1. You need to be found online in the SERPs

2. You need to deliver content that converts browsers into customers.

3. You need to treat your website as one important tool in your marketing toolbox.

Check out this great infographic from seo.com  of all the stats that support that nagging voice in your head telling you “It’s time to overhaul my website”.

Hopefully, you are already taking advantage of internet marketing by targeting your customers and building a loyal list of fans through SEO, blogs, email marketing, social media, online advertising, and your website. But, if you are like so many small business owners who wear many hats-there just isn’t enough time!

Your business may not have started out online-but chances are your customers did google you.  So, stop pretending you are not an online marketer and get in the game.

When we first bid on this project, LLA knew they needed some serious content reorganization, as well as a boost to the visual interest on their site. They had been cranking out posts for several years, many of which had become irrelevant since they were tied to events that had come and gone. And sadly, those posts were all text, no pictures — a recipe for some boring reading.

We approached the site as we do all new clients, with a scrutinizing look at who their target market is and what they are trying to tell that audience. Once we had a good grasp on their goals, we made a list of our own to guide the site redesign:

1. Bring now-hidden information to the surface.
   Our initial efforts were focused on the Home page. We wanted it to be the nerve center for the rest of the site, providing links to everywhere a visitor may want to go. Simultaneously, we wanted to shrink the daylights out of the nav bar, making it super-direct as to what was in each menu. Finally, we wanted to make sure the links to the LLA membership application, annual events and their e-store were front and center, sure to be visited.
2. Go back through the zillions of old posts and extract relevant information.
   Over the 6+ years since the site was brought online, LLA had written posts about everything going on with the lake, relevant legislation and annual LLA events. Some of that info certainly needs to exist indefinitely in an archive, but some of it is fat that should eventually be trimmed. We took relevant info from many of those old posts and built it into the site’s static pages to more fully explain the purpose and activities of the organization.
3. Add some visual interest.
   Of course, Lake Lanier is defined by its beautiful natural vistas and the many recreation-seeking Atlantans who visit each year. There are fishing contests, boat races, and water sports of all kinds going all the time. Images speak their own language and, in this case, provide exactly the support needed to make the written content come alive.
4. Connect to the membership and the outside world.
   Making a connection with the LLA email distribution system was a must, including a simple form for new visitors to sign up for news (right on the Home page!). We also tried to strengthen the connection to the community, giving business members and sponsors a little face time, while encouraging new ones to ante up. And, of course we employed our standard best practices for grass-roots SEO, making sure there are plenty of internal and external links, as well as a direct push from the blog to the LLA Facebook page.

The site went live a few days ago, just before the April Board meeting, and they were truly excited about the new site. And while “the look” is important for drawing in people visiting the site, image isn’t the only thing — greatly improved navigation and organization now rule the site, making it the strong business tool LLA needs to attract and educate members.

1. We went to a Bruce Jones Band practice with a camera and lots of ideas for how the images on the site should look. One night of shooting (and a little Photoshop work) produced enough pictures to get going.
2. Ira and Bruce hired awesome sound guy Mark Ericson to come record a few demos at practice. After taking several cuts that night, plus a few short sessions at his studio, the band got some great songs that showed off their talent and versatility.
3. Band members (yes, all 9 of them) wrote their own bios, with Wendy and Ira kicking in on some extra copy for other pages throughout the site.
4. We registered the domain, set up hosting, installed WordPress and some of our fave cool plugins and started building.
5. One week later, we had a working site. (Sure, there were a few things that needed tightening up, but for the most part, they were online. )
6. While seize creative was busy building the site, Wendy and Ira cranked up a Facebook page for the band. Everyone sent out messages to their FB friends to check out/like the site. Within a few days, they had over 100 likes.
7. In the meantime, Ira also contacted several local bars and festivals to test the waters for future bookings. With a great looking site and that many FB friends, they landed 3 gigs within 2 weeks.

BTW, all these musicians have day jobs and families and those other obligations that demand time and attention. They shared the load, hired out the tasks they couldn’t do themselves, and made a lot of noise when everything was online and looking good. Check out their calendar and make plans to see them live — it’s always rockin’ when they start making music for everyone.

