. If you're interested in building a long-term business based on trust, don't send SPAM.

Affilate Marketing Strategy & Inbound Marketing

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 Inbound Marketing Has Many Components: Affiliate Marketing Can Be A Nice Fit For Some.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy:

For small businesses and low-traffic sites, a well designed affiliate marketing strategy can be one of the easiest ways to generate revenue online. As part of thier overall inbound marketing projects, many of the Internet's most popular retailers have an affiliate marketing strategy available as programs that pay Webmasters a commission for sales they refer. The programs are available for books, credit cards, loans, and for Internet superstores like Amazon.

If you're in the business of selling and understand the power of inbound marketing, a well planned affiliate marketing strategy can be a cost-effective way to get your products and brand out to the masses. If you're in the content business, affiliate marketing strategies are a great way to give your visitors value-added features such as books or software related to your site's topic.

When it comes to the web, Amazon.com really started the affiliate ball rolling. In July 1996, it launched its "associates" program and now counts over 450,000 sites in its network.

The basic model works something like this: A small web site owner starting his/her inbound marketing efforts, registers with Amazon (or any other affiliate program), he/she then puts various links, banners, and products on her web site. When her visitors click through on these links and purchase a book or other product, the small web site owner is paid a commission for generating the sale.
In all cases, the goal is for inbound marketers to only spend money when their particular performance objective is met. While Amazon only pays when a sale is made, merchants selling big ticket items like cars, or marketing services like credit cards, have modified the model -- paying instead for clicks or qualified leads.
In fact, compensation schemes are as varied as the merchants themselves.
As merchants have rushed to build affiliate marketing strategies, an entirely new category has been born: affiliate networks. Running a network of affiliates is not rocket science, but it does require quite a bit of time and commitment. For that reason, many merchants are finding that outsource providers offer a compelling solution.

To support your affiliate marketing strategy, some vendors like LinkShare provide tracking, reporting, and affiliate recruiting. Other programs like Dynamic Trade and Commission Junction offer additional services: cutting checks, sending out end-of-year tax forms, and responding to webmaster queries.

In a few short years, affiliate marketing strategy has become a significant force in how commerce on the Web occurs. Thousands of merchants now use affiliate marketing to get business done. The model is now being flexed to drive behavior beyond mere commerce transactions as part of more comprehensive inbound marketing strategies. And yet for all the jargon and hype, an affiliate marketing strategy is about connecting buyers and sellers -- and rewarding those that facilitate the connections. After all, the value isn't in the transaction, it's in the relationship. This is now the main principle of social media as part of a good inbound marketing strategy. The successful affiliate program does not happen by accident. Many factors contribute to an affiliate program's ability to rise above the mediocre masses. One such factor is the level of investment by a company in the longevity and growth of that affiliate marketing strategy; another is the relative experience of the affiliate manager/team. Search engine optimization will also be a factor in generating sales as part of your affiliate marketing strategy.

The Achilles' heel of many affiliate programs is their hasty, uninformed choice regarding an affiliate solutions provider. Although a number of decisions must be made when launching an affiliate marketing strategy, the choice of an affiliate solution is one that must be given much weight.

Do your research, and make the right decision the first time. In one recent poll, nearly 40 percent of affiliate managers said they would select a different affiliate solution provider if they could do it all over again. Also don't get too caught up in your affiliate marketing strategy at the expense of your parent inbound marketing efforts.

Story originally published on ClickZ Network

Basic SEO Linking Strategies

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Linking Strategy Basics: Search Engine Optimization

Many businesses assume that the more links to your site, the higher your ranking in search engines such as Google, Yahoo & Bing. But it's not that simple. Google, as well as the other major search engines factors in the "value" of the links to your site using a considerable complex formula. Google uses these two factors, and more that they will never let see or understand:

1. Google considers the quality of the site on which the link to your site originates by examining the links pointing to that web site. If Google considers the originating site to be a "hub," then the sites that this hub-site links to can get a boost in significant popularity and "authority. A common sense example would be using a link from the Yahoo Directory or even HubSpot.com. A link from HubSpot has much more value than say, a link from your kid’s site at Geocities. This may seem like a no brainer but I see many developers making huge efforts to grab as many links as possible without stopping and considering the power of each.
   
2. Aside from a major directory like Yahoo, Google can also consider how many outbound links a hub has. The more outbound links a given site has, the lower the value each link provides to that site. Their worth is diluted. In theory you’d get the most value if the link to your site were the only link from a site that is considered a hub. There are several flaws to this logic, but that’s for another inbound marketing blog article.

Some believe that linking to certain other sites improves your own site’s popularity. But if you think it through, this makes no sense. People can link to whatever they want, which would defeat the purpose of what Google is trying to do. In fact, many search engine optimization and inbound marketing professionals will tell you that as we move through 2010, even a recipricol link holds minimum value. This is another common sense development as you should be able to see that Google and other serach engines are placing more value on a "vote" for a given site when that site isn't forced to vote in the other direction. It has more credibility.

Rule of thumb: At least as a "common sense" element of your link building strategies, try to attract your inbound links by way of great content. Not only will you get higher quality links but your efforts will be rewarded in so many other ways as well.

 VSS Twitter Follow: SEMSEO1

 
A great way to look at the amount of links you have already attracted to your web site, as well as other important metrics, just ask us to run a free Website Grader Report:

• Content evaluation
• Blog grade
• Twitter grade
• Number of pages indexed by Google
• Number of links pointing to your web site
• Readability level
• Meta tag condition
• Moz rank
• Conversion elements