Content

You’ve done a great a job feeding your baby website, regularly adding Press Releases, Events, and new Products. But when was the last time you looked at your content as a whole? Not recently? Here are a few guiding questions:

• Is there outdated information, like products or messaging?
• Are the sections still organized in a logical manner?
• Is there information, downloads, or videos that you haven’t added, but could?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Oh no! The baby website has a fever! Many times new content is put in as an emergency, without a lot planning as to how it fits in within the rest of site. While new content is good, content that has been optimized for SEO is better. Here are a couple of guiding tips for website parents:

• Do all of your pages have meta information?
• Are you linking appropriate keywords to other pages within your site?

Lead Generation

Your baby website is starting to make its first friends. But are they the right kind of friends? Lead generation can be tough. Sometimes you have to meet a whole lot of people to find the right kind. A few more tips:

• Are your current lead generation efforts working? If not, have you tried something else?
• Are you adding additional calls-to-action on your website as you create more resources?
• Do you have landing pages for PPC campaigns?

Design

Your baby website looks so cute dressed up! Until it gets into the finger-paint, that is! Over time, the look and feel of the website can feel disjointed as content is added or grows. You may also find that what looked beautiful on the hanger (aka when the website launched), really isn’t appropriate for your audience. Last bit of guidance:

• Are any new pages following the same layout or feeling as the “old” pages?
• Have you found that your calls-to-action aren’t getting clicked on?
• Is there any part of your website that customers are commenting/complaining about or just isn’t working?

So what’s a parent to do?

Parenting a toddler website can be tough. But with the right guidance and help, it can continue to grow just fine. For most companies, the website is the most important marketing material they have. A periodic review and correction, like outlined above, can really help your website to continue to be something your company is proud of.

(Finding parenting a website a bit overwhelming? Contact eMagine today to discuss an affordable website design analysis.)

Faith Leonard, Director of Marketing Boston Software Systems, Inc.
“When selecting a new web firm, it was critical we partner with a company who would be an extension of ourselves; eMagine has been that and so much more! We’re extremely impressed by the expertise of each staff member, their ability to meet deadlines and to keep projects on budget. We’ve successfully relied on eMagine for branding and messaging, conversation rate optimization, search engine optimization, and general web maintenance and support. Our relationship with eMagine has positioned us for greater success and we couldn’t be happier.”

Tara-Marie Lynch, Marketing Specialist at Hipotronics, Inc.
“Emagine has been an incredible resource for our business. Lee Rush, specifically, has been of great help in improving our SEO, encouraging new web content, guiding us through important back-linking strategies, and providing feedback on a wide range of marketing-related campaigns. She has served as a trusted partner who is reliable, well-informed, and willing to explain complex concepts.”

Michelle Garcia, Patient & Investigator Recruitment Management at TKL Research

“eMagine has helped out our company tremendously in regards to building our SEO strategy. Lee is very knowledgeable, friendly, and best of all patient with us. She has provided us with great insight in SEO, LinkedIn, and other online marketing tools that we have used to our advantage. The staff is very witty, intelligent, and easy to work with! ”

 #1. Google loves fresh content

On most brand-centric websites, it’s unrealistic to continually add new pages of content. Where would they go? You only have so many different products or solutions, and so many specific segments that you cater to. Yet, Google loves fresh content and your relevance will increase in its eyes when your site is regularly updated. Therefore, the most logical way to continually update your site with fresh content is via an onsite blog. Continually updating your site with fresh content will cause Google crawlers to visit it more frequently- and to reindex it on a more continual basis. This regular reindexing will benefit your site- especially if your posts are optimized.

 #2. Blogging improves your optimization

SEO is content driven. The more frequently you are able to mention a target keyword in your content, the more relevant Google will deem you to be for that term. Relevance typically translates into higher rankings. A blog allows you to mention your target terms continually in a seamless organic way. Additionally, blogs should also include internal links from particular posts to particular pages of content on your site. Ideally, if possible, the clickable text of this internal link should be one of your target keywords. This will also boost your relevance. Finally, be aware that the title of your post matters. Including target keywords where applicable in your post’s title (headline), and your post’s meta title, will also boost your keyword mentions and your optimization.

 #3. Shareable content = backlinks

Blog posts are easily shared and linked to via other blogs, other websites, and other social media utilities. When you include interior links in your blog posts to pages on your website, and the clickable text of these interior links is a target keyword, and then your blog posts are shared throughout the Internet on other sites and via social profiles, you are creating backlinks. A backlinks is a link from another site on the Internet to your site. When the clickable text of a backlink is one of your target keywords, the backlink become more valuable because it increases your relevance for this term. Every backlink can be viewed as a vote. The more votes you have, the more relevant you are in the eyes of Search Engines- and optimized backlinks are the best types of backlinks you can get!

