Where are you on the map?

Type certain keywords into Google, and they conveniently provide you with an interactive map and a handy set of websites that try to meet your needs. If you run a business that relies on this service to draw your customers in, this can be a fantastic feature.  But what happens if you’re not there? Or if you’re there for a while and then you drop off?

This scenario was played out in another Midwestern city, when an online florist company experienced phenominal growth built around their position on Google Maps.  But when Google changed its search algorithms and that company fell off the Google map during the holidays, the results were disastrous. They experienced a 95% drop in sales revenue.

Google Maps are a key element in local internet marketing.  Most users are able to find exactly what they need right there on page one. 

In St Louis internet marketing, Google Maps will help you find the nearest italian restaurant, directions to your favorite winery, and video rental stores nearby. Having your company appear in the top spot is important, and can be a key to growing your business.  This is a standard tool in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and should not be neglected in your online marketing strategy.

Where does your business show up on the map?  Or does it even rank?

What did you post today?

As a society, we’ve become so comfortable with the Internet.  What we may have forgotton, however, is that what we put out there - our pictures, our V-I-D-E-O-S, our blogs, our latenight status updates, our resumes, our ranting comments and our V-I-D-E-O-S may just be there forever.

While our friends at The Onion make fun of the law enforcement searching through our millions of online party pics, there is truth to the statement that what you post, you post for good. 

Now, if you’re a clever business blogger like Chris Brogan, you may be glad to know that what you write can be read over and over again.  While lots of us like to link our blogs to interesting, informative sites with local color, we have to be careful.  You never know when your links break, so it makes sense to keep your content up-to-date.

Serial posters on social networking sites and online marketers who regularly use social media to promote their businesses would be wise to watch their words.

Do you have a story of the post that never goes away?

If so, Post it below–I’d like to hear about it!

Are you falling?

Recently, I was contacted by an irate client who wanted to know why his business was no longer on the first page of Google.  His business had been growing by leaps and bounds after working with HitsThatClick.com, but he experienced an unexplainable slowdown at a key point in his business cycle.

Truth was, he stoped following our direction — he was no longer current. Keep in mind we got him on the 1st page of Google in a short time and just as quickly his site was off the 1st page. As internet marketers, we must always be diligent with our online content.  The good folks at Google are changing their algorithms all the time, some say more than 450 times per year.  

Your competitors are always updating their online content, looking at their keywords and adjusting their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. You should be too.

In local internet marketing, the same is true. Just because the St Louis market is smaller than some doesn’t mean we can kick back, relax and not worry about our competitors. Just look at what’s happened to our venerable A.G. Edwards if you want proof. There’s always someone else trying to hone in on your market. 

Have you changed your web content lately?  Do you know how to keep your business on the first page of Google once you get there?  I do, just ask.

Can you find your favorite theatre online?

St. Louis’ beloved Tivoli Theatre features the finest independent and foreign language films in St Louis. Architecturally and historically, the Tivoli Building is among the most prominent edifices in The Loop area of St. Louis.  We know it and love it, but how can they compete with the big multi-plexes?

Type the words “St Louis movies” into Google on three different days and you’re likely to get three different sets of results.  Frustrating for our friends at the Tivoli no doubt, but why does this happen, and what are the implications?  Google changes its search results with relentless speed, sometimes as many as ten times each day.  How do you keep up with this?

The big box chains know this and are regularly researching and analyzing the changes in Google’s search algorithms, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to make sure their companies are coming up first.  But what if you’re the little guy?  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the sure-fire way to keep your business on the first page of Google.  Marketing research shows that most users do not look beyond the first page. So what if you’re not on the first page of Google? 

Every internet marketing company worth its salt can try to help your business with SEO.  Have you included blogging, article marketing or social networking in your marketing mix?  Do you even know where to start?

If you’re Davey going up against Goliath, you need an internet marketing company that will understand your needs and devote the time and energy to help you get noticed by Google, get found by their spiders, and bring you the customers your business needs.

What’s your story, your plot, your soundtrack?  I’d be glad to help you tell it.

What if Google Crashed?

Last week, a major glitch at Google headquarters brought about a 5% reduction in Internet usage WORLDWIDE.  If this doesn’t have shades of Orwell’s 1984 Big Brother, I don’t know what does.

