Web Savvy Marketers

What is Website Optimization and Why do I Care?

This is a question that I’ve received on more than one occasion. Anyone who has a website should care about website optimization. If you have a website, odds are you’ve spent time and money to create it. So what is it doing for you? Too many people create a site and do nothing to drive traffic to their site, then, wonder why business hasn’t improved. In traditional terms, you can create the most beautiful advertisement, however, if you never place it where it can be seen, it’s useless. It’s the same for websites. That is where website optimization comes in. It’s the practice of driving traffic to your website. There are several ways to do this.

The first way to drive traffic to your site is to ensure that your site can be found. This is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO. By including meta tags and descriptions as well as improving the content of your site, you can improve the organic search-ability of your site so that people can find you. This is a long-term investment that pays off in gradual increments. Over time, search engine optimization will help improve your search engine rank and make it easier for potential customers to find your site.

The second way to improve your website optimization is a traditional pay-per-click program. These are the ads that show up in the right hand column of a Google search. The nice thing about these ads, as the name says, you only pay for those searches that actually click through to your site. This program is intended to drive unknown prospects to your site.

A third method of website optimization is called e-marketing. This includes creating an e-newsletter campaign and/or blog to help educate your customers. It is a good way to ensure that you have a consistent presence with your existing customers and known prospects. It will remind them that you’re out there and in some cases, depending on the article, educate them about capabilities you have that they may not know about or have forgotten.

The final form of website optimization is inclusion of RSS feeds to your website to pull the latest news from a blog into your site. This can help to keep your site updated with little effort. This will also help your search engine optimization and gives users a reason to go back to your site more frequently as they’ll know that you have updated information.

Basically, website optimization is a means to get your site working for you. Years ago, when people created or changed their website, they would let everyone they knew know about it. We’ve gotten away from that practice. Website optimization takes the best of those practices and incorporates them into a program that will make your website work for you.

WebSavvyMarketers.com launched

Last week a collaborative team of Web Savvy Marketers launched the new blog WebSavvyMarketers.com.  The team is made up of Rahna Barthelmess, Nancy Simonds, Beth Devine and me.  Our goal is to explore and discuss the numerous online marketing options availabe for businesses today.  Each of us operates our own marketing and web related business yet we all have different specialties.  Check out websavvymarketers.com and feel free to comment and ask questions.

Mary’s Place launched

Marysplacect.orgFriday we launched the redesigned website for Mary’s Place, A Center for Grieving Children in Windsor, CT.  I designed the original Mary’s Place website in 2003. After six years it was time for a fresh look.  We incorporated video and some flash slideshows into the new design in addition to making it easier for people to donate directly through the website and through Amazon.com  and IGive.com affiliations.  Check out Marysplacect.org

Let’s talk passion

WebSavvyMarketers is a group of four marketing professionals who have joined together to explore and comment on digital and on-line marketing.  We each have a unique passion that drives our individual careers and as savvy marketers we recognize the power of strategic alliance and collaboration.  Meet the WebSavvyMarketers.  

Rahna Barthelmess, who jumped in with the 1st post on the blog, has a passion for marketing. She’s helped  large corporations and small companies navigate the digital marketing world with up to date, and effective online strategies.   She’s focused and energetic about her passion. Tap into her energy here and through her website beacon-marketing.com.

Nancy Simonds loves to proofread.  Isn’t that an unusual passion?  In a world where the practice of texting has developed a new lexicon and threatens the art of a complete sentence, we need people like Nancy.  Although Nancy has helped develop web content for many business websites, she would probably be the first to admit that blogging, facebook, and twitter are a bit, shall we say, beyond her comfort zone.  But exploring new worlds is part of being a websavvymarketer and I think Nancy’s perspective on this “new world” will bring comfort to those of you who might  find some of the new technologies overwhelming.  More about Nancy at simonds.com

Have you ever met anyone who loves to cold call? Meet Beth Devine.  I swear, her passion for cold calling, could possibly be an addiction.   What’s her perspective?  How does a cold calling addict become a websavvymarketer?  Stay tuned.  By the way, Beth also creates multi-media sales CD’s and tradeshow presentations.  and recently has begun to work with me on SEO projects.   More at devinesolutionsinteractive.com,

And finally, who am I and what’s my passion?  I’m Carolyn Griswold and have a passion for the web and for building websites.  I love the technology that is ever evolving.  I love the immediacy of the web.  I love the interactivity, the functionality, the design, the language and the art.  I love to explore the web and as I explore I plan to use this space to share ways to become a web savvy marketer.   More at cgwebhelp.com

10-Point Search Engine Optimization Checklist

Can your potential customers find you when they do an Internet search? In other words, is your web site optimized for search engine indexing? Use this checklist to evaluate your web site for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

  1. Have you developed a key word list that contains words and phrases that describe your product or service?
  2. Does each page on your web site have a keyword-rich page title that accurately describes the content on that page?
  3. Does each page on your web site have a meta description tag that clearly describes the content on that page in one or two sentences?
  4. Do you use keywords within the content on your pages?
  5. Do you use keyword-rich alt tags for each image on every page?
  6. Do you use keywords in text links on your site?
  7. Do you update your site on a regular basis?
  8. Do you take advantage of industry- or regional-specific on-line directories to list your business, with a link to your web site?
  9. Do you use on-line PR services to submit articles related to your business that link to your web site?
  10. Do you have a blog, or participate in forums, blogs or on-line business networking services like Linked In, Facebook or Plaxo?

10-Point Web Site Trust Evaluation

Establishing trust with clients who make contact via your web site is vital to its viability as an important component of your business.  Make sure your web site provides the information people need to feel comfortable doing business with you.  Remember, in the virtual web world, people don’t have the cues they might use in a brick and mortar business to decide whether they should risk doing business with you; so it’s extremely important to provide information that will assure customers that it’s safe to do business with your company on-line.

Take advantage of this checklist to evaluate your web site’s trust factor and determine if you need to make any changes or upgrades.

  1. Is it easy for people to find the information they need? Is the site organized and is navigation clear and easy to use?
  2. Does your web site look polished, clean, current and professional?
  3. Is the web site free of technical errors?
  4. Are images used effectively to present your message? Are they sized properly with the correct screen resolution (do they load fast and appear crisp and clear)?
  5. Does your web site’s design  reflect your company’s personality and appeal to your target market?
  6. Are your business policies—including return, privacy and shipping policies—clearly stated and easy to find on your web site?
  7. Do you make it easy  for people to know how to contact your company via email, phone or mail?
  8. Are you effectively using video or on-line sales presentations to demonstrate your product or service?
  9. Do you provide support information on-line such as customer forums, live chat, product manuals  or service tips so people are assured they’ll  have support once they’ve made a purchase?
  10. Is your e-commerce checkout process secure and easy to use?  Do you offer payment options—credit cards, PayPal, Google checkout or other payment terms?

Search Engine Rank Less Important in 2009?

With the goal of making search engine results more relevant to users, Google continues to work on new methods to provide personalized results.  Users will have the opportunity to rank their own results and add comments when logged into their Google account.

What does this mean for SEO?  Strategies should focus less on attaining top rank but should focus on enticing the consumer to the site. Once there, the website should clearly present the material the user will need to take the action the site owner desires.  Focus needs to be on:

  • Writing good page titles, accurate yet enticing
  • Write a good meta description
  • Clear, action oriented content that clearly presents your message and invites users to take action.

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