Launching a blog may seem like a huge undertaking, but there are different resources to make posting regularly a bit more manageable. If you can’t do all of the posting alone, look to your internal resources in order to add more writers to your arsenal. And most importantly, if you choose to launch an on-site blog, make sure you have a strategy that includes a list of target keywords and an editorial calendar. Knowing what to write about and when to write will make the upkeep of an on-site blog much easier.

In addition to great link building, guest blogging also affords you the opportunity to earn a great reputation as a thought leader, and offers exposure to your own blog, brand, and website, and much faster than it will take you to build the reputation of your own blog. It’s akin to publicity, but the kind you have to work hard to earn.

When you guest blog, you have the ability to look to build relationships with authoritative thought leaders who can improve your own reputation. You add value to those who, while they are leaders in their own topics, may be restrained from a  time perspective, and would not only benefit but appreciate a quality source of content to boost their own SEO and value.

Guest blogging also improves your own website’s SEO through social mentions. Gone are the days of reciprocal linking, or worse, paying for links. Being a guest blogger allows you to get your own name out there, and allows for people to find your through social media and even searches on your brand. Your published posts become influential and ignite new or renewed interest in your brand.

So where should you look for guest blogging avenues?

Certainly you want to find blogs that are relevant to what you offer, but you need to keep in mind two things: are your prospects visiting these sites, or just your colleagues? Secondly, you want to make sure that the potential blog receive a decent amount of traffic, otherwise your efforts will be wasted. Look for blogs tat have the same or greater traffic as your and discuss topics relevant to your industry or solutions.

Use the search engines to look for blog by typing in some of your targeted key phrases and the word “blog”. These would be good indicators of optimized and authoritative sites (at least to the search engines) on these topics. You can also use iterations of “guest post” in the search terms to find blogs that are accepting guest posts. For example:

•    Looking For “Guest Bloggers” keyword phrase
•    ”guest blog for us” keyword phrase
•    keyword phrase “submit a guest post”
•    keyword phrase “accepting guest posts”

Another method is to look through guest post networks for site related to your topics. Some of these include:

•    blogdash.com
•    bloggerlinkup.com
•    blogsynergy.com
•    grouphigh.com
•    guestblogit.com
•    guestbloggenius.com
•    guestr.com
•    linknami.com/guest-post
•    myblogguest.com
•    postjoint.com

Look into trade associations in your industry for blogging opportunities as well. These are usually the best audience, but often the hardest place to get placement. You can also look through your competitor’s back links for insight into relevant blogs to approach.

Is this the right blog for me to post on?

One you have identified these sites, you’ll need to determine their value and authenticity. Some clues into this would be:
- does the website have a physical address and contact information posted?
- are they active on various social media platforms?
- is there a main contributor to the blog? Are their posts the  most popular?
- is the site regularly updated with content? Is the content recent?
- do they have guidelines for guest posting listed?
- do they have good Page Rank, MozRank and Domain Authority?

How to be an effective guest blogger

Just like applying for a job, you need to put your best foot forward when pitching a guest post to a potential blog owner. Do your research, be well known before you pitch, and put your best work in their hands, and you can have a better chance at a positive response. The following are some tips for approaching blog owners.

One size does not fit all.

Understand the blog your are trying to guest post for. Is this a topic and industry for which you can add value? Take a look at the structure and format of the architecture and the voice of the writing. Just because it is an attractive target for you, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good fit.

Listen before you leap.

Before you even approach the blog owner, be a part of the community. Comment on other blog posts, share their blog posts, and interact with blog owners on social networks. This not only help you be a known quantity, but also gives you better insight into the blogger’s community. Be sure you have also found, read and understand any posting guidelines that may be listed for the site.

You should also check to make sure the topic you plan to submit hasn’t already been covered. If you search Google for site:domain.com intitle:keyword—this will show you any posts with a particular keyword in the title. So, if you are a marketer submitting a post about link building, you can see other posts the site has received about link building to ensure that yours is unique enough to make the cut.

Offer Value, Not Brand

The main reason any blog owner would want to post your content is because you offer them something that is either lacking from their content, or provides added value to their existing content. Don’t write a random post and then pitch it to various blogs. Find the area of opportunity on a particular blog and then write your post. Also, make sure your content is compelling enough for the audience reading the blog post, or you will be spending a lot of valuable time getting no results.