According to Google’s official Blog, the problem had to do with a major bottleneck of re-routing traffic through Asia.  Google was apologetic, and assured us that they would work diligently to make sure this doesn’t happen again. The greater lesson here is about diversification.  While Google is still undeniably the market leader in internet search, and should remain an integral part of every internet marketer’s focus, they should not be your only strategy.  As in every aspect of business, you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Locally, many of our favorite watering holes are having the same reactions.  Anheuser-Busch has long been the St. Louis brewery of choice, but local breweries such as Schlafly Bottleworks are increasing their marketing efforts to capitalize on the downsizing of the King of Beers.  While we’ll probably always have A-B products behind the bar, keep an eye on the little guys.  If they’re smart, they’ll take advantage of the fact that InBev has bigger fish to fry marketing internationally.  While the cat’s away, the mice will grow strong, so don’t be surprised if A-B is not the only beer behind the counter.

A sound strategy for companies wanting to capitalize on the many techniques for increasing your internet marketing in St. Louis is to implement a multi-layered plan.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains a sound technique, but make sure your website gets the updating and attention it needs to stay fresh and competitive.  Don’t ignore your blogging, and be sure to make good use of online social media.  Keep an eye on your competitors, and pay attention to who’s showing up in what position when you search for yourself in Google.

Google may affect 5% of the world’s internet traffic, which is more than anyone else, but remember there’s still 95% of the world out there who may be looking for what your business has to offer.

What other strategies might you come up with today?  Got nuthin’?  Give me a call…

Recent changes in Google’s policies on use of brand names and trademarks may change the way local businesses design their search engine adwords.

A recent issue of Advertising Age reported on how Google’s policies regarding use of trademarks and brand names in company’s ads are changing, and how this could impact internet marketing beginning in June of 2009.  While certainly interesting on a national scale, what’s more compelling is how this may affect internet marketing in St. Louis.  Google advertisers are currently able to advertising messages “around” the words that users type into the Google search bar.  We’ve all seen it.  Type in “gooey butter cake” and instantly you’ll get gooey butter cake recipies, you’ll learn where to buy it, how to ship it, how many calories it has, and a host of other suggestions from sponsored sites in the right hand column of the search results page.  All these small businesses are paying Google so that you can conveniently find them right there among the sponsored links.

But type the words “White Castle” into Google and you get a different story.  Right now only the Yellow Pages has the right to use this trademark in their sponsored adwords.  If you’re Schnucks, you’re not allowed.  And Schnucks wants to sell more of those Whiteys in the frozen food isle to hungry customers who want to get their late night fixes out of their own refrigerators, or as gifts for St. Louis ex-pats who can’t get their beloved sliders in their new hometowns.  Same goes for Ted Drewes.  Google’s new policies will allow Schnucks, if they choose, to add White Castle and Ted Drewes into their Google AdWords, so that we’ll all know that these venerable St. Louis traditions are available at your local supermarket, and that you don’t have to drive all the way across town to hold a concrete upside down before you devour it.

This move by Google has both pros and cons.  Surely, for Google, it’s a pro, as it will allow the #1 search engine to open up new revenue streams for retailers and businesses of all types.  Those which are engaged in the sale or distribution of trademarked products can now advertise these products right where they want to – in the right hand column of your Google search window. 

I wonder, though, if it is really a good thing.  Does this open up liability issues for Google, for the companies that market these trademarked products, and for the company that produces them?  If you’re aching from too many belly bombers, are you going to go complain to White Castle directly, or to Schnucks for advertising and promoting them?  And what does this do to the issue of trademark law?  Has the digital age once again moved faster than the legislation we need, and sometimes despair, that is designed to protect us and them?

Interesting points to ponder in this world of online marketing.  Perhaps a piece of good old gooey butter cake will help me decide.

What do you think? 

And, if you are one of the companies I linked to in this blog, let me hear from you.  If I don’t I’ll assume you are not tracking your links back to your site and desperately need my services.

Internet Marketing St Louis

I get this question all the time. Although many people have embraced online journaling, I still need to explain to business people why they should utilize this medium.

Blogging is not a fleeting fancy. It’s a phenomenon that has rooted itself in the Web and continues to grow. According to BlogWorld, over 147 million Americans use the Internet and more than one-third of them (57 million) say they read blogs. How many of your customers and prospects do you think are included in this 57 million people?

Here are some more interesting statistics for you to consider:

• 89% of businesses that responded to a survey said they believe blogs will continue to become more important.
• 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs.
• Technorati, the blog search engine, is tracking more than 70 million blogs.
• 51% of blog readers shop online.
• A survey by Write2Market of business bloggers showed that more than 70% of them gained qualified leads through their blogs; more than half of them closed sales from these leads.
• Blog readers spend an average of 23 hours per week online, 10 hours more than the average Web visitor.