Check out Google’s “Search Plus Your World”

Can’t I Just Ignore this Google+ Thing?

Our clients want to know, what is Google+ and do I have to worry about it?  In short, you do if your competition is doing it.   Google+ and Your World will now be incorporated into the Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).  So, that means all those = signs and how people in your Google + social circles recommend things by clicking the + sign will show up in Google search results.  Basically, Search just married Social Media so you can be influenced by your friends’ opinions.   For example, your friend posts on Google+ that her new LG flat screen is the best purchase she ever made and 250 of her friends comment on how they agree….LG just surged in your query “What kind of flat screen TV should I buy?”

Is Google+ Good or Bad?

Of course, there is a ton of discussion going on about how this will affect businesses, users, and privacy.  Get Busy Media reviews the Pros and Cons of Google+. But the bottom line is, if you are not actively participating, sharing your content and promoting your business on Google+ and your competition is, then get ready for your competition to rise above you in the SERPs.  So, actually it doesn’t matter if it is good or bad, it just is.

What about Facebook and Twitter?

No, Google isn’t going to crawl Facebook data to include in their search data.  They don’t have to.  Facebook and Twitter have not allowed Google to scour their social data and it is unlikely Google wants to include other social sites’ user data just to be “nice”.  Google will allow YouTube data to be included though.  So, keep posting those videos about your new products!

I’m Only One Person

How are you going to keep up with yet another place?  Well, you know your business.  You have worthwhile information to share with your customers.  All you have to do is put it out there on a regular basis.  Making it a habit might be hard, but putting it out there doesn’t have to be.  For that there is Hootsuite.  Set up a dashboard in Hootsuite and you can easily manage all of your social media channels.  At the time of this writing, Hootsuite includes Google+ on their Pro version only, which is a paid service.  Be on the lookout for that to change.  .  Keep sharing great content via your blog.  Then share a link to that article everywhere else-like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and don’t forget Google+.

At this point, most business owners agree that a Facebook Page is a smart tool to be used as part of your marketing strategy because it is an easy way to build your community of customers. This free tool allows you another opportunity to have a professional web presence, engage with your customers, and build a loyal community.

Facebook Profiles are for Humans. Facebook Pages are for Businesses.
This actually still confuses some people. Facebook Terms make it very clear that they do not want businesses creating Facebook Profiles. They even published a link to help businesses migrate a Facebook Profile to a Business Page for a time. That feature no longer exists, which makes one wonder if they are going to crack down on companies operating as profiles. A business choosing to use a Facebook Profile to represent their business does run the risk of being deleted by Facebook. You don’t want that to happen.

Facebook Personal Profiles are designed for humans. By using privacy settings, owners have control over who they invite to be “friends” and what content is seen. There is a maximum currently of 5,000 friends per Personal Profile. So, if your business went down this road it is only a matter of time before you hit the limit.

Facebook Pages are designed for Business, brands, or public figures. Previously known as “Fan Pages”, Facebook Pages are public. Anyone can see a Business Facebook Page, including the search engines. No doubt you want Google to be able to index your Facebook Page. Visitors can “like” your page which will then appear on their own personal Facebook Profile. But more importantly, the content that your business posts will appear in their Newsfeed. So now, they are aware of your latest announcement and they can share it with their friends who will hopefully “like” you as well. Now we’re talking about growing your business and spreading your name. The other benefit to a Business Facebook Page is the Analytics. This data gives us real information about our visitors, so we can get to know our customers better, and give them what they want.

Converting Friends to Fans
There is just no getting around the fact that individuals absolutely have to go “like” your Facebook page on their own. You can ask them nicely, you can even give them an incentive and post it on the Profile, but you can’t do it for them. Having both a Facebook Personal Profile Page and a Facebook Business Page could truly cause confusion. At some point an owner must decide whether to delete the Profile, semi-hide it with privacy settings, or let it sit idle.