Make sure you intentions are, first and foremost, to add value to the blog, and not for publicity, back links or brand recognition. Blog owners can smell selfish intentions, so make sure your strategy is an altruistic one. Also, it’s best to actually submit your post to the blog owner by name, and customize your pitch so you don’t start off by saying “Dear Sir or madam” or other generic greeting. Look for the blog owners name on the sidebar of the blog, on the blog posts, and in the about us section or page.

Your submission is not a Ronco Rotisserie.

So, you’ve submitted your blog post. Don’t just set it and forget it. You have the potential to create a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. By all means, give them time to review your post and come back to your with comments. But if time passes and you’ve not heard anything, don’t be afraid to emend them a polite email. And, when you post does get uploaded, be sure to thank the blog owner and then promote the heck of of your guest post through you website, blog, and social media channels. Also, be sure to reply to any comments on your guest post, and start to foster new relationships.

There are no guarantees when you enter into the realm of guest posting. But with the proper research, creativity, diligence and follow through, you have the opportunity to reach you target audience in a way that promotes your brand, adds value to other industry leaders, and increases your own sites SEO through reputation, branding and back links.

And now, for some shameless promotion. eMagine is starting to accept submissions for guest posts on our own blog. If you are someone who has an opinion or experience with topics discussed on this blog, and feel you can add value in the online marketing arena (and heck, if you want to get some backlinks to your own website or blog, or even build you brand) contact me  with your guest posts, and let’s start sharing!

Whitney Vitale Marketing Manager, Source Medical
“As the Marketing Manager at SourceMedical chose to work with eMagine due to their experience of working with clients within the healthcare and technology industries. Our website redesign was a huge undertaking and we wanted a trusted partner to ensure we had a smooth transition. eMagine provided great project management and held regular status calls with our team to maintain steady progress through to a successful launch. We enjoyed working with eMagine and would recommend their services.”

Steve Tamasi CEO, Boston Centerless
“We worked with eMagine on the redesign of our website. We met with several vendors, and eMagine demonstrated a proven track record of developing B-to-B sites. Although our business is technical, eMagine was able to understand what we offer and help to position our company in a relevant and current manner. Their process is well thought out and gives the client a great understanding of what is needed every step of the way. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend eMagine for website development. ”

Trevor Castor President, Aphios Corp
“eMagine is the right company. The website redesign process is lengthy and oftentimes painful, but it yields outstanding results, if you choose the right website design company for the job. eMagine is the right company. We evaluated several prospective web design companies of various levels, and none but eMagine had such a deeply involved, very well organized plan of action. The price, which had seemed a bit high to us at first, has in reality become quite reasonable for the quality of work, the effort involved, and the duration of the project. Our eMagine team has been wonderful to work with. They answered all of our questions, gave us plenty of options, and they always gave us the benefit of their combined knowledge, expertise and experience to help us create our beautiful new website. We would definitely recommend eMagine to anyone who wants their website to look as good as ours”

In the example above, we see several anchor links, the first few being “social results settings”, “Remove all Google Web History” and “disable cookie in your browser”. In these three cases, the anchor text takes you off the site to articles that give more information on these three topics, along with step by step instructions.

When used properly, anchor text can really enhance the user experience and entice users to actually take the action you want them to take. However, it is important to keep some basic ground rules in mind when using anchor text for optimal results.

Linking a web page in another web page with suitable and appropriate anchor text gives an idea to the readers about what they are going to learn. When you use descriptive anchor text, you are setting an execration while also being informative. Such clickable anchor text links influence people to learn more related information and satisfy everyone. Inserting links in a web page with better anchor text increases interest and expectation on a site in visitors, also increases number of pages authority and finally spreads reputation through social media. Another benefit is the average site spend by every visitor is increased rapidly. This is what actually a site owner expects from own site.

Anchor text also has great advantages for Search Engine Optimization. The text used an anchor text is an indication to the search engines of the relevance of the linked page to the topic mentioned in the anchor text. It also has the added benefit or increasing the relevance of the page the link is on for that phrase as well.

A common pitfall of writers of the web is to use actor text to simply give direction (“click here”, “read more”) but not provide any context. An unfortunate result is that, if used too much, can give your site ranking for the phrase “click here” or “read more”. (Don’t believe me? Check out who is ranked highest  for these useless terms on Google)

See what I did there?