What do all these businesses and consumers know that the non-blogger doesn’t? Are they merely jumping on board with what they perceive as a chic trend? Is the blogosphere just a place where the hip people go?

Perhaps the users of this medium recognize the viral impact of being seen in this massive blogosphere. Maybe they’ve recognized that a blog is an exceptional customer service tool. It could be that the immediacy of the medium is a big plus for businesses that want to publish news, insights, and updates in the most timely manner. It’s possible that they have realized that having people talk positively about their products in blogs goes a lot farther than paid advertising to influence consumers.

When you look at all these reasons, I think the more appropriate question is, “Why shouldn’t I blog for my business?” That, I assure you, would have a much shorter answer.

How is your business blog performing for you? Please email me with your experiences!

Internet Marketing St Louis

The world of online marketing in St Louis continues to raise questions for marketers because it’s an ever-changing, evolving medium. Once you finally wrap your arms around something like SEO or pay-per-click, it seems like the rules change. The search algorithms are reconfigured. The Web’s “new media” lives up to its name because there’s always something new there.

So how do you keep on top of everything so you can make sure you’re maximizing the potential? In all honesty, you can’t. There’s just too much going on!

What you can and should do is to focus on one medium at a time. Explore search engine marketing (also known as pay-per-click advertising). Allocate a maximum amount of money to test it out — sort of like going into a casino and promising you’ll stop after dropping a hundred bucks. Spend the time and money learning what types of results you’re getting, how to refine your keywords, and where to put your ads. From that point, you can graduate to techniques like split testing your offers and keywords. But, you have to start somewhere!

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with SEM, invest yourself in another medium, like creating a blog and marketing it. Take the time to learn how to get more visitors to your blog, using opportunities like linking, trackbacks, and blog directories. Try adding video, photos, or a podcast. Trust me, the blogosphere is a huge world with many avenues worth exploring.

From there, you might head over to social media like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn to learn what this Web phenomenon can do for you. Discover the tremendous potential of networking, from the 140-character “tweets” on Twitter to ever-expanding list of vertical networks, like CafeMom and Flickr. It’s fun to establish your profile and then find people you already know who are on the same network. From those connections, you can spread out to their networks and beyond. Along the way, you’ll learn how to add applications to use your page for more than just chatting.

The World Wide Web is a monstrous university of information and opportunities. It’s tough to earn a Ph.D. in All Things Web Worthy, so just tackle your education one class at a time. Give yourself an assignment each week of something new you want to learn. Then commit to learning what you can.

And if you need speedier results, well, that’s what I’m here for!

Tags: online marketing, Internet, marketing, SEO, SEM, pay-per-click, blog, social media, Twitter, tweets, Facebook, LinkedIn, CafeMom, Flickr

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Internet Marketing St Louis

It was bound to happen. Facebook knocked MySpace off its perch as the number one social network on the Internet. In January 2009, Facebook clocked nearly 1.2 billion visits and 68.8 million unique visitors to MySpace’s 810.2 million visits and 58.6 million unique visitors.

It appears that social media is growing up. The ultra-hip MySpace has been ousted by Facebook’s more sophisticated image. Even the teens who were responsible for MySpace’s initial success have made the switch to Facebook, where they are likely to get “Friend Requested” by their own parents! In fact, my friend and her teenage son post comments to each other from different rooms in the same house.

Facebook has experienced some ups and downs in the past year. The controversy over the privacy of user data stirred up a lot of people. But Facebook backed off, showing its supporters the respect they deserve.

Facebook also made a deal with Yahoo! so that Facebook profiles show up on SERPs in organic searches on that search engine. Of course, Google does the same for MySpace so it could be a preference (or deal maker). Still, having your Facebook page pop up on page one is a nice attribute!

While the two social network giants battle for the top spot, Twitter has been soaring up the chart, rising from the number 22 position in February 2008 to the number 3 place in January 2009. At 54.2 million visits per month, it’s a distant third behind MySpace but recent media attention — legislators tweeting each other during sessions of Congress and Senate — will certainly continue to drive up interest in the micro-blogging site.

We’re seeing a fast rise in social networking on Facebook for businesses, which could be contributing to its steady climb. Do you have a business page on Facebook yet? Have you created your own group or joined others where you can reach out to potential consumers? It’s a great place to do some market testing, take a poll, or simply communicate with tech-savvy consumers who could spread the good word about you to the millions of people connecting on Facebook.

If you’re not on Facebook, go there right now — after you finish reading the blog. Then come back and let me know what you think!