Persuasion Profiling is the future and it is a bit scary. Tracking of online behavior such as purchases, emails, friend networks on social sites, and websites visited creates hordes of data. That data is valuable to companies wanting to convert their visitors into customers. Dean Eckles, a social–cognitive scientist and a PhD candidate at Stanford, has been studying the use of social media in persuasion profiling. He believes the time is coming when persuasion profiling will be present wherever we are…online, in the car, on our smartphones, etc. Collecting data about where you click and what made you do so is a powerful conversion tool. One that companies will be paying for (if they’re not already). Dean Eckles gives a great example: You need a good credit rating to purchase that new car? Well, that salesperson might look up your credit rating and your persuasion profile too! So, with a profile telling him you are vulnerable to price sensitive, limited-time offers, he offers you a “deal” if you act today. Good luck negotiating a sweet price on a BMW when he knows what makes you tick

Let’s take it one step further. You don’t have the credit score needed for a car loan. Your persuasion profile shows your network of friends do have the necessary credit score. This is garnered from social media friend lists. (i.e. Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter) You are granted the loan based upon who you associate with. You don’t know why you got the loan-but you’re happy with the outcome! Get ready for the new world of persuasion profiling, because it is here to stay.

Just like in the Field of Dreams movie, right?

You know you need a website.  After all, does anyone under 25 know what a phone book even looks like?  And you know you want it to be BLUE.  You definitely know it’s going to be good for business.  But once you have this amazing new website, how will it help get customers?

In the last 24 hours 139,023 new domain names were registered.  So, if you build it, will they come?  Creating a marketing strategy will be vital to driving your current and potential customers to your website.  Of course, there are many choices to consider for this including but not limited to sound SEO copywriting, link building, keywords, Google Adwords, social media, direct mail, and email marketing.   Sounds like real effort, time and money will need to be invested.

Email marketing campaigns are one of the many tools to reach your current customer base and build many more relationships.  You should have email addresses of all your current customers, and if you don’t-start collecting, and don’t forget to ask their permission to receive your goodies.  Reward your customers with coupons and incentives, it will remind them how much they like you!

There are plenty of services available to dole out those rewards and get connected to your customers, such as Constant Contact, icontact, and our latest favorite-Mailchimp.  We love Mailchimp because it makes creating and tracking email campaigns so easy to do.  Not to mention easy to share with social media.  Our small business customers are especially excited because you can send 12,000 emails per month to a list of 2,000 subscribers—completely free!

Will your new website get you more customers?  Don’t expect them to come to you-go to your customers.

Many times these same small business owners have known for some time that they needed an online identity that would complement a site which educates their [potential] customers about what they do and validate that they have the industry know-how that earns client trust. Knowing that you need something and knowing how to get it are sometimes very far apart in the real world.

Identifying the target audience (a.k.a. favorite visitor) for a new website is a great first topic to ponder. Once you figure out who they are, you have to make a logical guess as to why they’ve come. Then, you are ready to start building content to answer the questions you know those guests will have and provide the reassurances that will guide them to call and hire you.

This is not an easy process to complete. It is virtually impossible for many small businesses, since they are busy doing the tasks that keep them in business. They do not have time to research the things that will help their site be most successful. They do not have time to figure out which tools are best to construct their site.

That is when they look for someone to call. That is when they say, “I think I need an online identity.”

Sadly, many of those original websites, cutting edge as they once were, are beginning to look a little dated. The color schemes and layouts look tired. The content is still mostly true, but so many other great things have happened since then. These site creators built up their own business, but they have let their website remain latent while the software industry boomed with new authoring applications that could provide visual stimulation and powerful tracking ability.

These site creators are faced with figuring out how to get from where they are to where they wish they could be. This is not an easy process to complete. It is virtually impossible for many small businesses, since they are busy doing the tasks that keep them in business. They do not have time to research the things that will help their site be most successful. They do not have time to figure out which tools will be most useful for reconstructing their site.

That is when they look for someone to call. That is when they say, “It was such a long time ago when I built my site. I am embarrassed to send people there now — it is so out of date.”