Another common practice is that your anchor text be understandable when read out of context. In the example above “remove all Google Web History”, the visitor should expect that by clicking on that anchor text, they will learn more about how to remove their Google Web History. However, having said that, you want to be sure your anchor text is as concise as possible. You should avoid using entire sentences or short paragraphs as the entire anchor text. Think in terms of phrases with at least a noun, if you a verb and a noun.
Finally, your anchor text should be styled in such a way that it stands out from the other text, and is clearly defined for taking action. Poor design practice is one that creates a style on the anchor text that makes it the same color as the rest of the text on the page, or worse, eliminates the underline. I have seen some styles where the underline and color is invisible until the visitor mouses over the anchor text. Why make it harder for your readers to follow the train of thought by hiding instructions? You wouldn’t hide the stop sign and the intersection of a busy street, would you?
What practices have you found effective in your anchor text?

According to Hubspot, “Most Twitter chats have one or more organizers who moderate the discussion and set the day and time for the conversation. Additionally, the chats use hashtags, which are words or phrases that are preceded by a “#” sign, example: # inboundmarketing . Hashtags allow people to follow the group conversation using Twitter Search. To follow a chat in your industry you can simply put the hashtag for the conversation into Twitter Search and watch the the tweets flow.”

Some chats are just on Twitter, while others can accompany a live in-person meeting or conference . Another popular pairing is a TweetChat with a webinar.

Now, Twitter chats aren’t really new. Chats reached their maturation during the last presidential election, when both parties were trying a variety of ways to reach out to potential voters. But for the B2B industry, this form of communication is increasing in popularity as a means to get in front of very specific vertical markets.

So how would you go about creating your own Twitter chat for your B2B audience?

First, do a search on Twitter for Tweet chats in your industry or on topics your company would focus on. The best planning begins with listening. There is a Twitter Chat Schedule available for regularly occurring chats. Join a few and see what’s being talked about. Add your input to the chats; ask questions, answer others.

Make sure you promote your involvement using the appropriate #hashtags and across all your social media platforms.

Start to follow “influencers” in the chats and see what topics they are discussing. At this point, you may also be increasing your followers, and have a good jump off point to start your own Tweet Chat.

Promote the chat on all social media outlets, as well as through email blasts, you email signature, your website and blog. Ask questions using your hashtag ahead of time to gain some content for the actual event.

At your first chat, you may need to spend some time yourself, or have someone on standby to help people with any “technical difficulties” in connecting to the chat.

During your chat, make sure you tweet and retweet with your hashtag; ask questions and give credit where it’s due; give your own insights, and follow your participants in real-time. When the chat is over, make sure you take the time to thank each participant individually , and collectively (#FollowFridays are great for this). These practices will strengthen your relationships and draw people into future chats.

Over the course of the next day or so, create a list of the top ten takeaways from the Twitter Chat, and use the #hashtag to attract retweets and follows front he same content you created from the chat.

I like to use the tool TweetChat to moderate my own chats, and Hootsuite to monitor other chats. You can measure the reach of your tweets using TweetReach to see how effective the chat was on reaching new followers.

Twitter Chat are a free way of gaining exposure to your prospects, colleagues, and yes, even competition on a social media platform that is often ignored or taken for granted, The only investment to your company is your time and resources, but can reward you with a new stream of followers, and potentially, leads.

Tole Keshin VP of Marketing , 3Play Media
“eMagine designed and implemented the 3Play Media website in WordPress. Of all the web designers I’ve worked with over the years, eMagine produced the best results and was the easiest to work with. They are organized, practical, and detail-oriented. Their designs are beautiful, creative, and intuitive. What really makes them stand out is their expertise with B2B sites and commitment to staying focused on the website’s business objectives.”

Alison Natali Marketing Manager, MicroLink LLC
“eMagine was a wonderful company to work with to redesign the MicroAutomation website. The capable staff at eMagine was able to take raw ideas and creatively translate them into usable website features and functions. From start to finish, the staff at eMagine was ready to take on any challenge head-on and create a quick and effective solution. I would definitely recommend eMagine’s services.”

David Rier Head of IT, Walker Magnetics
“We enlisted eMagine to help us with a full re-design of our web site. They have been professional, responsive and successful in providing us with a design that has accomplished all we asked and more. The design around a content management system has helped us to keep our web site growing and current. I would recommend them and use them again.”

According to Wikipedia, “Google Personalized Search is a feature of Google Search and provided by Google. When a user is logged into a Google Account, all of his or her searches on Google Search are recorded into Google Web History. Then, when a user performs a search, the search results are not only based on the relevancy of each web page to the search term, but the service also takes into account what websites the user previously visited through search results to determine which search results to determine for future searches, to provide a more personalized experience. The feature only takes effect after the user has performed several searches, so that it can be calibrated to the user’s tastes.”

What this creates is an extremely frustrating set of hope that you as a marketer must do to depersonalize your Google results, for a more accurate view of what John Q. Public sees.

To depersonalize your Google results:
•    First, turn off your social results settings, which allow you to see content from your friends and connections in your search results.
•    Next remove all Google Web History from your Google account.
•    Then, log out of all things Google (gmail, YouTube, etc).
•    Additionally, you will need  to disable the cookies on your browser, so as not to use this information from past searches to factor into the results pages.

Yoast has a great article on disabling personalized search with a plug in . For a more advanced solution, SEO Moz has a great article on Hacking Google’s Personalization code.

Remember, too, that Google isn’t the only search engine. Granted, we are at the mercy of it’s viewership and reach, much like PC users to Mac users, but Bing is always an alternative.

In the end, remember that your user’s experience will be vastly different from yours. They are not going to take the time to jump through all the hoops you just did to depersonalize their results. On the contrary, the purpose of personalization was to create a positive user experience unique to the individual. Your job is to focus not on the ranking in the search engines, but to provide relevant and engaging content for prospects and visitors to lean about your brand, interact with your website or blog, and communicate their interest in a clear, simple and concise manner.

How do you overcome Google’s Personalization settings?

What’s the difference between a hard CTA and a soft CTA?

Your primary call to action (CTA) is the main action you want your visitor to take on the page. Often it involved a “request a quote” or “contact us” and assumes your visitor is in a certain place in the buying cycle. Many times, however, your visitor isn’t ready to have that kind of interaction with your brand just yet. They might be in a different phase of the buy cycle; maybe they are fact-finding, or determining your trust and experience factor. It is this vital visitor that requires and alternative way to contact with you brand — namely, the soft CTA.

The soft CTA, or secondary CTA, is a less-invasive action for visitors to take, allowing your brand to be present in their consciousness, without actually having to speak to anyone in your organization. The soft CTA is visually usually less conspicuous that your hard CTA, and is a great way to envelope prospects into your brands nurturing process.

For example, say you had a page with a “request a quote” as your hard CTA, in which they have to fill out a full registration form. As a soft CTA, you might put a subscribe to your email list, or download a whitepaper or watch a video with just a required email address.

Why should you include soft CTAs on your pages?

Without the soft CTA, the visitor who wasn’t ready to talk to you might simply walk away. Given the alternative of the secondary CTA, they now have an option to continue their brand engagement, but in a much less invasive way. And, you have captured some of their information with a soft CTA (in the example above, their email address) so you can trickle data to them on a regular basis (a subsequent email saying, “I see you downloaded this whitepaper. You might be interested in watching this video on the same or similar topic’)

What about complementary CTAs?

And even softer soft CTA (say that ten times fast),  or complementary CTA, is a download or action that requires no personal information. And while this does not allow you to put them into a nurturing program, you can put on-click tracking onto the download link (which can then be measured in Google Analytics) to measure the interest in this asset,  helping you to determine positive patterns of behavior that speak to the visitor’s position in the sales funnel. And, you can always put links in your downloads to another action, which, in itself, is ANOTHER CTA. Maybe this one requires some form of information from the visitor, and therefore puts them into the nurturing phase.

Are CTAs only used for conversions?

Your CTAs do not necessarily have to be merely for conversion. Think of the social aspects to your calls to action. You may be trying to grow your social reach, so a soft CTA to encourage people to follow you on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin is another viable business goal. On your blog, having a soft CTA to share the post is an excellent way to increase your social and brand reach. A soft CTA can even be used to promote attendance at an upcoming event.

Make sure they CTAS complement each other, rather than competing for attention. Your hard CTA is the primary action you want your visitors to take. Make sure your soft CTA doesn’t overpower your hard CTA, from messaging to design, to placement.
Think about the goal of each action, and make sure you are considering the visitors position in the sales cycle, as well as their interests. And in the best of cases, don’t have more than 3 CTAs on your most important pages. Otherwise, you have created a hallway will many exit doors, as opposed to one entrance, one exit, and a stop at the water fountain on the way. A nice balance of the three would be:

1. CTA1 (Hard) – fill out the form to receive a free quote on XYZ
2. CTA2 (Soft) – sign up to receive email on free tips to improving your XYZ
3. CTA3 (soft + complementary) – follow us on LinkedIn for the latest in product announcement, industry trends and tips for your business.

Ultimately, utilizing both a hard and soft CTA enables you to prioritize and balance your goals, lead generation or otherwise.As with anything in marketing, the only way to truly know which CTAs work best on which pages, and with each other is to test, and test again. Understand you goals, your audience, and the sales cycle and you have a clear path to success.

What is the best balance of hard, soft, and complementary CTAs on your website or blog?